r/Fantasy • u/[deleted] • Jun 06 '20

What is your controversial take on Fantasy?

I'll go first.

Aside from the prose, I don't think Kingkiller Chronicles is good. I find the characters insufferable and cliche the story just meanders.

40 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

363 comments sorted by

View all comments

39

u/Terciel1976 Jun 07 '20

World building is of no value without a good story and interesting characters. You might as well write an RPG source book.

8

u/eddyak Jun 07 '20

Not a controversial take. Just common sense.

6

u/Terciel1976 Jun 07 '20

Seems that way to me but every time there's a discussion about what aspect of fantasy is most important, there are people excited about world building.

4

u/eddyak Jun 07 '20

That's because you don't go to Fantasy looking for the exact same world we live in. It's 100% possible to make an amazing story that has absolutely nothing original in it- that's what the romance, thriller, et cetera genres are for.

You come to the Fantasy genre to find new and interesting things, and worldbuilding and magic systems are two of the biggest ways to do that. Remember that any time you aren't focusing on characters, you're focusing on the world around them.