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sartorias. It's a very interesting question; what are 11 things you would never write about in a fantasy story? (Do I have 11 things?) I'm sure the list changes over time, but as of right now...
1. Vampires. Although I enjoyed Dracula for its own glorious excess, and Buffy was a hoot and a half, I've never found the idea of vampires terribly interesting per se. A few authors have come up with good twists, but possibly because of Buffy's success, for the last many years vampire books have mushroomed up all over the place, and vampires have been overdone, overhyped, oversexualized, and overexposed to (un)death. Unless I could come up with a really unique twist or vision, I'm not going there. Put a stake in 'em, I'm done.
2. Camelot, King Arthur, and Company. Guy Gavriel Kay is a friggin' genius, because he actually managed to write stories involving a take on King Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere that didn't make me want to throw the books across the room (I adore the Fionavar Tapestry - go read it!). Believe me, for me, that takes work; I really don't like Arthur and the Arthurian "mystique". To quote Monty Python, "No, on second thought, let's not go there. It's a very silly place."
3. Celts. Yes, the Celts were cool. Yes, several authors have done fabulous things with takes on the Celts. Many, many more authors have done really bad/trite/cliche things with the Celts. Like vampires, I think you need to have a really interesting twist to do well here - plus do a heck of a lot of research. A knotty problem, and not for me.
4. Utopia. Perfection is boring. Perfect societies are boring - and unbelievable to boot. Whether it's eco-utopian, gods-blessed, fairyland-hidden-away, or drug-induced, uptopian societies all have one thing in common: too perfect for me to bother with.
5. Unicorns. Even harder to come up with something original here than for vampires - unless of course the whole reason for the horn is for staking said blood-sucking annoyances out of existence...unicorn vampire-hunters?... Hmmm...there's a thought...
6. Cthulu and Company. I don't do unimaginably-powerful-pure-evil-waiting-in-the-next-room-over-if-you-just-complete-that-spell, thankyouverymuch. All the problems of getting an original spin, plus who wants to spend that much creative energy coming up with something that nasty?
7. Attack of the Puns. There's fantasy worlds out there based on little other than puns. Good for them. I'll punt.
8. Illogical magic. I like my magic systems (and the worlds in which they exist) to be consistent, cause-and-effect based, and have at least a passing relation to feasible. The same goes for super-powers. If your average Wendy Wand-Swinger can turn entire city populations into stone, I'd expect her society to be structured in a way that could cope - and that Wendy could also use her wand to take care of the housework and provide meals for the entire city and so on. And if Wendy can swing her wand and solve the problem that's at the heart of the story - well then, why write about it in the first place?
9. The One True Way. One true way for one particular person, maybe. The same one true way for everyone - not so much, at least not for me.
10. All-knowing, all-powerful magical rocks. Or books, or hats, or bedpans, or whatever. Magical McGuffins, the lot of them. If something knows everything, that's pretty boring - and if that something is also all-powerful, what the heck is it doing under the bed?
11. One-note villains. Or for that matter, one-note heroes, sidekicks, shopkeepers, and so on. You don't have to fully develop every single incidental character, but if the story is going to spend significant time in that character's company, I'd like to see something other than cardboard cookie-cutter Clever Thief With Bad Habit of "Collecting" Pocketwatches (5-point disadvantage, roll 12 or better to avoid).
Wow, I made it to 11! I was beginning to wonder if I could.
Special mention/runners-up: Retreading your own stories/books (looking at you, David), DisneyFantasyLand, D&D Campaign 101.
sartorias. It's a very interesting question; what are 11 things you would never write about in a fantasy story? (Do I have 11 things?) I'm sure the list changes over time, but as of right now... 1. Vampires. Although I enjoyed Dracula for its own glorious excess, and Buffy was a hoot and a half, I've never found the idea of vampires terribly interesting per se. A few authors have come up with good twists, but possibly because of Buffy's success, for the last many years vampire books have mushroomed up all over the place, and vampires have been overdone, overhyped, oversexualized, and overexposed to (un)death. Unless I could come up with a really unique twist or vision, I'm not going there. Put a stake in 'em, I'm done.
2. Camelot, King Arthur, and Company. Guy Gavriel Kay is a friggin' genius, because he actually managed to write stories involving a take on King Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere that didn't make me want to throw the books across the room (I adore the Fionavar Tapestry - go read it!). Believe me, for me, that takes work; I really don't like Arthur and the Arthurian "mystique". To quote Monty Python, "No, on second thought, let's not go there. It's a very silly place."
3. Celts. Yes, the Celts were cool. Yes, several authors have done fabulous things with takes on the Celts. Many, many more authors have done really bad/trite/cliche things with the Celts. Like vampires, I think you need to have a really interesting twist to do well here - plus do a heck of a lot of research. A knotty problem, and not for me.
4. Utopia. Perfection is boring. Perfect societies are boring - and unbelievable to boot. Whether it's eco-utopian, gods-blessed, fairyland-hidden-away, or drug-induced, uptopian societies all have one thing in common: too perfect for me to bother with.
5. Unicorns. Even harder to come up with something original here than for vampires - unless of course the whole reason for the horn is for staking said blood-sucking annoyances out of existence...unicorn vampire-hunters?... Hmmm...there's a thought...
6. Cthulu and Company. I don't do unimaginably-powerful-pure-evil-waiting-in-the-next-room-over-if-you-just-complete-that-spell, thankyouverymuch. All the problems of getting an original spin, plus who wants to spend that much creative energy coming up with something that nasty?
7. Attack of the Puns. There's fantasy worlds out there based on little other than puns. Good for them. I'll punt.
8. Illogical magic. I like my magic systems (and the worlds in which they exist) to be consistent, cause-and-effect based, and have at least a passing relation to feasible. The same goes for super-powers. If your average Wendy Wand-Swinger can turn entire city populations into stone, I'd expect her society to be structured in a way that could cope - and that Wendy could also use her wand to take care of the housework and provide meals for the entire city and so on. And if Wendy can swing her wand and solve the problem that's at the heart of the story - well then, why write about it in the first place?
9. The One True Way. One true way for one particular person, maybe. The same one true way for everyone - not so much, at least not for me.
10. All-knowing, all-powerful magical rocks. Or books, or hats, or bedpans, or whatever. Magical McGuffins, the lot of them. If something knows everything, that's pretty boring - and if that something is also all-powerful, what the heck is it doing under the bed?
11. One-note villains. Or for that matter, one-note heroes, sidekicks, shopkeepers, and so on. You don't have to fully develop every single incidental character, but if the story is going to spend significant time in that character's company, I'd like to see something other than cardboard cookie-cutter Clever Thief With Bad Habit of "Collecting" Pocketwatches (5-point disadvantage, roll 12 or better to avoid).
Wow, I made it to 11! I was beginning to wonder if I could.
Special mention/runners-up: Retreading your own stories/books (looking at you, David), DisneyFantasyLand, D&D Campaign 101.
