… but haven’t seen too much of, alas.
* adult fantasy inspired by non-European civilizations. Some YA books, like Eon: Dragoneye Reborn and The Lost Conspiracy, have satisfied some of my cravings for this to an extent. I want to see Chinese dragons, steamy rainforests and high dry plateaus; I want to see kimonos and body paint; most of all, I want to see a different way of looking at life.
* religious protagonists in fantasy. Most fantasy protagonists are like modern secularists. They don’t believe in gods, and even if they did, they wouldn’t worship them. Often religion in fantasy feels like window dressing–or a tool of the evil guys. Give me a protagonist who believes, and not in a froofy, I-worship-the-benevolent-mother-earth-goddess kind of way.
* historical fantasy set in ancient times. This has everything to do with what we’re covering in history this year. I am politely disinterested in Ancient Egypt, but I’d love to see something based on Mesopotamia. Taking elements from Gilgamesh, for instance, or using the library at Nineveh as a grand setting. I’d be over all over something speculative and fantastical set in one of the cities of the Indus Valley civilization.
* more old people. I love my coming-of-age fantasy as well as anyone else, but life doesn’t stop at 25! I’d like to see protagonists from all seasons of life: fathers of tots, mothers of teens, empty-nesters and grandparents.
* fantasy characters with jobs other than Magic User, Royal Personage, or Merchant/Noble Son or Daughter. Or Soldier. Or Itinerant. Can we have real jobs, please? And some conflict between Saving the World and Having Enough Money to Pay the Rent?
* smaller-scale fantasy. No Saving the World or Creating a Political Upheaval required. Save the family fortune instead. Capture a murderer. Mend a feud. Rescue a captive. Something that doesn’t send a huge ripple effect through the entire world.
*stands back and looks at list*
Looks like I’ll be coming back to this when it’s time to plan my next novel.
What about you? What do you want to read in your fantasy?
No romance. Thank you.
Also, what you said. I’ve been loving Aliette de Bodard and Anne? Leckie with their fiction (nonEuropean and with real religion and ordinary people and their lives).
Right now, I’m actually quite happy with some of the protagonists that have popped up for my fantasy: a grieving widow, parents with teens (what IS it with all the single parents anyway?), an information trader, a scribe (female), an adoptive mother, a girl who isn’t ever going to be married from what I can tell, a healer, and an archeologist—besides the school. I admit to having stayed largely with the “magic users,” but they are either sponsored by an order that pays for their needs or they grow them. (One of the specialties of this particular group is that they can make fruit (and summer) grow in the middle of winter.)
And I’ve moved away from world-level stakes. I wish I could totally away from war, but there’s still a couple stories there.
*grin* See, I love my fantasy with romantic subplots. I don’t have much patience for straight-out romances, but I like seeing characters fall in love in the midst of taming dragons, rescuing princesses and generally Saving the World.
I’ve heard of Aliette de Bodard’s Aztec-inspired series. Been meaning to check those out.
It looks like you have a cast with a nice amount of variety. Good for you. Wish I was doing better at my own requirements, but I’m not. *stares at Muse* I’m not doing any better at keeping the stakes small, either, without going all the way into the fairy tale realm. Hmm, sounds like a writing challenge for me!
While I do like romantic subplots, I’m just romanced out. They ALL seem to have them, and I’d like just a handful of stories where that isn’t the case. One main reason why there is no romance in “No Heaven so Bright” or Radiance (stories I’m working on). I’d just like a breather, ya know?
Right. 🙂
hhmmm…. let’s see if I can make your TBR list blow up a little? and maybe help inspire you further as well?
non-european fantasy – A favorite of mine is Dream of the Dragon Pool, by Dalia (i forget his first name). Small press, it may be POD these days. Historical fantasy, in China, with magical swords, goddesses, and trapped spirits. good stuff. Charles deLint has a number of urban fantasy titles that follow Native American mythos.
religious fantasy (which I usually hate, but here are some titles that I LOVE): The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell – The Vatican sends a mission to an alien planet, and things are going great, until they go horribly wrong. Also, anything by Stephen Lawhead. he does a lot of historical fiction/historical fantasy, often against a Celtic background featuring folks spreading early Christianity.
Ancient history – two Harry Turtledove titles come to mind – Between the Rivers and Household Gods. both are awesome.
grown ups and non-traditional fantasy characters – Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos series. Sure, Vlad is usually trying to solve the mystery (murder, corruption, etc), but he’s also desperately trying to keep his wife from leaving him over personal & political reasons. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s in his early 30s when they first meet, mid-late 40s in the most recent novel in the series.
I’ve read some Lawhead. My husband’s a bigger fan on his books–it seems like he’s got more appeal to guys *grin*.
Thanks for the other recs. My to-read pile could *always* use biggering.
Older protagonists are totally on my list!
But your ‘it’s not the end of the world’ point has got me thinking. I, too, have ‘OMG save the world’ tendencies. Although it doesn’t always start out that way… Anyway, I’m going to keep that in mind for the next book 🙂
Well, Saving the World is practically a staple for fantasy. And honestly, I do like it–and write it–but it’d be nice once in a while to have a smaller-scale, cosier fantasy to read.
I don’t really care how it comes, I just want pure entertainment. Something to take me away from the cold, grey dull days of a British January. Something to wow me and to make me sit up with excitement or awe or suspense, or laugh or go dewy-eyed at a hint of romance or…well, almost anything. Variety is the spice of life! That, and entertainment 🙂