As I have explained fantasy is all great and good but I do have somethings against the genre and somethings which I believe other genres lack but fantasy portrays beautifully.
1- Too many cliches
As a reader, I mostly love cliches. Enemies to lovers? Marvelous. Those cheesy dialogues? great. Excessive detailing? love it. But still. Even a cliche lover like me sometimes loses it. Too many books have been written on the same formula now. I think it all started with the Air Folk Trilogy by Holly Black. But I have to say that I’ve never read anything as awesome as those books. I remember I read the Queen of Nothing in a single day. It was so well written and over all the plot was awesome but the best thing about that trilogy were the plot twists that I never saw coming.
Rebellion. War. A fae prince falling in love with a mortal. The mortal becoming a fae.
And then there’s this romance formula every writer follows: a white prince and a dark knight. So, who will the princess choose? Of course, the dark knight. Why? First of all you generally don’t need a reason to choose the dark knight. Secondly there’s usually a tragic backstory associated with him. And also he has some dark powers. Like wielding shadows or ice powers or something.
The white prince usually turns out to be a prick. This storyline is beyond me now. I’m sick of the same love story in different fonts. Moreover the earlier fantasy series ( I’m talking about the classics) didn’t have this typical romance. Harry Potter, LOTR, Hunger Games, Divergant. These may be considered children’s fantasy by some but I loved how unique their storylines were. There were no fae courts, autumn court, night court and heroes with wing, horns, tails. Still they are unmatchable.
2-Age Rating
Usually fan favorite fantasies are regarded as YA. I’m so against it. Because one thing I know for sure is that young adults have far more serious problems than their love life. This problem is not faced in YA fiction where we see teenagers dealing with their college admission, their mental health, their parental problems, financial issues and student’s hazards. However, you read a fantasy YA and it seems like the most important part of being a teenager is finding your soul mate. I get it, its fantasy and its not meant to be real, still it is much easier to relate with protagonists when their feelings and problems are relatable and understandable.
Moreover, the romance is highlighted to an extreme and things get pretty elaborate and really descriptive. Some readers enjoy this and I am also not against it but still if it is YA than the age rating should be kept in mind. I had to skip 16 chapters while reading one of ACOTAR series books and needless to say that was the last book I read.
If I do want to enjoy a romance than I would’ve picked up a romance novel probably something by Emily Henry or Colleen Hoover or Ali Hazelwood but I have picked up a fantasy and I want it to remain decent enough for the eyes of young teenagers because unlike the common misconception many of us do not enjoy the romance, the kind which is usually portrayed in YA fantasy novels.
3- Naming system
Yes, I know that unique names are attractive and everyone loves a name that is never heard of before. But sometimes the naming system crosses limits. Honestly fantasy writers sometimes use such unpronounceable names that you have to asdjhk it in your mind throughout the book.
I like these unusual names but now they are getting way too much (Sgael, what is this? How do you say this? Is the S silent? Or is the G silent?)
We are forgetting that the most famous hero in the history of fantasy and the protagonist of wizarding world is named Harry….and granted there are some names which we found weird/difficult to pronounce (Hermione, Snape, Dumbledore, Nymphadora) but the main villain, the antagonist of the series was literally named TOM RIDDLE. So why are we now getting more and more preposterous altogether? I do love these names and that’s a part of why fantasy is unique but sometimes I just wish that there’s a john or a jack somewhere here instead of usual collection of last few consonants and random vowels.
4- World Building
I have complained enough about this genre so now let’s skip to the good part. The best thing about fantasy is the great construction of a masterpiece from nothing. In more than one series, I found that world building is most proficiently and immaculately done thing and I enjoy it so much. Be it fae courts or high lords or dragon stables, it is downright amazing how beautiful it is.
There are some writers whose writing I greatly despise still they have done a marvelous job in creating their fantasy universes. And I have to say the most essential part of a good fantasy is making your readers believe in it and an intricate and well-done world building is the key to it. Without such talented writers, I don’t think our dreams would be this colorful.
And this is my favorite aspect of this genre. Space. Dragons. Space dragons!!( yup they are a thing) and the variety of fictional worlds available is just mind boggling. Want vampires? Or werewolves? Or a crossover between vampires and werewolves? Yup. (not talking about Twilight, there are other books).
5-Sub-genres
This is one of the few genres that offer so much diversity and the sub genres are so many, I highly doubt any reader has read all of them. Dystopian? Post-apocalypse? Zombie invasion? Fae world? YA? Contemporary? Horror? Gothic? Every other genre can be combined with this one to make a new book. That’s probably why fantasy is arguably one of the most read genres and each and every week there are new releases in this genre.
There are some books that don’t feel like fantasy but they are such as The Selection or LOTR. An adventure is also a fantasy that wobbles on the borderline of reality.
If you want to have more information about fantasy and its sub-genre than you can get more info at the following.
Fantasy Sub-genres ~ Reedsy
Science- fantasy, fiction ~ Book riot
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