[QUOTE=EverKing;n430597]
Overall, I think the state of Fantasy is pretty stagnant. There are some refreshing spots--Gaiman, Mieville--which are trying to add something new to the discussion but overall I think the vast majority of it is derivative in the worst ways. Some, like Martin, try to disguise their derivations with shock and "gritty realism" but even they are fairly poor in my opinion. The trend a decade or so ago was in "Urban Fantasy" /QUOTE]
cut that quote more than I meant to. Although I could have just cut out Gaiman and Mieville and added an exclamation point. Both of them are so good, and part of that is because they are adding something new. Gaiman has a lot in common with some of the urban fantasists, which certainly isn’t a knock. I mentioned recently how much I like Jonathan Carroll and a lot of the other fabulists that also get called urban fantasy, and I really like some of Charles DeLint’s work, some of which is definitely urban fantasy. All of them
also have a lot in common with a certain kind of horror writing as well, especially in the sense of things being just a little off.
I’ll take all of this over another quest fantasy.
Overall, I think the state of Fantasy is pretty stagnant. There are some refreshing spots--Gaiman, Mieville--which are trying to add something new to the discussion but overall I think the vast majority of it is derivative in the worst ways. Some, like Martin, try to disguise their derivations with shock and "gritty realism" but even they are fairly poor in my opinion. The trend a decade or so ago was in "Urban Fantasy" /QUOTE]
cut that quote more than I meant to. Although I could have just cut out Gaiman and Mieville and added an exclamation point. Both of them are so good, and part of that is because they are adding something new. Gaiman has a lot in common with some of the urban fantasists, which certainly isn’t a knock. I mentioned recently how much I like Jonathan Carroll and a lot of the other fabulists that also get called urban fantasy, and I really like some of Charles DeLint’s work, some of which is definitely urban fantasy. All of them
also have a lot in common with a certain kind of horror writing as well, especially in the sense of things being just a little off.
I’ll take all of this over another quest fantasy.
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