A story challenge

[S_Ombre]

This one comes off of the S&S challenge to some extent.

Try to write an S&S story in which the central character doesn't carry a sword for whatever reason and isn't a functional mage. Try to bring in some sort of magical artifact. Put the character in an unusuall situation. So basically, try to break as far away from the now "norms" of S&S that have turned it into a place where magicians can get rid of all opposition with the wave of a hand and all wariors can cleave off the heads of their enemies efortlessly. I know that not all S&S is like this, but it has badly poluted the genre recently. I really like S&S, and I like to see it well done. I'm working on a story based to some extent off this idea... I'd post it, but then I wouldn't be able to publish it under my own name since I wish to remain anonomys.

Another thing that would be interesting to see is an effective use of gods in the story. One thing that bothers me about how some autors use gods is that they seem to be perfect. They never argue, they never make mistakes, they can always step in and save the day if necessary. Try some gods that make mistakes that the central character(s) have to untangle. Have fun with making them seem ridiculous sometimes.

S. Ombre

[Azariel]

Does a one-handed warrior count? :lol:

[S_Ombre]

I don't know until you tell me about this one handed warrior. If you have a story along these lines, why don't you post it , even if it doesn't fit my challenge, it will probably fit the broader S&S challenge.

S. Ombre

[DeeCrowSeer]

Um... without wishing to blow my own trumpet, I think my Wylde Journeys thing might meet those criteria. I mean, the main character does carry a weapon, but basically she's just a travelling "bard" in a rock 'n' roll hippie sense... that probably didn't come across in the first story, but that was the plan... and once they work their way up to encountering the gods, they were going to be pretty messed up deities... in fact, the entire world that they're in is basically a "mess" that the gods have created... damn, you've made me want to write more of it now. :)

[devilchicken]

Has anyone carried off an S&S story in which the central character is a flaming homosexual?

Without the typical mysoginy that tends to pervade the S&S genre, would it still work?

[xidrep]

'Conan the Antiquarian' was a prototype of this sort of hero. Barbaric, muscular but sensitive and more in touch with the arty side of things...

[Poetgrrl]

'Conan the Antiquarian' was a prototype of this sort of hero. Barbaric, muscular but sensitive and more in touch with the arty side of things...

Conan the Librarian... that's my Bruce. ALWAYS got a book in his hand. *siiiigh*

[S_Ombre]

In response to devilchicken, its been done and published, and if it's pulled off well it makes as good a story as any other well pulled off story. One of my favorite authors in fact fits into the kind of idea that your talking about. If you want to write a story along those lines, go for it. I, for one, would be interested in seeing it.

S. Ombre

[S_Ombre]

On the topic of creating gods in this type of story...

One thing that can become very irritating in a story is all-knowing, all-powerful gods that always do the right thing. The old polytheistic pantheons (such as Greek, Norse, Egyptian and Celtic) have good examples of interesting gods and godesses. The most interesting gods are flawed, and often make mistakes. They are almost like glorified people. I'm not suggesting a direct imitation of one of these mythologies, in fact I don't encourage such a thing, but looking to them for inspiration can be useful. One thing that I don't think I've ever seen done well (this doesn't mean that it can't be done, I haven't read everything) is a single all-knowing god. Such a device often leads to irritating preaching in stories... Not my cup of sock squeazings. On the other hand, good use of gods can lead to many extra intracasies in a story that make it more interesting. For me it helps that I've always had a soft spot for the aforementioned mythologies, so anything that reminds me of those stories is pleasant reading (if it's well writen).

S. Ombre

[Azariel]

One thing that can become very irritating in a story is all-knowing, all-powerful gods that always do the right thing. The old polytheistic pantheons (such as Greek, Norse, Egyptian and Celtic) have good examples of interesting gods and godesses. The most interesting gods are flawed, and often make mistakes.

S. Ombre

In real life and in writing, I view gods as just elevated creatures who technology fathoms our own perception. It was the theme in Dr. Who's "Pyramid's of Mars" that Sutekh destroyed out of fear that mankind(and all other races in general) would soon reach the level of power of the Osirans. It was an interesting concept to see a "god" nothing more than a scared executive unwilling to hand the reigns of power.

[Grey Mouser]

I think the S&S story I'm thinking of writing is pretty close to your initial premis in this thread S_Ombre.