[ SECRET POST #5461 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5461 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 37 secrets from Secret Submission Post #782.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Secrets like this make me sad because there ARE GOOD TRADITIONAL fantasy books being published right now! A few that I have enjoyed in the last few years:

Hall of Smoke by HM Long
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst
For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Among Thieves by MJ Kuhn

[(Anonymous)]

Random Anon

Thank you!!! I was going to ask what were some examples of good fantasy being put out now -- or better yet, and if anyone has an answer/opinion I'd love to hear it:

What do you define as fantasy (as a genre)?
What then do you consider "traditional" fantasy?
What are examples of traditional fantasy done well?
And what would you consider something akin to that nowadays?/what absolutely misses the mark these days?

I've always fancied myself someone who loves fantasy and sci-fi only to realize I don't actually really read those genres. So I began to wonder what counted and what didn't, in the court of public opinion.

[(Anonymous)]

Norse.
Chinese.
Marion Zimmer Bradley Rip Off.
Monster POV.
Norse, again.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer rip off.
Oceans Eleven but in Medieval drag.

Yeah, none of those meet the criteria for traditional fantasy. And I think you know that.

NAYRT

[(Anonymous)]

How do none of them meet the criteria exactly? Especially because it’s just your opinion about two of them being ripoffs, unless you can back it up with something other than pointing out superficial similarities(same with the book you called “Oceans 11 but in medieval drag”, which is so absurd I honestly can’t believe it’s not a joke). And it’s also a weird thing to imply that something can’t be a traditional-styled fantasy if it’s set in a different culture or setting than the mostly medieval England that made up most fantasy books for decades, no matter how much these books otherwise follow the traditional sword and sorcery quest fantasy template to the letter. What’s wrong with the setting being Norse or Chinese for a change?

So no, no matter how much you condescend to AYRT about their opinions and recommendations, it’s not objectively true that “none of these meet the criteria for traditional fantasy”. Also “And I think you know that”? Even if none of the books they listed actually fit the criteria, this accusation would still be nonsense. AYRT would just have a different opinion on what counts as fantasy in that case, they wouldn’t be purposely willfully wrong about it. And again, that would only be if none of the books could count as traditional fantasy, which isn’t true. But it’s always a great sign that someone is acting in bad faith when they state their personal opinion confidently as if it were fact, condescend to the person they’re talking to about their opinions while framing them as objectively wrong, and then end it with “but I think you know that”.

The only book you have a point about is the one that’s from the Monster’s POV, which does sound like more of a subversive take on the genre than a traditional one.

[(Anonymous)]

What are your criteria for traditional fantasy if even northern European doesn't make the cut, you weirdo?

[(Anonymous)]

Vaguely Arthurian.

[(Anonymous)]

DA

But if “vaguely Arthurian” is your only criteria for what makes a traditional fantasy, then that says it all. Your limited understanding and consumption of all the different varieties of traditional fantasy stories is a you problem, so you have no room to say anyone else has it wrong with their understanding of the subgenre.

[(Anonymous)]

NAYRT
So at least the "Marion Zimmer Bradley Rip Off" should fit that definition, right?

[(Anonymous)]

That's a bizarrely limited criterion considering that there's nothing particularly Arthurian about The Lord of the fucking Rings, which surely is a tentpole of traditional fantasy. JRRT wrote Arthurian works, and LOTR and the Hobbit are not that.

[(Anonymous)]

LMFAO and I'm guessing you don't mean Welsh.

[(Anonymous)]

Uhh now I know you haven't actually read any of these books because The Bone Houses is NOTHING like Buffy except for a single line in the publisher marketing.