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What is the single best fantasy novel of all time?
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<blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 9124388" data-attributes="member: 7035894"><p>It's a ballad.</p><p></p><p>There is no hard definition of epic. There are your classical epics, like the <em>Iliad</em>, <em>Odyssey</em>, and <em>Aenied</em>, and then their direct descendants, like <em>Paradise Lost</em>, that followed some fairly specific conventions. You've got your less structured epics, like <em>Beowulf</em>. You've got your mock epics, like <em>The Rape of the Lock.</em></p><p></p><p>In general an epic has to be a largely narrative, rather than lyric, poem. It has to cover heroic events over a significant span of time, and these events should be consequential in terms of history and legend. There is a cohesive story (i.e. not like <em>The Canterbury Tales</em>). It must be long - <em>much</em> longer than "Sam McGee." There are almost always supernatural elements. They are always culturally significant.</p><p></p><p>My favourite epic is easy, as I've got an image and passage from <em>Paradise Lost</em> tattooed onto my body: "The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven" (part of Satan's initial address to the other fallen angels, though Milton cheekily ripped those lines off from Shakespeare's <em>A Midsummer Night's Dream</em>).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Clint_L, post: 9124388, member: 7035894"] It's a ballad. There is no hard definition of epic. There are your classical epics, like the [I]Iliad[/I], [I]Odyssey[/I], and [I]Aenied[/I], and then their direct descendants, like [I]Paradise Lost[/I], that followed some fairly specific conventions. You've got your less structured epics, like [I]Beowulf[/I]. You've got your mock epics, like [I]The Rape of the Lock.[/I] In general an epic has to be a largely narrative, rather than lyric, poem. It has to cover heroic events over a significant span of time, and these events should be consequential in terms of history and legend. There is a cohesive story (i.e. not like [I]The Canterbury Tales[/I]). It must be long - [I]much[/I] longer than "Sam McGee." There are almost always supernatural elements. They are always culturally significant. My favourite epic is easy, as I've got an image and passage from [I]Paradise Lost[/I] tattooed onto my body: "The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven" (part of Satan's initial address to the other fallen angels, though Milton cheekily ripped those lines off from Shakespeare's [I]A Midsummer Night's Dream[/I]). [/QUOTE]
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