D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

[Reynard]

I would argue that Conan is as relevant now as it was a decade ago. That is to say, not very, except in certain circles where it is very relevant.

Sanderson is big, but I am not sure how much impact his work has on gaming. Obviously the Cosmere RPG KS blew up, but we don't know yet whether that will translate into actually played games.

Frankly, I don't think genre literature has much impact on the RPG space these days. i think video games are a much bigger influence, as well as anime and American "cartoons". And, frankly, the MCU and Star Wars. I don't mean this pejoratively. The days of books driving RPGs are, I think, long gone.

 

[Umbran]

My best attempts to describe what I would prefer that isn't this have been instantly written off as either plastic and hollow, or as so overwhelmingly, cloyingly sweet that nobody could stomach them. At the time, my knee-jerk reaction was to say "sounds like what someone who can't see past grimdark gloom would say" but that wasn't kind or productive at the time, and really wasn't accurate either. But it really does seem like trying to have even the TINIEST bit of true sincerity, to have any form of heartfelt message no matter how nuanced and careful, is instantly dismissed as either infantile drivel, obviously a sham, or so painfully saccharine that it would drive off almost everyone.

Get new people to discuss fantasy literature with. They are stuck in the past.

2022 Goodreads Choice award, 2023 Nebula for best novel, 2023 Hugo for best novel, New York Times bestseller: Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldtree. It's subtitle is "A novel of high fantasy and low stakes", it is the story of an orc who quits the violent mercenary game to open a coffee shop.

 

[Marandahir]

Yeah, gotta say the vast majority of fantasy novels I see on the shelves these days are a mix of Romantasy in both the YA and "adult" novel sections, and straight up Fantasy in the JR & YA sections - with a strong emphasis on diversity of fantastical settings (a lot of East Asian inspired, but also seeing a lot of Meso-American inspired works, as well as Subsaharan African inspired works). Solar Punk and Afro-Futurism cross over too.

Look at the source inspirations for Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel and you'll see what I mean.

 

[TiQuinn]

You and several others in this thread for the most part read like you are simply listing media that have personally influenced your thinking about fantasy.

What’s the difference if the way you think about fantasy ends up in your RPG?

 

[TiQuinn]

The last few fantasy authors that I’ve read: Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House and Hell Bent, S.A. Chakraborty’s Daevabad Trilogy and the Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, The new Forgotten Realms book The Fallbacks, The Critical Role novel Kith and Kin, and now I’m listening to the Lies of Locke Lamora.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Get new people to discuss fantasy literature with. They are stuck in the past.

2022 Goodreads Choice award, 2023 Nebula for best novel, 2023 Hugo for best novel, New York Times bestseller: Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldtree. It's subtitle is "A novel of high fantasy and low stakes", it is the story of an orc who quits the violent mercenary game to open a coffee shop.

I think it’s finding something that is neither grimdark nor light and frothy that is so elusive in modern fantasy. Earnest, high stakes, hopeful. I.e like Lord of the Rings.

 

[overgeeked]

with a strong emphasis on diversity of fantastical settings (a lot of East Asian inspired, but also seeing a lot of Meso-American inspired works, as well as Subsaharan African inspired works). Solar Punk and Afro-Futurism cross over too.

I would love to see any and all recs for Meso-American and Solarpunk books.

 

[Umbran]

Yeah, gotta say the vast majority of fantasy novels I see on the shelves these days are a mix of Romantasy in both the YA and "adult" novel sections, and straight up Fantasy in the JR & YA sections - with a strong emphasis on diversity of fantastical settings (a lot of East Asian inspired, but also seeing a lot of Meso-American inspired works, as well as Subsaharan African inspired works). Solar Punk and Afro-Futurism cross over too.

Look at the source inspirations for Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel and you'll see what I mean.

Yeah, if we are looking for "influence" we are probably going to have to remember that old timers are not the new hotness of revenue. Modern fantasy looks more like the works of N.K. Jemisin than J.R.R. Tolkien.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I still read Conan all the time. Would say it’s still foundational and relevant. One can enjoy new fantasy books but still go back to the classics

 

[SkidAce]

Get new people to discuss fantasy literature with. They are stuck in the past.

2022 Goodreads Choice award, 2023 Nebula for best novel, 2023 Hugo for best novel, New York Times bestseller: Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldtree. It's subtitle is "A novel of high fantasy and low stakes", it is the story of an orc who quits the violent mercenary game to open a coffee shop.

Agreed. I worked ay B&N for 13 years before I retired 3 months ago.

Grimdark is fading fast, and feel good fantasy is filling the void.