Annoying Fantasy Trends

[Ferret]

Can we focus the thread please? Not wanting to be a drag but I'm liking that I'm not the only one who is fussy with their novels.

 

[Ibram]

I'd disagree with that one. If you're going use classic fantasy names for races, then they should fit the archetype (generally speaking; individual exceptions are okay, but they should clearly be the exception, not the rule), or at least be descended from people who did. Don't call your tall, thin, aloof, nature-loving race "dwarves" just to be contrary. By the same token, if you're going to use a race that conforms to a classic fantasy archetype, then you should use the classic name for it. Don't call your big, ugly, stupid race "trollocs" just to be contrary (yes, trollocs don't look exactly like orcs and are the result of a mad scientist's genetic engineering experiment that wasn't a complete success, but that's hardly important to the backstory of The Wheel of Time).

Its not the names its the concepts...

Race A is a tall, nature loving, race that lives in the Forest of ABC
Race B is a race of short gruff people who live under the Mountains of HIJ
Race C is a race of ugly but strong barbarians who hate A and B for no particular reason. Oh and A and B dont like each other for some reason as well.

 

[Scarbonac]

Deus ex machina.

 

[Chimera]

Deus ex machina.

Yup, hate that with a passion.

...and then Harry Potter touched Professor Quirrel and he fell to pieces for no apparent reason...

Ugh. Love the stories and especially the setting, hate all the constant DEM stuff.

1. The young orphan and the ditzy old man turn out to be a decoy so the bad guys will concentrate on trying to find and kill them while the competent folks half a continent away actually do the stuff that sets things right. Neither knows they're a decoy. The powers that be don't care because, hey, who is going to miss one orphan and a half-senile old man, right?

I love this idea.

No one cared about the long, angst-ridden journey Bruce Willis's character went on to became such a badass before he finally showed up at the Nakatomi Tower in Die Hard.

Sheepishly tears up his spec script for Die Hard: The Prequel...


I know it's a product of history in that no one really mattered unless they were nobility or royalty, but I really hate it when the hero or turns out to be a noble or a prince/ss.

 

[Felix]

1. The young orphan and the ditzy old man turn out to be a decoy so the bad guys will concentrate on trying to find and kill them while the competent folks half a continent away actually do the stuff that sets things right. Neither knows they're a decoy. The powers that be don't care because, hey, who is going to miss one orphan and a half-senile old man, right?

Chevy Chase + Dan Akroid.
Spies Like Us
Brilliant execution of the Hero-diversion story.

 

[fujaiwei]

Stampy-footed and vicious but cute and sexy yet ('lovably') annoying fiery-haired princesses.

hmm...

Weapons with overly cheesy (wince-worthy) names, too.

Ah, anything with an overly cheesy name.

So really my bane in a fantasy novel would be a vicious, cute, sexy, 'lovably' annoying, stampy-footed, fiery-haired princess called Willowblossom or Elfstar or whatever, wielding a hugely powerful awesome magical kewl legendary Piece O Death that goes by the name of Whisperdeath or some such.

Yeh. That'd do it.

Oh, too the cutesy wittle critters that waddle/paddle/flap/sproing/bound/etc. around for no other reason than to score 'cute points' with potential marks, ah readers that is.

You must despise most Japanese anime, eh?

 

[beeber]

at least when it's in anime, you can sit through a half-hour episode or so and the cliches become relatively painless. now, reading that sort of thing for 300+ pages. . . .

 

[LiKral]

To these, I would add:
-Relative ethics. (George Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire, an otherwise fine book)

I like that book, and I would not say the ethics are very relative. Westeros has a clear code of ethics for those of the knightly caste, and much of the book is about the people who cannot live up to them. Very few of the book are pure good or evil, but some are (Jon is pure good I think, Gregor pure evil). It is one of the things that make the book so interesting to me. It reminds me of the tales of King Arthur in many ways. Lancelot and Guinevere and all that.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Here's a heads up...

Clive Barker wrote a book called Imajica that has a couple of the clichees, but handled them nicely. I'm not going to spoil them, either.

I bring this up because he has a new book (first in a new series) Abarat that is best described as Imajica for the Harry Potter set. Similar clichees as in Imajica, and still handled well.

 

[Obfuscated]

What kind of cliches do I hate?
Let's see.....

Uber-powerful person/object coming into play at the exact moment needed. (See Deus Ex Machina)

The 'stubborn female' stereotype. - Particularly Nynaeve al'Meara (Robert Jordan writes the most aggravating female characters)

Under-developed bad guys. - Who cares if the bad guy is uber-powerful and evil if all he is is another notch in your sword? Give me some background! Make me torn over who is the real bad guy, or why? (GRR Martin has done some great work in this respect)

The mystical 'guide' that appears to lead the hero through a new land - why can't the hero figure things out for themselves? Why must they be led by the nose...

Heroes who never suffer loss, even against impossible odds.