Have fantasy novels gotten "better" since D&D?

[Wraith Form]

I (accidentally?) interpreted your question as "Did the quality of D&D fantasy novels improve with time," to which I have to say only this:

Between the years 1993 - 1999, I probably purchased every Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Planescape, etc novel published. From 1999 - present, I bought maybe 6. Now, partially that's due to getting older & more refined in my interests, but many of the newer authors just.....stink, IMNSHO.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I'd say yes, and I think that D&D has had a real and positive influence, although it hasn't been the only influence. I think "critical mass" has a lot to do with it. The more "fantasy" books/games/products the public is exposed to, the more people use the ideas contained therein to try and create new things. The bigger the original idea pool, the more varied the possibilities of further mental exploration for future fantasists (<--madeup word...feel free to use it too).

Every response so far is intelligent and well thought out. After having read all of them, I agree with Ulric: more equals more variety, which is, in my opinion, better for us fantasists.

 

[MerricB]

Not quite.

I think fantasy novels have gotten better since "The Lord of the Rings", which made booksellers very aware that fantasy was a going concern, opened the eyes of the greater public, and showed writers what could be done as literature, an epic, and a world-building work.

Cheers!

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Our group started in on this topic last night. It seems that fantasy novels have gotten a lot better since 1974. Is it because of D&D or just sheer luck for the rest of us?

Hmm. Well, in the sense that China Mieville is one of the best novelists working in fantasy right now, and that he admits to a significant influence on his work from the roleplaying games he played in the Eighties . . . sure.

In the sense that George R. R. Martin is likewise one of the best novelists working in fantasy, and his career happens to post-date the invention of D&D . . . sure. (Even though Martin was a gamer (the Wild Cards series he edited was based on a superhero roleplaying game he ran), I wouldn't say there's a significant gaming influence on his work.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Our group started in on this topic last night. It seems that fantasy novels have gotten a lot better since 1974. Is it because of D&D or just sheer luck for the rest of us?

Fantasy novels have dropped off a cliff in quality since TSR published the Dragonlance novels and showed that a good brand was more important for sales than decent writing, original plot, interesting characters or a novel setting.

Today, the market is full of ghastly crap. That we've gotten a few good series like a Song of Ice & Fire is remarkable, and an example of a book escaping the web of garbage that stretches over the industry now, not some sort of product of it.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Absolutely not.

If you'd asked this, say, 5-10 years ago, I would have unquestionably said fantasy novels had taken a nosedive. If not since 1974, certainly since the late 70s, when the D&D influence really started to be felt.

In the wake of D&D (and, almost certainly more importantly, the widespread popularity of the Lord of the Rings), fantasy adopted a forumla that was followed by 99% of the scholck that clogged the '80s and '90s. The quality didn't rise but the themes (among those who 'got' that the source material had a theme) changed and the style (among those who had anything approaching it) became wordy and overwritten. The vitality of the previous pulp fantasy vanished and was replaced with dull LotR clones from writers who weren't half the prose stylists or plotters Professor Tolkien was - and neither style nor plot were Tolkien's greatest strengths in the first place. True, the pulp writers who preceded them weren't half the plotters or stylists Robert E. Howard was, but they were pale imitations in the areas that were Howard's strengths, and their third-rate schlock was higher on the literary totem pole than the fourth-rate tripe that replaced them.

Now, in the last 5-10 years, fantasy has *finally* recovered some of its verve and variety. Writers like Martin, Neil Gaiman and Sussanah Clarke (Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell) have pushed the genre again, and obviously the Harry Potter series have blown the doors off in terms of sales.

If anything, I'd say the *slump* in D&D surrounding TSR's demise helped the quality of fantasy fiction jump through the roof.

 

[Blood Jester]

I'd say a resounding "no" based on my reading experiences.

 

[RangerWickett]

Mind you, I'm a writer, and though I grew up loving sci-fi and fantasy, when I went to college I was taught by traditional literary authors. I think there's a ton of crap in fantasy.

Of course, there's a ton of crap in every genre. Even 'literary' fiction. What saddens me is that a lot of readers don't seem to care. People read and like a lot of crap, which makes me wonder if maybe what I write is actually the crap.

 

[Dirt]

I believe that fantasy, in general, is more widely accepted. I think we find more gems, simply because more writers are willing to enter the field. I would say that the same goes for sci-fi as well.

However, I'd wouldn't necessarily say "better"...in both fantasy and sci-fi, there are some great authors that helped to build the genre.

 

[mmadsen]

It seems that fantasy novels have gotten a lot better since 1974.

What makes you say that? What novels, pre- and post-1974, were you thinking of?