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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Odhanan" data-source="post: 2511288" data-attributes="member: 12324">I am one of the ultimate fans of fantasies of Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, and I think above all, J.R.R. Tolkien, even if I think Middle-earth is probably the most inappropriate setting from these authors to be used as a RPG. It is clear to me that the original assumptions of Merric hold some truth. D&D cannot afford to assume people read these authors. That does not mean, however, that they can't be discovered or made accessible through D&D and RPGs in general. I think that's one of the great things games can do for fantasy literature: open the door to worlds of imagination in writing, in fantasm, whatever. This is one of the great functions of literature too: to think outside the box, to show "out there" what is imagined "in here". Tabletop RPGs are vibrant tools to help in sharing imagination (not only in terms of advertisement, but because of their nature also - sharing an imagined setting around the table and make stories out of this "now" that could not be). There are good authors in today's fantasy literature. Pratchett and Martin come to my mind. But there is SO much chaff also. My usual Chapters store has three shelves of fantasy books. It's sometimes hard to know what's good or not. And when I see readers satisfied by easy plots, stereotype characters and "simplified" writing, I get a bit worried. When I see the standards in the fantasy literature publishing industry, I get angry: basically, you have, as an author, to "think low to sell high". Dumbing yourself down to make yourself understandable of poor, illeterate and unintelligent readers. This makes me want to throw up (sorry for the language).</blockquote>

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