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A world that isn't ripped off from Tolkien or Star Wars/Star Trek. Something that hasn't been seen before.
Posts: 1744 | Registered: Jul 2001
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The same thing that makes any fiction good - an interesting story, with characters I'd like to meet in real life and issues that matter to the me
Posts: 8120 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Two things: an original and imaginative world-vision with lots and lots of depth, and good writing.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Good fantasy is made by low-magic settings. Good silly fantasy is made by an ultra-high-magic setting.
Good science fiction is either talking about how the technology works when it matters to talk about it, or to never talk about it at all and make the technology beleivable enough for readers to assume it works.
Posts: 903 | Registered: May 2003
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The best way I ever saw of describing it: “Real toads in a made-up garden.” I can’t give it attribution because I heard it from my 12th grade English teacher about 15 years ago.
His other favorite saying is if you mention the shotgun on the wall when you describe the room, it better go off before the end of the story.
he was big on characterization and implicit promise.