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This is another observation I've had while reading lately. Most of the books I've been reading -- all either in the fantasy genre or at least associated with it in some way -- don't have the traditional Tolkienesque Epic Quest to Save the World from Unspeakable Evil.
Personally, I think this is great. It's one thing that I liked about A Game of Thrones, The Sarantine Mosaic, and The Darkness that Comes Before... and I'm presently liking it about The Last Light of the Sun. I don't miss saving the world at all. In fact, on a related note, saving the world is one of the reasons I can't be bothered with the Final Fantasy games and why Planescape: Torment -- with its complete lack of world-saving -- is my favourite RPG.
My view stems from my preference for character-driven narrative rather than event-driven narrative. I'm less interested in how the world has changed by the end of the book than I am in how the characters have changed... so the loss of an Epic Quest really isn't a big deal for me. Small events can affect characters profoundly, so the things that happen can be quite small -- insignificant, even, if seen from the eyes of someone other than the character of interest.
So. Does anyone here still lust after world-saving and Epic Questing in their literature? Why?
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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(not really answering your question) Have you read Merecedes Lackey? I find her novels to be very character-driven, and am curious what you think of her stories. I really enjoy Lackey's stuff, though I'd hesitate to call it "quality" writing per se. But very enjoyable. I think there was a "she's too gay-friendly" thread about her last year.
But I can take or leave the quest-driven stuff. I really liked Lloyd Alexander's Taran/Eilonwy/Dallben stuff. And several of those books were very quest driven (though Taran Wanderer wasn't, and that was my favorite).
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Suneun, that was my favorite book of the Prydian series too! I loved that whole series, and it is on my "Must read to my children" list! Whenever I finally have some, that is...
I like fantasy, and the whole massive quest thing is very cool to me, but it is a bit overdone. I do have trouble with the Quest thing when it is a matter of total domination of a world, because it has been done so much that it has lost some of it's power.
I prefer books that are more character driven these days, but most of my favorite books have the Quest thingie going on. I liked Kay's Lions of Al-Rassen because the events involved nations, but one way or another life would go on, and the same with his book Tigana. However, The Fionavarr Tapestry is one of my favorites, and also Written by Kay, and it it very much a quest for all worlds to survive, as what happens in Fionavarr echos throughout all planes.
I think that both can be done well, but it seems to be easier to make me care about a story if it is character driven.
Also, don't be surprised if Martin's next few books drift closer to the "Save the whole damn world" camp than the first 3 did. There were echoes of that in all three, with Winter is Coming stamped all over them.....lol
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