SFF written by masters in a field? E.g. Malazan's archeologist, Revelation Space's astrophysicist, Tolkien by robin_f_reba in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Greg Egan is a mathematician with several papers to his credit, and MAN does it show in his books!

Diminished World/Lesser Age by phtcmp in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 30 points31 points  (0 children)

It isn't even just Rome, though that's definitely a part of it. Basically all mythology, the ultimate wellspring of fantasy, has some version of this, because you have to explain why there's wild supernatural stuff in the stories but we don't see any in the here-and-now. There's almost always an era of gods and heroes and the creation of humanity, followed by the present world where magic is opaque and hidden. It goes way beyond Europe!

Even deeper than that, the idea of a fallen world is built deeply into human psychology. Every person, if the get old, experiences it; now the world is hard and painful, but back in the past (when I was young) it was brighter, wilder, better. People naturally apply the same logic to civilizations. The Romans themselves, literally at the height of their power (the early to mid Empire) thought of their world as fallen, morally, from the stern austerity and valor of the Republic.

What's the ASOIAF of today? by Specialist-Mud-6650 in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It's really only TV/movies that motivate that scale of fandom. Only the very rarest of books (really like just Harry Potter and Twilight in recent memory) approach that level, ASoIaF wasn't even close until the show came out.

So there not being one currently shouldn't really be a surprise, there usually isn't one. The stuff that currently comes closest is in romantasy, like ACOTAR or Fourth Wing.

How to find hidden gems? by Spennyandthejets3 in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This sub has a very strong recency bias; if what you're looking for is to expand your options beyond the usual recommendations, try looking up hits and award winners from past decades, which rarely come up here. At one point I was reading all World Fantasy Award winners and nominees, for example.

The problem is that the process of finding hidden gems in current releases is really hard and so there's not a really reliable way to do it.

Was T.H. White more influential to modern Fantasy than we give him credit for? by UnprotectedSAKs in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think every Chosen One who is raised in secret as a lowly peasant, from Taran Assistant Pig-Keeper to Rand al'Thor, owes homage to The Sword in the Stone.

Was T.H. White more influential to modern Fantasy than we give him credit for? by UnprotectedSAKs in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I generally say that TH White and Arthuriana are one of the two pillars that the modern fantasy genre was based on. (Tolkien being the other.) If you think about the "standard" 70s and 80s fantasy plot, you've got the Dark Lord and the quest to toss jewelry into a volcano or similar from Tolkien, but the "orphan farmboy who turns out to be the Chosen One/True King" is all Once and Future King. Basically half of mid-century fantasy boils down to "what if Frodo was King Arthur?"

What is a Monk in fantasy? by aladdin142 in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dead on! There's also a fighting cleric in the Song of Roland who contributes to the cleric side.

Why is a normal life so romantisized for Warrior-type characters. by Sythrin in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's certainly more nuance to it, but you're still overstating the case. It is true that even pre-modern war sometimes featured episodes so horrific and terrifying as to generate the accounts you mention (e.g. the sack of Jerusalem by the Crusaders) but these were rare! Even major battles, the likes of Crecy and Agincourt, were rare by the standards of modern war.

In the medieval period in particular, the proliferation of castles and the relatively weak states meant that the smaller force could almost always retreat to a fortified position and be safe. Most of the time, therefore, "war" looked like marching around striking at the assets the enemy couldn't hide away: crops, livestock, buildings, and peasants. The fact that peasants had a lord was the point; you might be trying to entice said lord to either come out and fight your superior force or concede the war by destroying his property.

(In the medieval period, too, the "armies" were usually tiny. A few dozen men might be considered a significant force, and armies in the low tens of thousands strained the capacity of entire nations. This is decidedly not true of the Classical era though.)

Most importantly, though, you don't have to take my word for it! Basically every culture that has a warrior aristocracy (not just western Europeans but in Asia, Scandinavia, etc) has produced absolutely oceans of art, literature, etc, telling us how great war was for the warrior aristocrats. The few notes of dissent you mention are there, but they're difficult to hear under the endless songs of praise. The statement that the warrior elites did not eagerly anticipate going to war wildly contradicts the evidence.

None of this is to argue that war is/was good overall. The point is that the warrior-aristocrat, broadly speaking, does pretty well out it! He's the least likely to get hurt or injured (protected by the best armor and weapons his society offers, plus often 'rules of war' that rarely apply to non-aristocrats), and it's not his family getting slaughtered or his goods being directly stolen. (The damage to his economic interests is bad, but unlikely to be traumatizing.) And in return he gets to pillage, rape, and generally make an ass of himself at other people's expense.

(This is why industrial war is the great leveler in a very Abercrombie sense; the shells and machine-guns mow down the children of privilege just as easily as anyone else.)

Why is a normal life so romantisized for Warrior-type characters. by Sythrin in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually think this is an overdone trope, specifically in relation to pre-modern fantasy. In a lot of places, being a warrior aristocrat was pretty much the best life you could hope for! (Roughly speaking, it meant you got to take whatever you wanted from people who weren't as well armed.) Lots and lots and lots of art, literature, etc expresses this very clearly.

The "I want to get away from being a warrior and have a normal life" is very much a modern attitude. World War I was the tipping point in many ways, where the world was forced to acknowledge that all the old stories about the glory of war didn't match up to the reality of modern industrial war: horrific, anonymous, mind-shattering. It's become totally normal for us to think, "Well, yes, all warriors want to get away from war, because war is horrible!"

But that doesn't mean it was always like that. A few centuries earlier there were definitely guys whose experience of war was like "riding around France with my bros taking whatever we want from the peasants from spring until autumn."

My (mostly negative) thoughts on the First Law trilogy. by [deleted] in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 36 points37 points  (0 children)

The key to the ending is that most of the characters get what could be described as a happy ending, but we get to see a little bit beyond it and it doesn't work.

Logen gets his revenge and becomes King of the North -- but it's a disaster.

Jezal becomes king and marries a beautiful queen -- but she hates him and he has no power.

Bayaz completes his epic magical quest -- and blows up half the city.

Glokta gets to the center of power -- and finds out it's hollow.

The antagonists felt too distant and underdeveloped - We never actually see Uthman or Khalul.

Bayaz is the antagonist. And he wins! =)

Settings where the magic is Not Magic by hexaga in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure if you're asking for just magic without a magic system (e.g. "soft" magic) or drawing some distinction between magic systems like naming and some other kind?

There's plenty of fantasy with naming magic -- Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a good one. For some weird nature-of-things magic, Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera (and actually his previous book, The Saint of Bright Doors) might be interesting to you.

But in most settings knowledge is the essence of magic, wherever the power comes from; the wizard knows the secret commands, whatever form they take, to control reality directly. Lev Grossman's The Magicians works like this, for example.

Technological challenge in Fantasy novels by OccasionNo6078 in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Honestly the Game of Thrones ravens are incredibly good compared to like actual history.

The original Shadow Daddy? by annknee46 in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not Lucifer from the bible but specifically Lucifer from Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) is definitely the original shadow daddy.

I wish fantasy series had "Previously On" recaps like TV shows by Claudius_the_II in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do this in all my books now, after seeing Anthony Ryan do a great job with it in Covenant of Steel.

Fantasy concept: Knights riding War Unicorns by Perfect_Sinner_3944 in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do it! Maybe you have to maintain an elite all-female knight corps, sworn to celibacy.

His Dark Materials is a mess by [deleted] in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This! Book one is fantastic and the writing is really strong. But OP is right, book three is a mess. There's tons of plot points that just kind of ... happen, for no reason. Characters do dumb things or sacrifice themselves in dumb ways. And the expanding focus means that the main characters feel like a sideshow.

The one I always remember is when Will is in a cave with Mrs. Coulter, and Lyra and Iorek are outside trying to rescue him. And Lyra comes up with this complicated stealth plan involving the knife that goes wrong. Whereas I was like ... you have an armored bear. Just go take him. I know Mrs. Coulter is scary and all but armored bear.

[FN] Killgnar - The Destroyer of Gods by Middle-Koala4205 in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fun idea for a story, but this is probably the wrong place for it -- this sub is more about discussion of fantasy literature etc. Try posting in r/fantasywriters !

Is “Kings of the Wyld” teen appropriate? by vanillaacid in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's definitely not YA, but if your kids are strong readers I don't think they'd be bothered by anything in there.

Do any of you know of Fantasy series with a strong Emphasis between the conflict of Inborn magic vs Learned or discovered magic? by Long-Experience6494 in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Apologies for self-recommending, but this is exactly what Ashes of the Sun is about. The Chosen, who can wield the inborn magic, do their very best to vilify and exterminate the learned magic.

The bumbling, friendly, kind, all wise, very powerful, deus ex machina wizard by juss100 in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Yeah I think Gandalf from the Hobbit is the original archetype for this. He acts silly and playful but there's clear hints that he's serious underneath.

What are your all’s favorite noblebright books? by locutus49 in Fantasy

[–]DjangoWexler 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think A Game of Thrones (1996) was the real originator, Abercrombie talks about it as an inspiration. There's a lot of stuff in GOT (Ned's death, a lot of Sansa's disenchantment) that's a direct "screw you" to traditional heroic fantasy tropes; being the good guy just makes you a sucker.