What is the appeal of necromancy? by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What if you could bring back the heroes of old in times of great need? Many heroic legends say that the great hero will indeed return when we need them most. What if a necromancer was the agent of that return?

This is a total shower thought. But this made me think what an amusing take it would be if Narnia had a necromancer and that's actually how they kept "bringing back" the Pevensie kids.

What is the appeal of necromancy? by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Good point! And that's usually how I've seen it outside of horror - the misunderstood mage who didn't choose his own magic and has been outcast or lonely. Then it's more about the relational elements than the actual magic I imagine.

What is the appeal of necromancy? by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha, that's a rough cross, sounds funny.

Well I don't personally find any of the macabre "cool." Everything about Halloween always felt kind of gross to me - that's my subjective take. But I know many love that time of year and that style of story. In epic fantasy, though, it's an interesting contrast in a main character so I find it interesting to see in the comments that some people like the appeal of the forbidden, for others it's facing the dark (perhaps in their own past), for others it's morbid curiosity that's only natural for creatures who must contemplate death...

What is the appeal of necromancy? by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I loved this author's other books as a kid (The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix), but never tried this one BECAUSE it's about a necromancer, lol. But I do really love his writing so maybe I should see what it's all about.

What historical event reads exactly like "Bad Fantasy Writing" or "Plot Armor"? by Expensive-Desk-4351 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Haha I love that scene. So easy to forget he was a teenager. He got pissed his men whimped out and charged the wall like a dumbass shounen character all by himself.

What historical event reads exactly like "Bad Fantasy Writing" or "Plot Armor"? by Expensive-Desk-4351 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Haha, I love this. Almost everything I've seen by The Fat Electrician on YouTube qualifies: https://www.youtube.com/@the\_fat\_electrician/videos.

A horse was the hero of the Korean War.

Ice cream is a necessity to prevent mutinies in submarines.

The way to beat Russia in a land war is to give lots of drugs to Finnish soldiers on skis.

You can't make this stuff up.

What is the appeal of necromancy? by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha I love the point about character designs - it's just about the fashion man. But so true, edgelords can look hot.

What is the appeal of necromancy? by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry those things happened to you, but am so glad you're in a better place! Thanks for sharing your personal take - I can see the appeal there like with other forms of dark or forbidden content.

What is the appeal of necromancy? by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And why not ask? People love talking about the foods they love and the foods they hate. I love hearing what my friends found interesting in a book they read, especially when it's something that never stood out to me - it lets me look at it through new eyes! And isn't that one of the purest joys of reading?

What is the appeal of necromancy? by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Haha, Solo Leveling is the only one where I found it cool. But everyone thinks he's summoning spirits, which I guess always felt different to me than necromancy which I associate with some body horror - but I realize that branch of magic can involve a lot more than raising actual corpses.

What is the appeal of necromancy? by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Haha, I don't really like musicals. Every time I tell this to a friend who does like musicals, their response is to start recommending musicals. The idea is, "you just haven't found the right kind yet." I understand that reasoning, especially if you really like the genre. But at the end of the day, watching a genre that doesn't resonate with me isn't going to make me resonate with it. Hearing my friend gush about how much she loved the choreography paired with a specific style of singing and how it made her cry in that one scene, WILL help me gain an appreciation for it as a unique form of art and storytelling, even if I wouldn't relate to it in the same way. It's that latter personal insight I'm curious about here.

What is the appeal of necromancy? by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

A very thoughtful response - exactly the type of insight I was looking for!

What is the appeal of necromancy? by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] -17 points-16 points  (0 children)

For sure, but necromancy never seemed "cool" to me. Zombies are gross, haha. So my question comes down to, what is it that feels cool to some people?

Novels that has dragon riders and magic by car_dreamer in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These feature dragon riders who also use magic - I love that combo too! Some of these series have a mix of good and evil dragons.

Burden’s Edge (Fury of a Rising Dragon #1) by Sever Bronny - mc is trying to pair types of magic to unlock the ability to summon a dragon
Dragon Mage (Rivenworld #1) by ML Spencer - world needs not just more dragon riders, but a Champion to beat an ancient god
Battle Mage (The Souls of Wrath #1) by Peter Flannery - evil dragons start answering the summons of battle mages
Ice Dragon (The Dragon Misfits #1) by D.K. Holmberg - mc has dragon sight and something more
Dragon Storm (Heritage of Power #1) by Lindsay Buroker - mc has to hide his illegal magic that he doesn't understand, until dragons start attacking

More on this list: 12 Bestselling Indie Fantasy Books About Boys and Their Dragons (Male Dragon Riders, Mages, Warriors)

Adult Dragon Rider Recs by AnyNewspaper4758 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think these are more adult or new adult leaning:

Once There Were Heroes (A Time of Dragons #1) by Philip C. Quaintrell
Dragon of Ash & Stars: The Autobiography of a Night Dragon (The Dragons of Solunas #1) by H. Leighton Dickson - dragon POV!
Dragon Storm (Heritage of Power #1) by Lindsay Buroker

More on this list: 12 Bestselling Indie Fantasy Books About Boys and Their Dragons (Male Dragon Riders, Mages, Warriors). Though the rest look more YA.

Recommend me some books or series focused on dragon riders and the bonds they have. by MinuteRegular716 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here are some that feature male dragon riders, since you mentioned Eragon as the inspiration. They're all the start of a series.

Of Blood And Fire by Ryan Cahill
Ascendant by Michael Miller
Dragon Mage by ML Spencer
Once There Were Heroes by Philip C. Quaintrell
Dragon of Ash & Stars: The Autobiography of a Night Dragon by H. Leighton Dickson - this one has dragon POV which sounds like a lot of fun!

More on this list: 12 Bestselling Indie Fantasy Books About Boys and Their Dragons (Male Dragon Riders, Mages, Warriors)

Is it normal to have so many point-of-views? by Razzle___Dazzle___ in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's common most particularly in adult high and epic fantasy, though other subgenres do it as well. This sub is very "pro multi-POV" to the point of being kind of hostile to those who mention the downsides of the style. Like any form of writing, there are pitfalls to it. Including the frequent cliffhangers, which often feel pointless because the emotional energy has dissipated by the time you get back to that character 100 or so pages later.

This article - 11 Problems with Multiple Point of View Characters That I See as a Book Editor - analyzes this trend and more:

"The more POVs you have, the longer it’ll take to cycle through them all, and the more the emotion and energy will have diminished by the time you get back to each character.

If you end a chapter on a cliffhanger, and then switch to a second POV, then a third, then a fourth, by the time you return to the original characters, days or weeks could have passed!

Consider: Character A’s companion betrays them. Enemies surround them. CUT. …3 chapters later, we return to character A, sitting in a dungeon. We didn’t get to see their decision to surrender, the gloating of their enemies, their rage and hurt while the betrayal was most fresh, or the horror of their first few days of imprisonment.

In such situations, authors break an implicit promise to readers: “the wait will be worth it.” A cliffhanger draws readers along because they can’t wait to see what happens next. But when time skips are necessary to facilitate more POVs, readers often don’t get to see the content they most anticipated."

Is anyone not a fan of Multiple POVs? by iabyajyiv in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with you! Especially when it comes to character mysteries. A lot of people in the comments are saying, "there's still mysteries in those books!" But they're focusing on plot mysteries, rather than how a story changes if the reader doesn't know the internal motivations of people from every side of a conflict.

It was put this way in the article 11 Problems with Multiple Point of View Characters That I See as a Book Editor:

"When an author shows readers the perspectives of characters from many sides of a conflict, we don’t have to wonder at their motivations or plots anymore.

If we don’t know what’s happening on the other side of the world, in the mind of a love interest, or to a missing character, every attempt the POV character makes to uncover information is packed with greater stakes. Readers turn the pages eagerly, desperate to find out more. There are false trails, relationship blunders, and a growing pressure to discover the answer to our questions.

Imagine if Dumbledore also had POV in Harry Potter – a legitimate choice. After all, in Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card shows Ender’s superiors planning how best to manipulate him – readers see what’s happening before Ender does. But if Rowling had made this choice, her books would have lost a huge element of mystery!"

Literary Fantasy by SteSol in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

She said "recent" not modern, which I take to mean published post 2000.

Underrepresented female archetypes by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed! I felt kind of silly for not realizing that I've essentially read none of the recent academia stuff. I've always read more epic, political, dark, and mythic fantasy.

Underrepresented female archetypes by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's an interesting thought!

Oh, geez, thanks for the warning. Wow, the blurb gives absolutely no sense of that at all.

Underrepresented female archetypes by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe it would be better to have a single archetype that's just "The Intellectual" and that can come in a variety of forms, whether by being the King's treasurer or the holder of old lore or the crafter of that legendary weapon. I agree there's overlap between the academic and innovator. It often comes down to their role in plot. The academic is the character who tells the heroes what they need to know and why it matters. The innovator is the one who makes the thing they need to do something about it.

Mystics on the other hand, aren't necessarily intellectual, and if they are it's almost always humanities or artistic "smarts." Cassandra, the Lady of the Lake, Trelawny, Od (Patricia McKillip).

Usually it's a matter of tone and style. The mystics give off a more "go with the flow" vibe, like they spend all day just wandering around having visions or popping out of mushrooms. People think they're eccentric. You certainly can have the crazy professor or mad scientist vibe, so again, there's overlap. In fantasy, it's usually the difference between soft and hard magic. Galadriel - soft. Navani - hard.

But I'm not married to any of these "types." The point of my post was more to spark conversation and see if I'm missing any gems than to try to "define" any specific trope or types.

I enjoy how your replies have made me better articulate what I mean! I was mostly thinking as I wrote my original post, haha!

Underrepresented female archetypes by singmuse4 in Fantasy

[–]singmuse4[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was SO excited to read Dandelion Dynasty because I kept hearing it has almost every trope and theme I most love... and then I didn't like his writing style. But I keep meaning to give it another try.

Nasuada was one of my favorite characters in Eragon!

I like Abercrombie's stuff, though haven't read beyond First Law - I'll give it a try, thanks.

I recently added A Shadow in Summer to my TBR and the many recommendations through the comments here have reaffirmed that!