Why didn't Charles Dickens write about dragons?
May 12, 2023 5:51 pm
Boy. Sword. Dragon. Prophecy.
I've always been a fast reader, and was one of those kids in school who prided herself on how many books she could read. But what I hated reading were books assigned to me in English class. It always seemed that teachers assigned us books written for a nineteenth century audience. Those books felt so slow. I wanted action and adventure, not fourteen pages describing what the horse-drawn carraige looked like. I didn't understand the world or the people, and I didn't care to. This was kind of ironic, because I loved giant doorstop fantasy novels and mass-market paperback fantasy novels with trilogy after trilogy. These books are as dense as Dickens, and hard to follow, but they had dragons so it worked out.
High fantasy novels tend to be thicker because if you describe an entire world and how the different races and classes work together, the kingdoms and magical creatures and how magic works and who uses it and how they're treated, sooner or later you're at 100,000 words, not including plot and characters. Once an author has made the investment of writing a book-length manifesto, it makes sense to go in for a long haul of a multi-book series. I think this is why so many high fantasy novels are McFantasyland Tolkien rip-offs. It's just easier to use a pre-made world and put your own spin on it.
When magic is new technology, getting in on the ground floor is up for grabs. Did you read this book? I'd love your reviews and recommendations! (Wide)
You still have to do worldbuilding with urban fantasy, but it's a less time-consuming process. Parasitic Souls has a different kind of magic than either the Alternate Susan series or the Kit Melbourne series. Setting the book in California is the authorial equivalent of using pre-boiled lasagna noodles; I got to create the magic systems (the fun part) but then move on to plot and characters and danger and adventure and talking birds without having to spend all that time writing a 4000 word italicized prologue telling you about how the twelve jewels of Krs'oth were splintered to form the twelve kingdoms currently at war and drop poems about the prophecy this humble farm boy will fulfill once he gets his magic sword. Not that I don't enjoy high fantasy from time to time, I just don't want to boil those noodles myself.
This week's question: Do you have a favorite high fantasy doorstop novel series?
When Ophelia Black decides to settle down and create the perfect sanctuary for witches, warlocks, and wizards the realm is torn apart, and the universe as we know it is changed forever. (Free)
This digital box set features 5 thrilling urban fantasy novels from top authors C.G. Harris, Mark Leslie, Michael La Ronn, Tao Wong, and James Hunter as they take you into worlds where magic and the supernatural collide with the modern world. (Wide)
All Rose wants is peace, quiet, and some quality time with her lovable foster dog, Braveheart. Unfortunately, a devious elder fire witch has decided it’s time to begin Rose’s training in fire magic—and she won’t take no for an answer. (Amazon)
Rosie Hexwell, a charming yet reluctant witch, expertly crafts tantalizing concoctions at Witch's Brew, a quaint, slow-living café. But a powerful, arcane enterprise seeks to claim the Witch's Brew business as its own, and Rosie must summon all her wiles to protect her magical coffee sanctuary. (Amazon)
Violet is a sorcerer and a huntress who needs to go undercover to face the one who stole her from her parents and turned her into a vampire. Seducing and destroying him has been what kept Violet alive for so long, but confronting old feelings might not be as easy as she imagines. (Wide)
Gratuitous Cat Picture
Hades. He should have been named "Craven" because he's afraid of everything.
Other Novels
