Nigel Terry in Excalibur
Your character stands on the edge of the battlefield, where the fate of the world will be decided. He prepares to lead the charge that will change history forever. But as he raises his banner high, something is amiss; there’s laughter all around! A sudden gust of icy wind sends a shocking realization to the character—he’s naked.
Now, obviously your characters aren’t going to jump into the fray with their birthday suits on. That is, of course, unless you intend for them to do so. But chances are, without decent protection, your characters will die. So you’ve got a nude warrior against the world… now what?
Unless streaking is an ancient rite for summoning powerful forces to your character’s aid, you’re going to want to suit them up. But before you choose an armor type for your characters and armies, there are multiple factors that should be considered.
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With some fans thinking the uber-popular Japanese RPG staple Final Fantasy (hereafter referred to as FF) to be on the decline, more players are turning to the tighter stories and open-ended worlds of games like Dragon Age and the Elder Scrolls series (Oblivion, Skyrim, etc.)
Some complain that these Western games all follow the same tired tropes of fantasy though. Generic monsters, a world that needs to be saved, variations of the same classes and skills.
I personally love both types of games, so I wonder what they’d be like if combined? Would they be like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup? Or more like a fried pickle sundae?
In regards to possible complaints from both sides of the pond, I’d like to propose a type of game that would appeal to both types of fantasy gamers.
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Kindle Touch
I love books. I love the way that they feel in my hands. I love how they smell. To me, every book is a treasure.
Hence, when the eBook craze began I was a doubter. In fact, I was a fairly vocal critic of the movement. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would choose to download and read a digital manuscript when they had the option of reading a real book.
Slowly, my resistance has been melting away.
First, my sister-in-law showed me her NOOK eReader. At first glance, the screen looked like paper. I was amazed by the E Ink technology, and just how easy it is on my eyes.
Second, I’m running out of space in my home and office. Since my wife and I became parents, space has been at a premium. Our home bookshelves are filled with rows of books, one layer piled upon another. My office bookshelves are also at maximum capacity. I love to buy and read books, but I’m simply out of space.
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Highlander 2
We’ve previously discussed some of the best fantasy movies of all time. Now we’re going to look at the opposite side of the spectrum.
The following films are not necessarily the “worst” of their kind, but they are major disappointments. In other words, these are fantasy films that had the potential to be great, but went bad somewhere along the way. I went into each film expecting something wonderful, and was left with a feeling of having been cheated.
In no particular order, they are:
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Divine Hammer: Kingpriest Trilogy, Volume Two (Cover)
Imaginative Realism is the art of painting or drawing what doesn’t exist. It’s the act of bringing visual life to fantasy, often based on the words of fantasy authors.
Several months ago I knew Marc Fishman to be an amazing artist and an insightful human being, and A Song of Ice and Fire was just a series of books that people kept pestering me to read. Then an HBO series (Game of Thrones) based on the books came along, and I decided to live tweet during it for Mythic Scribes. I read the first book, watched the series and was hooked.
Shortly thereafter I learned that Marc was illustrating a limited edition version of George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons.
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Do you feel restricted?
This article is by Bets Davies.
I always felt straight jacketed by fantasy’s strict genre expectations.
Got a little too much romance or sex in your fantasy novel? Sacrilege. That is Romance.
Wait. What if I am talking about two guys? Gay and Lesbian, then. All the way.
Got frat boy zombies who want to play foosball all day? Hey. That’s Horror!
It seems that Fantasy, a genre whose very name suggests the ability to explore and expand, has become too confined. For me, this disillusionment is married to the fact that I like to explore a lot of different areas.
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Percy Jackson
This article is by Frank LaVoie, author of Firesoul.
For those of you not familiar with the YA moniker, it refers to the genre of Young Adult literature. In the realm of publishing, it is most often coupled with the word ‘fantasy’, thus denoting a fairly specific breed that has proven its popularity in the form of the Harry Potters and Percy Jacksons of the literary world. The growing scope of YA Fantasy has been wholly responsible for an entire generation taking to books. Even medical science has had to pay attention; they credited Rowling’s works with the highly contagious Hogwart’s headache, onset by nonstop reading of the author’s seven-hundred-word whoppers.
But does the rising fashion-ability of YA Fantasy come at a price?
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Imitation run amok?
As a twelve year old boy I resolved to write my first fantasy epic. Through months of toil I hammered out a draft and set it aside. When I returned to it, I was surprised to discover just how unoriginal it was. The plot borrowed heavily from The Lord of the Rings, with strong shades of Star Wars. The dialogue and description sounded too much like C.S. Lewis. And worst of all, virtually every fantasy cliché surfaced at some point in the tale.
In other words, it stunk. But in retrospect, this was a necessary stage in my development as a writer. Without consciously realizing it, I was imitating the masters – albeit poorly. But by imitating them I was learning how to write. Then, and only then, was I able to move forward and find my own voice.
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Too many elves?
I recently took my daughter to buy some books in a rather large UK book chain and was dismayed to discover that the Fantasy section had all but disappeared.
Whereas a decade or more ago it took up an entire wall, it’s now reduced to shelf space maybe eight feet long, if that. What’s worse, it’s no longer Fantasy: each work of imaginative fiction strains beneath the banner of Sci-Fi so that Tolkien shares space with computer game tie-ins.
While I’m always happy to see genre distinctions eroded (though I don’t see why it’s not all under a Fantasy banner) it made me realise just how low the genre has fallen in the public’s affections.
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Sir Ian McKellan as Gandalf
Like many writers of my generation, my first exposure to the fantasy genre was through films. I’ve previously told the story of how my father took me to see Conan the Barbarian when I was underage, and how this brought about an epiphany in my life. Ever since that first encounter, fantasy movies have helped to shape my imagination. When reflecting on the major milestones of my life, I often remember them in relation to the films that captured my attention during those years.
I recently asked our community members to compile a list of their favorite fantasy films. And as usual, our members provided inspired and sometimes provocative responses. This prompted me to consider which fantasy films have had the greatest impact on my writing, and why they are so meaningful.
So without further ado, here is my personal list.
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