The struggle to settle.

[krunchee]

Hey guys, I'm having a little trouble sitting down and writing. The fact of the matter is, i love the idea of fantasy, magic battles in particular. I also enjoy intense modern military action. Matthew Reilly in particular. The fact is that fantasy is my favorite but I find it really hard to sit down and write those epic fantasy style settings.

So my question is to you, do you think a Matthew Reilly style fantasy novel would work? Fast paced action in a fantasy setting?

Otherwise do you see any way I could mix fantasy with modern warfare?

 

[CupofJoe]

The usual answer of "anything can work if the story is good enough" applies here.
I haven't read Matthew Reilly so I can't call about his style mixing with fantasy but I can't see why not...
It might be nice to see a fantasy novel at the speed of a Patriot Missile and not a horse cantering...
[okay I now have the image of Patriot Missiles roaring up to intercept waves of incoming Dragons... ]

 

[Feo Takahari]

Matthew Reilly said that Seven Deadly Wonders and its sequels were basically The Lord of the Rings in modern-day times. It follows that Reilly in a fantasy setting could work at least as well as The Lord of the Rings did.

 

[Penpilot]

Well Myke Cole mixes modern military and magic in his book. Shadow Ops: Control Point: Myke Cole: 9781937007249: Amazon.com: Books

Anything is doable. You just have to find a way to make it work well. And the only way to know if you can make it work is to, well, write some of it and see.

 

[wordwalker]

Or for a more World War II pace, take a look at alternate-world master Harry Turtledove's Darkness series. When dragonriders are dive-bombing with exploding eggs...

 

[Terri]

Hi, I'm new here, and found this question really intriguing as I'm just embarking on the third of my mythic fiction trilogy, and it's going to be based around an apocalyptic weather-war, but I want traditional battles in there too.
I think George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is a perfect example of fast-paced, traditional warfare in a fantasy setting. Good luck with it, have fun and just ... write it and see!

 

[Aravelle]

You need a vision, whether it be a brief scene, a concept, or just a likeable character. You need to start somewhere.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Yes it can work. In urban fantasy Simon R Green has written the Man With The Golden Torc and its sequals and they are extremely fast paced, action centred books. To me as a reader of traditional fantasy, I found them a little too frenetic at first. But after a while I adapted. Don't get me wrong, I still love the glorious descriptive long flowing prose of Donaldson and Tolkein, but that doesn't mean that fast and racey can't also be a good read.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Terri]

Another brilliant melding of styles is Stephen Lawhead's Song of Albion set ... absolutely brilliant all-round.

 

[Saigonnus]

Explained well enough within the scheme of your world, you could easily have realistically "modern" weapons or aspects to the story without sacrificing the whole fantasy element. You could take a fantasy world with all the mythical elements intact and make it set in the modern times. It would be interesting to read about elvish secret agents, tinker gnomes making gadgets or goblin train operators.. why limit the story to a medieval setting when you easily create a work of modern fantasy.

 

[BWFoster78]

Terry Ervin, from this board, featured Zombies, orcs, elves, orgres, and just about every other fantasy creature you can think of combined with Nazi's with WWII planes and tanks. I'd suggest checking out Flank Hawk.

 

[saellys]

So my question is to you, do you think a Matthew Reilly style fantasy novel would work? Fast paced action in a fantasy setting?

Sounds like a great angle to me. It will work if you make it work, and that won't happen until you sit down and write.

I think George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is a perfect example of fast-paced, traditional warfare in a fantasy setting.

I found Martin's warfare intensely frustrating to read--he kept cutting away before an actual battle happened, or describing it half-obscured from an observer at a safe distance. There was some good detail at the Wall and whenever Daenerys's dragons are involved; that's about it.

 

[Rullenzar]

Any speed action can work well if presented interestingly. I think the key is to split the difference between generalizing some parts so the readers imagination can take over and "showing" the dramatic parts where you want your readers to feel something.
Slow paced - Fast paced, it makes no difference to me as long as it entertains me.