# Is this too similar to 'the wall'?



## daydreamer (Mar 11, 2016)

In my current WIP, there is a forbidden forest that takes up a large part of my continent. This happened when the tribe that lives there usse dark 'magic' to gain power. As a result the forest is wreathed in darkness and from afar looks like a black wall or fence, many dark creatures are sealed in the forbidden forest but people have carried on with their lives for centuries not even paying much attention to it. The government is still weary and have men guarding along the border just in case. Is this too similar to the wall in the asoif series?


----------



## Tom (Mar 11, 2016)

I'd say, yes. 

However, "The Wall" is a common trope across the fantasy genre, almost universal. It is meant to represent the barrier between the everyday world and a forbidden or "other" world, and often the protagonist must get past it into the "other" world to fulfill his quest. "The Wall" probably falls into the Threshold Guardians archetype in the Hero's Journey structure, as it usually has to be circumvented or defeated in some way to gain access to the "other" world. 

The Wall takes many different forms in different stories. There are a myriad of "walls" in LotR, for instance, that consist of mountain ranges, forests, Dwarven doors, or rivers, to name a few. Yours, though, does bear a few too many similarities to the form the archetype takes in ASoIaF. 

Try making it a bit different--does the wall have to be patrolled by guards? If it's so forgotten by the people, maybe it's been simply left to its own devices until now? This would actually be a good way to bring it into the story--perhaps it's been neglected for so long that nobody thinks of it as dangerous anymore, but recent disturbing events have shattered the people's complacency. Or maybe no one believes the old stories anymore, so people have been venturing into the forest and disappearing. 

There are a lot of potential directions which could stem from this archetype, so I'd encourage you to play with it more and see what you can come up with.


----------



## ThinkerX (Mar 11, 2016)

Real world parallels to 'the Wall' abound.  Hadrian's Wall.  Great Wall of China.  More recently, the 'Iron Curtain' that split Europe.  And, of course, a certain infamous wall in the US southwest.  

There are also fictional prototypes.


----------



## Tom (Mar 11, 2016)

By the way, when I saw the thread title, I couldn't help but think of the Kansas song.

_"Oh, it's just a travestyyyyyyyyyyyy"_


----------



## T.Allen.Smith (Mar 11, 2016)

I wouldn't worry about it. Dark forests are common in fantasy.


----------



## AndrewLowe (Mar 11, 2016)

Not a problem at all.  It's easy to get worked up, but in the great words of South Park, "The Simpsons already did it."

Nothing is original.


----------



## daydreamer (Mar 12, 2016)

Thank you guys, i think i will go with tom`s advise.


----------



## Mythopoet (Mar 12, 2016)

Tom Nimenai said:


> By the way, when I saw the thread title, I couldn't help but think of the Kansas song.
> 
> _"Oh, it's just a travestyyyyyyyyyyyy"_



Seriously? Not the Pink Floyd album?


----------



## Tom (Mar 13, 2016)

Mythopoet said:


> Seriously? Not the Pink Floyd album?



Oh yeah, that too...

I defaulted to the Kansas song because it's one of my favorites of theirs. But I also grew up on Pink Floyd, so now I just feel bad. XD


----------



## thedarknessrising (Mar 13, 2016)

Mythopoet said:


> Seriously? Not the Pink Floyd album?



I thought of the Pink Floyd album too, and I gotta admit that I was disappointed that it wasn't what the OP was referring to...


----------



## Miskatonic (Mar 14, 2016)

Unless it's made of ice and is there to keep out an army of ice zombies that are the harbingers of the long winter, you shouldn't be overly worried.


----------



## Mythopoet (Mar 14, 2016)

daydreamer said:


> In my current WIP, there is a forbidden forest that takes up a large part of my continent. This happened when the tribe that lives there usse dark 'magic' to gain power. As a result the forest is wreathed in darkness and from afar looks like a black wall or fence, many dark creatures are sealed in the forbidden forest but people have carried on with their lives for centuries not even paying much attention to it. The government is still weary and have men guarding along the border just in case. Is this too similar to the wall in the asoif series?



Back on topic, this doesn't sound like the Wall in ASoIaF to me at all. Though it is a fairly common fantasy trope.


----------



## Laurence (Mar 20, 2016)

No great novel is without a magical forest IMO.


----------

