What are your aesthetic or concept preferences for novels?

[La Volpe]

I don't care for grimdark, and anything terribly gritty, really. Most politics in books bore me a bit, so if it goes on too long, it loses me. I generally thought that I don't like urban fantasy, but I like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Dan Wells's John Cleaver books, so there's that. I like some YA, but a lot of it (these days, at least) makes me do eye rolls occasionally throughout the book; but I do finish them.

But besides that, I generally give pretty much anything a chance. Bring on castles, ninjas, pirates, swords, halberds, guns, FTL travel, zombies, vampires, werewolves, dinosaurs, dragons, time travel, dragons that time travel (ala P.E.R.N.), etc.

Some examples: I couldn't manage to get through Neuromancer or Assassin's Apprentice, despite both being regarded as great books. And I never bothered with Game of Thrones, because 85% of it seems to be boredom and politics.

I've found that I like books that concern themselves with being enjoyable to read, rather than focusing on being realistic or meaningful (both of those aspects are, of course, necessary, but I don't think they should be the focus).

 

[Heliotrope]

I think the op was meant for us just to state our preferences to show how different we all are. My personal preferences are not an attack on anybody.

Cheesie, I would love to read your work because it's your work and I like you. I would read your work as a friend and be fascinated by it and probably enjoy it emensly. I followed your story on your blog and really enjoyed it. But when I only have $12 in my hand and I have to pick a book off the shelf at the book store I have certain preferences that I love, as do you.

 

[Netardapope]

I think the op was meant for us just to state our preferences to show how different we all are. My personal preferences are not an attack on anybody.

Cheesie, I would love to read your work because it's your work and I like you. I would read your work as a friend and be fascinated by it and probably enjoy it emensly. I followed your story on your blog and really enjoyed it. But when I only have $12 in my hand and I have to pick a book off the shelf at the book store I have certain preferences that I love, as do you.

Exactly, we should avoid jumping to conclusions on other people's messages. As the connotation, meaning, or tone could come off as different due to us having this disscussion in text. It's all friendly fun times [emoji1]

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[Demesnedenoir]

Yes, exactly, much like I'd read a pirate in the subway story by Helio... but in the store? Nope, not really. I will read anything if I have an interest, but once in the book store where the writer's name on the spine might as well be XYZ, my tendency is going toward what I know I like...

And I'm reading Malik's book (here and there, time is a tricky thing) because he's on these boards. Otherwise, a portal story... highly likely I skip it.

I think the op was meant for us just to state our preferences to show how different we all are. My personal preferences are not an attack on anybody.

Cheesie, I would love to read your work because it's your work and I like you. I would read your work as a friend and be fascinated by it and probably enjoy it emensly. I followed your story on your blog and really enjoyed it. But when I only have $12 in my hand and I have to pick a book off the shelf at the book store I have certain preferences that I love, as do you.

 

[glutton]

Now, some types of swords are over overrepresented in fantasy, see the broadsword (arming sword), the greatsword, and the longsword, although not every writer understands these well either... the arming sword would be the best to pack around, but once the armor comes off, in cities, lighter swords, such as rapiers and smallswords would dominate, depending on period and setting of course.

Hmm well if the character travels around a lot and their primary weapon is a great/long/broadsword, you wouldn't really expect them to trade it in for a lighter sword when they enter cities.

As for packing around a halberd/.50 cal that would also depend on how much heavy fighting the character expects to be in or what type of opponents they feel a need to be prepared for no? Like if they might fight big monsters on the road they probably won't feel as safe just carrying a rapier, knives or other small personal defense weapons. And also if the big weapon is their primary weapon or a big part of their image as a leader or famed figure etc. XD

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Hmm, apparently I did a poor job of getting my point across, which really wasn't in line with the rest of this thread anyhow, LOL. The notion of a primary weapon is interesting, and rapiers wouldn't even exist in many settings. But, instead of derailing this thread, I'll just move on rather expanding.

Hmm well if the character travels around a lot and their primary weapon is a great/long/broadsword, you wouldn't really expect them to trade it in for a lighter sword when they enter cities.

As for packing around a halberd/.50 cal that would also depend on how much heavy fighting against what types of opponents the character expects to be in no? Like if they might fight big monsters on the road they probably won't feel as safe just carrying a rapier, knives or other small personal defense weapons. And also if the big weapon is their primary weapon or a big part of their image as a leader or famed figure etc. XD

 

[glutton]

Hmm, apparently I did a poor job of getting my point across, which really wasn't in line with the rest of this thread anyhow, LOL. The notion of a primary weapon is interesting, and rapiers wouldn't even exist in many settings. But, instead of derailing this thread, I'll just move on rather expanding.

Ah, I guess you probably meant more 'as armor becomes obsolete' technological era-wise more than 'when the characters take off their armor'.

I would still disagree with the halberd point considering you said yourself halberds made a good dueling weapon in heavy armor, there are plenty of 'typical' fantasy stories that lend themselves to a lot of fighting in heavy armor/against heavily armored opponents. How many 'dark lords' don't have heavily armored troops? XD 'Typical' fantasy commonly features war scenes anyway.

As one might expect characters in my stories tend to go around prepared to fight big monsters or armored opponents at a moment's notice, they would feel pretty bad if they saw a family being attacked on the road by a 20' ogre or something and weren't ready to jump in and help lol.

 

[Chessie]

I was only reacting to the comment made about medieval style fantasy being boring, uninspiring, and dull. I mean, heck...there are many fantasy subgenres I dislike but I don't go saying that about them. People like what they like and I respect their tastes. These are public forums and I think it's just common courtesy to not diss other people's preferences. If I had $12 to spend on books, I wouldn't go to a bookstore. I'd hit up my $10 Kindle Unlimited subscription and get 10 ebooks for that price in genres I enjoy reading, by authors I enjoy reading. Granted, I do read more Indie than trade books not just because they're cheaper but I have found some favorites by stepping outside the box. But I don't go saying that people who still go to bookstores are dinosaurs now, do I?

And sometimes, authors surprise us. I accidentally bought a werewolf paranormal book once and out of curiosity read it all the way through. It was good! Not my first choice but I'm glad that I accepted the challenge. Kings and queens and castles have their own charm for those of us who still love that stuff.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Well, I was throwing many things together while contemplating the under represented weapons in fantasy and why some might be under represented, and why swords were heavily represented in reality over time... they were the sidearm, easy to carry and extremely effective. But it's all neither here nor there really, LOL.

Ah, I guess you probably meant more 'as armor becomes obsolete' technological era-wise more than 'when the characters take off their armor'.

I would still disagree with the halberd point considering you said yourself halberds made a good dueling weapon in heavy armor, there are plenty of 'typical' fantasy stories that lend themselves to a lot of fighting in heavy armor/against heavily armored opponents. How many 'dark lords' don't have heavily armored troops? XD 'Typical' fantasy commonly features war scenes anyway.

As one might expect characters in my stories tend to go around prepared to fight big monsters or armored opponents at a moment's notice, they would feel pretty bad if they saw a family being attacked on the road by a 20' ogre or something and weren't ready to jump in and help lol.

 

[TheKillerBs]

I don't have any preferences, I don't think. I mostly go on kicks of particular authors/genres/etc. My current obsession is xianxia, probably gonna get bored and move on to something else when ISSTH gets translated completely.

 

[Netardapope]

I don't have any preferences, I don't think. I mostly go on kicks of particular authors/genres/etc. My current obsession is xianxia, probably gonna get bored and move on to something else when ISSTH gets translated completely.

I've been thinking of starting ISSTH but I don't know how long it takes till the story picks up. So far, it's been taking way too long. I hear that later on, it's kind of like if a Dragonball novel was written.

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[TheKillerBs]

I have seen in many places that ISSTH starts slow but I never thought so. The beginning was fine for me; it was the second book that felt boring and slow.

 

[Deleted member 4265]

This is actually a very interesting question for me right now because I've been thinking about it a lot and I think that I've sort of outgrown my old tastes without realizing it. Awhile ago I picked up a book I'd been reading but took a long break from due to life getting in the way and realized I had no desire to finish it and that while I've read plenty of books I've enjoyed in the past I'd have trouble coming up with a top 10 that I really loved. Thus began my search to figure out what exactly I want to read and write. I feel as though I'm discovering fantasy all over again to be honest.

I think I've always had a strong preference for fantasy that evokes a sense of place. I love stories about creepy woodlands, magic schools, bizarre cities. I don't really care that much what it is so long as the setting itself is a character and comes to life. I think this is why Tolkien works so well for me but none of his successors really have. They take his setting but they don't make it come alive the way he did.

I like a certain type of urban fantasy where the magical realm isn't really hidden, just most people fail to see it for whatever reason. I absolutely hate government cover up stories. I like the idea of there being something magical about the dangerous parts of the city people don't like to talk about. I guess that ties into another of my preferences. I like magic to be a hostile thing. I want it to be something wild and dangerous and generally I'm not a fan of the 'friendly wizard' character with the exception being I really like magical school stories.

I confess I avoid books with main characters who are teenage and female. I will read books with female MCs and books with teenage MCs but stories that have an MC that is both tend to either just not be my cup of tea or the MC is written poorly or they're technically a teenager but read as older. I also avoid books chosen one plots and dragon rider stories.

I have a soft spot for certain tropes. I love the dark brooding assassin/spy, the drug addicted anti-hero. I'm a huge fan of political intrigue that is not centered around the royal succession. I also seem to really enjoy military fantasy. I really like to read about the grim reality of the everyday fantasy world dweller. In general I'm not a huge fan of portal fantasy. There are exceptions, but this is the one place where I don't want the MC to be an average Joe. I tend to prefer smaller scale, urban based fantasy to sweeping travel epics. I prefer my fantasy stories to either be low technology or low magic or both. I'm not a huge fan of science vs magic stories.

 

[Heliotrope]

Oh man I forgot about the chosen one trope!! I love that one. There is something about the thought of here I am minding my own business when Bam! Destiny comes calling. I know people hate that but I love it.

 

[Netardapope]

Oh man I forgot about the chosen one trope!! I love that one. There is something about the thought of here I am minding my own business when Bam! Destiny comes calling. I know people hate that but I love it.

Don't worry. I love it too [emoji6]

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[DragonOfTheAerie]

Oh man I forgot about the chosen one trope!! I love that one. There is something about the thought of here I am minding my own business when Bam! Destiny comes calling. I know people hate that but I love it.

Me? I can't stand the chosen one trope. I feel like it completely undermines the idea that you have to choose to be a hero, to challenge the status quo, to fight against evil, instead of just staying in your comfort zone. It makes the outcome have a predetermined feel. Destiny is uninteresting to me. When characters have to choose for themselves whether to be a hero or a villain, when there is no saying how things will turn out...that is far more interesting to me.

 

[Netardapope]

Me? I can't stand the chosen one trope. I feel like it completely undermines the idea that you have to choose to be a hero, to challenge the status quo, to fight against evil, instead of just staying in your comfort zone. It makes the outcome have a predetermined feel. Destiny is uninteresting to me. When characters have to choose for themselves whether to be a hero or a villain, when there is no saying how things will turn out...that is far more interesting to me.

I don't think destiny is necessarily as dry-cut as you describe it, there can be alterations along the way, that onw wasn't expecting. Also, the Chosen One usually ends up choosing to accept his role in the universe, despite probably hating it in the beginning. It can be a narrative of acceoting responsibilities and duties that have been thrusted upon you, rather than being selfish and ignoring them. I also feel it really is a natural character type that is ingrained to the human psyche, as a natural antithesis to the concept of evil.

I think the chosen one has a symbollic edge when it comes to narrative, and I enjoy the trope most when people play around with it. Like in Wheel of Time where Rand discovers that being the Chosen One kind of sucks. Sucks REAL bad.

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[DragonOfTheAerie]

I don't think destiny is necessarily as dry-cut as you describe it, there can be alterations along the way, that onw wasn't expecting. Also, the Chosen One usually ends up choosing to accept his role in the universe, despite probably hating it in the beginning. It can be a narrative of acceoting responsibilities and duties that have been thrusted upon you, rather than being selfish and ignoring them. I also feel it really is a natural character type that is ingrained to the human psyche, as a natural antithesis to the concept of evil.

I think the chosen one has a symbollic edge when it comes to narrative, and I enjoy the trope most when people play around with it. Like in Wheel of Time where Rand discovers that being the Chosen One kind of sucks. Sucks REAL bad.

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Personally, I think it's been played around with, subverted, and sub-subverted so much we should just let it be.

It does seem to be a theme the human heart is naturally attracted to. Not mine, lol, but throughout history...

 

[Netardapope]

Personally, I think it's been played around with, subverted, and sub-subverted so much we should just let it be.

It does seem to be a theme the human heart is naturally attracted to. Not mine, lol, but throughout history...

I dunno, I think it gives a romantic view of heroism that modern fantasy has abandoned. (And which I consequently, would like to see return)

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[Heliotrope]

Personally, I think it's been played around with, subverted, and sub-subverted so much we should just let it be.

It does seem to be a theme the human heart is naturally attracted to. Not mine, lol, but throughout history...

Yep. My human heart is

I think maybe because I'm in my 30's, I have two kids, I have a job I go to every day. I wake up with the same man (I love) every day. I do the same chores in the same order every day... And one day I would love it if some random alien showed up and said "Oh! Helio! We have been searching for you across the galaxy for two thousand years! You and only you can save us from destruction!"

There is just something about that. Breaking up the monotony. Learning I'm special in some way I never knew. That was always very appealing to me as a kid and is still appealing to me now.

Harry Potter is sort of a "chosen one", in that he really is the only one who can destroy Voldemort, and I think that was what I loved best about the stories. Here is this kid, nothing special, going about his sucky daily life, then BAM! He is suddenly special and important. I think a lot of people sort of wish for that a bit sometimes.

And I think you are probably right about it being a heart tug theme through history. The lives of most people in history would have been pretty monotonous. The same chores on the same farm every day. No hope of leaving the village. Destined to marry the boy who lives down the lane because he is the only boy your age in the entire county. I can see how a story about a bigger destiny would have appeal.