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S Suilad/Bonjour mes amis

Salut, I'm like most I imagine here, a aspiring author and while most of my writing is in French, I also write in English and am a big fan of the old big fantasy-universes such as Middle-Earth, Osten Ard and Krynn. I feel that something has been lost along the way; fantasy authors aren't creating larger universes of inter-connected stories and epic-fantasy tales, and while I don't mind modern political-fantasy stories, the grim-dark stuff is getting frankly annoying.
I'm no stranger to writing this sort of genre stuff, but think there must be a balance, and that it can be good if well-done. Also, I feel more authors need to write histories of their world, and put the focus on lore as Tolkien and Williams did.

That said, I'm not saying that characterisation should take a back-seat, just that it seems as though the large expansive worlds and histories have been lost along the way.
Sorry for the long-winded explanation/intro. I'm also French-Canadian, have a passion for Golden & Bronze Age (Classical ones & 80s stories) Fantasy stories, whether they be in games, comics, animations, movies and most especially books.
One of my biggest regrets is how there are no serious French fantasy stories, as French publishers despise the genre and mistrust it despite many readers being thirsty for the genre from what I've seen. Most that do publish, do so with poorly written, poorly developed tales which involve no world-building, poorly characterised stuff for 4 year olds (no offence intended to children). Or comics such as Smurfs (I'm a big fan of Smurfs but it's not exactly Tolkien) level stuff with Smurfs probably being the most mature French fantasy stories you'll ever find.

I also love history (I'm a pre-grad student working up cash to study Medieval Scottish history of the 10th century, specifically castles and culture of Celtic Alba), love languages (speak 2, but am learning Japanese, Korean, Latin & Gaelic), the history of Japan (my undergrad major), France, Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany, Scandinavia, Rome, Bronze-Age, Korea & China. I also adore dogs, learning and essay-writing, and have a youtube channel called the Canadian CultureCorner where my brother and I play games, but mostly review Fantasy stories and discuss the genre, characters and worlds that populate the said genre.
Wish you all the very best! :)
 

Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
The Smurfs, like "french" fries, are Belgian.

But as a Dutchman I share the lack of good fantasy worlds written by and for linguistic kinsmen. Unless it's for kids, no fantasy may pass the thick barriers that are our Dutch philosophical snoozefests in these nethered lands.

Welcome to the forum
 
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S J Lee

Inkling
Hi there! Why not give us an opening chapter in critiques? If what you say is true, and "world-building / lore" is less important, I would guess it is because stories must grab attention right on page one, and characters with a dilemma they must do something about are probably the best way to do that. No room to stick in lots of lore, at least not near the start...? We face big pressure for the tale to get somewhere interesting by word no. 10,000. Internet and social media have an effect on attention spans ... the days of "I picked up a book, now I must stick with it to the end because I have no other entertainment today" are long gone...

no "deep lore" French fantasy? What about "Chronicles of the Dragon Knights" by Soleil? Isn't that originally published in French, or am I wrong about that? Yes, a comic book, not a novel series...
 

LCatala

Minstrel
Hello and welcome.

From what you're telling of your reading tastes in fantasy, it seems that among contemporary authors you would quite enjoy the work of Brandon Sanderson, notably the Stormlight Archive (not a super original recommendation, I admit, but if you want "epic", "interconnected", and "not grimdark", he's certainly someone to check out.

The Smurfs, like "french" fries, are Belgian.

Actually, the historical evidence for French fries being Belgian has been found lacking :p

The claim seems to come from one Belgian journalist who says that a 1781 manuscript itself claims that potatoe sticks were being deep-fried in the Low Countries as early as 1680. But the journalist has never provided proof that this manuscript actually exists, potatoes didn't arrive in the Low Countries before 1735, and it's unlikely that deep-frying was a common cooking method before the industrial revolution, given how wasteful in oil it would have been seen.
 

Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
potatoes didn't arrive in the Low Countries before 1735,

Incorrect. The potato was first introduced in the Netherlands in 1593 by botanist Carolus Clusius (Geschiedenis van de aardappel). You are right though that it likely only began being eaten much later in the 18th century, but the same holds for fries in France and so that fact is no argument in favour of the fries being called French.

When it comes down to it, the claim that French fries are Belgian is based on folklore stating that Southern Belgian peasants along the Meuse had to fry potatoes for survival instead of trying to fruitlessly fish in frozen over waters. Now, as we all know, Folklore is unquestionable proof. Furthermore, the Meuse is located in my native Limburg, so really the fries should be called Limburgish fries.

As you can see, my logic is flawless. Au revoir :p
 
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Bonjour Joseph Chaput!

Bienvenue chez les Scribes!

J'espère que vous trouverez que notre petit coin du monde est un endroit inspirant et utile à visiter!

I'm sure you can tell it's been many years since my schooling in the French language? :)
 
The Smurfs, like "french" fries, are Belgian.

But as a Dutchman I share the lack of good fantasy worlds written by and for linguistic kinsmen. Unless it's for kids, no fantasy may pass the thick barriers that are our Dutch philosophical snoozefests in these nethered lands.

Welcome to the forum

I'm sorry to hear about your sorrows good sir, and do hope that is soon corrected. And yes I love the Smurfs.

And well played CupofJoe, love your comment! Yes, Asterix is the height of French fantasy it seems ;).

Hello and welcome.

From what you're telling of your reading tastes in fantasy, it seems that among contemporary authors you would quite enjoy the work of Brandon Sanderson, notably the Stormlight Archive (not a super original recommendation, I admit, but if you want "epic", "interconnected", and "not grimdark", he's certainly someone to check out.

Actually, the historical evidence for French fries being Belgian has been found lacking :p

The claim seems to come from one Belgian journalist who says that a 1781 manuscript itself claims that potatoe sticks were being deep-fried in the Low Countries as early as 1680. But the journalist has never provided proof that this manuscript actually exists, potatoes didn't arrive in the Low Countries before 1735, and it's unlikely that deep-frying was a common cooking method before the industrial revolution, given how wasteful in oil it would have been seen.

Oh and I see, I'll have to be sure to take a look at Stormlight Archive, thanks for the recommendation.

Hi there! Why not give us an opening chapter in critiques? If what you say is true, and "world-building / lore" is less important, I would guess it is because stories must grab attention right on page one, and characters with a dilemma they must do something about are probably the best way to do that. No room to stick in lots of lore, at least not near the start...? We face big pressure for the tale to get somewhere interesting by word no. 10,000. Internet and social media have an effect on attention spans ... the days of "I picked up a book, now I must stick with it to the end because I have no other entertainment today" are long gone...

no "deep lore" French fantasy? What about "Chronicles of the Dragon Knights" by Soleil? Isn't that originally published in French, or am I wrong about that? Yes, a comic book, not a novel series...

I will disagree, I never said that there couldn't be action from the start, but the trouble is fantasy in French tends to avoid all lore, now bad examples of French fantasy are Amos Daragon, and Emerald Knights. But good examples of novels having action and world-building almost from the beginning, in English are; Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, Dragonlance, Tolkien, they all grip you from the first page with interesting dilemmas and get into a ton of world-building shortly thereafter, around page 9 I believe in Dragonebone Chair, and when Gandalf arrives in the Shire in the Fellowship.

And I stand corrected on the Chronicles of the Dragon Knights, it looks superbe. I'll have to take a proper look at it, but I still think it somewhat reinforces a part of my point; the comics are going strong but novels in French are failing fantasy fans.

Bonjour Joseph Chaput!

Bienvenue chez les Scribes!

J'espère que vous trouverez que notre petit coin du monde est un endroit inspirant et utile à visiter!

I'm sure you can tell it's been many years since my schooling in the French language? :)

Ah et bonjour mon ami(e), je me sens déjà bienvenue! Je le trouve déjà inspirant, avec tout le monde me disant de lire ceci, ou cela, et m'encourageant à agrandir ma connaissance de la meilleure genre au monde. Et depuis que j'ai originalement vit ce site, et lut l'article au sujet des rois des Seigneurs des Anneaux, j'ai sut qu'elle serait utile et magnifique.

Tu sais quoi ? Ton Français, me parais chouette.
Your French is quite good, do practice it Maker of things not kings, your welcome was so warm, it almost brought a tear to my eyes, I really appreciate the effort. Do continue, to practice! Maybe you could even write a French novel, and essays on Fantasy! Practice makes perfect!
 

S J Lee

Inkling
still, in Tolkien the lore helps make a great book ... sorry, Dragonlance is purely pedestrian stuff at best. Sorry, no amount of lore will save a "turkey"...at least, my humble two cents. Lore is great in a GREAT BOOK - otherwise it is just waffle...?
 
Welcome. I second the recomendation for Sanderson (and his Stormlight archive) if you want some modern epic scale fantasy which isn't grim dark.
But as a Dutchman I share the lack of good fantasy worlds written by and for linguistic kinsmen. Unless it's for kids, no fantasy may pass the thick barriers that are our Dutch philosophical snoozefests in these nethered lands.
There's one Dutch fantasy author (who writes in dutch) I know of, which is Adrian Stone. I've only read one of his books, but form what I remember it was entertaining enough.

As for french fries, this is the earliest historical evidence I could find about them, dating to somewhere around 50BC. I always took it as proof of their Belgian origin.
 
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still, in Tolkien the lore helps make a great book ... sorry, Dragonlance is purely pedestrian stuff at best. Sorry, no amount of lore will save a "turkey"...at least, my humble two cents. Lore is great in a GREAT BOOK - otherwise it is just waffle...?

I will disagree in some ways; I think that some Dragonlance books are great, I mean the Legend of Huma, Kingpriest Trilogy and the anthology Dragons at War are fantastic. And I frankly like Paladine better as a character than Gandalf, that said I get where you're coming from as there's a lot of Dragonlance garbage books too. I guess I regard some as gems, and others as trash.
If you want a purely turkey universe I'd say Warcraft, the only good iteration seems to have been Warcraft 3 (though I do like Doomhammer as a character).

Welcome. I second the recomendation for Sanderson (and his Stormlight archive) if you want some modern epic scale fantasy which isn't grim dark.

There's one Dutch fantasy author (who writes in dutch) I know of, which is Adrian Stone. I've only read one of his books, but form what I remember it was entertaining enough.

As for french fries, this is the earliest historical evidence I could find about them, dating to somewhere around 50BC. I always took it as proof of their Belgian origin.

And I'll certainly take a look at it, and I'll look up Adrian Stone (same given name as my gramps, so already like him) and Stormlight. Thanks! This is honestly the most welcome I've ever felt in any community on the internet, and am excited to pen an essay or two, and see how they're received. Been reading some great ones on here, that are absolutely fascinating.
 

S J Lee

Inkling
Everyone has different tastes, and that is as it should be! Me, I tried to read Sanderson and read the free sample of Way of Kings on Amazon - 10 pages, but I stopped at page 7, the exposition was dreadful and it all felt like it was written by a 15 year old. But that was only MY opinion. Maybe it is the wrong book to start with. Maybe BS is a very clever writer giving a certain type of reader exactly what they want, and not polishing much allows him to churn books out quickly. I am not on this earth to judge him!
 
Everyone has different tastes, and that is as it should be! Me, I tried to read Sanderson and read the free sample of Way of Kings on Amazon - 10 pages, but I stopped at page 7, the exposition was dreadful and it all felt like it was written by a 15 year old. But that was only MY opinion. Maybe it is the wrong book to start with. Maybe BS is a very clever writer giving a certain type of reader exactly what they want, and not polishing much allows him to churn books out quickly. I am not on this earth to judge him!

I must say his initials are a little embarrassing (no offense intended, juste que they um yeah). But I'm glad you're so mature about things S J Lee, I truly respect your views. I think we could all learn to view books in this manner and say 'wasn't for me, but maybe so and so would like it', and I don't think anyone is on this earth to judge anyone but rather to enjoy each other's books ;). Just wanted to say something positive here, as your responses have despite my disagreeing with some of them, been some of the best I've seen in any forum, I can see the kind of person you are and I really respect you already.
 
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