Recently, I came to a sad conclusion. I no longer feel interested in fantasy.
I was an avid reader of the genre, started my reading days with it, actually.
My favorites stories, in the beginning, were “realistic” stories. I dove into magic ridden worlds, but that didn’t have such a “naive” feeling into it.
That’s what 15-year-old me liked. It was a classic good versus evil, but with little seasoning. Books like Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time and Harry Potter never appealed to me.
Then time passed, and even those worlds lost it wonder to me. I cherished more a book with a good “lore” than a whole new world, one of the reasons IT by Stephen King hit me so hard when I first read it.
But my world changed with two stories. I like to say they made me fall out of love of fantasy, but not in a bad way, but they got so deep into things I didn’t even know I liked - no, loved! - yet that everything else paled in comparison. Those stories were A Song of Ice and Fire and, the one that got me the most and changed everything I thought I knew about my love for fantasy, Berserk.
I ate those stories up! Couldn’t stop reading it, searching about it, thinking over it. When I was done with it all, I started to look for similar stories. Tried Malazan Book of The Fallen, Prince of Nothing (this one is almost there, though) and even some Brandon Sanderson books I hadn’t read yet.
Every time I see some magic being used - and I say magic as in classic magic, such as making fire out of nothing, lighting coming from nowhere, LOTR type of magic - or some non-human race come up I lose interest completely. Tried The Bound and The Broken series but couldn’t even finish chapter 1, the second an elf appeared all other sentences felt heavy and I dropped out.
My solution, for now, has been to read historical fiction. I really like the medieval setting, so decided to read about our own. I’m diving into War of the Roses by Conn Iggulden, The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell, and I am waiting for The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet to arrive. And I am also rereading Berserk.
Have any of you had this to happen? Things that used to be held so dear becoming sour and all that love getting thinner and thinner over time.
I think some of the old stuff was good because it had a spark. It wasn’t that it had elves, it was that it was something genuinely unique that the author was driven to create regardless of anything else.
A lot of current-day fantasy is just elves. There’s no spark. Even Harry Potter to me is, basically, just some pretty competently written fiction with magic in it. It’s not the real deal.
I don’t really know you, but to me it’s possible that you want the real deal. If that’s true you might want to check out:
- “The Cyberiad” by Stanislaw Lem
- “The Last Defender of Camelot” by Roger Zelazny
- “Skeleton Crew” by Stephen King
- “Lord of Light” also by Roger Zelazny
- “The Last Unicorn” by Peter Beagle
They may or may not have fantasy elements, although most of them aren’t set in the real world. But they have the real deal.
I’m finding the opposite. Books that I loved when younger are even better as I re-read them now. Ursula le Guin, Terry Pratchett (their YA and their adult books) have so much more nuance and subtlety than I was aware of when I just read them for the adventure and story. There are some profound bits of wisdom and wry observation tucked in those books.
I never could get into YA. Not even when I was in the demographic. I believe this happens because I became a reader later in life, reading a little when I was 15 to really reading almost anything in my mid to late 20s. I do feel like I’m missing plenty of things by not reading YA, but just can’t get into it.
It’s only natural to fall out love with things over time. I too burned out on high fantasy, however, I did really enjoy Joe Abercrombie’s low fantasy setting in the first law series.
I read the first one. Found it boring, really. Didn’t see the wonderful book people so often sell this as on YouTube, but I’m mildly curious about if enough to read the rest eventually. Bought all three at one, so…
Slightly late reply, but I would highly recommend the audiobook version narrated by Steven Pacey, he brings a lot of life into it. But if you’ve already bought the physical books then it’s probably a hard sell 😅
I’m the same. I like reading about different worlds, but magic systems are so boring. I’m currently writing a book like what you describe - set on another planet but there’s no magic, and everyone is human. We should really start a new genre, because post-apocolyptic scifi doesn’t quite convey what I’m trying to do. But to call it fantasy would be way off. Problem is, most people assume other world = fantasy.
That is true! I’m also writing something, and I don’t know if I could say it was fantasy per se. A new genre should truly rise
If you liked IT, have you read through King’s Dark Tower series? One of my favorites and what got me into King originally. The universe of DT is what’s behind his other works, which makes it all the more interesting.
Try the Thomas Covenant Chronicles. They taper off in quality over the series but the first three, particularly the first, are incredible. Quick premise: man diagnosed with leprosy, hates the world, hates himself. Transported to fantasy land. Does very bad thing within minutes of being there. Has consequences that scar generations and shape the world. A true anti hero.
I’m not a fantasy fan really, but these are an exception.
I love History and Fantasy both, and definitely go through phases on which is piquing my interest. You could try some historically based fantasy perhaps? Im only on book 2, but the Shadow Campaign series is heavily based on Napoleon. Or check out the Poppy War series heavily inspired by the Sino-Japanese War?
Never knew this was a genre! Already looking at those titles and others. Thanks!
No problem! Hope you are able to find something!
Have you tried The Book of the New Sun series by Gene Wolfe?
It is a compelling blend of science fiction and fantasy, following the journey of Severian, an exiled torturer, through a richly imagined and decaying future Earth. The series is renowned for its intricate world-building, philosophical depth, and lyrical prose.
In contrast to LOTR, The Book of the New Sun presents a morally complex and enigmatic world, where the boundaries between right and wrong are often blurred.
Compared to “Game of Thrones,” “The Book of the New Sun” offers a more introspective and surreal narrative, where reality itself is questioned.
Never heard of it. Looking it up right now and will add to read list
