May. 14th, 2010

ellestra: (anomander rake)
The most popular of any genre is usually the least interesting. The stories are derivative, schematic and predictable. So are the heroes. That's exactly why they are popular. It's because so many people relate to those kind of stories. Because many people had fantasies like that (just look at the fanfiction - the most hated Mary Sue stories they are not so similar just because of plagiarism). 'My true parents are royalty/magical', 'the coolest boys in school will fall madly in love with me', 'the love or a pretty princess will turn me into hero' etc. etc. Most people keep these fantasies in their heads but some decide to share. Probably the ones with lower (higher?) embarrassment level. And through some lucky mix of subject, marketing and the way they present their stories that hit just the right audience we get Twilight, Avatar and Sword of Truth.

The stories that are more then the basic rehashes of most typical kinds of plots are much more rare, complicated and don't give you the same feeling of satisfaction when all goes the predictable route like it's suppose to. After all it's not just a coincidence that the most popular shows are procedural and medical dramas where every episode is basically the same. Predictability and repetitiveness is the clue. We are all children who ask mom to read them the same story again and again, just when we get older we insist on changing names of heroes so we can pretend story is new. The attachment to routines is part of human nature and it affects every part of our nature. Storytelling too.

I learned to live with this. It doesn't bother me much. For the most part I think it's acctully normal. After all like spicy food, the innovative is aquired taste. You need to start somewhere. For me it was Eddings and Norton. For kids today it's Rowlings and Paolini. Then you can move on or not but at least you've read something of your own violation in your life.

There are some borders however. And this, this is mine:

Tyra Banks is getting into the fantasy novel game with a series all about models. Magical models!
... Banks recently announced that she'll be penning a trilogy of fantasy novels taking place in a magical world known only as Modelland...
Details are currently sparse, but Modelland (remember, it's pronounced "Model Land") is a make-believe place where, according to Tyra, "every girl in the world wants to go." The mystical power-wielding Intoxibellas are trained there
...
The trilogy will follow a teenage girl and her teenage friends that get transported to Modelland ("Model Land") even though they're not supposed to be there. Can you imagine the shenanigans that may occur in this type of situation? I can: girl that isn't supposed to become an Intoxibella becomes one anyway after lots of hardship and finally gets back at a particular nemesis that was a perpetual thorn in her side and shows the entirety of Modelland ("Model Land") that anything is possible, the end. Then Tyra reveals that it's all an allegory for her own life.
via Pat's Fantasy Hotlist

The success of Stephanie Mayers might be even worse thing then we imagined. Setting new celebrity fad - writting dow your fantasies in form of self-insert fantasy novel. And then will long for the old, run of the mill, 'young farmer boys secretly destined to save the world through quest'- type of stories.

PS. Disclaimer: I don't necessarily believe all the listed stories are bad. It's just that I've read them before. I was bored by that plots before those versions were written.

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