Is fantasy as a genre creativly bankrupt...

Is fantasy as a genre creativly bankrupt? It seems that litterally every fantasy book is just ripping off Tolkien or trying to out autism Wheel of Time.

scifi has surpassed it due to a number of factors.

A. 'stranger in a strange land' - type stories don't appeal to people as well now that people in India, Uganda, Korea, etc. have twitter accounts and just add to the general modern-day noise. There isn't a sense of an unknown world like there was in the golden age of fantasy, and in the works that most fantasy was inspired by.

B. "what-if" stories mostly take the form of sci-fi in the modern day. Seeing as humanity has developed space flight and holograms, any scenario that has humanity take a different path through history usually ends up featuring some type of sci-fi concept that dominates the narrative.

C. the unattainable is generally now seen as being attainable in the future as opposed to attainable only in fantasy. i.e. a couple of generations ago thinking "the power of universal healing" was some sort of blessed potion or sacred spring has turned to imagining Bones' gun-thing from star trek, or nano-machines in our future.

and so on, i had more points but I'm tired of typing

>It seems that litterally every fantasy book is just ripping off Tolkien or trying to out autism Wheel of Time.
OP just admit you haven't read very much fantasy.

i refused to believe that a it's a genre's fault for shitty writers

Harry Potter is total trash but billions of normies still worship it.

Ripping off Tolkien and redoing Wheel of Time has only been a thing since the 1970s
Before that there were all kinds of things broadly labelled Fantasy
And if you look around you can still find non-derivative works

...

Honestly OP, looks like you haven't read much fantasy at all.
The Mistborn series, the First Law series, the Black Company series, Prince of Nothing and Aspect Emperor series, even more casual reddit stuff like Kingskiller Chronicles or Gentleman Bastards series have original settings and metaphysics.

Post what you've read and why you think its all Tolkien ripoff.

What? It was garbage

> t. hasn’t read Arthur

Mythago wood is top notch, differentiates itself from previous fantasy in a decisive and interesting way

I'm reading the first law right now and I'm loving it.

> definitely not a rip off of Tolkien

> not finding any WoT autism in it

*unsheathes wolfe*
heh.. nuthin personnel, pleb..

Good points so far. Stop being lazy and type moar.

Tell me if this is a good idea-

I'd like to write a fantasy novel that is kind of like a PTSD, drunken veteran who hates everything forced by economic circumstances to go into mercenary work into a place where everything sucks. He has to teach stupid recruit fucks how to dig holes and spends all his nights in a tent that is better but also undeserved. It's a privelege to have a tent all to yourself. It's like Flashman meets Raymond Carver. I'm aiming for black comedy.

where's the fantasy

Good fantasy isn't possible in a world that has exchanged spirituality and communality with nature for the worship of technological progress and reason. In that sense truly good scifi problematizes positivism whereas shit scifi focuses on DUDE EXPLOSIONS IN SPACE

Eh, seems to me user is fundamentally misconstruing the nature of fantasy.

A. If the world is seen to lack enchantment and mystery, that would -add- to the appeal of fantasy. Most modern fantasy stuff is entirely removed from the real world and obviously offers an escape from it.
B. 'What if' is precisely what sci-fi does, and often it's what distinguishes it from fantasy. What 'what if' question is LotR asking? What if there were magic rings and hobbits and orcs and shit?
C. This is maybe more interesting- the image of technology making all things possible removing the need for myth, religion, the imagination. Again, fantasy is arguably a reaction against or escape from this, but maybe a lack of creativity in the genre could point to how hard it is to escape. But on the other hand, as other anons suggest, OP's question might be based on entirely wrong assumptions anyway.

The protagonist is a gnome or some shit

>The Mistborn series, the First Law series, the Black Company series, Prince of Nothing and Aspect Emperor series, even more casual reddit stuff like Kingskiller Chronicles or Gentleman Bastards

These are all utter shit. They're not even good clones, they're total super hero nonsense.

I enjoy LeGuin's anthropological and sociological fantasy. I can see why it's not for everyone, but I find her work romantic.

H-How is WoT autistic. I’m reading the first book and it’s pretty interesting so far.

Oh no, it seems I have fallen into the "state your opinion so i can call it shit and act like i won an argument" trap. I guess I have to burn my books, my house and myself now. Woe is me, to be defeated in such a way.

Fag.

Name one Eugenio Loboe fantasy book outside Latro in the Mist

why even bother

I say the following as someone who has read the whole series. And someone who is a published author solely because of my love of reading Robert Jordan in my formative years.

The first book is great. It's a good stopping point, if you're not super interested in the characters or the world. Things are wrapped up enough that you don't feel a hole inside of you by deciding to not continue reading the series.

The second book is good. It expands on each character individually. As does the third book. But notably, the quick moving plot and advancement of stories already gets slowed considerably. Jordan had envision a three book series, but was signed on for six because he knew he had a tendency to write a bit long (and having a close relationship with the publisher helped getting a longer contract and more marketing.)

By the fourth book, things begin to feel a bit stale. Specific character traits get repeated. Descriptions of cities, their style of dress, their embroidery, all grow longer and are repeated. More seemingly inconsequential viewpoints are added and there are sole chapters, some twenty or more pages long, which exist only to remind you the character is still alive and kicking.

With the introduction of so many minor viewpoints, the main characters are given less representation in the story. You find yourself holding your breath each time you start a new chapter, hoping it will be one of the main characters from the first book and not one of the twenty something others.

As I said, WoT holds a special place in my heart because it changed the course of my life. But it really turns to shit. Stop after the first book if you feel like it. It's a good stopping point.

Oh, and the other user said it's autistic because of the heavy descriptions. Pages dedicated to discussing changing tea prices in reaction to world events, etc

*tugs braid*

Tolkien pretty much set the mold. call me a brainlet, but Ive found that Sanderson, at least in worldbuilding, breaks this mold. And even books that follow the mold, like how WoT does a bit, still are enjoyable.

honestly sound a bit like Kaladin from Stormlight

I read book one of mistborn and thought it was ok. trudging through book two right now, not very impressed. does it get better?

dont sign your posts.

I just finished book 2. The first 200 pages are awful but it gets up to around the quality of the first book after that.
That is to say 'ok'

Every fiction is fantasy, user.

Well of course they're enjoyable, in that soap-opera fashion. The question is "Is fantasy as a genre creatively bankrupt?"

Just read PKD OP, you'll be glad you did.