Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Sick of Reading the Same Story...

I haven't posted in awhile because I and then my son got sick. I read a lot while I was trying to get better and realized how bored I am with certain fantasy novels. I remember being younger and willing to read everything that came out. But now that I'm older I am much more selective. Writers - and I'm one of them - need to continue to read, however, to ensure that we are not rehashing the same old story. This happens a lot - a quest, a boy, a sword (or ring or artifact), a companion, a hardship (or 2 or 3), a love interest, a big battle, and success. I've just told the plot of many, many stories I've read through the years.

It's easy as a writer to write the story I mentioned above. Sometimes our first fantasy novel love was a story just like that and of course we want to LIVE the story through writing it. I've been there and done it. It was never published - now that I'm older I can see why though at the time I thought I had written the book to end all books. ;-)

Writing something new is not easy. However, there is inspiration all around us. The news is ripe with story lines that could be translated into a fantasy realm. Heck, some public figures already act like characters out of a story. Seriously, though, to keep the genre alive we must come up with new topics, new ideas, new stories.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Raistlin vs. Snape

Why is it that as I read Dragonlance I always wanted Raistlin to be good? And when I read Harry Potter I wanted Snape to end up good? I guess it's just my nature to always hope that people are not beyond saving.

Raistlin was changed after his experience becoming a mage - though he had the beginnings of arrogance before he went in. His brother was unfailingly solicitous - even going beyond to save Raist. And Raist held it against him - hating to have to rely on someone beneath him. It was only Caramon's love that got Raist to change at the last.

Snape was arrogant from the start too. He loved Lily and the only reason why he did not allow Voldemort to win was because he loved Lily - no one but her.

Sure the common theme is Love. But Raist started from wanting to help - not realizing the pitfall that absolute power always brings. Snape was always arrogant, proud, rude, and mean. While Raist was saved - was Snape? According to J.K. Rowling when she was asked about Snape finally proving he was good - she was shocked. She said that she never wrote him to be good. And she also said that without Lily to spur him on, Snape would not have cared one whit about Harry Potter.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

My First Fantasy Novel...

Many people remember things like their first kiss, their first home run, their first date.... While I remember those too, I think that one of the firsts that really stands out in my life was my first fantasy novel. It was, *drum roll*, Dragons of Autumn Twilight - of the Dragonlance series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Man, was I blown away. I had just been introduced to Led Zeppelin - not the headbanging Led Zeppelin, but the thoughtful myth-oriented Led Zeppelin. I had my walkman on and late into the night I read fist Autumn Twilight and then the other two in succession - crying when Sturm died, laughing with and at Tasselhoff. Wow, those were amazing times. I never realized there was literature out there like that. And I began reading everything like it that I could get my hands on.

There have been certain books that I remember so strongly - and others that just fade into nothingness. But there is nothing like the first. What was yours?

-Lis