3 ms·
The three classic works of fantasy you mention don’t have the twist (as in Vance’s Tales of the Dying Earth) where the seemingly fantastical world turns out to
by OfSanguineFire 3y ago
The three classic works of fantasy you mention don’t have the twist (as in Vance’s Tales of the Dying Earth) where the seemingly fantastical world turns out to be a far-future version of our own world. Or, in Delaney’s Neverÿon series, a distant-past version. So, there was room for new developments in fantasy outside those big three you list.
But I definitely understand your sentiment. I remember reading the first book of Stephen R. Donaldson’s “Thomas Covenant” series and quickly abandoned it because it followed Tolkien too closely.
- MattPalmer1086 3y agoAh, Covenant is really distinct from Tolkien. Not so much in the world building (giants, etc) but in the appalling pain and self obsession of Thomas Covenant. It took me 3 attempts to finish the first book, but after that I was hooked for the first two series.
- snowwrestler 3y agoThe first Covenant trilogy intentionally mirrors Tolkien in order to provide a familiar “fantasy” background against which to cast a completely non-fantasy character: Thomas Covenant, grumpy disbeliever. It’s an intentional choice. (The second trilogy abandons this constraint and is a much better fantasy story for it.)