The problem with epic fantasy and indie writers

Reposted from Kindleboards:

Quote from: Shane Murray on Yesterday at 07:34:42 PM

Romance. I can't really see it losing its crown. The Queen has been ruling for a while now.

More women read than men (I feel so anyway, no research done ), and a lot of women like romance,
so romance should always be dominant, no matter what spice is flavouring it (historical/vamps/etc.).

Epic fantasy does well, but its dominated by a few big names. Indie authors don't really try to write
fantasy on the same scope and size as the trade published authors (Dalglish's books are half the size).
I am going to self publish a 250k novel at the end of this year, the first of a long series, I think I may be
one of the first doing this as an indie. Self publishing this book will cost me over 3000 bucks (the price is
why I don't think many indies bother with epic fantasy).

The problem with epic fantasy from an indie standpoint (and I speak from considerable experience) is the sheer amount of work involved. Writing a 250K word epic is very much a labor of love that can consume years of your life. From what I can ell about the indie writing business model, there is a premium on speed of production. Writers who can churn out multiple short novels (or even novellas) over a year or two (or who have an extensive backlist built before they publish) have an advantage over someone slaving away on a massive 1000 page monster - from Amazon or Smashword's point of view one writer has more titles up than another, which is more for the algorithms to work with, more opportunity for prospective buyers to stumble across their names.

The downside of this is quality - we end up with a lot of boilerplate stories featuring the same stock characters and plots. I think that's a reason why so many PNR stories feature broody vampires and all the rest, or why so many indie fantasies are variations of the standard coming-of-age stories that come across as rehashed Dungeons and Dragons sessions turned to fiction. They're easy to write, there's a template to follow.

It's not exactly a secret...

Whoa...

Just watch the first season of GAME OF THRONES...

Greenwich Reflections

It's a cold, windy Saturday. I had nothing better to do, so I signed up for a rather interesting pub crawl in Greenwich Village. I and about thirty other literary aficianados were going to spend three freezing hours visiting three bars in lower Manhattan known for their association with great writers of the past century. We started off at the White Horse tavern (famous for being the last place Dylan Thomas drank before dying) proceeded onwards to the Kettle of Fish and ended the day at Marie's Crisis Cafe. all great places, (though the last was something of a meat locker in terms of temperature...) and I drank back some bottles of fine hard cider (not much of a beer drinker...)

But a few days later, reflecting on our perambulations through New York literary past, I realized something. All of the writers associated in these places have been dead for decades...or of they are still among the living are not likely to remain so for very much longer due to advanced age. For over a century, the Village was a Bohemain paradise, a literary mecca, an artists haven, Today it's a museum, a place for outsiders like yours truly to dip a toe in the metaphorical fairy dust of the past. hoping that some of it will stick (while conveniently ignoring the grinding poverty, personal conflicts, substance abuse and wrecked marriages along the way...those who said art comes from suffering knew all well of what they spoke...) The neighborhood itself is a cleaned up, prettied up version of its old grungy self, the street kid poet turned tenured professor. Those in the area hoo still have creative drive likleyy have trust funds or day jobs on Wall Street. Or rent control.

None of this is surprising to anyone, least of all myself. Everyone knows the Village has been a yuppie enclave for over a generation. Go to other places in this city with a history of artistic endeavor and its all the same. Williamsburg was once a working class district afflicted with high levels of street crime, now it's hipster central. Astoria, Long Island City...all headed down the same path. None of this is shocking or surprising.

Which leads me to wonder about the conflict between art and wealth. Specifically, can true artistic communities co-exist with wealthy neighbors? Artists hope to sell their paintings, poets and writers to sell their scribblings...their presence in any given place gives it that pizzazz that inevitably draws the monied crowd...forcing the artists to move on. The great neighborhoods around the world that we associate with Bohemian lifestyle around the world are an eclectic group of places, but they all share one thing in common - once upon a time they were dirt poor places that sensible citizens did their best to avoid. My father lived and worked in NYC during the Seventies, back when the gritty city so beloved by by the nostalgic today was a very real thing (gritty enough to choke on...), and he makes it quite clear that it was not a nice place to be. The Village, the Bowery and all the rest were crime-ridden sinks most did their best to leave. Which is why the creative types moved in. It was the only around they could afford to live. The Village was the home base for generations of writers because the rents were cheap. Dylan Thomas was staying at the Hotel Chelsea because it rented at flophouse rates. Chelsea became a gay haven because it was cheap enough even for societal outcasts. An amazing period of creativity began, which in turn caught he eye of people who did have money and desire to be near exciting things, slowly but surely the rents go up...the Course of Empire in the inverse.

Which makes one wonder if eventual self-destruction is inherent in these sorts of communities. A place abandoned becomes a home for those of creative mind with low capital. It becomes the focus of attention. Money moves in. Eventually the creatives must move on. They find another place, and the process starts anew.

Which goes to show the only place Bohemia can be eternal is inside your own head.

Review of Darkslayer: Wrath of the Royals

The Darkslayer: Wrath of the Royals - Book 1 by Craig Halloran
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There isn't a lot that distinguishes this book, the first on a series, from any of a number of stories based in the legacy of Howard or Leiber. Darkslayer: Wrath of the Royals fits firmly into this.

The setting is the world of Bish, a standard fantasy world with all that implies, to the point that it feels almost like a Dungeons and Dragons session put to paper. The hero is Venir, a ranger turned mighty-thewed warrior (sorry, couldn't resist...) and his thief companion Melegal, essentially Fafrhd and the Grey Mouser under slightly different names. When they make the mistake of crossing the wrong set of nobles in the city of Bone, they have are forced to flee, setting forth onto a life of adventure and combat and so on...

In other words, there's nothing here that anyone with a background in fantasy RPG's will find unusual, which is both good and bad.

The Good:
The Standard Fantasy Setting means that the story is easy to get into. without having to explain too much about how the world works, the reader can get into the story fairly quickly, The illustrations that accompany the book are very well done, and the heroes face off against a truly demonic enemy that rises above the standard sword-bait orc's. The cosmology of the universe is also interesting - basically the world is an amusement created by a supremely bored godlike being. And to the writers credit, the story doesn't take itself too seriously.

The Bad:
Its a very generic story, almost to the point of ticking off various boxes on the fantasy checklist. The layout of the story is also problematic, often jumping back and forth between characters. It is also burdened with a rather long prologue that basically functions as an info dump. The dialogue is a somewhat stilted and the prose baffling.

In short, not terribly original as fantasy stories go, but again, that's not a bad thing. If you're looking for an amusing read, this would be a good place to start.

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Review of CITY OF ROGUES

City of Rogues by Ty Johnston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

- A decent read that hits most of the expected marks -

amazon tends to abound with fantasy novels of various sub-genres prices between $2.99 to $0.00 nowadays. Many of them are crap, some of them are brilliant, while the rest fall where in the middle. City of Rogues is definitely amongst the third, though certainly towards the higher end.

The setting is a typical fantasy city, and like Conan and other sword and sorcery tales to which it is obviously inspired by, focuses mainly on the lower end of the social ladder, amongst the thieves, gangsters and others who fight out their days in the narrow alleyways at sword pint and edge of spell. Though the book description lists Kron Darkbow as the main character, an anti-hero bent of revenge (are there any other kinds?) the story spends even more time on its various other characters - a former mercenary turned political boss/gangster, a healer mage trying to escape his past, a former soldier and guard from a prison colony trying to make a fresh start in life, a world-weary city guards captain...and so on.

The central focus of the story is about the character Kron and his quest for revenge against Belgas, the preeminent gangster in the city, and how it draws in, affects and in some cases ends the lives of the characters. when it is over, a new quest has begun to liberate a far-off lands in the north from its insane wizard ruler.

The good points - well-rounded characters and a plot that, while no different from a hundred other fantasy novels, was well-written enough to hold my attention. I've always enjoyed fantasy tales with a gritty edge, and this had enough to make it a fun read.

The bad points - the setting isn't adequately explained. Various other realms are mentioned, but with little explanation as to how they relate to the characters in question. Religion plays a strong role in this society and the characters actions, but almost no background material is provided, causing some confusion. Also, the ending of the book comes across as awkward. Having defeated the bid baddie, Kron and two of the characters suddenly decide to hare off to another land to overthrow its king, almost out of the blue. it felt shoehorned in, giving the book the feeling of being almost an extended prologue.

Still, a decent read, worth three stars at least, worth an afternoons enjoyment.

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Sometimes the cover alone is with the price

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Peter Steele, you are sorely missed...