I wonder why?

[Rosemary]

I’ve been reading fantasy stories for many years now and just lately have been contemplating the changes in my reading material.


Authors who have been my favourites such as Ian Irvine who had his ‘View From The Mirror’ quartet published back in 1998; Janny Wurts and her ‘Circle of Fire or Raymond Feist with ‘Legends Of The Riftwar’, now don’t seem quite so exciting or even written as well as I once thought. I can still re-read them but it is not the same somehow. Re-reading such works as Anne McCaffrey or Tad Williams with Memory Sorrow & Thorn’ series however, still bring the same ‘buzz’ as before.


Is it just because our newer authors are better with their writing, world building and characters? I seem to have no doubts when reading, say the works of Sara Douglass or Jennifer Fallon, both fairly new authors and with a few good trilogies already published. I might be having some trouble reading Steven Erikson but I do admire his writing.
Perhaps reading ‘epic fantasy’ stories have changed my taste in literature somehow!
Has anyone else noticed this happening to themselves? Is it a normal process of reading as one matures, as it was when leaving Enid Blyton behind and progressing to C.S.Lewis and Narnia?
What are your views and opinions on this?

[Bant Warick]

I find the more you read the more you want to challange yourself with books that might be out of your comfort zone. Like yourself I used to very much enjoy fantasy epics such as the Feist's riftwar saga or Brooks Shannara series. But now however I would find reads like that a lot less enjoyable. I now lean more towards sci-fi with a political or philosophical edge (currently reading dune) or something thats just completely different; I have not long finished the time traveller's wife and will soon start reading Wicked.

[Dexter]

Dune is without a doubt my favorite science fiction novel. Good choice, Bant Warick.

Oh yes, Rosemary, I've noticed the same thing about myself. In my case I think it's mostly age. In my youth it was all about the action. I couldn't get enough of it. But nowadays I want more character and more atmosphere. More meaning. Action is still good. I still like it. I just want more.

I have burned out a little on some things through over-exposure. Like stories where a young man, though some accident, is the only person who can save the world from some dark warlock or another. And does, of course, in a telling that spans multiple volumes. Oh boy! Can I have another?