Does the world have to end?

[thaddeus6th]

Many fantasy books deal with the impending end of the kingdom/world/universe/All Creation.

But do they have to? Would people here be as interested in a story where the main focus is simply on the story of a character, and though the kingdom he's in of course matters and is turbulent and connected to the protaganist it is not the entire story?

What I'm working on right now has no battles (in book one anyway) and is more concerned with the protagonist's return from exile to find his father's been murdered. My plan is for there to be some warfare, and battles and the like but not for a super-dragon or King of Wizards to threaten the world.

There is magic, and a few different species, but the kingdom's future is dictated by the actions and desires of a few powerful noblemen rather than a looming catastrophe.

The story also deals with the protagonist meeting the woman he betrayed and was betrothed to, and the consequences of that action (he was exiled and she ended up marrying a wife-beating monster). Likewise, his father was assassinated partly because he had no heir, as the son was not only exiled but presumed dead (exile takes place by being thrown into the sea).

So... what do people think? Too airy-fairy, or a welcome break from the Fated Disaster That Is Averted At The Last Moment plotline?

[ctg]

I would say that all depends on the execution. If you can manage to write the story in interesting way then there is no need for the end-of-the-world themes. I would be very interested to just read a good fantasy story based on a dwarven kingdom.

[Mharvey]

Heya!

I've never read a good novel that didn't have conflict in it. This conflict need not be world ending, but it needs to exist - whether it's James Joyce's personal, internal conflicts... or JK Rowling's 'Chosen One of the World' conflict.

Look at George R. R. Martin, arguably one of the best fantasy writers in existance right now. No worlds end and, really, there's no definable plot in the traditional sense. It's just characters in his world, doing what their situation forces them to do. You can argue over conflict, climax and resolution, but I would say the majority of his Fire and Ice series lacks any discernable notions like that.

It seems like alot of interesting things happen in your novel, so I definately wouldn't worry about folks being bored... so long as you execute it well.

[Culhwch]

Actually, I'd say there's a pretty strong 'world's goign to end' theme developing in Martin's Westeros, what with the threat of winter and an onslaught of Others coming...

But I would agree that a fantasy novel does not have to have such a weighty outcome riding on the shoulders of the heroes. I'd point towards somehing like Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora as evidence of that. I'm sure that there are dozens of other examples, as well. Pratchett, for instance. It's by no means a new take on the genre, but it certsainly is a valid one.

[TheEndIsNigh]

So this is a work of FICTION then? In which case anything that takes the readers mind off the inevitable sounds like a reasonable idea.

I would say that most SFF isn't concerned with the end of the world (sadly) although some kind of conflict is usually required or else you may as well write a travelogue. I sense readers of the genre require something a little more tasty than "Llittle Women" or "Anne of Green Gables". Although that isn't to say those works are not fine pieces of (yaaaaawn) writing of course.

[Malloriel]

The route I enjoy, and am employing myself, is that of character driven story lines within plots that revolve around eventually saving the world. The plan at the moment is self contained conflicts that can be resolved by a central cast of characters, but all of which in some way or another contributes to the plot pertaining to the major Big Bad.

I love those stories where at the end of the book you've got a sense of resolution, where you don't feel like you've been left hanging (and they all got into their black, unmarked SUVs, each on silhouetted by the ambient light of the sulphur vapour lamps above, and as the killer looked on from the safety of his lair, his eyes the local security system of the city, the night flared into life as one of the SUVs burst into flames. The end. --To find out what happened to Nick, Jessica, Alphonse, Jericho, Terry, Bartholomew, Garcia, Mandy, Saffron and Gertrude see book two in the series.), but which leaves the door open for continuation of the tale. Even LotR did this. There was resolution to one part of the tale each time, but the overall arch was left intact and carried the characters down the path of their ultimate destinies. In my opinion, at least.

[TheEndIsNigh]

Like Crash (the film) only they know of each others part and the ending hangs better. Sounds alright to me though I'm no expert. As you say it's employed in many plotlines although it can easily turn into a 24 type senario where the reader just gets fed up of being set up and never getting to the Big End or a TV series ending that eventually gets stale (there's only so many times JR can get shot). That's one thing about TotR, after each book the reader was satisfied enough of the tale had been told, while wanting to see what happened next. Finding that break point is the tricky part.

[thaddeus6th]

Thanks for all the replies

[jenna]

Originally Posted by thaddeus6th

What I'm working on right now has no battles (in book one anyway) and is more concerned with the protagonist's return from exile to find his father's been murdered. My plan is for there to be some warfare, and battles and the like but not for a super-dragon or King of Wizards to threaten the world.

Oh... I want to see the super-dragon!

I think your idea sounds great. The main conflict that matters in a story is the inter-personal and individual conflicts, to my mind. You can have a whole End is Nigh, asteroid hitting Earth story - but if the characters aren't conflicted it will just be boring.

Just make sure that if there aren't big public stakes, you focus a lot on emotion and characterisation, as that's what will sell your story.

[chopper]

you don't have to have a cataclysm to have a solid story....but it helps.

more seriously, and i think i've mentioned it before elsewhere, what i think you mean is that a good interesting tale needs either a push or a pull (or both) to keep the reader and the characters moving.
an easy option for the pull is the need to prevent some cataclysmic event - that's an easy one to motivate after all. character-based push'n'pulls can be a lot more subtle, and maybe harder to write convincingly. perhaps that's why a lot of people go for "The sky is falling in!" approach.

You can have a whole End is Nigh, asteroid hitting Earth story

has The End Is Nigh written an asteroid-hitting-earth story?

[jezelf]

From what I have found, (feel free to comment) stories usually deal with change. It’s the root of how we develop as human beings. The reader wants change in the character by the end of the story.

I don't think it has to mean change in the universe they live, but sometimes the world/universe coming to an end is the greatest threat you can devise as a call to the adventure, so the character is compelled to stop the change and that is the struggle.

At the same time, for the viewpoint character their world could come to an end in other ways, not on a literal sense. Their once comfortable life has been shattered or will be shattered if the character doesn't do something about it. It could something dear stolen from them or invading forces that will trample over their lovely garden and enslave them all.

Additionally, if the viewpoint (or other) character life is in danger then to that individual, the world will end for them (in an earthly sense)

As long as the change to the viewpoint character is compelling enough for the reader to care how they get out of the situation I don't think it matters. You can't really top the (literal) universe coming to an end (or can you?). Anyway, if every story was about that they'll all get boring and predicable.

Dunno if that helped anwser the question - feel I drifted off the topic.

Jez

[TheEndIsNigh]

Originally Posted by chopper

has The End Is Nigh written an asteroid-hitting-earth story?

Strangely there are asteroids knocking about in my book, oh ye of the crystal balls, although that's not the end of it of course. Things get a lot worse than that though.

Sweeping my PC for trojans as we speak.

[chopper]

make sure you check for Romans too - they get everywhere.

[Malloriel]

They do, but more by force than by trickery. I think if you've got Romans on your PC you're going to know about it as they pillage and sack all your programs and replace them with their own quite linear, but well kept and ultimately cleaner programs.

The Trojans are definitely the more insidious of the two, if you ask me.

[chrispenycate]

Oh, I thought that was trojan asteroids (the ones in the 30° leading ad lagging points in Jupiter's orbit) They're a right nuisance if they get in your computer.