The Quest or the Battle?

[kaneda]

In fantasy which do you prefer. The quest (e.g. Frodo and Sam) or the battle (aragorn).

Personally I prefer the quests, I tend to skim over the battle scenes! but then that is because most of the time the magic is happening on the quest! My friend (who prefers the battles) thinks it could be the male-female dynamic working there.

So whats the opinions of the chronicles networks! what do you personally prefer and do you think it is gender related!

[Teir]

Would i sound like a total fence-sitter if i said that i like quests that include battle? - At this point I'm thinking about a lot of Edding's works.

Then again most quests have a battle element in them so how can they really be separated? That is, a battle will usually occur because of the quest, or the quest begins because of a battle which is occuring or may soon occur......
In my opinion the best situation is a tasteful mixture of the two.

[YOSSARIAN]

I like reading about the strategy leading up to battle, i.e formations,techniques, equipment. I don't care for the actual fighting of the battles. But all things considered, I prefer the quest.

[Thunderchild]

definatly the battle becuase mostly cuz of the build up and come down - especially if it a good writer, on the other hand in sci - fi I prefer the more questlike side

[cornelius]

well,this is a hard one. I think I 'm gonna go with the battle, ( build up and ( nicely said) come down) . can't resist a good rumble... The best is both. At least, that's what I try in my book. Note that , in LOTR, the battle is also a quest ( Be KING, Save HUMANITY!, ...) and that the quest contains some action as wel ( SHe Lob).

[nixie]

The battle for me the quest is good but a decent battle brings the whole story to life

[GOLLUM]

It really depends a bit upon who is writing the Quest and the Battle but genereally speaking I prefer the Battle to the Questr as I'm a fan of military fantasy.

I prefer my fantasy books to be without the forumlaic quest element as when you've read as extensively as I have it can become a little ho-hum....

The Battle however can still and often does sit quite comfortably within a more orginal plot line.

[Culhwch]

Battles. But I'm a guy, so.... It's a vicarious thing, I think. All the action, none of the pain.

[Foxbat]

The Quest. As Gollum says, it can be a bit formulaic but this is usually the area of the story where most of the character development takes place. I find this the most interesting aspect.

[Allanon]

definatley the battle because of the build up and tactics.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

The Quest. As Gollum says, it can be a bit formulaic but this is usually the area of the story where most of the character development takes place. I find this the most interesting aspect.

Agreed but thankfully there's enough quality fantasy about which develops characters without the need for the standard Quest device as per Tolkien.

[Sibeling]

I guess I prefer Quest, it seems more adventurous than just fighting.

[Marky Lazer]

I like quests better, because you can get tensions in the group (Boromir in LOTR), searching for a magical artefact (Silmarils, Beren) is exciting, and lastly you can define characters better; there are only 10 or so characters in the quest, in a big battle there are like tens of thousands warriors fighting, and you only get to know a few characters.

[dwndrgn]

Quest definitely. I read the build up, skip the battle and read the wind down...hate battle scenes, they are completely (IMO) unnecessary to the rest of the story and seem to always get long drawn out descriptions that to me are complete claptrap because a. I've never been in a battle so couldn't say if it sounded plausible (they don't but that's just my opinion) b. hate violence of any sort and c. don't feel the need to experience violence vicariously (there's plenty of real violence IRL and I read to get away from that crud).

That's the sugar-coated version

[Marky Lazer]

Originally Posted by dwndrgn

a. I've never been in a battle so couldn't say if it sounded plausible (they don't but that's just my opinion)

Hpw often have you been on an adventurous quest?