| Re: What is your ideal concept of fantasy?
The ideal concept of fantasy? Not an easy question to answer.
The reason I say this is because there is no singular form of fantasy in literature today. There are those that are strictly Tolkienesque fiction, and there are those that play with the border of alternative genres.
But fantasy, I think (or at least epic fantasy), requires three main elements to be classified as such:
1. There must be a being, human or otherwise, who in the very beginnings has good intentions. Focused on benefiting his fellows, this being acquires power ("power" is the general term for a number of things: command over an army, a succesful political career, great strength, or even the Lord of the Rings motif "magic"), which is used initially to further his goals. Eventually the ego and desires of the being lead to his undoing, and his power give him an assumed title of ruler or God.
2. There must be a quest or journey, impossible to accomplish, that gradually ends in the defeat of the being. The journey may be either long or short, and on this journey a great band may travel together or a lone individual may tread the path. Nevertheless, the difficulty of the quest tests the heart of the heroes and leads to several plot complications vital to the destination, for good or ill.
3. Finally there must be a hero or heroes that undertake the perilous trek. Usually this person is common and ordinary or perhaps seemingly weak and useless. But the heart and valor of this hero is eventually revealed and he is accepted by his peers, and he resolves the main conflict by defeating the great being. |