[ice.monkey]

Having read the whole of this thread I think the publishing industry is missing a point about "original" fantasy.

I've been working on a fantasy project for some years now and am constantly surprised at the number of people I meet that used to be into fantasy but no longer are. And the common reason they no longer read fantasy is because it became 'samey' to them. They unfortunately never found fantasy beyond the constant rewrites of lotr and if they did, they unfortunately encountered something they didn't like.

So I've come to the conclusion that the publishing industry eventually turns people away from the genre as a result of being obsessed with their 'standard' of what people want. And there's no doubt that people want it but once they've had enough of it many 'move on' as a result of not finding anything new to fuel their imaginations.

It's bizarre as the fantasy available in children's books is vast and eclectic.

Aesop's Fables
Chronicles of Narnia
Wind in the Willows
Alice in Wonderland
Peter Pan
Harry Potter
the classic Fairy Tales
The Hobbit
Rupert the Bear

To name just a few that came to me right this instant.

So why are we forced to read a narrower range of fantasy as we grow older? Does the majority really want to read the same type? I don't think so. I think that as we grow older we encounter the main-stream Tolkienesque / Medieval fantasy and fall in love with it. But as children we fell in love with any form of fantasy. So surely it'd be true that we'd love more variety.

The Publisher's keep telling us that the main-stream fantasy is what people want because the majority of people they survey have fallen in love with it and are in their honeymoon period with it. So the Publishers keep shoving the same kind of fantasy at them but don't realise that after a while these same individuals actually do want something different but as there's not much (traditionally) choice they move away from the genre. And the Publishers survey and catch the next wave falling in love with main-stream fantasy but miss those who've 'moved on' and so believe that all we want is more of the same. So it's self-fulfilling. What they never find out is that they also turn people away from fantasy by being obsessed with the main-stream.

But because they're making enough money by shoving out the same niche fantasy they'll just keep doing it.

As to what I like in fantasy. Originality. But it's got to tell a good story with good characters. Character and story is more important than setting.