Everything Missing From Fantasy (there's a lot😅)

When a fellow writer told me "you have to write your book more like a movie" i remember looking him dead in the eye and saying "that might be the worst piece of advice anyone has ever tried to give me" because i really like the moments of characters just interacting with each other or the settings, or taking a moment to reflect -- and you don't get that in movies

I don’t agree with you. Making someone genuinely good can be realistic. There are men and women I know in real life who fit firmly into that category. Does that mean they don’t have weaknesses or flaws? No! But they consistently strive to do what is right, and fix mistakes they make when they can. More heroes and heroines who take the high road in fiction would be refreshing for sure!

I want more mature characters, generally. People who have life experience, connections to others (family, friend groups, professional/political connections). Also, more settings that aren't basically medieval Europe, or Victorian Europe, or modern Europe/America. Conflicts that don't rely on people being stupid. It's so much more interesting when a smart character makes good decisions, but it's still not enough to overcome until they learn more and/or connect with the right people.

regarding the movie comparison, I get that. In the meantime, I've come to recognize that when people call a fantasy novel out for being "slow", chances are that it is actually an exceptional book I will love reading.

Most readers complaining about these kind of things should check out a wider range of authors writing fantasy there's something for everyone regardless of preferences.

As for 40+ Female Main Characters, I can recommend “The Bloodsworn Saga” by John Gwynne, where the character of Orka is one of the three main POVs. Also, while not the main POV, Signe the ruler of Arbonne is a POV in Guy Gavriel Kay’s “A Song For Arbonne”!

Becky Chamers isn't the author of Murderbot, I think you meant to say Martha Wells :)

I happened to meet my soul mate when I was in my mid-30s, and when we tied the knot I was 39, so I'm in hearty agreement with the first complaint. I want to see more romantic plots or subplots in which the characters involved both are and ACT LIKE mature adults. One beautifully realized example appears in Lois McMaster Bujold's "Paladin of Souls." 7:02: "In real life, people are nuanced" -- this is true. However, kindness and empathy also exist in real life. Moral courage also exists in real life. These elements are missing from grimdark. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the heck out of Joe Abercrombie (thanks largely to the superb audiobooks with Steven Pacey's narration), but the real world isn't entirely made up of psychotic Logens, sociopathic Gloktas, rage-aholic Ferros, or narcissistic Jezals. People can be flawed but ultimately good, even heroic. Heroes can be nuanced. 11:02: For this, I can totally recommend Abercrombie's Age of Madness. Judge is reprehensible, but we also see morally gray female characters like Savine, Rikke, and (my favorite) Victarine. A Song of Ice and Fire famously features Cersei Lannister. The best of Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters novels, The Serpent's Shadow, The Gates of Sleep, Phoenix and Ashes, and The Wizard of London, all feature disturbingly evil female villains with no traces of gray at all. There are more female villains in fantasy than some may realize, I think. I do tend to Nope away from stories in which ALL the female characters are evil (e.g. Salvatore's Homeland books), but I do like stories in which female characters appear in a variety of spots along the moral spectrum.

I am literally writing something featuring an older female protagonist, thanks for the encouragement in tackling all that crone stuff! Nice to think anyone will be interested in reading it ❤

I'd say that Murderbot is absolutely distopyan, under the funny jokes, the future it paints its really distopyan if you stop and think about the world in which Murderbot exists.

For those who are looking for older MC. While the book series A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brenan, starts off with a younger protagonist, the voice of the MC as an older lady is always present, as she is narrating her life, and by the end of the series they converge into one, where you see this person age into her 40s and beyond. Highly recommend that one, particularly if you are really into science and dragons. There's also T. Kingfisher who sometimes writes books with older female protagonists as well, Swordheart comes to mind. It's quite the sweet, cosy adventure with older main characters.

As I'm getting older, I also wish there were more heroes at least over 25.

I’ve been married for a long time and I’m super with you! Regarding finding Indy books, the problem is that there are sooo many poorly written Indy books that it makes the really great ones (that are certainly out there) are harder to find.

I can't really agree that grimdark is realistic tbh. It does tend to have more nuance than some other genres but in my opinion it's more of a hyper pessimistic version of reality, not an accurate representation of it.

"Can't remember a book where we follow an older female character" => Navani in Rhythm of War, I believe she is around 55-60

One of my favorite female badass, Misaki from The Sword of Kaigen. Probably the epitome of female badasses as she was a great fighter and fought through marriage difficulties and tragedy. (Don't want to give out spoilers)

Sounds like people on r/Fantasy just need to read more comics, light novels, manga and older pulp books. I read a bit of everything from everywhere and I never feel like I can't find what I want.

40+ heroine I can get behind and I loved Michael Sullivan's Legends of the First Empire where one of the characters we follow is a 40+ heroine and deals with romance, and how romance might be different at that age than when she was younger.

My man!!! I love the two items in your wish list! Those are exactly the two things I would say as well. And as someone who’s been married for 14 years and just had my 5 kid, I can confidently say that marriage and kids are the best things in my life. Nothing has made me more of who I am than those things

I feel like fantasy can feel samey IF the reader is only going by what books are available at big book stores. There’s a TON of amazing sci fi and fantasy out there both trad and indie, that you have to look a bit more to find. I had to special order Rebecca Roanhorse’s Mirrored Heavens from my local bookstore because it wasn’t something they were going to order on release day. So there is good stuff out there!