Eldest

I just finished reading that book. It’s not too bad if you are into fantasy, but it made me think of an odd trend. Why the hell is all fantasy becoming a competition to outdo Tolkien?

Yes, I know he is the father of the modern epic fantasy, but do you really have to babble about the world you created in such detail that I can tell you how many nut hairs a troll or trollic or dragon or whatever has? Must I know your world so well, I have a freaking map of it more detailed then Rand McNally’s? Where have all the short stories gone?

Well, I think the trends of series are coming to an end. Gookind is pushing his last book out soon and Jordan might not live long enough to finish his. Martin takes so long to write his books, that I might just die before he gets done and Paolini is writing a damn telephone book to finish his trilogy of phonebooks. I miss Piers Anthony and Robert Asprin; at least they had ten book series that were under 200 pages each. Yes, Asprin is still alive, but the Myth series almost put him in a drool bin and now he co-writes everything from his padded cell. Ok, maybe he didn’t go crazy, but he was damn close.

Zalazny is gone and Mcaffery’s son was told he should stick to Pern or go about spending his inheritance. Salvatore is so sick of the character that made him known that he has a closet full of stories describing anything from him being tea-bagged to death by a dwarf to slipping in the shower. Hell, even Rowling is almost done. Her last book will make her so rich; she may just buy Ireland and tell all of them they have to wear pointy wizard hats to own land.

With all these long series ending and so many writers burnt out, what will be next? I am praying for a series of short books that make me like a character without describing them so well I could pick them out in a lineup. Let your reader do the imagining and perhaps our children will be able to do more then dig ditches or take orders in the future. If you need to show people what your world looks like, go get a movie deal. Those whores will film anything if they can have a Pepsi sign in the background.