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why in almost every fantasy book there is a Dark Lord/god who wants to destroy and/or conquer the world, and there are forecasts or predictions that the main character has to fulfill before the final battle against the enemy can begin??

Lord of the rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, the wheel of time by Robert Jordan, and some of David Edding's (I hope remembered the name right) book series they all have this..."thing" in them. And I'm sure there are more of them out there..... kinda funny

It's a bit of a cliche, isn't it?

If you want a series of fantasy books which break the mould, and don't adhere to the traditional formulaic points, then check out 'A Song of Ice and Fire' by George R.R Martin. None of the characters are tired stereotypes. There are no pretty, flawless heroes and there are no obvious, blustering villains. All of the characters are fleshed out brilliantly, and all of the characters are human; riddled with hopes and insecurities, pride and shame, grief and exaltation. Warts and all, if you will.

I wouldn't even qualify these books as fantasy, personally. They're ever so much more, and wildly superior to almost anything else out there. Even if you're not into fantasy as a rule, you'd still be well worth checking them out.

Acrisius wrote:why in almost every fantasy book there is a Dark Lord/god who wants to destroy and/or conquer the world, and there are forecasts or predictions that the main character has to fulfill before the final battle against the enemy can begin??

Lord of the rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, the wheel of time by Robert Jordan, and some of David Edding's (I hope remembered the name right) book series they all have this..."thing" in them. And I'm sure there are more of them out there..... kinda funny

Books are made on a formula or a "set way" to write a book. Much like films you must follow a certain story structure to make money.

This is why almost every book and film is too predictable nowadays

Biscuit wrote:

Acrisius wrote:why in almost every fantasy book there is a Dark Lord/god who wants to destroy and/or conquer the world, and there are forecasts or predictions that the main character has to fulfill before the final battle against the enemy can begin??

Lord of the rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, the wheel of time by Robert Jordan, and some of David Edding's (I hope remembered the name right) book series they all have this..."thing" in them. And I'm sure there are more of them out there..... kinda funny

Books are made on a formula or a "set way" to write a book. Much like films you must follow a certain story structure to make money.

This is why almost every book and film is too predictable nowadays

This more or less...


It hearkens back to "heroic fables", most stories based in fantasy take a great deal of their structure from very old tales of heroes and monsters. Thus, spirituality plays heavily into them, as well as social status. Only royalty and those blessed by God/The Gods can be heroes...

Even Star Wars follows this formula, it's not necessarily a bad thing...it's a matter of tradition...(which isn't to say you have to like it)