Are There Any Valid Criticisms? (aka Kalessin's Rant)

[Rosa Underhill]

Did the success of LotR give rise to some of the lamest excuses for epic fantasy?

*cough*Dragonlance*cough**hack, hack*Ann McCaffrey*harf* (Please don't hurt me anyone.)

Honestly, Kalessin, I can't think of any valid criticism for fantasy (which is a bit of a problem since I'm trying to defend the genre in a paper I'm writing and, thus far, have found no critics). My beef with the genre at present is that it's become, mostly, stagnant and mouldering. It's so dratted predictable!

That's why I love Tolkien (who has apparently turned me into an even bigger book snob than I already was); in the end, what happens to his characters is not expected. But that's not what this thread is about....

Um, give my brain some time to switch on and I'm sure I'll come up with something truely intelligent to say (or a cheap immitation). [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Recovering from a vacation spent doing nothing is very difficult.