Why the fantasy genre annoys me

Fantasy isn’t a genre.

But wait, you say, aren't you a fantasy author?

I love reading and writing fantasy, but I always got frustrated when I was looking for a new book.

Fantasy being a single genre is like saying “I enjoy eating yummy food.” It's too broad. While in genres like romance or thriller, the name lets you know what's going to happen in the plot. While, yes, the stories will be vastly different, it still gives us a good idea.

Fantasy and Sci-fi are a setting not a genre

Neither gives us an insight into the type of plot to expect. While many online retailers have subgenres they are not that helpful either.

Urban fantasy? That's a double setting.

Young adult fantasy? Well an age range helps… except if you've read any current YA you'd know it doesn't mean much any more. Maybe the main character is somewhere between 16-19, maybe not. Maybe it deals with issues young adults deal with, maybe not…

Epic fantasy? Well, we get the scope of the story so it's more helpful.

So what did I do to find a book I liked?

I got frustrated a lot 🫠 I picked stories after scouring the covers and then reading the blurb… and still ended up with romantacy books I was trying to avoid.

While I don't have a solution, what helped the most was going a Facebook groups dedicated to indie fantasy. Reading other people's reviews I found I got a more in-depth look at the story, and I could figure out of our tastes were similar.

Getting recommendations this way has helped me immensely. Word of mouth is something I trust a lot more. Reviews on retailers I take with a heaping grain of salt. But honest reviews on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok are quite handy.

If your not already part of Indie Fantasy Addicts on Facebook I highly recommend joining. A reader first group that has fantastic unbiased reviews and monthly giveaways.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

So what else can we do?

Take the time to reflect and define what we do and don’t like. I might sound silly or basic, but can you actually define easily what you do and don’t like? It’s kind of like asking an author what their book is about, a lot of us will go deer in the headlights or give a vague answer.

But if we actually define what it is that we dislike it helps to know when to pass up a book. Knowing which tropes you like or don’t can help, but I find that the majority of them are linked to romance or they are vague.

Romance

Even as a non-romance reader, I think this is a super important thing to define. Especially with the rise of romantasy with a heavy fantasy plot (and now Fourth Wing has exploded there will be many books similar to it. So if you like dragon rider without the spice life might be tough)

Figuring out your romance is easier as they are usually better defined and in most reviews. Do you want romance as the dominant part of the story/as a subplot/none at all? Do you want clean romance (no sexual tension, nothing more than kissing etc), do you want closed door/fade to black (where there is more spice but the serious stuff is off the page) or if you want it on the page how much spice do you want (how explicit)?

What other tropes do you enjoy? I am always for a slow burn and love a well done enemies-to-lovers.

What tropes do you not like? I mean that one’s kind of self explanatory but it helps to reflect and pinpoint why you didn’t like a book and understand which trope it was.

Found Family

Honestly who doesn’t like a good found family trope? But it’s just a small element that 99% of book are going to have.

Plot related keywords

When I read a blurb I’ll be on the lookout for keywords that I either want or don’t, the bottom of the blurb or reviews can help here too.

For example I like fast-paced books with action, magic, battles. I don’t like political intrigue (seriously, it stresses me out) so I’ll be on the lookout for words related to that. A fight over the throne can go either way: is it schemes and backstabbing in court OR is it on a bloody battlefield?

“On the brink of war” this one is another I watch for because it can go many ways. I really hate books that have a war start and end in one book. That isn’t very realistic to me.

Knowing which keywords wave little red flags at you can be so helpful. I used to read a lot of YA back in the day, but I got to a breaking point where I wanted to scream if I read another blurb that started “XYZ was just an ordinary teenage girl, until she met (some boy) and found out she was their long lost princess”. Even to this day if I read something close to this I’m already clicking away.

Photo by Jason Wong on Unsplash

Hopefully this helps you figure out more about what you do and don’t want in a book. Helping to maintain your enjoyment of reading, because remember this is for fun.

Do you already know some of the keywords you hunt for?

What tropes do you hate?

Hit reply and let me know, I always love talking about things people hate in books.