A Reader’s Life: What do I look for in fantasy books?

As I’ve said, I read a lot of fantasy. Adult fantasy, epic fantasy, YA fantasy. If a book description seems compelling to me, I’ll pick it up and at least try it.

But not every fantasy book seems compelling, and even some that do seem that I might like them, often, I do not. If a book seems to be written with a formula in mind – if it’s poorly written and edited – if the story is unoriginal – I’ll DNF it in a hurry.

There are other things that will make me quit a book or a series midstream. And some that will keep me reading, even if I find myself ambivalent half-way through. I’ve started to focus on what keeps me reading a bit, and hoping it will help my own writing, and I’ve made a short list of things that will keep me reading well past my bedtime.

-          A unique magic system. Don’t recycle something that’s been used multiple times. Make up something completely new, or at least, partially new. Make the consequences of using magic more dire. Make the source of the energy something new. But please don’t give me Harry Potter fan fiction and call it a brand-new book.

-          Friendships. Make them real, not disposable. Make me care about the people together and separately. Are there consequences to the friendship? Do they start out as adversaries and grow into friends? Make the relationship matter.

-          Don’t beat me over the head with romance. Fantasy first please. I am not romance-adverse, even if the romance is between two people that I don’t relate to. But there is a large difference between a fantasy with a romantic subplot, and a romance novel with a bit of fantasy thrown in.

-          Don’t put your book in a category that it doesn’t belong in on your vendors. You might get more sales, but you likely won’t have readers giving your glowing reviews for it, especially if they feel like they got conned.

-          Robotic battle scenes are boring, and I will skim or skip them. Give me some real human/non-human emotion in these scenes, not just a play by play. I do not need to read about every sword swing, but I do want to know what it feels like when the MC when they have their first kill.

-          Your main character better not be dumb. Naïve at first is okay. Uneducated is also fine. But blatantly stupid? Not okay. Common sense is a bonus. Ability to learn and grow, extra bonus. Show me that they can learn. Show me that they are not as simple as I expect them to be.

-          Have a sense of humor. I am not reading a comedy, but I need some relief from the drama. Sarcasm? Yes, please. But then again, don’t overdo it. Make it fit naturally. People are not serious all the time, and neither should the characters in a book be serious all the time.

-          Pages and pages of exposition without a dialogue or character break is going to turn me from a reader to a skimmer. Find a way to pass the information to me without waxing poetically for three pages about the shade of someone’s surcoat. Tell me the dress is purple, but I do not need to know how many pearls are sewn into the hem, nor do I need to know how many yards of lace are attached underneath. A little description goes a long way. Make the words matter, not filler.

-          Political intrigue is a bonus. Some of my favorite books have been light on battle scenes and heavy on politics. Not every fantasy book requires a huge battle near the end, truly.

-          Just as your MC should not be dumb, neither should your villain. If they are defeated too easily, your readers are going to feel cheated. It’s okay if they realize at the end that their anger was misplaced, but don’t make them turn around so fast the reader gets whiplash. Give your villain at least one quality that they share with the MC, or at least give them one thing that lets your reader relate to them. Big Bads that have no depth are unlikeable, and therefore, unrelatable to the reader. We want to be able to understand their motivations.  If we can’t, the story won’t come together like you think it will.

-          Readers like surprises. One of the last books I read had me opening my mouth and re-reading a passage four or five times. Foreshadowing is great and necessary, but don’t give it all away for free. Readers like to work for it sometimes. Make me wait until the end to show me your glorious secrets.

-          Make your blurb relevant to the entire book.  If you tell me in the blurb that the MC is going to face some perils on her journey, and they end up defeating their foes with little effort, I’m going to feel cheated. The blurb is your opportunity to court the readers. Make sure that they share pertinent information and are true to the theme and the plots in the book. Don’t promise me elves, and then give me one in the last chapter who only appears to witness a battle. Don’t promise me an epic journey that only takes the first act of the book to complete. The blurb is your chance to sell the true essence of your book. Make it count.

I will say that this is my list, and not THE list. Some people want all that exposition. Some people want twenty pages of blood and gore on the battlefield.  And some people like a villain with no redeeming qualities. Your book may not be for me, but that doesn’t make it a bad book.

Unless you don’t get it edited. Then all bets are off.