New and Fresh

[beaulolais]

it seems to me that lately what we have seen in fantasy is a rehash of old themes.

truly, Strange and Norell and their world were marvelous innovations, but since then...

vampires?
lycans?
girls discovering hidden magic powers and facing evil forces alone as they struggle to master themselves, their fate, and the threat of pure evil?

*yawn*

where is the NEW stuff?

we need marvelous new possibilities, not reworked old ones!

so...

any ideas?  

[beaulolais]

well, i for one find Garth Nix's use of an afterlife army different and intriguing.

and i like Robert Holdstock's use of myth in modern dress (and Charles deLint's urban fantasy which does the same in another way)  

[Sita Harker]

How does it feel to be a puppet on my string?

Most of the original fiction I've seen was SciFi or... whatever category Neal Shusterman is.

With fantasy, for me it's always been, Who writes the familiar plot the best? ex, my fav story about a kid who finds out they have magic and have to fight a great evil was by J.K. Rowling. My fav story where a kid finds a dragon is Paolini's Eragon. etc

I am hollow... and I will live forever

 

[Lhia Dunwaith]

I agree with everyone else's suggestions. JS&MN, Garth Nix, and Harry Potter are all awesome. I'm also a huge Holly Black fan... even though she brings up a lot of Celtic legends (such as the Seelie, Unseelie, et cetera).  

[beaulolais]

Charles DeLint makes great use of the Seelie and Unseelie courts too!

but in his urban fantasies, the good guys are street musicians and starving artists and the bad guys are drug dealing bikers

yet they are all really something else...  

[boomstickjones]

You're right, some of the tropes do get a little old. But the good stories do tend to stand out. Most of the "omg i'm a teenage girl that just discovered my new SEKRIT POWERS and dragon spirit and fated betrothal to the elven vampire prince!" books will be forgotten in a couple years.

It's not really a matter of originality so much as good writing, I think. I always loved Neil Gaiman's and Robin McKinley's re-working of fairytales and myths. Putting a new spin on an old story works pretty well in those cases, or at least I think so. But then, Gaiman also just came out with a really original kickass-awesome new story, The Graveyard Book, about a boy raised by ghosts. So there's new awesome stuff still coming into existence. Don't give up hope!  

[Sita Harker]

Ok, I found a TV show made by Stephen Spielburg, and the stories are so good and most of them are original! It's called "Amazing Stories" which is corny enough, and it's got a corny opening title, but it's so awesome! He hired, like, John Williams to do the music (and a bunch of other famous composers) and almost every episode has Kiefer Sutherland or Harvey Keitel or Dom DeLuise or Kevin Costner or the dude who played Farmer Hoggett in Babe! I've watched a load of episodes and love all of them!

Oh, and it was made in the 80s which automatically adds 10 points smile

 

[Catherine of Aragon]

boomstickjones

You're right, some of the tropes do get a little old. But the good stories do tend to stand out. Most of the "omg i'm a teenage girl that just discovered my new SEKRIT POWERS and dragon spirit and fated betrothal to the elven vampire prince!" books will be forgotten in a couple years.

It's not really a matter of originality so much as good writing, I think. I always loved Neil Gaiman's and Robin McKinley's re-working of fairytales and myths. Putting a new spin on an old story works pretty well in those cases, or at least I think so. But then, Gaiman also just came out with a really original kickass-awesome new story, The Graveyard Book, about a boy raised by ghosts. So there's new awesome stuff still coming into existence. Don't give up hope!

I loved the graveyard book, it was so original plus it has some illustrations, which are always a good bonus!  

[DarknessApproaches39]

I just wanted to add my two cents in here...

I just recently started watching a relatively new British show called "Being Human" on Youtube. Then again, I've only seen the pilot episode and the first actual episode... and there are only 6 episodes out so far, I believe... But anyway!

It's about a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost that live in the same house. It sounds like a terrible joke ("A vampire, a ghost, and a werewolf walked into a bar..." harhar.) but it's pretty good! It dives into the lovely psychological problems with being such supernatural creatures. I'd recommend it! It's one of the more original ideas I've come across :] (Then again, my experience is rather minimal...)  

[beaulolais]

DarknessApproaches39

I just wanted to add my two cents in here...

I just recently started watching a relatively new British show called "Being Human" on Youtube. Then again, I've only seen the pilot episode and the first actual episode... and there are only 6 episodes out so far, I believe... But anyway!

It's about a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost that live in the same house. It sounds like a terrible joke ("A vampire, a ghost, and a werewolf walked into a bar..." harhar.) but it's pretty good! It dives into the lovely psychological problems with being such supernatural creatures. I'd recommend it! It's one of the more original ideas I've come across :] (Then again, my experience is rather minimal...)

i shall give it a taste, then!