Here's the thing about running a survey
for a whole bunch of fantasy readers: they don't just tell you what they like; they
also highlight what they don't like. Sometimes, the line between what they like and what
they don't like is so fine, a lightsaber couldn't slice it more precisely. So, today,
join me as we explore the negative side of the giant fantasy survey that I ran for readers of
the genre, and let's figure out what they hate about fantasy books. Welcome to another episode
of Just In Time Worlds with your host, Marie. [Music] In a previous video, I discussed what readers
loved, as shown in the survey, which you can check out in the information card. This video will
focus on the flip side—what readers didn't like or why they put a book down. There will be another
video specifically dealing with magic systems because that came through as a core concern in
the survey. If you're interested in that video, make sure you're subscribed to the channel. If
you're interested in how I ran the survey and that kind of analysis, and all the questions,
you can also check out my livestream on the topic. The sound is a little bit soft, so
you might want to switch on subtitles and read along as I speak. I'm sorry the gain on
my microphone wasn't set high enough. Okay, let's get going with the five things readers
didn't like at all in the fantasy genre. One of the first things that came up is how
much readers don't like overcomplicated or gratuitously complex fantasy. This is
where there are unnecessary details, jargon, or overly intricate lore that can
confuse and alienate readers. Now, I know, I know, readers are downright picky, aren't they?
They want to be transported to fantasy worlds, but not too much—kind of like a cat. "Look
at me, look at me, pet me, pet me—no, pet me with your eyes." And believe me, I
know about cats; I have four of them. But I do get where readers are coming from. If I need a
dictionary, a textbook, a degree in anthropology, and a police case board to follow your story, I'm
going to lose interest. It's a fine line to walk between taking me to the world of fantasy
and too much—only pet me with your eyes. A good example of this is "Malazan Book of the
Fallen" by Steven Erikson. This series is a masterpiece of epic fantasy, praised for its
ambitious scope and richly woven tapestry of characters and lore. However, it is also known
for its steep learning curve, with a narrative complexity that can be daunting for new readers.
According to anecdotal evidence from r/fantasy, a whole slew of readers quit in "Gardens of
the Moon," and many more give up when they open "Deadhouse Gates" and encounter yet more
characters. Personally, I enjoyed "Malazan" up to book seven, and then I kind of lost interest.
"Malazan" absolutely has its fan base, so as with all of this kind of advice, it's not an absolute.
There will be fans for even highly complex fantasy, but you do want to make sure that you're
not throwing in fantastical complexity just for the sake of complexity. A good way to avoid this
pitfall is to make sure that your payoffs match your complexity. For example, if you're going to
flip science on its head and have a world be flat, this needs to feature in some way in your story.
After all, this dramatically changes the world in absolutely loopy ways, like people being able
to see incredible distances since they don't have the curvature of the earth to worry about. If
you're making a change that dramatic, then make it matter. A reader doesn't mind high complexity if
it also has high payoff. Well, most readers. Some will always turn away and demand that you only pet
them with your eyes. What author, in your opinion, handled complexity really well? Let me know
in the comments, and let's move on to two. This pitfall is that readers don't like
unnecessary fillers. This means scenes, characters, or information that doesn't advance
the plot, contribute to character development, or expand the world and this often slows down the
story. Now, my personal view on any scene in a book is that it must either expand the character,
build the world, or advance the plot, and it must do at least two of those things to justify its
presence in the book. I don't like scenes that just do one of those things because I feel that
this is not sufficiently engaging for the reader. An example of unnecessary filler that I don't
think anyone will quibble with is the "slog" books in "The Wheel of Time" series by Robert
Jordan—those are books 6 to 10, where the plot seems to stall with excessive descriptions
and side plots that minimally advance the main story. This is particularly evident in Perrin's
storyline, which is, well, let's just say it's long. Now, you can avoid this by streamlining your
narrative. Regularly review and edit your scenes, and cut down what isn't necessary or combine
scenes. If you're looking at two scenes, and one advances the character and one advances
the plot, consider putting the two together and making the scene a little bulkier, but cutting
down on the overall word count. You can also add some tension to those scenes. Add a bit more
stakes to your character advancement scenes. Give them a bit of conflict to go with this, "This is
who the character is," flavor of the scene. So, try to make sure that every scene that you
put into the narrative does at least two of: expand the world, advance the story, or build
the character out. I did do a video on how to show your world-building to the reader
if you want more help with this point, which you can check out in the information
card, and let's move on to Pitfall three. The third thing that readers didn't like was the
overused or predictable tropes without any unique twists or fresh perspective. Now again, I know we
spoke about how much readers like certain tropes in the first video. Readers are like that—they
want their cake and they want to eat it too, with pretty sprinkles on top because they want
the comfort of the familiar tropes but they still want it to feel fresh. "Pet me with your
eyes." An example of this kind of overused trope, in my opinion, and sorry if you're a fan, is
"Eragon" by Christopher Paolini. Although popular, especially in the young adult section, "Eragon"
is pretty much a trope from start to end. It's the orphan farm boy who discovers he's special
and destined for greatness. It's got Jedi in it, it's got Dragon Riders—basically, everything
is a trope. Now, for a 16-year-old, was it a well-written book? Yes. Is it trope-filled?
Yes. Should you write a book like that? Maybe. Christopher Paolini found success with it,
but for every Christopher Paolini, there are a ton of books on Goodreads with a one-star review
because they are too tropey or too derivative. So, how do we avoid this? If you're using a common
trope, twist it in an unexpected way. For example, the orphan might discover that they're actually
not the chosen one, and they have to somehow figure out what to do with their life. Now that
would be a very interesting twist. Also bear in mind that while no world is ever going to be
wholly unique—I mean, everything that you can think of probably has been done to some extent
because we all draw from the same common base, we all draw from the history of our world, and so
we do have commonalities between books because you have to start from some kind of base somewhere—but
the way that you arrange the elements is unique to you. Don't strive to be wholly unique but strive
to make everything your own. Put your own spins on it, your own twists, your own tweaks. Arrange
the world-building elements in new ways and make it fit your vision of your world, and that way,
even though you use the same tropes, the same world-building elements, it feels fresh to the
reader who feels like they're entering a familiar world but one that still has enough surprises to
keep them engaged. What world both used tropes and still subverted your expectations? Let me
know in the comments, and let's move on to four. Here's one that's going to rub some people up the
wrong way, judging by previous reactions on my channel: readers don't like it when you handle
sensitive themes poorly. These are themes like mental illness, slavery, or sexual violence. I
made a video about this, about how you need to be cognizant of what you're including in your world
when you bring in themes with so much baggage. And you can check that out in the information
card, but please note, I am not saying don't include these themes. I'm just saying, be aware
of what you're doing, that's all. I'm not telling you that you have to or don't have to include
these themes; I'm just saying, you need to know what you're doing with that theme and don't just
be gratuitous about it. Don't just include these themes as "cool background" or whatever—it is not
"cool background" when every girl comes out of a situation where she suffered sexual abuse to make
her a hard person, and that is just her character backstory. That is not something that you just
toss in there because it'll make the character stand out. And for an example of this, I'm
actually going to pick on "The Wheel of Time" TV series. In the opening episode, Perrin's
wife—added just for the TV series and did not exist in the books—is unalived by Perrin
himself, literally just to give him backstory. It's the most horrible, callous use of the
fridging trope that I've seen in a long time, and I have no idea what the writers were thinking.
And that is what I mean by "be careful with these themes." It's not just about the women characters;
it's also about the men. It was not cool that Perrin unalived his wife. For what reason would
you do this as a character background? Again, I'm not saying don't use these themes. I'm not
saying these themes have no place in your book; they might very well have a great place in
your book, they might make the story stronger, but be aware of what you're doing, and make sure
you are including these themes on purpose and by design, not accidentally, and not because you
think it might be a "cool background" or some such thing. How did you feel about "The Wheel
of Time" fridging thing? Did it work for you, did it not bother you, did it bother you? Let me
know in the comments, and let's move on to five. For our final point, readers don't like it when
the fantasy elements of a story feel as though they're just clumsily pasted on top of the
story, like they're not properly integrated. These elements feel as though they don't
have an impact on the world, the characters, and their daily lives. An example of this
is "The Fifth Sorceress" by Robert Newcomb, which, admittedly, I do like picking on. This
novel, intended to start an epic fantasy series, was widely critiqued for its handling of magical
elements and themes. Critics and readers found the use of magic often came across as inconsistent
and gratuitous, serving the plot's needs in the moment rather than arising naturally from
the world's established rules or history. Readers don't like deus ex machina, and if your
fantasy elements have a lot of deus ex machina, it feels as though they're just pasted on to make
your plot work rather than being truly integral to the world and transporting the reader to this
amazing place where fantasy is real. The way to avoid this is to ensure that those fantastical
elements are woven into the fabric of your world and affect everything from your political systems
to your daily life. For tips on how to do that, you can watch almost anything on my channel.
You should also regularly remind readers of the wonder and the uniqueness of the
fantasy setting through vivid descriptions, inventive magical phenomena, and
characters who react to those elements. And those are the five common pitfalls
that I mined from the survey. Next time, we'll conclude this miniseries with a discussion
on magic systems that readers find compelling. If you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up,
and consider checking out my epic fantasy series, which, hopefully, hasn't fallen prey to these
pitfalls. But don't feel pressured to support me financially; you can also support the channel
just by watching another video since you enjoyed this one. Maybe check out my video on cultural
world-building mistakes right over there, or you can trust the algorithm's recommendation
right over here. And I will see you soon for another episode from Just In Time Worlds,
where we build what we need, when we need it.
