You're kidding, right? As for the first one, most novels today with a female protagonist don't count on a male running to her rescue. More often the other way around. As for the second, romance tends to be a factor in mosty novels, whether the protag is male or female, but there are still plenty with female protags that don't have romance as a major element. For absolute good and evil, you are probably reading fantasy epics or over the top action novels. Most modern fiction doesn't draw hard lines between good and evil, if it caters at all to the concept. In that case, the girlfriend is more often the protagonist.
Not a non-cliche, but something I'd like to see more of nonetheless: science fiction and fantasy (the kind without vampires, particularly high fantasy) stories in which no wars are featured, or at least are not a significant part of the story. Most examples of the above come from past decades. In fact, it looks like war-free science fiction and fantasy are rapidly becoming an endangered species. I think that many writers in these genres operate on the principle that adding a war will instantly make a book "epic." Personally, I generally find war to be a tedious and boring subject. Personal conflicts are always more interesting - to me anyway - than thousands and millions of nameless individuals shooting or hacking each other.
"it looks like war-free science fiction and fantasy are rapidly becoming an endangered species" My fantasy story doesn't have a war, it's about a single man discovering his true (dark) self. I agree with you, war is too easy. "Doesn't something like that happen in James Blish's "The Seedling Stars"?" I will check it out! I haven't read it. My story is mainly based around the actual colony and they only return at the end. Er... Fantasy without magic would be a good stereotype breaker. Fantasy without royalty too. Oh and fantasy without a sword. Oh wait, am I taking the genre apart here? (P.S. In this post I am referring to 2 different things I am writing, don't get confused!)
No, not taking the genre apart - expanding it. Making it richer. Re-using the same old plot devices and such makes for a boring read (if you're a veteran reader of these genres, like me). Of late, I've started returning novels to the shelf the instant I spot anything about a war (or dragons and mages) in the blurb. Enough is enough! In order for something containing the aforementioned to hold my attention, it has to be truly outstanding. Fantasy and science fiction are two genres which truly present no limits to what one can imagine, and thus it is very unfortunate that most authors choose to pump out clone after clone of older books instead of giving their imagination a true workout.
Taking it apart, as an autopsy of something long dead: high fantasy. LOTR was probably fine and relevant in like...the early 1800s, but was even dated when it was written. A naive nostalgia towards a "better past" that never existed; one where inbred royalty was the answer to fair leadership, where a man's manliness was measured by the length of his bloodstained sword, and whenever something unusual happened, people threw up their hands and said with a playful smile: "Oh well, must be magic!" In our day and age it's just idiocy.
I dunno. I guess maybe it has to do the idea of having an exception to something, but never allowing an actual use for that exception. Whats the point of even mentioning that it would have to be truly exceptional for it to hold your attention when you seem to see the words Dragon/Mage and you put it down. That or maybe its the whole don't judge a book by its cover. Well in this case don't judge a book soley on whether or not something appears in it. Sorta seems shallow. Hmm, of course maybe its because such trepidation is not only understandable but justified entirely. I mean Fantasy, even High Fantasy, should have endless possibilities and yet its the march of the clones at times. Even my own fantasy stories tend to be all to similar to the others. Perhaps, and I believe this is the actual reason, I am just easily amused.
Nope. I was thinking specifically about twilight there - I wish there was a better role model for young women than Bella. There are plenty, but not enough. Books with female protagonisits almost always have the romance factor emphasised, it would be nice to see a balance. I read neither. Have you ever read a novel that starts with hard lines between good and evil and then dissolves them by the end? Thus why it would be original for the male to be the protagonist. You're not the first to think that everything has been thought before (Something for Kate).
What is wrong with the girl getting rescued by a knight in shining armour lol ? Honestly though I do wonder when people moan about cliches like magic, swords, mages, dwarves etc in fantasy - it kind of feels like saying someone is using a cliche when they put humans, offices, roads and buses into general fiction - I mean how many times has the London tube been used.. or maybe someone writing historical fiction is being a bit cliche when they ride horses and ladies wear long dresses. I have used cliches in my stories - I love reading about strong noble heros so that is what I have written.
The thread seems to have derailed into "listing things which annoy me in SF/Fantasy". In a valiant effort to return the tread to its tracks, I suggest the following non-clichés: * A fantasy story about someone who is average and has no special powers * A story where the protagonist overthrows the rightful monarch to free the people and declare republic * A story where the protagonist's quest is to convert people to the one true religion * A story where the gods exist, but almost no one believes in them, and ridicules those who do * A story for grown-ups where all large animals can talk
If something is truly exceptional, there'll be a lot of buzz about it and I'll get curious enough to keep reading. This was the case with Harry Potter. A friend of mine got a copy long ago, but when I read the blurb, it looked like the same old same old story - "chosen one must defeat the ultimate evil." I only returned to it later when I became aware of all the buzz over it and got curious. Even now, I hold that the best parts are the non-cliched parts. Like Harry's weird Muggle family, the interactions of Snape (a truly original character) with his pupils, and so forth. Voldemort was uninspired (Lucius Malfoy was more intimidating than him, probably because he was a more original character, and I couldn't always predict how he'd react), and the wizard war and all the buzz around it were tiresome. That's my opinion, anyway. I've gotten pretty good at judging the contents of books by their covers. For example, when I see yet another book cover featuring a woman that looks like a hooker holding a sword - or some other kind of weapon - and posing in a gothic-looking atmosphere, I'll know it's another vampire/werewolf assassin who keeps having flings with the creatures she's supposed to kill. My rule of thumb for finding good books is to first pick out those with less flashy, more classy looking cover art and to pay less attention to those that feature attractive, often scantily-clad people. How does that old saying go? - Sex sells. When the story, plot and writing are below par, publishers will up the sex factor in order to draw more attention. I learned this the hard way, after enduring too many fantasy books like The Dream-Hunter - the epitome of shallowness. Not trepidation. Exasperation and utter boredom.
Oops, only saw this after I finished typing up my new comment. Anyway, to address the main topic - 1) Life as a robot in a robot society. 2) Unattractive female royalty (who aren't evil). 3) Hero that is given to maniac laughter as a means of stress relief . . . or just because he likes it.
How about a story told from the perspective of someone with a severe physical disability who is mentally intact but unable to move/talk? Or a story narrated by a house, telling the tales and secrets of the families that pass through (if these walls could talk...)?
Love that idea. Could make it into a twist somehow, that the narrator was the house and not someone in it.
That reminds me of Grant Morrison's character Danny the Street, who is a sentient street. He communicates with people using street signs, store signs, newspaper articles, broken glass shaped into letters, and so on.
