We’re moving away from board games again to talk about epic fantasy. I could be talking about this in the sense of books, television or movies, so I’m talking about all of them at once. I think that there are things to come across all of them, because I’m going to spoil the first thing I look for, and that’s story, is it a good story.

What is Epic Fantasy?

Fantasy, we know what that is, it is wizards, magic, and probably set in the medieval times, not always but sometimes. Epic fantasy is really something that takes it up a notch from what you normally see. It is about that epic world saving quest and heroes who need to overcome so many odds thrown in front of them.

Think something like Lord of the Rings, where the fate is for all of Middle-Earth. Or Song of Ice and Fire where Westeros hangs in the balance. Generally these stories also create a grand world. They aren’t going to be the same as you’ve seen in a lot of other fantasy. They are going to build out their own thing that feels similar yet different.

What Do I Look For In Epic Fantasy?

1. Story
2. Interesting Main Characters
3. A Unique World
4. Good World Building

Story

I told you this was going to be number one. I want some sort of unique story, to some extent. Let’s face it, if you are going to be saving the world, you’re going to be saving the world. The event that is going to destroy the world can only be so unique. The differences need to come with how the characters are going to save the world, the composition of the group of characters, and the lore of the world itself. I don’t want the world to feel like you could drop Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table into it without a problem. We have a lot of stories like that already, let’s branch out some more.

Interesting Main Characters

Let’s face it, this is a common issue in writing, the main characters are boring. People saw the success of the Twilight movies and realized that if people feel like they are the main character, because Bella is dull and lousy in the movies, that they can create dull main characters and that is fine. Divergent series is a great example of a main character that has zero interest to them.

But I don’t want that. I can already imagine what it’s like to be in your world without having to be the main character. In fact, I’ll get bored with your series if the main character(s) isn’t interesting. I want character flaws for them to overcome. I want weaknesses and traits that are never actually dealt with. I want new flaws to start in the series and mistakes to be made. I don’t want a blank canvas of a character.

A Unique World

Like I said in story, I don’t want something generic. If you can make the story feel interesting in a world I already know and twist that world, that is great. But I don’t want it to be standard King Arthur. Tainted Grail, a board game – it always comes back to board games – does a good job of this. It is a grim dark take on King Arthur, the wyrdness isn’t something I’ve seen before. Menhir are new and unique and while I get the lady in the lake and Morgan Le Fey, it doesn’t feel normal.

Good World Building

How does this vary from a unique world. Isn’t a world that is created uniquely also one that is built well? Not really. Too often authors or movies will place all the world building at the beginning. Then I got to sit through 20 minutes or 5 chapters telling me about the world. Interlace the story as a whole with the story of your world. That is what I am looking for in storytelling. Unless your world is so unique that I need a separate book to understand it, I will have the general idea. So give me the unique information as I need to know it.

Are All Criteria Equally As Important?

No, a great story can make-up for basically anything. Let’s look at Lord of the Rings, the true main character isn’t actually super interesting. Frodo is just an okay character, Bilbo in the Hobbit is more interesting. Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gimli, Legolas, and Gandolf, they are all more interesting than Frodo. But JRR Tolkien tells a good story, he makes a good world, and he gives you information as you go. And he also, literally, has a separate book that is just world building, really, in the Silmarillion. So a great story can make everything else moot, but, if the story is just good, then everything else matters a whole lot more.

Let’s Do An Example

So, I am picking a series that I know I like already and have for quite a while, the Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. But let’s talk through about what makes this epic fantasy work for me.

Story

The story is definitely strong. Sanderson blends high fantasy, epic fantasy, but also political intrigue. It takes some of what you expect from fantasy like Song of Ice and Fire and Wheel of Time, but really tightens it up. And I would say that Wheel of Time suffers from not getting that political intrigue right whereas Song of Ice and Fire suffers from not getting the epic fantasy right. So this one is really good for me when it comes to that combination.

Interesting Main Characters

The main characters are very interesting. I would say that the are four main characters in the story, though we see the story primarily through three of their eyes. And one of them, people assume that they are going mad, the other has been wrongfully turned into a slave, another is a spoiled brat, and the last one lies to get into the story in the first place. That’s not normal for fantasy characters or characters in books in general. So definitely unique characters who need to grow.

Unique World

The world itself, it is a bit unique. Sanderson does something very interesting with magic, that there isn’t much if any, but then the idea of spren. Basically little creatures or beings that are drawn to different things. It is something that is completely different than I’ve seen before. So while armies fighting amongst each other and people stabbing each other in the back for political gain are normal, the world as a whole is unique.

Good World Building

This is something that I think Brandon Sanderson accelerates at. His world is pretty unique but he fills in information on the world as you go. We get jumps back in time, we get legends that are talked about, but never is it four or five characters in a row. The information comes just as you need it or is shown in the world instead of us being told about it.

Will This Work For You?

Most likely, I think that these are good benchmarks in general for a lot of stories, whether they are epic fantasy or not. I do think that the world building piece, epic fantasy can often fall into that category where there is a lot of world to build, so they build it all at once.

What is your favorite epic fantasy story, whether it is in books, television or movies?

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