Fantasy has been quite stagnant of late, and frankly, I’m sick of it.  I am sick to death of heroes gallivanting around swinging swords in quasi-Medieval European worlds to defeat the evil king.  Can fantasy writers quit ripping off Tolkein and try to write something different for a change?  Now don’t get me wrong, fantasy is one of my favourite genres, but it’s time for a change, especially in YA fiction.  Here I’ve compiled a list of fantasy writers’ greatest offenses.

1.  Enough already with the vampires, werewolves, fairies, angels and [insert half-something here].

Every genre goes through its trends and fantasy is no different.  But sooner or later these trends have to end.  Except, the fantasy genre in general seems to have no intention of letting go of the usual fantasy creatures.  The funny thing is that most of these creatures come from familiar Western mythology.  Would it really be so bad to include a few oni, Wendigos or even a Nandi bear?  Would it kill fantasy writers to step a little further outside their own culture?  Probably not.  Oh, and calling fairies, “faeries”, or hinting that creatures are familiar fantasy creatures without actually calling them that don’t count. Continue reading →