Round Table #1: What Makes Great Fantasy? 

Thank you so much for hosting this. Rewatching, I only fear I monopolized too much of the discussion. Regardless, thanks for having me on!

Very late to the party but wish Pageau was part of this conversation. Loved it

This video needs a bibliography. Not kidding: it would be great to have a list of dates and titles for the essays and poems mentioned here.

One of the best discussions on the internet!

Wonderful conversation. I have been put off by the nihilism in most grimdark, and I find lacking in any meaning. It leaves the reader with a «what is the point in trying anyway» attitude that I do not believe in at all. Just started Empire of Silence yesterday and I expect great things.

Great, great conversation. I think it’s interesting that, whatever readers might say and broader societal tastes may dictate, fantasy readership seems to express a hunger for the depiction of symbolic realities, a coherent moral order, and heroes who fight for it, written by sincerely religious people (Sanderson, Weeks, Butcher, et al). I’m not sure what, if anything, to do with their proclivity for hard magic, as it pertains to categorizing them as fantasy. I’ve always sidestepped the issue by (not entirely) joking that they write my favorite superhero/shonen battle fiction.

This is food for my soul. Thank you!

I like how Jordan comes in hot right off the bat.

Great stream Christopher, listening to this has convinced me to pick up witchy eye this year. Dave seems like an awesome dude. Btw you have permanently turned me off hard magic books, can't unsee the table top rpg elements of it now. I think darkness and nihilism are two different things (Tolkien knew that too if you read the Silmarillion). Nihilism is despair in the face of darkness i guess. The highest compliment i could pay kod is that it's meaner and darker than alot of what joe abercrombie's written (i've read all his stuff) . but it has none of his characteristic nihilism

7 minutes in and already this is awesome.

As a budding fantasy writer thank you for making this kind of content. Looking forward to watching it

I enjoyed that. I look forward to more of these kinds of discussions.

Dayummmm. Loving this now that I’m finally listening through it.

This is fantastic.... I love the passion. Thank you

Wow, I’m only 10 minutes in and I couldn’t agree more with everything that has been said. Jordan’s opening sums everything up. In the past year I have gotten into fantasy and sci-fi and as a result I have been consuming lots of booktube content. After many hours of content I realized most of it was about “my fav fantasy races”, or “fav tropes” etc. This video has made me realize how the genre has lost it’s sense of deeper meaning and lessons of the moral law.

I listened to this again because there was so much to unpack, and I have to say that you 3 really have put into words what has been bothering me so much with fantasy and scifi, so few authors now talk about grant ideas or deep questions. There's definitely good stuff, but more and more, I see people talk about books like they are simply there to be entertaining. And writers who are trying to do more are either considered boring, or pretentious. I feel like Christopher needs to write a history of the genre. That would be so interesting. I also never felt so uneducated lol. Even if I know everything in what you talked about, I haven't really explore or read that much of them. I try to read widely, but there is so much to read and learn yet so little time 😆

Hi 👋 I’m currently reading Empire of Silence so far it’s really good!! Look forward reading rest of the series!! 🎥

The opening statement Jordan is my where my mind has been going towards lately. So much of what is being written right now is light fantasy romp with no real stakes, or no real questions. A lot of social commentary with no answers, simply statements of what the author feel is righteous and should be considered normal. rarely pondering, or exploration of character, of human nature. And when it happens, they fly under the radar. So many award-winning books are drivel that are being hyped by publishers and utterly forgettable books. Like Gideon the Ninth or the Long way to a small angry planet.

Great video!

"Boromir's Bad Day"