7 Dumb Things Fantasy Novels Should Stop Doing

So True…. Thanks Terry Ibele for the early morning laughs!

Terry Ibele

1. The Name You Can’t Pronounce

No, this isn’t he who shall not be named. This is that name you have no friggen clue how to say. It’s got twelve hyphens and six apostrophise with no vowels and two Q’s at the end.

It’s names like, M’Tsluiqrth-Neiea, Xaro Xhoan Daxos, Bene Tleilax, or Hermione (even JK Rowling had to give us clues how to pronounce that).

Why make it hard for us readers? When I come across someone’s unpronounceable name, I just make up my own name instead. Bene Tleilax (from Frank Herbert’s Dune) just becomes, “Bean Tax” every time I read it, which makes the name even more ridiculous than it was before!

If I could slap every author who uses an unpronounceable name, I’d have a very sore hand.

2. The Blonde-Eyed, Blue-Haired, Chiseled Body, 16-Year Old Main Character

This applies mostly to Young Adult, but unless your story is about…

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7 thoughts on “7 Dumb Things Fantasy Novels Should Stop Doing

  1. Dear Becca the Brew Babe: Doesn’t it strike you funny how most bestselling novels follow a formula strategy? Whatever happened to originality?

    1. That way, the reader knows what to expect? I think there is a quote somewhere about that, something like “There are only like 5 stories in the world. But there are infinite ways to tell them.”

      1. That’s what Melville said: “Better to fail in originality then succeed in imitation.” Always good to have a mini-support group though.

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