...and on Redwall in particular.
(go see the cartoon in the nice link...)
Seriously, a lot of fantasy rehashes The Lord of the Rings, or fairy-tale memes, or both (*cough*Harry Potter*cough*). I started reading Redwall (the book) several years ago to see what the fuss is about, and felt I didn't need to finish the book, let alone the series. It's entertaining, interesting, and I can see why many thousands enjoy it. Same for HP. But it doesn't capture my heart, not the way LOTR did and certain other fantasy and science fiction series still does (Just one example: Lois McMaster Bujold's "Vorkosigan Adventures" series).
My criteria for a great (as opposed to good, or enjoyable) story is:
1. The story has substantial original elements (The aforementioned Vorkosigan Adventures are one example. Babylon 5 (yes, the 1990s TV show) is another and if you like manga, Fullmetal Alchemist is a third. If you aren't familiar with at least one of the three you've been sadly deprived (in my opinion)!)
2. I half-believe the characters really exist somewhere. Like the original Star Trek characters, LOTR, The Left Hand of Darkness (by the immortal Ursula K. Le Guin) and the Vorkosigan stories. And that I start talking about them like they're real. Okay, okay, fellow feminists, all those stories have male main characters. But in LHOD only one character is male (my favorite, Estraven, is neither/both gender--read the book to find out, for heaven's sake, it's a brilliant work of genius) and the female characters in the Vorkosigan stories kick major butt in every way--especially Cordelia and my alter ego, Ekaterin.
Stories that fit both categories have my undying love. Stories that fit one of the two get my obsession (such as The God in Flight, soon to be on my Goodreads under "historical fiction").
I welcome commentary, disagreements (politely) and recommendations...
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I know what you mean about half-believing they're really living out there someplace... You should have heard some of the conversations we used to have at Roses, Too! potlucks about Miles' life (and the things Lois could/should/might do to him...). More than one person who didn't know we were talking about fictional characters would at first think we were talking about real people, and become rather alarmed -- that someone we knew could be going through that, and not only weren't we helping, we were talking about it so... enthusiastically.
And, I'm proud to say, more than one person who steadfastly refused to worship at the Altar of Lois came to see the light.
(The best way was to lend them whichever book we thought would best suck 'em in -- usually, but not always, one of the Cordelia's Honor books (Shards of Honor or Barrayar).)
("Hey, kid -- want to read a book? First one's free.")
Heh heh heh.
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