Tag Archives: tropes

Quests are as much a part of epic fantasy as prophecies are. It can be a quest to retrieve the one weapon that will destroy the Evil One forever, a quest to return magic to the world, a quest to … Continue reading →

(Just for the record, I had this post planned before S.L. Hennessy posted about precognition and knowing the future with her N is for Next post.) Prophecies are always popping up, from the Delphic Oracle to an entire roomful of … Continue reading →

On a writers’ board I frequent, another poster recently opined that if a book doesn’t have knights, swords, and horses, he (I think the poster was male, although I could be wrong) doesn’t consider it epic fantasy.

Many stories talk about what we get from our families. In epic fantasy, stories can hinge on things that characters have inherited — swords (Shannara), rings (LotR), a way with the Force, the ability to do magic (unless one is … Continue reading →

The classic theme for epic fantasy is good vs. evil. It’s big, it changes the world, nations hang in the balance. The nations of the North unite to fight Sauron. Only the Sword of Shannara can defeat the darkness. The … Continue reading →

Poor farmboy goes on a quest and winds up saving the world, right? He doesn’t have to be a farmboy; he can be a pig-herder, a baker’s apprentice, or some other menial occupation. You see it everywhere from Lloyd Alexander … Continue reading →