What ruins a good fantasy story?

[Sister_Grim]

I think too much repetition in a plot ruins a book....Like say a king dies and the son takes over but he's evil...then his son kills him and becomes evil.  

[Lonora]

I agree with NightIntent. I hate books that have bad endings. Also, when they add too many characters, and then switch back and forth between all of them. So by the time you get to another chapter with your favorite character in it, you completely forgot what they did in the LAST chapter about them. It gets very confusing after the 7th character gets added.  

[NightIntent]

Lonora

I agree with NightIntent. I hate books that have bad endings. Also, when they add too many characters, and then switch back and forth between all of them. So by the time you get to another chapter with your favorite character in it, you completely forgot what they did in the LAST chapter about them. It gets very confusing after the 7th character gets added.

That's what skipping ahead is for. n.n Except it gets annoying after a while. And sometimes ruins the story. But I rather like that way of writing. It keeps readers interested. Well, I stay interested, at least.  

[angelic5252]

either:

A. a really bad ending where the hero dies in the end

B. a story with a lot of desciptions that last for pages!  

[NightIntent]

angelic5252

A. a really bad ending where the hero dies in the end

<.< I like endings like that. They're... unconventional. And a lot of fun, 'cause then everyone's sad. n.n  

[Sileny]

The single worst way, I think, to ruin a good book, any book, is to make it too wordy. And I like words. I can use all the jargon in the world, but if you make it sound like you're talking down to people, that's just awful.  

[SapphireLancer]

Yeah I agree with that. You don't want to try to make yourself sound too smart when you're writing a novel...you ought to keep it manageable! I mean, you're telling a STORY here, the whole point is to be sociable.

Something that ruins books frequently for me is a "Pointless to continue" Point. A "Pointless to continue" point is a point that's reached in the story in which you already know everything else that's going to happen, because the writer has made it way too obvious. A good story leaves room for doubt right up until the end, so even in the last pages you're sitting there going "OH MAN?!?! Will Trogban the troll ranger ever make it past those snarling food dog beasts?!" That's not from an actual book, by the way.  

[NightIntent]

Oh, oh, I got a new one! When there's a truly idiotic plot twist. For example, I was reading this book, something about a gift in the title. And it's going on, and it seems pretty good, the plot and characerts and all. Then, about halfway through the book... stupoid plot twist! I read about another chapter, then I gave up. It was just... uck. Stupid.  

[Ashanti Codex]

Books where the "average" main character is dragged into a quest, only to discover that he's not average at all, has all sorts of magical powers, and may turn out to actually be the child of someone really important.

Not that this ruins a book all the time--which is good because a lot of books are like this. Hey, it's an old device, think of Arthur pulling out that sword. But sometimes I feel like it's done very badly and you end up with a character who's internal conflicts are actually pretty simple and stupid but who has all these amazing abilities. Much more interesting is a complex character who isn't quite as strong. I think the authors are trying to make their characters relatable, but I tend not to relate well with these "normal, average" characters. They don't seem like me at all.

But maybe it's just me who feels like this.

I'm having trouble coming up with an example of where the above was done particularly badly, but the example of a better way to to it is the Lord of the Rings. Frodo is a normal hobbit. He's drawn into a quest. He has help, but in the end he's separated from the most powerful of his companions. And, oh yeah, he doesn't have any superpowers. Just the One Ring, which tends to make things worse when he uses it.  

[NightIntent]

Ashanti Codex

Books where the "average" main character is dragged into a quest, only to discover that he's not average at all, has all sorts of magical powers, and may turn out to actually be the child of someone really important.

I agree with that. Sometimes writers can pull it off, but a lot of the time it just doesn't work. And it kills the entire plot of a story. I'm reading (or trying to) a book called Sorceress of Faith. It sounded like an interesting concept, and fairly original. Then I started reading it and it started to get on my nerves for the reason that the author couldn't pull off the "seemingly-normal character suddenly has amazingly strong powers" bit. The way the author uses magic is, to me, pretty original (I've seen it used in one other series), and the other world seemed interesting. I shouldn't have gotten it.  

[Ziporae]

I think overall, a beloved character dying at the end is much too overused. Some can pull it off... 3nodding Yet, everyone still loves it the same no matter how many times it's used in a plot. There just arn't too many ways other than dying that turn the reader's emotions quite like it.  

[Argetlam092]

J K Rowling killed the Harry Potter Series with her last book. Not only did it end in Dumbledore's death, which in itself ruined the book for many fans, but it didn't carry that signature, Harry Potter-ish feel. It was a good book on its own, but sucked if you tried to put it in with the rest of the Harry Potters.
Eldest, by Christopher Paolini, was too predictable. At the end of Eragon I could've told you exactly who Eragon's father was. And he confirmed what I already knew, plus he did it in a terrible way, making Murtagh seem selfish, and Eragon seem weak, while pushing them appart. It was horrible. horrible.  

[binaryfaerie]

Argetlam092

J K Rowling killed the Harry Potter Series with her last book. Not only did it end in Dumbledore's death, which in itself ruined the book for many fans, but it didn't carry that signature, Harry Potter-ish feel. It was a good book on its own, but sucked if you tried to put it in with the rest of the Harry Potters.

I don't agree with that at all...  

[tecche]

Warning - Long List

INCONCLUSIVE ENDINGS!!.....caps much?

Anyway, I've made my peace with these sorts of books for the most part. But I just hate it when an author leaves something broadly open-ended. You reach the end and you go WTF? That's it? What did they do, now that they've accomplished such and such? I can't think of any specific examples at the moment, but there have been many.

As for predictable endings - well, I seem to become extremely gullible when I read. sweatdrop I can predict stuff, I guess, but for the most part I don't. Then again, I also have a penchent for camp. I love reaching an ending every now and then and going "HA! I knew it," followed by gleeful laughter because it turned out how I wanted it to. I think some predictiablility is forgivable as long as it's done with skill and style.

One thing that always ruins a book for me is if I don't like the main character. I tried reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and got so fed up with the main charcters at third of the way through the book that I put it down, and never picked it up again. This is how I lose interest in most most of the books I start to dislike. I'll dislike a character for any number of reasons, one being if he or she is supremely stupid, or does something supremely stupid. Or when incidents where the protagonist gets cocky.

Ooh, another thing is I hate Arthurian stories. That includes anything about Merlin and all them. I don't know why, but they just bug me.

Recycled plots. And they don't have to be in just one series, or by one author. I stopped reading the Redwall books after awhile because they kept repeating themselves to a degree. Or those plots where the main character is on the social fringe with his/her special group of friends, then gets popular for whatever reason. Then he/she screws up his/her friendships, then has some epiphany about how wrong they were to treat their old friends such and such. Then they make up or whatever. Blech. Gag me with a spoon. I also hate that type of character. You know, the ones obsessed with popularity. Yeesh.

Books where the world can't decide whether it is magical or not. Where the universe is set so that there's no magic, but all of a sudden some person can do weird crap that isn't really science, but then goes back to the whole magic-doesn't-exist thing. Have set magic laws (or magic is unpredictable or whatever), or have magic not exist, only mental abilities or what have you. But decide one way or the other.

With rare exceptions, modern settings. Or books that are mostly a medieval setting, but suddenly explosives or guns exist.

And last (for now), but certainly not least - books with no humor. The book can be depressing as all hell, but there must be moments of levity. Or at the very least, snarkiness on the part of one or two characters. On the flip side, books that are completely 'happy' are no good either. I love The Wizard of Oz dearly, but sometimes that series gets gratingly happy-go-lucky, everything-will-always-work-out. I generally prefer happy endings, but.....  

[NightIntent]

I agree with annyonig characters being a killer for books. Though someitmes it works for me. Especially if the character I don't like is getting his or her a** beat multiple times throughout the book. Which so doesn't happen often enough.

The Redwall series was good, for a while. After that, I just kept reading it because I loved the hares. They're so much fun. I eventually got bored of the series as a whole, though, hares or not.

But... but... how can you not like modern fantasies?! Yes, I know, to each their own, but there are some awesome modern fantasies out there. To name a couple off the top of my head, The Dresden Files (which I mention too much), The Women of the Otherworld, and Dead Witch Walking. I've read one book (Elske, I believe it was) that pulls off medieval times getting gunpowder fairly well.