I have been reading alot of high fantasy for a while, I started with alot of D and D books, dragonlance, and moved into more mature novels as I got older.
My question is this though, is there any novel, or series, where at the end, the bad guys just win. Or for that matter a fantasy book where story is based around or told thru the eyes of the "evil" side instead of the good side. Not looking for spoilers just be nice to mix it up a bit.
2007-03-21 15:46:49 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Check out The Dark Glory War by Michael A. Stackpole. This is the first book in a series, and it starts things out in a quite unsettling manner. Characters switch side (usually to the so-called "evil" side), die, and generally commit some pretty dark deeds.
You may also be interested in George R.R. Martin's Song for Ice and Fire series, beginning with A Game of Thrones. Martin narrates each chapter from the perspective of a different character. Thus, the lines between good and evil are nonexistent: no good guys, no bad guys, just people pursuing their own ambitions. This is a gritty, realistic fantasy series.
If you're willing to branch out a bit, too, there's also Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko. It's a modern fantasy, but extremely well-written and it fits nicely into this genre of darker fantasy. Though the characters are divided into Good and Evil quite literally, the side of Good quite often commits heinous acts of Evil in the name of its cause, and vice versa. The sequel, Daywatch, is also great.
2007-03-22 08:33:52 · answer #1 · answered by ap1188 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I can't think of any, off hand. It's genre work, and like most genres, the good guys are supposed to win and the bad guys are supposed to lose, and lose badly. The reverse would be like having a murder mystery where the bad guy gets off scot-free. People read genre because it's a very nice fantasy to think the evil-doers always do pay for their actions in the end.
If you want the reverse, then I think you have to look at Litter-a-choor (-;!
Although, in some of Mercedes Lackey's novels, some of the bad guys turn into good guys, and it's not all as black-and-white. I'm sure there are other fantasy novels where shades of gray are varied and frequent.
2007-03-21 23:11:43 · answer #2 · answered by Madame M 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
By and large, the reading public doesn't want to read novels, high fantasy or otherwise, where the bad guys win. The only real exception to this is where the novel's main character is an anti-hero, but anti-heroes still have some redeeming qualities. But "evil" winning is not a formula that will sell books, and ultimately, it's books that have reasonable sales potential that get published.
2007-03-21 23:01:00 · answer #3 · answered by Nihl_of_Brae 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In every fantasy I have read, the 'good' always prevails, though often at great cost and terrible sacrifice. This is true to the genre, as seen in books such as "The Lord of the Rings', the 'Shannara' series, the 'Prydain Chronicles', etc.
2007-03-22 00:00:28 · answer #4 · answered by irish1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋