1,001 Nights is another example

>>24762983
It's the great irony of fantasy and sci-fi authors: they have no imagination.
All they do is recycle the same tired old tropes.

>>24762983
>Beowulf, the Odyssey, Journey to the West
All of those weren't written as fantasies, those were myths or people thought of them as actual ancient history
Same with the rest, they weren't written as fantasies. You should look for litfic with fantastical elements, not genre fiction slop

>>24763484
I would say those lean toward folktales more than mythology

>>24762983
Before anything else, Jack Vance is just a better writer than any other fantasy author. The Lyonesse series is even better than the Dying Earth books.

Really what it is, is that fantasy is incestuous, ever echoing its own tropes and themes and "aesthetics". Folk tales are in a state of flux, early fantasy understood itself more like historical fiction or like Arthurian legend, writers like Vance were more influenced by humorists, adventure novels, and romance, and the Inklings were academics who had a stronger connection to the classics than to fantasy. Modern fantasy writers only start with Tolkien and a culturally osmosed D&D, they like it and want to put a twist on it but because they lack depth they only understand Tolkien, and therefore fantasy, through its superficial elements.

>>24762983
>I feel like there is nothing dreamlike in it
this is more or less the entire problem, modern fantasy is basically just like any other form of realistic / historical / romance fiction, which mimics real world historical and political dynamics, but with tropes like elves, magic, etc. thrown in. early fantasy writers like Lord Dunsany were more interested in creating dreamlike atmospheres that inspire wonder. even when they used extremely basic fantasy tropes (like elves and magical kingdoms in the case of Dunsany) you would still get that sense of enchantment because the focus wasn't on explaining every last bit of lore but rather leaving certain things mysterious.
another major factor is that modern writers write in modern language, simplified and dumbed down compared to earlier writers, and when they attempt to write in a faux-archaic mode it just comes off incredibly cheesy and inauthentic

>>24763043
Every single story on earth is just the recycling of tropes.

>>24763574
That’s like saying every song on earth is just recycling old themes

>>24763589
Yes, that's true. There's nothing new under the sun.

>>24763574
>tries to drag the entirety of literature down to his level
Keep trying LOL

Almost all fantasy post-Tolkien is dogshit, yup. Harry Potter and Dying Earth by Vance being notable exceptions; however, science fiction has always been the superior genre by far.

>>24762983
I hate both fantasy and high scifi, it's just so gay

>>24763685
>Harry Potter
I can't believe how fucking dogshit /lit/ has become.

I hate the grouping together of fantasy and science fiction that most bookstores seem to partake in. Fantasy has never been an interesting genre, whereas science fiction has novelty at its core. Tolkien cannot hold a candle to Ellison, PKD, or even Vernor Vinge, and it’s embarrassing how seldomly this truth is admitted publicly.

>>24763732
It's actually the based take. Not a masterpiece, but stands out in the genre for consistency in tone. Notice how JK Rowling's world doesn't make any sense. That's because she's not a sperg who cares about the economic systems of her world or the rules of magic that need 10 uninterrupted pages to explain. Instead, she aims to invoke a feeling. Comfy whimsy. It is not literary, but it is more of the "writer" than 99% of other fantasy, and almost 100% of other kids books. Also note that if we look at the fantasy mentioned by OP, those stories don't bother with realism either. It's a fool's errand, but it's all the NPC's with autism can comprehend. They look at Harry Potter and go, "but the time turner should have ruined everything!1!" Who cares? Any good writer shouldnt.

Say what you will about her shortcomings, of which there are many (I remember the use of adverbs egregious, and the 5th book lacked any momentum), but she was always consistent in the feelings she wanted people to take from her work. You never get the feeling, as you do with so many other fantasy writers, that she's crafted a story as a vessel to deliver an idea of how smart the author is, or how much thought she put into the world to make it functional. In that regard, I think she outperforms Tolkien, despite borrowing so much from him. Tolkien also has a mastery of tone, but as his story is always in transit, and that transit covers so many unimaginative landscapes (seriously, read the series again and take note of everytime he describes a setting and that setting has nothing unique about it), the story has a weaker thrust. If JK has nothing else, she has Hogwarts, a distillation of all her strengths as a writer.

>>24764202
>seriously, read the series again and take note of everytime he describes a setting and that setting has nothing unique about it
I like knowing the characters are walking on a pretty mountain

>>24762983
>muh hamfisted political satire
>imaginative
bait thread

>>24764215
That's cool. Gotta admit he could have made it more inspired, though.

>>24763685
>this slop is superior by far to that slop

>>24763690
You sound boring

>>24764202
>um it's about le vibes! screw thoughtful writing!!
The red lands are that way

>>24766129
>thoughtful
Yeah buddy, I'm sorry you wasted your life reading a dozen dead end autist franchises believing there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I breezed through HP in a couple of months and went back to literature

>>24762983
>I can’t help think that fantasy was more imaginative, fantastic and interesting before it was self-consciously regarded as the genre of fantasy
Of course, but what you're describing isn't 'fantasy'. 'Fantasy' is just otherworldly imagination wrapped in scare quotes, and accordingly limited.

>>24764202
It's funny how much hedging there is in this post.
>Not a masterpiece
>It is not literary, but
>JK Rowling's world doesn't make any sense
>her shortcomings, of which there are many
It's like you already know her books are utter shit but you still feel some need to sheepishly defend them, maybe out of nostalgia or some other sentimental attachment.
It's ok to say a book is just lowbrow slop and not real literature, and still enjoy it anyway. Just don't pretend like you actually know anything about fantasy, post-Tolkien or otherwise.

>>24766381
Kek I spend the whole post explaining the one thing she does well and the spergs still can't understand it

>>24763484
I don't think people ever thought of Beowulf as a true story.

>>24766648
That's what (You) think, buddy

>>24762983
When I read fantasy its good lol you are a bitch