I was reading a fantasy novel set in a Roman Empire style setting recently. I liked how refreshing it felt.Then I realised that’s because pretty much all fantasy is set in a medieval Europe setting. Why is this? I understand why it’s Europe, most of the authors are European or European descendants in AmericaBut why the medieval era? Especially given how popular the Roman Empire is as a topic for menThe only answer I could really come up with is people latching on to Tolkien so hard and his setting was medieval style. But that’s way more influential than he has any right to be at that point
Because knights, armours, swords, horses, feudal kingdoms, princes, princesses, dynasties are cool as fuck.
>>25128223Generally, a long history of romance and myth like the chivalric romances, legends, Beowulf, etc. Perhaps more importantly, and unfortunately, D&D embedding itself into popular culture as "fantasy", with the creators of D&D copying Tolkien.It's hard to separate modern fantasy from Tolkien, because the commercialization of his work/structure led to the genre often considered "fantasy" today. There are lots of people who attempt to write something different, like Wolfe's Soldier of the Mist, or Le Guin's Earthsea. Or authors who attempt to "ground" the genre with sex and violence and political machinations, but very few of them can step out of the shadow of Tolkien.
>>25128223>"fantasy">can't come up with an actually original setting>H-heh, yeah we're basically just Romans, b-but with a twist"This is why I don't read fantasy slop.
>>25128223>Huge wall separates civilized world from "the Icemen"This has got to be a joke
>>25128223>>25128276LOL
>>25128298>>25128276How is this legal?
>>25128276>>25128298>the fuck
>>25128276>>25128298
>>25128270It's like someone put the map of the Roman Empire into a fantasy map randomizer. There are several names I notice that are just lifted straight from a history book and plopped haphazardly on the map, though Riva looks like it might be an exception and copied from David Eddings.>>25128298It's like the fantasy map randomizer took the Wall of Hadrian and made it more like the Great Wall of China because the randomly generated land area was rather wide in the North.
>>25128347My favorite one is "Forcia", kek. I love how you can tell by just the map how much the books must suck.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Songs_(novel)
>>25128347>It's like someone put the map of the Roman Empire into a fantasy map randomizer. There are several names I notice that are just lifted straight from a history book and plopped haphazardly on the map,The setting is based on the missing Roman legion who were isekai'd and conquered that continent.
>>25128347the Germanic landmark names with the Latin large city names looks fucking atrocious>>25128377ah that explains it
>>25128407>Mare Nostrum (kek)>the other sea is just called "Sea of Ice" instead of Mare Glaciale or whatever.It's really rather impressive when you think about it.
>>25128223It's because Imperial Rome is too civilized for fun adventures. The Dark Ages is a lawless time where monsters roam free and knight errants wander the lands.
Bitch all you want about Codex Alera, but this is the natural consequence of a world in which millions of novels are published every year. There is literally just too much noise for anything to find anything good, so everyone settles on the nearest Schelling Point, which is inevitably mid at best.
>>25128298Total rip off of Clichea
>>25128503for anyone*
