/lit/ - Literature

>>Tolkien is the wen on the arse of fantasy literature. His oeuvre is massive and contagious - you can't ignore it, so don't even try. The best you can do is consciously try to lance the boil. And there's a lot to dislike - his cod-Wagnerian pomposity, his boys-own-adventure glorying in war, his small-minded and reactionary love for hierarchical status-quos, his belief in absolute morality that blurs moral and political complexity. Tolkien's clichés - elves 'n' dwarfs 'n' magic rings - have spread like viruses. He wrote that the function of fantasy was 'consolation', thereby making it an article of policy that a fantasy writer should mollycoddle the reader.

Damn...

>>11915831

Say that to my face, fucker, and not online, and see what happens

>>11093153
Not a huge fan of Vandermeer but I understand people who are, as for Swanwick I don't read much fantasy but I've heard good things; you're probably right.

Mieville has great ideas, an interesting aesthetic sense, decent style, and is willing to take risks. I completely understand people not liking him but, again, an author doesn't need universal acclaim to be generally worth reading.