How to be a Fantasy Novel Collector, on Dragonlance Order of Eastern Knights

 How to be a Fantasy Novel Collector

By Jacob Malewitz

Wordpress, 100

Blue Vest, 2 mill

Eastern King, 2 mill

Western King, 50 Trill Wordpress

Need:

Library

Or some income

Reading ability 

Willingness to take a chance

Fantasy novels say something about the world as it was. “Lord of the Rings,” for instance, developed a timeless tale of a myth, heroes, and empires before people stopped believing in magic. There are others, like the “Harry Potter” series and countless other titles. This guide will help you build a fantasy novel collection—without going broke!

Start with the Primers:

There is something to be said for the  beginning of the modern fantasy. Some think that “Alice in Wonderland” or the “Wizard of Oz” are the true classics of modern fantasy, where magic is used and small children grow to be heroes. This is also the case with “Lord of the Rings.” Fantasy novels vary in tastes. For example, the recent hit seesm to be the epic by Robert Jordan, “The Wheel of Time.” Other tales are going more pulp, with plenty of action and interest.

If you truly want to start reading in the fantasy world, one classic often overlooked—because everyone is reading Tolkien, Rowling, Jordan, or Martin—is the “Recluse Saga” written by L.E. Modesitt Jr. This series, as has been noted by Publishers Weekly, has a plausible system of magic and one of the deepest worlds in the modern fantasy.

Find Your Tastes:

However, know your tastes before you dive into a fantasy novel. Or, before you buy a copy of “The Hobbit” or the latest copy of “Harry Potter,” check them out from the library. This may sound obvious, but sometimes the reviews are all in, they all say the magic word “classic,” and you feel it’s a good buy. Sorry, it’s not always the case.

Study the Background:

To be a true fantasy novel collector the background of the worlds is almost as important—sometimes more important—than the characters moving the plot from scebne to scene. It can be fun to study the background of a series, like how it was originally envisioned.

Weary of Sequels:

This is actually an odd step. I believe sequels work more in fantasy than most other mediums. That’s because the mythic epics created by the likes of Tolkien, Rowling, and Jordan are often first envisioned as sprawling epics. However, this is again a dangerous step. Know your tastes. Look to the reviews first, or check it out from your library, before you add a sequel to your fantasy novel collection.

Go for the Epics … Sometimes:

Sometimes epics take a while to get going. For one, some cannot get into the Middle Earht world, or can’t understand why the Harry Potter fantasy novels seem to sell by the millions. The epics are what make the modern fantasy novel so unique. Sure, there are reoccurring detectives in crime fiction, returning villains in comics, but the certain touch fantasy authors put to them is different. Epics are the most important step to building a fantasy novel collection.

Tips

Of course, many RPGs have made the dive into the epic fantasy. Some of the better titles put out, which are based on games, are the Wizards of the Coast series like Eberron and Forgotten Realms.

Dragonlance is another good series with dozens of books to its name. Start with the originals, which, as the sequel curse goes, are usually the best. 

Warning

Adaptations of your favorite fantasy novels sometimes start good, get worse, and end up terrible. Remember: for every “Lord of the Rings” classic there is some B movie that goes straight to DVD, then to the $5 bin. 

Sometimes it can be hard to choose a brand new novel for your collection. If you do buy it used, be aware the writers are getting nothing. However, in many shared world novels the writers don’t get a cut of the sales—just a commission. Still, the more copies they sell, the more chances they will have to write more books.