Has Charles Stross ruined me for Fantasy?

[roseembolism]

That's something I started wondering, after I picked up my second highly regarded fantasy novel, and ended up dropping it on the floor after a few chapters.  Certainly, I've almost completely lost patience with the standard elements of fantasy novels: after reading The family Trade- a novel where a modern woman has some choice things to say about medieval society- I couldn't even make a start of Guy Gavriel Kay.  It made me think that fantasy just isn't the genre forme.

Then again, recently I've loved reading Sorcery and Cecilia (bound to become a new comfort book), and I know I'd have no qualms going back to read anything by Diana Wynne Jones, so maybe it's not the genre itself, butsome common tropes.  

There's something here I'm going to have to explore, to get to why I'm so picky about fantasy these days- andmaybe it will point me to some more books I can enjoy.

Comments

[mithriltabby]

If you liked Sorcery and Cecilia, you might enjoy others in the fantasy of manners subgenre.

[roseembolism.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation! I was thinking of one reason I like fantasy of manners more than high fantasy (and thinking about it, quite a bit of Diane Wynne Jones' work can be put in that category). For one thing, the setting in the books is not nearly as nostalgic as high fantasy; the social mileu is as much an obstacle as anything else. For another, the ones I've read have a more immediate, modern feel to the setting.

So, I have some more things to check out...after the three books currently on my reading list.