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    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Would you read a story about a fictional being that doesn't exist in writing yet?

    Quote Originally Posted by ArcticMoue View Post
    You're a little off the mark but thanks anyway.
    As a reply to your actual question, not the one I imagined:

    Sometimes I want to read genre stories where I know what to expect, sometimes I want something new.

    When I want tried-and-true stuff, I am rather critical of the quality of writing, because I've already read a lot of similar stuff.

    When I want something new, a strong or unique idea can do a lot of the work in keeping me interested. However, newness isn't necessarily about a new creature or a new power, but a new situation, context, viewpoint, literary style etc.

    Some examples:
    I read Sorceress's Orc, because the context of an orc as the male lead in a romance novel was unique. i'm not a regular reader of romance novels. In this case, it's the familiar thing (an orc warrior in a fantasy world) in an unfamiliar context (he's the bodyguard of a sorceress falls for him) drew me in.

    I read A Practical Guide to Evil, because the blurb and the first chapters sold me the idea of villains building orphanages and getting the kids jobs so the would-be heroes don't get heroic back stories. It's not a typical fantasy genre story but it's built on them.

    I read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell because it was described as a Jane Austen novel with wizards.

    I read Chinese fantasy stories written by amateurs, then translated by amateurs, and can find enjoyment in the new ideas and unfamiliar cultural context even though I feel like only a few works are of high quality.

    If I wanted to read a vampire romance novel, I'd either want a very well-written one, or an interestingly different one.
    I wouldn't read a vampire romance story about a forbidden relationship with a dangerous dark boy and a normal girl fated for each other (etc etc) whether the boy was called vampire, vampyre, strigoi, werewolf, cursed prince, dark knight, monster, etc.

    I did read one that promised me a Beauty & the Beast but with elemental mages.

    I read one where the human girl was a vampire hunter, and her vampire beau was her boss in the vampire hunting business and also vampire-apocalypse already happened hundreds of years ago so there's a lot of hunting.

    I've read a few romances about girls discovering their secret magic powers and then ending up with gloomy whatever's in a medieval fantasy setting.

    I read one where the male protagonist turned into a cursed state (kinda half-zombie half-cursed once-blessed thing) on his first appearance and was put on a minster colony, and the rest of the book was more about discovering what's going on than typical monster angst.

    A new monster isn't really a draw for me. A new context would be, and a new monster might work to establish that, but might not be enough in its own, since a monster romance book with a different monster could just be more of the same.
    Last edited by endoperez; 2017-12-10 at 10:15 PM.