Classic fantasy had several elements that are missing today that I’ve resurrected with my The Demon’s Eye novel.
Please support Fandom Pulse and pick up this book available on Amazon today in both e-book and print editions.
If you’ve ever delved into Appendix N from Dungeons & Dragons, you’d see that Gary Gygax and his team had a breadth of reading that is what made D&D great and stand the test of time. Beyond just Lord of the Rings with orcs and goblins, there was a lot more depth there because of the exploring they did of classic fantasy.
Classic fantasy was not these modern-day doorstoppers of a thousand pages of sprawling detail about every tree the protagonist comes across while still unable to complete a plot in a single book, but it was generally much tighter narratives. You’d often get more plot from a single chapter than you would from a whole modern novel.
It’s because many of these writers came from pulp short fiction publications. They strung novels together after the fact, often comprised of several of their short stories so that they could sell their stories and then, if they were successful, sell them again to a new audience. Because of that formatting, readers got a lot more bang for their buck regarding the plot.
But there were more elements to it than just structure. The classic fantasy characters usually had a strong male lead involved, something you can hardly get today in the anti-masculine publishing world. The great fantasy protagonists were often brooding, reluctant heroes, and intelligent—something I’ve tried to get across with our hero Jayden in The Demon’s Eye.
On top of this, classic fantasy often had a Christian worldview. Before the 1960s, Christianity was prevalent in a lot of culture. Even into the 1960s, we had Star Trek referencing “The Son Of God” in an episode, something you’d never see today. I layered Christianity into the worldbuilding of this novel, which I think you’ll find pleasant. Without spoiling it, it has a small science-fiction twist as well.
The world in The Demon’s Eye has many familiar elements, yet some that are different to bring you a story that harkens back to the classics. There’s a lot more to it. I’ll pause here to allow you to discover it on your own, but if you are missing classic fantasy, you’re in for a fun ride.
Make sure to grab the book today and start reading. Thank you everyone for being here!