Jo – I think you have put your finger on another thing too – readers read for enjoyment and don’t analyse the way authors do!!

I think you’re right, Nicole. People who have the ability (wealth/power/whatever) to effect change make a better story for a fantasy.
We don’t write small scale…

And Gynie wants sensawunda … (do you know that word, Gynie? It’s a combination of “sense of wonder” mentioned a lot in the SF/F world – i.e. an appreciation of the new)

Politicals systems yes, i like to read about it in a fantasy/Sf book. Writing has always something to do with a social and political aim, or so do i think. Precedence, i’m not sure, but some important place yes. All the sf/fantasy fan around my friendship ring are very fond of political system in such books.

*Do you prefer stories about rulers and/or the rich and influential, to stories of the more mundane folk? Do we only like the goatherder because he ends up being the long lost prince?

no, i like stories that makes me learn new things.

*Do you like glenda Larke’s books ?

YES !!!

Thinking about what I’ve read lately, again there has been a political bent to it. But I wonder if that’s more about the time (look at the world we’ve lived in for the past few years) and the fact that generally, authors are well-read and intelligent people who are thinkers about the world around them rather than that’s what SF does.

As for stories versus rich and poor, you know, you’re pretty right. Even in cases where the main character isn’t rich (such as your Havenstar, for example), there’s still an element of power or knowledge that takes them beyond the everyday person. They might not be rich in money or position, but they’re rich in consequence and importance and don’t we all want to feel like that?

Thanks for writing about the speech. Since I’m working on a fantasy-romance series, I’ve found this intensely interesting.

The political side is something I have never really thought about, its something which would concern an author more than a reader I think. However, if books concern battles between peoples, then politics must be there too, right?

I like romance but not just for its own sake – a good story which includes romance is great. But if romance doesn’t happen, it is still a good story.

As for the characters, who wants to read about mundane people. I want wizards and elves, dragons and magic. Magic definitely, and people with magic naturally seem to drift to the upper echelons of society.

In trilogies and series, yes. IMO, they work best with an overarching politicallly oriented plot. Within the individual books of a trilogy or series, however, I think the relationships among the characters are just as important as the overarching plot, if not more so. This is where the Fantasy-Romance crossover comes into its own.

*Do you prefer stories about rulers and/or the rich and influential, to stories of the more mundane folk? Do we only like the goatherder because he ends up being the long lost prince?

Yes, because there is more scope for fantasy. Working people of all historical eras have more in common with each other in regard to attitudes and mores, I think, than they have with the upper classes of their own eras. If I wanted kitchen sink drama, I would watch reruns of Coronation St:-)

And, of course, poor boy makes good, big time, is the biggest fantasy of all.