forum Things You Want MORE Of In Books

Started January 21, 2019 by @HighPockets group

tune

Low-key working on something like. Started as a Quest but might turn into the side character's journey of acceptance of herself from internalized racism.
(Mixed genre + side character.)

Also books where the main character isn't the chosen one, maybe the real chosen one just gave so they were like 'fine, then i'll do it'. Or maybe they basically have the role of a side character, but are the main focus.

I once read a prompt where the all-knowing mythical character told every kid who stumbled through that they were the chosen one with the idea that one of them is bound to be right eventually.

Sapphic friends to lovers. Also enemies to lovers. Just more sapphic

Can we actually get a book put in the suburbans, PLEASE? Everyone forgets about us in favor for the big cities and rural farms, but come on, we exist too and you know it. Write a book about us or something.

Also, original creatures and aliens that aren’t humanoid, but are still sentient and people. Everyone in sci-fi looks like they’re part of the aliens from Alien or the Asgard from Stargate nowadays. You can be more creative than that. Imagine a planet of flying moth people with huge fangs that worship the sun as a god!

Also, original creatures and aliens that aren’t humanoid, but are still sentient and people. Everyone in sci-fi looks like they’re part of the aliens from Alien or the Asgard from Stargate nowadays. You can be more creative than that. Imagine a planet of flying moth people with huge fangs that worship the sun as a god!

The book "Honor Among Thieves" has sentient aliens that aren't humanoid! They're massive space whales!

Also, original creatures and aliens that aren’t humanoid, but are still sentient and people. Everyone in sci-fi looks like they’re part of the aliens from Alien or the Asgard from Stargate nowadays. You can be more creative than that. Imagine a planet of flying moth people with huge fangs that worship the sun as a god!

The book "Honor Among Thieves" has sentient aliens that aren't humanoid! They're massive space whales!

Woah, that’s a new one! I’ll have to try it out some time.

Also, original creatures and aliens that aren’t humanoid, but are still sentient and people. Everyone in sci-fi looks like they’re part of the aliens from Alien or the Asgard from Stargate nowadays. You can be more creative than that. Imagine a planet of flying moth people with huge fangs that worship the sun as a god!

The book "Honor Among Thieves" has sentient aliens that aren't humanoid! They're massive space whales!

Woah, that’s a new one! I’ll have to try it out some time.

Yeah it was really good!

Mixed race characters.

New magic is emerging. How does this affect class, economics, religious life, etc?

Also this made me think how powerful bluffing could be in the Althalos prequel.

I love the trope of characters just offhandedly mentioning something absolutely wild that happened before the book and providing no context

Also books where the main character isn't the chosen one, maybe the real chosen one just gave so they were like 'fine, then i'll do it'. Or maybe they basically have the role of a side character, but are the main focus.

AHh I'm writing something like this rn, but sadly its making my MC kinda…….well i'm just gonna call him an anti-hero : )

IDK if anyone's said it, but I for one love a villain who is truly evil, like no redemption. Like some of the animated disney villains are always a favorite cause they don't hesitate

IDK if anyone's said it, but I for one love a villain who is truly evil, like no redemption. Like some of the animated disney villains are always a favorite cause they don't hesitate

The only thing is that they gloat waaay too much. Except for Scar. Scar was an awesome villain.

“You have no idea…”

Gimme more futuristic fantasy! I’m so sick of stories where it’s like magic vs technology because for some reason they’re not compatible :/ like am I really expected to believe that these people live in a world where they can shoot fire and lightning out of their hands and summon things from thin air and they’re still stuck in the godforsaken Middle Ages. And the thing where it’s just modern times but some people have magic powers is even worse for the same reasons mentioned above like oh my god if people can summon fire out of nothing why is there still an energy crisis why are we still burning things with coal

(Yes I was thinking specifically of Onward while writing this the worldbuilding in that movie makes me so angry just thinking abt it like? Everyone just stops using magic? That’s it they just forget it? Excuse me what)

Like do you know how cool futuristic fantasy would be? Magic being used to create unlimited energy? Magic being used to teleport so that roads aren’t needed anymore? If nothing else it’s a good excuse to waste all your time worldbuilding and procrastinate on your story

Also when there are different fantasy races with different physical traits and they actually have accommodations for those traits and also things that are not there because their abilities render them useless. It annoys me so much when everything is designed for humans. Like it would make sense if there was a racism thing going on or some races are not common in the area so things are not designed for them (which would also be very interesting to explore) but most of the time it’s like “almost everyone in the city has wings but there are still lots of stairs for some reason and human character goes to the store in winged person city and finds a shirt that does not have a hole for wings” imagine going to the Gap and finding a bunch of shirts with eight arm holes for sale. Like I can’t even get hijabs there what makes you think octopus people will have more luck

(again yes I am yelling at Onward. Like I guess magic disappearing would kind of make sense with a lot of brain gymnastics but the whole thing about everything being exactly like the human world but with weird creatures is just. Agh. Why do centaurs not have clothes for their horse half. Why do pixies have to drive human sized motorcycles. How do mermaids get around without legs, we never see any accommodations for them. Like this subtle racism and ableism would have been really interesting if it were brought up at all - even just in passing - but nope)

Also more friendly dragons! Villain dragons who are mean for no reason and get destroyed at the end are boring. Friendly dragons pog

Oh yeah that’s what onwards is. Yeah! Screw that movie with its stupid cars!
Also nice dragons are pretty neat. But ancient dragons are better. The kind that are like fae with scales.

Like Yevaud. I liked Yevaud.

I have a nonbinary witch dragon that I really need to write more about. Their name is Campbell and I love them so much

I have a nonbinary witch dragon that I really need to write more about. Their name is Campbell and I love them so much

They sound pog I love them

Non-binary/genderqueer characters in general. Maybe I haven't read the right books, but there don't seem to be a lot out there with protagonists who are non-binary/genderqueer.

I'd really like some more new adult books that aren't so heavily focussed on romance and sex. Just because I want to read something that's intended for an older audience doesn't necessarily mean I want to be reading graphic sex scenes. I just want to see more protagonists who are my age, not more steamy romance. Those things don't have to go hand in hand.
And tbh, I'd really like to see more new adult books in general. Sometimes I feel like I've outgrown YA a bit, but I've had a hard time getting into adult books. I'm in a YA fantasy group on facebook and every time someone asks for NA recs, people always come back with like the same 3 book and half of them are by Sarah J Maas 🙃

That’s a solid mood. Tbh I’m biased bc I prefer books w/o sex scenes but like?
Actually just what you said. Everything you sad. Yes.

Every time i pick up a new potential book to read, I go through the checklist:

• epic fantasy world? check
• in-depth worldbuilding with interesting magic systems and/or tech, monsters, or mythology? check
• Interesting main character with a semi-decent, maybe a little edgy, backstory? check
• shoehorned love interest(s), bonus points if its the childhood friend, a 'bad boy' jerk who the mc 'fixes', or the misunderstood edgy but really just an impossibly perfect man? check, aaaannd there goes the book back on the shelf.

most of the NA I've seen are just YA with graphic scenes tbh. and i really don't understand the obsession with Maas's books, but that's another topic

I'd really like some more new adult books that aren't so heavily focussed on romance and sex. Just because I want to read something that's intended for an older audience doesn't necessarily mean I want to be reading graphic sex scenes. I just want to see more protagonists who are my age, not more steamy romance. Those things don't have to go hand in hand.
And tbh, I'd really like to see more new adult books in general. Sometimes I feel like I've outgrown YA a bit, but I've had a hard time getting into adult books. I'm in a YA fantasy group on facebook and every time someone asks for NA recs, people always come back with like the same 3 book and half of them are by Sarah J Maas 🙃

Once I tried to look up books that took place at college and almost all of them had the same plot as After