Because... I am kinda addicted to even the semi-decent ones.
EDIT: If you do and it's somewhere, please post a link!
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Apr '18last reply
Apr '18- 18
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genre is called portal fantasy! just to make it easier on you. another site, royalroad legends, is for writing and portal fantasy is one of the main genres there, along with reincarnation stories
Based on the story's description and the bits I've read of it, I think @akitsukino is building up to that with her story? The protagonist is supposed to be ending up in some sort of magical plane soon.
Hey, I'm working on one except the main characters haven't reached there yet, but the fantasy world is definitely revealed. Check it out : )
My wife writes these. Although she is not on Tapas, she authored an entire series of young adult novels in this formula. She has updated Snow White, Rapunzel, Thumblina, and The Little Mermaid so far. The books are available through Amazon and Kindle under the series name Crystal Garden Saga.
My story is DEFINITELY a portal fantasy, but with a twist: the original world was a fantasy world, too.
You can read it here: The Essence of Villainy5
I believe my series falls into that category tho it is slightly darker than some of the ones I watched growing up.
I find it immensely satisfying to study people who love the portal fantasy genre. Like, trying to understand what it is about the genre that makes it work for me and them. I guess it's the ultimate form of escapism, but yet I have this deep, heartfelt desire to once read an isekai(Japanese for "another world") story that isn't a self-insert.
whispers But I do love me some isekai self-inserts, especially if they're non-blatant. Just don't give us Mary Sue main characters, and we're all golden. When the main character enters the other world, I'd love them to go through immense hardship. Thats the stuff that makes or breaks the genre, I feel.
Well, a Mary Sue is a matter of degrees, but some extent isn't that a necessary function of the story? The heroine (and I think it is usually female) must rely on herself because she is isolated and she must be successful in order for the story to reach any sort of resolution at the end. Both Dorothy Gale and Alice might be considered Mary Sues from our contemporary point of view.
I agree with the opinion that Mary Sue is a matter of degrees and, indeed, one's perception. I guess we need to get that term out of the way to have a good conversation... What I really dislike is an OP self-insert isekai that serves no other purpose than being a power-trip. However, a competent main character with logical, story-grounded reasons for being as competent as he is is something I love. Basically, what I hate is out-of-context characters in a story where they don't belong, instead of "Mary Sues".
...I really think we might have to do away with that term for a while. I have a feeling it serves as a deterrent to new writers who might want to learn to write original characters, but then suddenly somebody flashes the "Mary Sue"-card and everything's wrong, there's tears and hurt feelings and internet blood... Yeah. We need a constructive way to approach the whole topic of Mary Sues.
But, I almost derailed the entire topic. Back to the original discussion - what do you people look for in portal fantasy novels? Is it the escapism, going to another world and getting immersed in the experience? Or do you actually look for a plot, not just an immersive experience? Maybe you want to be able to imagine yourself in place of the main character, doing things in the another world(not judging you for that - we've even got games of that particular genre)?
Tee-hee, "internet blood"
You strike interesting position, Xanedis. Using my wife's books as an example, I do not know if the princesses would trip your Mary Sue alarm or not. They probably would. I talking about a series, so maybe these traits are more acceptable to the intended audience. (Kids these days. Who knows what they are into besides my lawn.)
Maybe this entire genre is more about the settings than the characters. It seems to me a convenient and tidy way to explore a different world through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time. In Guliver's Travels, everyone remembers Liliputia, but no one remembers Guliver visiting Japan.
I'm really proud of that piece of narrative magic, btw("internet blood"). It came to me in a rare flash of inspiration.
As to the princesses you mentioned, I guess the audience's reception is the key factor here. Perhaps the readers simply require an avatar through whom they can experience that another world. Whatever the case, I wonder what would happen if a portal fantasy story had a relatively memorable main character as opposed to a regular tabula rasa(a self-insert character, basically). How would the genre change? Is the "tabula rasa main character"-trope such an integral part of the form of portal fantasies, that, with a strong lead character, the genre would change entirely? I guess my own story is me exploring this particular issue - among other things.
Back to portal fantasies: I guess we humans have always wanted to experience to unexperienced. To see sights denied to us by reality's cruel bondage. To live and breathe air that is different from ours. Might even be that the said air gives magical powers, who knows...? But like you said, it might be the interaction with wildly different cultures and situations that gives us that interesting experience of travelling to another world. Again, to use my own story as an example - I like to deconstruct things, so Gustav doesn't meet any "new cultures"(in terms of technology or advancement), nor does he travel the seven seas like Sinbad(not sure if the world even HAS seven seas XD). But it's still our main character in a new situation, and we want to see how he adapts to the new challenges thrown at him.
To conclude, I guess exploration is the biggest thing when it comes to portal fantasy. Whatever it is that the writer wants to explore, portal fantasy - as a genre - gives him the power to do just that.
And this is my long, meandering analysis of things done. I'm not even sure if I answered your original question, or thoughts, but hey - I TRIED! XD
