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Ok_Ad_88 t1_itggl38 wrote

Reply to comment by Sandi_T in Why do authors feel bad about killing characters by Mangapear

Death is part of life. If you have a story of war you should expect atleast some of those participating in said war to die. I find that a characters death can complete their arc. Ned stark was honorable and it costed him his life. You didn’t read ASOIAF because you didn’t like the deaths in the show, but the threat of death made the stakes more real. For example, I loved lord of the rings, but I watched the movies when I was a kid and I knew none of the main characters died, so when I read it later on the stakes were nonexistent. The characters were invincible and that was pretty boring knowing that from the start. War is tragic, and to remove tragedy from war is fantasy (lowercase f)

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Sandi_T t1_itgken3 wrote

Yeah, I understood the opinion that war has to be real all the time, everywhere, even in fantasy and Fantasy.

I don't agree, and it has long, long, long (since, you know, Lord of the Rings) been understood that you don't kill off meaningful characters in Fantasy. Because while you read Fantasy for realism, the overwhelming majority of people read Fantasy [sic] for fantasy [sic]. It has traditionally been a safe and welcoming genre for those seeking fantasy (and Fantasy) both, not just for those who want realism while being unsafe to those who want fantasy.

You should NOT have to expect to never read any books with war in them 'because it HAS TO BE realistic.' I will never agree with you on that, and for literally over a century, the Fantasy genre has not agreed with you, either.

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sept_douleurs t1_itgphym wrote

It’s fiction, it’s not “unsafe.” Get a grip.

If you want to read books where no main character dies, just don’t read books about war no matter what genre they are. Picking up a book about war and being shocked that major characters get killed in the story is like picking up a romance novel and being upset there’s a love story in it.

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Ok_Ad_88 t1_itgqzzf wrote

The fantasy genre doesn’t agree with me? What about Joe Abercrombie’s work? Stephen king? Brent weeks? Steven Erikson? Those are off the top of my head, but I’m sure there are plenty of others that I have yet to read.

You can say you disagree with me, but don’t say Fantasy disagrees with me. That is just ignorant. I wasn’t trying to have a win/lose argument, I was just stating my opinion on character deaths in fantasy

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