I don't have anything terribly deep to contribute, only two little observations:
First, I'm sure you know this, but there's a lovely boggart in Peter S. Beagle's Tamsin.
Second, I think dragons would make a good fourth case study. Two interesting innovations that come to mind:
(1) Robin Hobb's dragons (Ship of Magic, etc.) have a two-part life-cycle, starting out as "tangles" of sea serpents that must make an arduous journey up a toxic river before building the cocoons from which they will later emerge as dragons.
(2) Dragons in Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner series are a cannibalistic, decidedly r-selected species in which only a few "fingerlings" live to (sentient) maturity.
I'm guessing you would put dragons in the same category as vampires? At this point it would almost be a disappointment for a new fantasy writer to write dragons that were exactly the same as anybody else's.
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Date: 2010-07-15 03:01 am (UTC)First, I'm sure you know this, but there's a lovely boggart in Peter S. Beagle's Tamsin.
Second, I think dragons would make a good fourth case study. Two interesting innovations that come to mind:
(1) Robin Hobb's dragons (Ship of Magic, etc.) have a two-part life-cycle, starting out as "tangles" of sea serpents that must make an arduous journey up a toxic river before building the cocoons from which they will later emerge as dragons.
(2) Dragons in Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner series are a cannibalistic, decidedly r-selected species in which only a few "fingerlings" live to (sentient) maturity.
I'm guessing you would put dragons in the same category as vampires? At this point it would almost be a disappointment for a new fantasy writer to write dragons that were exactly the same as anybody else's.