Fantasy Novelist’s Exam Scoreboard
The Fantasy Novelist's Exam is an exercise that every writer of the fantasy genre (and many others) would do well to take. The goal is to score zero. The higher your score, the less of your own world-building you've done and the more you've borrowed from already overworked clichés.
Needless to say, a lot of writers don't take the exam, and produce work that's just another rehash of Lord of the Rings. Don't get me wrong, I really like that trilogy, it's just that I've read enough rehashes to last a lifetime. Now, the only world more overworked than Middle-Earth wannabees is Dungeons-and-Dragons world. It's got to the point where you can't use certain mythical creatures unless they agree with the D&D manual.
Now when I read a fantasy novel, I can check off the clichés as I encounter them. You can follow along if you want, or review the scores from previous novels. If you ask real nice, I'll even set you up so you can add novels to the list. Bonus mojo of you wrote the story yourself!
Click the title of a novel to see the breakdown, along with commentary.
| Score | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | The Quest for the Important Thing to Defeat the Evil Guy | A silly work in progress by yours truly |
| 13 | The Weight of Blood (The Half-Orcs, Book 1) | Half-Orc brothers discover hidden strengths without worrying so much about ethics. |
| 6 | Shadow of the Sun | A woman has a job researching the paranormal. It turns out she's uniquely qualified. |
| 18 | The Stoneholding (Legacy of the Stone Harp: Book One) | Pals must go on a quest for some reason. |
| 2 | The Soulkeepers | When his mother disappears, Jacob finds himself surrounded by family he never knew he had. Now his dreams are starting to come true — and they're pretty scary dreams. |
I think when you first put this up I complimented your map background, and then my comment disappeared for some reason.
I’m not too proud to admit I am a fan of Sword of Shannara. On the Fantasy Novelist’s Exam scoreboard, I think it scores a 100 out of 75. On the blatant plagiarism of LOTR it scores a “why hasn’t it been sued yet?” Maybe like the romance novel fans, or the chivalry fans of yester-century there is a formula we love and why fix what ain’t broke. Of course LOTR is my all time fave, and Shanarra is only mind-candy.
I’m also not too proud to admit I am streaming Legend of the Seeker TV show. For funsies I tried to score it on the Exam but lost track at around 20 or 25ish. But hey, it’s fun in a Rick Santorum anti-intellectual way, and the girl protagonist is HOT. You don’t get that in novels (except maybe on the cover).
I remember enjoying Sword of Shanarra as well.
If you would like to enter the score for Legend of the Seeker I will happily grant you access.
Oh, and thanks! The map is (supposedly) still a work in progress, to put in Quest for the Important Thing to Defeat the Evil Guy. Some of the silly details are lost when it’s used as a background like this (the map is actually quite wide), and there are many more silly details to add.