Hey Guys, So this is more of a general curiousity thing I suppose. With all the Harry Potter and Twilight mania going on at the moment, it's understandable that the next big fantasy/sci-fi thing is not going to be about wizards or vampires - we all hope in any case because we could sure use a break. So I present you with this question: what sci-fi/fantasy type thing would you like to come along next? Think of it as being mixed in with the modern day world, like Harry Potter or Twilight is if that helps. Here are some to get you started but if there isn't something there that I have put down, please feel free to put it out there. - Giants - Fairies - Elemental Mages - Ghosts/Grim Reaper - Dragons - Ninja/Martial Arts - Mermaids and other sea beasts I would also love to hear why you would want that to be the next big thing and also where you would prefer it to be set. Australia? Europe? America? The Desert? Antarctica? The Centre of the Earth? Outer Space? Take your pick. I'd be interested in hearing what everyone else out there wants to see be the next big thing. Cheers.
Yes, you're right. It is up to me to create the next 'big thing'. My apologies, I am new to the site and I wasn't asking for someone to tell me what I should write. This was posted out of pure curiousity and I wasn't really sure if I should or should not post it in this section. Perhaps it would have been better suited elsewhere. I was merely interested in what people most wanted to hear about in the fantasy/sci-fi section. 'Next Big Thing' was probably not very good wording. I probably should have simply asked what most people wanted to hear about next. I have no plans for what I shall do with everyone's answers. Most likely I will simply think about them, especially when I move onto my next project a couple of months down the track. Sorry to everyone if this comes off as me sounding like I would like an easy answer. That wasn't my intention. I merely wanted to know what everyone would like to read about the most in the sci-fi/fantasy genre but if you perceive this thread in that manner, by all means please feel free to ignore it.
Robots or something futuristic. I think fantasy had it's turn. I predict the next big thing will hail from the realm of sci-fi. And it will be YA naturally. Hunger Games almost made it, but didn't blow up to the scale of mass hysteria. The new craze will arrive soon and it'll come from the future.
No way to tell. It's going to depend on the work itself, the story being told, more than any specific characteristic like faeries, dragons, or whatever. Someone will come along with a story that resonates with millions of readers and it will take off.
Hi, I'm currently writing something that has one of the creatures above. It isn't in modern times, to make it more interesting, and it isn't wholey emersed in a fanasy-world. I'm very excited to see what I can do with it. It doesn't have Vampire or Wizards, so it's something different. And different is good, right?
Sorry, that was me attempting to give you a little motivation to create somthing new. Came out wrong I guess. In my opinion, I'd like to see somthing really good with Mutants, like X-men. They're good ideas but I just don't think they're considered 'cool' enough these days. I dunno. Ghosts are cool though.
No that's ok. I think we need something new too or at least something with a unique twist on it. It's harder then it might seem though when all said and done. I really admire what JK did with Harry Potter. I admit I always get side tracked by Bleach when it comes to ghosts. Kubo did a very good job with re-inventing the Grim Reaper and the after life that time around. Having said that, I still think ghosts would be fun to look into in a non-Casper like way. For some reason I keep thinking of mashing the theme together with a Van Hellsing type hunter. Who knows. Thanks for your input in any case. Seems people are leaning maybe a little towards sci-fi.
First I want to see the sandman made into a tv show or at least a long series of movies. After that I'd kind of like to see something kind of lovecraftian. In my opinion you can never have too many eldrich abominations.
Vampires aren't going anywhere, if my last trip to Barnes n Noble is anything to go by. And since Aberham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is in production I think it's only a matter of time before the whole Jane Austin's Fratcured Fairy Tales trend gets optioned too. This John Carter movie has me interested in tracking down Burroughs novels. So we'll probably see a new surge of books based on popular science fiction. Maybe more Jules Verne since Wells has been very much beaten to death over the last ten years. (Though the 2002 Time Machine was a great movie, even better so that an actual descendant of Wells was responsible for making it.) There are still plenty of comic books to exploit. And I think if they're trying to market to the young adult audience, which is where the aformentioned franchises have been, then the next comic book franchise they should sniff out is the Power Pack series. Four kids with superpowers. There was a series in the 80's and 90's and they tried to revive it recently, though I don't kow if it's still going. But if you approached the series the way Adamson approached the Chronicles of Narnia, there'd be alot of potential for a major marketing platform.
Lol currently writing something with people who can control the four elements (well, in my novel there's 5 'cause I thought Thunder would be a cool element) I have some shadow creatures with white eyes (idea and image totally stolen from LOTR's "the eye" - film version). These shadows travel like shadows and steals people's souls by eating them away with a curse I also have a fun creation called the Green Hopper - not the most original name and reminds me desperately of grasshoppers and they're kinda like your typical traditional elves (so not the tolkien type, the reeeeally traditional type) - with some added responsibilities that aren't elfen... I have a 2nd idea brooding atm - nothing original, just a world with a mixture of mermaids, bird-people and earth-people - but it's their society that would make them original. Plenty to play with - teehee!
Also wanted to add that I've been over to the IMDB page. We're wondering what the next big franchise will be? Two words: Bird Kids.
I think believe that whatever the "next big thing" turns out to be, it will always be something that separates you from "normal" people yet at the same time brings you together with people who are also "special." For example, you turn out to be a wizard. Now, you can't be a wizard in public because They Wouldn't Understand, but you get to hang out with other wizards who feel the same way. Or you get turned into a vampire. Or you are revealed to be a demigod, or a Jedi Knight, or maybe you were born with a new gene that gives you superhuman powers but causes normal people to fear and shun you. It all comes down to this one simple concept: You are special, but not unique - you are different, but you also have a place where you belong and people who can understand you. I think that to young people, this is a very powerful and appealing idea. I always prefered the Avatar: The Last Airbender approach, in treating thunder/lightning as an extreme form of fire. Which actually makes sense, if you view the four classical elements as analogues to the four states of matter: solids, liquids, gasses and plasma. Of course, there was a fift classical element - aether, which was supposedly what outer space was made out of and what the gods breathed instead of air.
I didn't know that! Thanks for the info - I probably will keep thunder anyway though. Just sounds kinda cool to me. Well I think for the Chinese, there's a 5th element - think it's metal. Thinking down the traditional list, it goes: gold, wood, water, fire, earth. I preferred the western element Wind though - but my fascination with it was actually inspired by Japanese anime (sounds kinda ironic... western theme made interesting to me by eastern ideas!). I've only seen the movie Avatar and I actually really enjoyed it! Acting and dialogue were pretty bad but it had something that really interested me. I think all the Chinese/Japanese elements in it got me
To be specific, "thunder" is the sound that lightning produces by superheating the air, causing it to expand very quickly. IIRC, it was metal, wood, water, fire and earth. I never did understand what they had against air. Well, the Japanese have kind of a special relationship with wind. Thunder as well, actually - the whole fuujin and raijin bit. Though, I think they tend to prefer wind when it comes to elemental powers. I've stayed away from the movie, personally. Everything I have seen or heard about it, everyone who has seen it and talked about it, all of it has assured me it's pretty terrible. And, well, seeing as Avatar: TLA is one of the best, most well-concieved cartoons ever created in the west, I didn't want anything to do with the inferior imitation.
I would like something completely different. Something that will get me thinking about the world or something. But thats just my opinion My step brothers hated harry potter. In fact they haven't even watched more then 20 minutes of anyone of the movies. They claim that its stupid without reading it at all. But what ever, they barely read anything at all anyways. In fact the older one only picks up a book if its Alex Rider.
Unfortunately, I watched the movie and it was pretty terrible. Hardly loyal to the first season. And Sokka isn't even funny. Not to mention that the cast was completely wrong, but that's a different matter all together. By the way, did you hear about the new Last Airbender series coming out next year? There's a trailer for it and it looks great. I think that the next big thing will have something to do with something that is "sexy". Like, I dunno, zombies or something. That sparkle. And angst about being dead and their need to feast on human brainz. And there will be a love triangle because everyone loves those. Needless to say, there will also be awkward sex scenes where the luv zombie will eat a pillow whilst in the throes of lust. Copyrighted. No stealing!
My theory has always been about practicality. A culture defines it's "elements" based on what is relevent in life. The Greeks and Romans had Earth, Air, Water, Fire. These were all crucial elements in the very hot climate. Earth was needed to grow food and mine minerals to build weapons and temples to gods. Water of course is essential to survival as is Fire. And Air probably had more of a connection to the gods than anything. While the cultures who embraced Earth, Metal, Fire, Water and Wood still believed in gods and spirits, there was also a very different approach. Earth was for tilling and growing food to feed an army and a village. Metal can be fashioned into weapons and tools. Fire can help forge the metal, cook the food and keep the body warm. Water is needed for food and survival, etc. And Wood is used to build homes and other essentials. Air, while definitely a need of the body, probably wasn't as practical or as tangible to certain cultures and was therefore not considered basic enough to be named an element.
Legend of Korra? Looking forward to it. I don't think zombies are awesome enough. Let's go with lichs. Lichs are awesome - they're like zombies except smarter, more intellectual and can cast dark magic. I dunno, the ancient greeks used metal and wood as well. I don't think their lifestyle was that dissimilar from the Chinese, really. At least, not enough to explain a such a fundemental differance in their perception of how the universe was put together. Plus, the Japanese used the same model as the Greeks: Earth, Fire, Air, Water and one more. ("Void" in their case.) I suspect it had more to do with how the Chinese thought the elements interacted. IIRC, their elements worked on this Rock-Paper-Sissors kind of basis.
True Blood season 4 will be the next big thing. OH MAN, I CAN'T WAIT. In other news: I'd really like it if J.K. Rowling wrote a series about wizards in Australia. Durmstrang? Who cares. Beauxbatons? Pfft. Hogwarts? Nobody cares about them. Australia, though? Hells to the yes. We have kangaroo patronuses and doesn't afraid of anything, and with the most deadly species of animals in the world, I can only assume we'd have the most deadly fantastic creatures, too. Next big thing though, other than that stuff? I'd like to see something nice and contemporary. Like Prison Break (all that technology and planning. Beautiful!), but I'm not really into crime or thriller novels. Like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (just- just- *sigh*). Like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (all that self aware humour, oh my!).
Ha ha ha! Lots of good answers here and interesting debates. Dementors from Oz. Lol.Yes I did wonder about the magical community in Australia. Didn't really rate a mention but that doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Hm, I did a little thinking about my own question and I think that knights or the way of the warrior may be where we head next. Still got that non-relevant element to modern society but on a less magical and more real scale. Anyhow, some very nice thoughts from everyone here. I look forward to hearing more from everyone!
