I must admit that I haven't read his books.
And I must also admit that they most likely wouldn't fit my own taste.
I rather prefer what's becoming rare & rarer today: Fantasy environments which are rather "traditional". No "dark & gritty" things in them at all.
I'm a follower of the faction of TDE players who want rather the "fairy-tale aspect" of TDE back. I even want it back in Star Wars.
I admit that my own taste is very strange and would fill only a niche. But I stand to it.
In recent times I even made a rule to myself to (if possible) only buy *funny* books in the future. The reality around me is depressing me enough, so I want something
different - that's what escapism is about.
I just want to relax. I don't want a novel to ignite several new morality-directed questions in my head. I already have enough of them in my head, every day.
Even Terry Pratchett's books have become more and more dark in the recent times. They are different - the early books compared to his recent books.
Of course he has developed his own style.
But his books aren't "fun" anymore. Everyone who's able to read between the lines and to perceive the underlying problems will see that his recent books are *very* serious. "Monstrous Regiment" is the far darkest book I have read of him so far.
I think I must withdraw some day from all this current gaming developments. I think I might return to board games one day (if I can get enough friends together for that, that is).
Board games are neutral. They are just "fun", in my opinion. No dark, no gritty, no mature themes, no seriousness at attl. At least with those board games I know.
To me, that would be going back to my roots. I came from board games to TDE, where the "board game aspect" has imho completely vanished with the TDE 4th edition. The whjole rule set has become rather a simulation than a game. And the fans seem to want and to support that.
Over TDE I came to PC games via the ROA Trilogy. And now I think I'm going back one day.
You misunderstood what I meant. I don't approve Chris Avellone blindly but I think he is a better writer since I've gotten impression that he has a solid background for writing. Reading his writings is enough but, in case you want an evidence, for example, in the article I picked above, he mentions he used Morte as Falstaff to prevent the tone from getting too serious. IMO, this is different from adding a comic-relief robot or ranger. To build this kind of sense, you need to have read a certain amount of books including classic ones, which is almost minimum requirement for writers outside of gaming industry, where writing talents tend not to be appreciated.
Okay, I misunderstood it, then.
I have never had such an experience. I even tried to consciously keep myself away from so-called "classics", because I wabnted to develop
my own style of writing. I never wanted to be influenced by so-called "classics", because I realized that it/they would influence my style. I never wanted to become "one of them". I just wanted to be my own.
I favour sheer creativity over everything else. But the learning process is much harder and much longer than having read in incorporated hundreds of other writing styles.
I admit that every now and then I find something I haven't even thought of. THEN, I strongly believe that I'll never be a "classic".
But being "on my own" is satisfying me. It is fun to me to develop my own style.
A few months ago I have begun a story which will explicitely use clichés. No new stuff at all. Only clichés.
Or that's my goal, at least. I will try my best to fulfill what all people want, cliché-wise. And I will try to do it creatively.
A fellow writer recently wrote a very enthusiastic mini-"review" over my forst 20 pages (DIN A4) I sent to her. She wriites (and she is a talented writer, having published a few books already, as far as I know) that my story is very "lively", and will be a good success for me. She believes she is able to distuinguish people who do writing as a "craft", from those who are creative. And she says that I'm one of the creative bunch.
But I don't think I'll ever be a "classic". No high hopes. I have learned to be content what I can do in terms of writing. So you'll most likely never read my works. At least not from a book shop.