There is a lot to like in genre fiction. Heroes fighting dragons, explorers journeying into the uncharted reaches of space, or everyman detectives trying to solve puzzling cases. And the genre has been around for a while now, producing a lot of options. Then why is it so hard to find something you want to read? I can go to the fantasy section and pick up a new novel with a good tagline and title, but then I end up disappointed after reading the blurb. Why does it seem so hard to find something new?

One challenge I have is finding a main character that I want to read about. Many reviewers have already pointed out that there are a lot of stories about characters that aren’t particularly heroic. For some genres that’s not a problem. The old noir detectives are often flawed men or women who find themselves in a position where they have to go against their usual instincts or inclinations to do the right thing. Often enough, the characters in these stories do the right thing for the first time in their adult lives. I think the reason that we can have a hard time finding something that we want to read is more than just a simple lack of characters that exemplify heroic traits from the start.

Another difficulty is finding books that have the right balance of tropes that I enjoy and the ones that I can tolerate. I recently tried to find a book as a gift for someone. I had an example of a book I knew this person liked; I just needed to find a similar one, but I was lost. And the books that vaguely advertised the kind of story I was looking for also pushed unwanted ideas and tropes.

I could have fixed some of this with planning. The internet is a great place to get foreknowledge about books. It keeps a very comprehensive record of what has been published, what books are like other books, and when those books are about to be available. So, going in cold was my own fault, but part of the point was to be a bit spontaneous. To look for and choose something for myself, instead of just following the instructions of a computer. Nobody likes to think their lives are being dictated by an algorithm.

I think that publishers have their favorite tropes that they are on the lookout for, despite what individual readers may want. They have their own ideas about what makes a good main character and they will look for authors to publish that write stories with those kinds of characters. And that is something that will change naturally with the times and the people who are working in the publishing industry. Sometimes our individual tastes will be in fashion and sometimes they won’t.

I do think that the publishing style of the current market has left those who like classic heroes and stories in a lurch. Since I’m not in publishing, I can only guess what they’re looking for according to the requests from literary agents. Many want authors to make their stories seem new and different. They ask for “new perspectives”. A point of view that hasn’t been shared yet. The thing about that is it leads to some very niche books that won’t appeal to everyone. Broad market appeal is the goal, but that is hard to pin down. Chasing trends is not often profitable.

The classic stories have the advantage of being timeless, beyond fashion. It might be silly to think of the well of classics running dry, but it does make me worried to think that they are being consumed without being produced. Or at least not advertised.