The Neverending Story
This week on Novel Ideas, we discuss The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, a fantasy/YA classic that many people remember fondly from their childhood. Of course, we never read it as children. Listen to the episode to hear us talk about classic v. modern YA, Mary Sue characters, fate and luck and how they effect problem solving, and world building. And possibly feminism. We also discuss generic hero boys, Fantastican revisionism, unannoying Tom Bombadil, and the power of love.
The music bump is Frank Mantooth’s version of “Imagination,” a tune that I used for a previous episode but didn’t remember until it was too late. If you never listen again, I won’t blame you.
The Neverending Story – Three Dub
Recommendations:
A story full of ideas and imagination that isn’t fully developed and ultimately goes nowhere.
Gabs: 6/10 for the first half, 3/10 for the second half.
Ben: 3/10 for going 200 pages past the point where I cared.
This entry was posted in Episodes and tagged 3 dub, classic v. modern YA, deus ex machina, Ende's Game, Fantastican revisionism, fate, friendship, gender balance, generic hero boy, high v. low fantasy, imagination, luck, Mary Sue, Michael Ended, motivations, Novel Ideas drinking game, overpowered characters, power of love, pride, reader requests, set up without resolution, SO MANY IDEAS, static characters, The Neverending Story, translations, unannoying Tom Bombadil, unintended consequences, unnecessary half a book, world building, year in review.