Daendrew Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 I've never seen books with this level of fan theorizing. What are some other book series that have approached coming close? I heard Gene Wolfe writes great puzzles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 The Bible, the Quran and their eventual peripheral publications have had centuries of fan theories spawned by fans, but not only that, also: movies, exgesis, wars, genocids, and so on. Stuff like Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du Mal" have been fan theorized even in school. That's poetry for you. Popular romance books will have fan wars about who "ends up" with who. (not limited to romance, anyway, popular stuff like Harry potter suffers too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altherion Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Back when this site was based on different forum software (I think it was EZBoard or something like that), there was another site of the same nature regarding Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I think it might have even been called Theoryland or maybe had a subsection like that or something of the sort. In general, your best bet is to look for moderately to strongly popular series which take more than a decade to be completed from the time the first book comes out and tell a mostly continuous (rather than a mostly episodic) story which includes foreshadowing, cliffhangers and plot twists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Didn't a large portion of this board's members - at least the active-on-the-miscallenous-boards-members- migrate over from the Wheel of Time boards when they shut down? That was before my time but I seem to remember a few comments to that effect. Malazan managed to generate its own long-running forum despite not being nearly as popular as some series, which is quite impressive. And yeah, Kingkiller and Bakker are two, as evidenced by the long-running threads for both on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 2 hours ago, Daendrew said: I've never seen books with this level of fan theorizing. What are some other book series that have approached coming close? I heard Gene Wolfe writes great puzzles. It's definitely true that some big fantasy series just generate a great deal more discussion and theorizing than others. That's not the same as saying that the more discussed ones are always more popular, or even more critically acclaimed though, important to keep that in mind. But aside from Martin and Tolkien, Bakker's Second Apocalypse books definitely rank up there. I would agree that Rothfuss' books also generate a lot of theorizing. On the other hand, books by Abercrombie, Robin Hobb or Scott Lynch are also very popular and acclaimed, but due the nature of the story it generates less discussion. With Abercrombie this also comes from the last few books being standalones of course, and the last series was YA which influences it as well. Hobb and Lynch write fine books but they do not lend themselves quite as well to theorizing as say Martin or Bakker. Steven Erikson's Malazan series generated a lot of discussion 6-8 years ago when the series was really quite popular, but that has clearly tailed off. The series being completed is a good part of that of course, but it's not the only factor. The same applies for The Wheel of Time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Fan theory these days is NOTHING compared to the wheel of time stuff in its heyday. My god that shit was INSANE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daendrew Posted June 25, 2016 Author Share Posted June 25, 2016 10 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said: Fan theory these days is NOTHING compared to the wheel of time stuff in its heyday. My god that shit was INSANE. That series seems like such a huge investment of time. I prefer more realistic fantasy too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Good to see Dragonmount is still going strong. I haven't visited that site in years. Yes, the theorizing for WOT was intense. The only current series I can think of off the top of my head have been mentioned: Kingkiller Chronicles and Second Apocalypse. Usually series with heavy use of prophecy like ASOIAF and WOT. I'm trying to think of others. Was Harry Potter prone to heavy theorizing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Oh lord yes, Harry Potter STILL has crazy fan theorizing. Still nothing compared to mid nighties WoT though. Just...my god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 am suspecting that we can trace obsessive fan theorizing back to the beginning of serialization. madame bovary was serialized, for instance, and no doubt readers were incessant in constructing fake mysteries that they then might resolve, inserting themselves into what is otherwise a perfectly tidy narrative. tristram shandy was serialized; the faeire queene was multiple installments. no doubt these texts generated much debate and imitation. the amadis of gaul generated many installments during the 16th century, by different authors; likely that fanfic is the ultimate form of fan theorizing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 I imagine Hunter S Thompson readers are pretty high, on the whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 11 hours ago, Altherion said: Back when this site was based on different forum software (I think it was EZBoard or something like that), there was another site of the same nature regarding Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I think it might have even been called Theoryland or maybe had a subsection like that or something of the sort. In general, your best bet is to look for moderately to strongly popular series which take more than a decade to be completed from the time the first book comes out and tell a mostly continuous (rather than a mostly episodic) story which includes foreshadowing, cliffhangers and plot twists. WOTmania. That shit took theories to a whole new level. Started back in the 90s. It's actually how I found my way here. I was a member of that board, and it was closing down, so I was looking for something else. Larry (dylanfanatic over there), Pat, and Adam were members there, and had mentioned this place. I had read ASoiaF and loved it, but didn't know this place was a reality. I lurked for a long time, and finally joined when Wotmania shut down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Yes to Gene Wolfe, although the answers to the questions may vary: And then there is the Tor.com re-read of the MBOTF: http://www.tor.com/series/malazan-reread-of-the-fallen/ These threads have some really quite excellent insights and answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gertrude Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 I didn't directly find this site (earlier incarnation) through a referral, but I did discover the series through a WoT site, and then eventually found my way here. I didn't pick it up until book 3 because I didn't want to get involved in another unfinished series. I thought it was a trilogy for some reason and CoK was the end :(. Don't regret it, but seriously, I have grave hesitations when picking up an unfinished series these days. But yes, the fandom that immediately comes to mind is Wheel of Time. I think it had a kind of perfect storm of having enough complexity to make ungodly amounts of theories, time between books to do so, and it was highly popular at a time when the internet was still fairly newish for the general population. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 6 hours ago, Astromech said: Was Harry Potter prone to heavy theorizing? Yes. The "Dumbledore is Ron from the future" theory remains etched in my memory. Anyway, my immediate thought on seeing this thread was Bakker. The point is that you can debate the metaphysics, and still will be able to, once the series is complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argonath Diver Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 The Dresden Files have been much discussed, here and elsewhere. For the same reasons as the major epics of Martin, Jordan, etc. It's an ongoing, long series with multiple unanswered mysteries, and plenty of little bits and pieces that work well for conspiracy theories and red herrings. I'm re-reading the series here over the summer, and they ramp up the tension and intrigue into world-threatening levels as the years go by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 I mainly remember Harry Potter speculations between the later novels in the early 2000s, especially between 6 and 7 but probably as well between 5 and 6. (Will Sirius come back? Is Snape a double-double-double-agent? Which girl will Harry end up with). And LOST. And of course SoIaF... but I never read WoT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gertrude Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Oh Jesus, Lost. Not a book, obviously, but that was crazy pants too. Thinking on that, I always wonder what levels of looniness would have been reached with Twin Peaks speculation back in the day if the internet was a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Harry Potter was unique in that it wasn't just a niche thing on the internet; I overheard people discussing theories everywhere. More than once while waiting tables/tending bar I heard and even got involved in customer's fan theory discussions. It was the last time my wife and I could really discuss a book or series it pulled in people for whom fantasy wasn't their thing; same could be said with my in-laws who I also bounced theories off of. I didn't realize Madame Bovary was a serial when released. Learn something new every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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