How much drama and angst do you expect from your fantasy?

Please no angst. I'll take drama in high levels, so long as it isn't melodrama.

My preference is for high drama, since fantasy and sci-fi has the potential to set up amazing situations for it.

I don't care how much angst and drama is in my fantasy. It takes all kinds.

Just be aware of how your characters may be coming across. I've read many a tortured fantasy hero (almost always guys for some reason) who I wanted to just backhand out of the spotlight and give the plot to the love interest or snarky sidekick because they're both less annoying and more dynamic. Wallowing is very little fun for me.

I like the story line to be dark and complex, but I still like my semi-happy endings.

Maxx said:

I suppose he was a reaction to an earlier character who suffered major angst when he had a typo on his manual typewriter (a horror from 1976 or so).

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OMG I'm now imagining The Typo That Ate Manhattan.

I don't mind angst, but too much of it can make for a very depressing book.

I don't expect much drama, and as little angst as possible, from fantasy stories that I read/watch. There's enought of that shit in the real world for my tastes.

I'm not sure "angst" is the right word - "angst" makes me automatically think of teenage angst.

Assuming you mean internal conflict/self-reflection, then I might be wrong, but I think just about everyone likes drama and internal conflict in a story. But as others have said, it has to be balanced well with the action.

I'm not sure I've ever read a book where a character sits around thinking about something for pages on end (which would get old fast). If anything, I take more issue with books where everything seems to be superficial and there's no real internal conflict. Personally, I think a story is usually only as interesting as its characters.

"Angst" to me, means, "badly done drama". With a definition of personal conflict, some of my favourite stories have that, sometimes is large quantities. But, I consider stories like Oedipus Rex to be great dramatic works, rather than angsty works.

I don't think drama and angst have a place in hard core fantasy.

I sometimes wonder if I'm the only one left who tends to think of terms like "drama," "angst," and "melodrama" as evocative of their more classical literary definitions.

I enjoy existentialist works and I love characters with existential crises, so naturally, I love angst, complete with German pronunciation. I also love melodrama.

"Drama" just tells me a piece is dominated by dialogue rather than narrative or exposition.

I guess it's a problem of definitions. Melodrama and angst have both become terms used for badly written conflicts.

Mr. Mask said:

I guess it's a problem of definitions. Melodrama and angst have both become terms used for badly written conflicts.

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It sucks to have to say that I like stories about main characters struggling with meaning, identity, self-realization, and other existential crises, when I could just say I like angst.

It sucks to have to say that I like stories that uses stylized, sometimes exaggerated or over-the-top, actions, words, and imagery, to evoke emotion, when I could just say I like melodrama.