As someone alluded to above, I think that's a different (newer and more colloquial) definition of "epic," where epic basically means "wonderful" or "awesome" (again, the modern colloquial definition of awesome, not the more classic definition).

The thread mostly seems to be referring to stories with a larger-than-life scope: stories that hint at or explicitly show a sort of hugeness. Stories where the main characters' personal problems are so tied to the world at large that the two can't easily be separated.

 

I still think that to be successfully epic the story has to be enjoyable No insult meant to the writers, the stories were technically very well written, they were just boring as fuck...

 

I think I'm going against the grain here by agreeing with Mordecai; Wastelands was one of the first stories I ever read and when I tried to reread it a couple months back I couldn't get past chapter 6. Similarly when I tried to read Skitterleap, I just kept slogging through it hoping for something to justify the massive praise that it received. Still not sure why it's so popular, frankly. It's just a bunch of OCs with character names in WWII.

To chip in, I've found that epic stories generally span a larger geographical area than most and have decent concrete descriptions of it. Most of the stories on my list are indicative of that: all of them have Harry traveling far and wide, getting into all sorts of trouble.

 

Skipperleap's first act surely had all components of an epic fic but it required some patience to get into this world like probably all Enembee's stories I've read. You can't skip through them and know how they work like with a lot other fics out there.

BTW, it wasn't about WW2 but an alternate reality where Grindlewald won over Dumbledore and Harry entered Grindlewald's army under Riddle. I see it as the Fatherland version of the HP universe but maybe you mix it up with Altered Destinies from DobbyElfLord which is probably the best known WW2 HP story. Also epic though it had some problems.

P.S. Too bad Skipperleap's 2nd act felt like an alien facehugger took over its host's plot

 

There's a panel I found a while back that discusses epic fantasy, science fiction, sword and magic, high fantasy, etc., and all the other names that might seem synonyms. I don't think they ever agree on what exactly epic fantasy is, but I found the panel interesting. Here's some link.

Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDYxw9bpqVU

Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cZ31ATH424&feature=related

Part 3 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7AcMbqi5hM&feature=related

Part 4 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2QaeJmN3YI&feature=related


Not exactly on topic, but meh. Enjoy.

 

It's just one of those things that really polarizes people. Some people love the world I created and some hate it, but that's the essence of it. The pleasure of that fic, from what reviews have told me, is in the world as much as the story. It's also not helped at all that I started it back in 2008 when my writing was no where near as smooth or sophisticated as it can be now.

Though, from the way you speak about it, it seems that you like most of the people who detest it only made it about two chapters in, because almost all the OC's simultaneously expire at that point.

For what it's worth, I hate it too.

 

Ya got some balls, keed. Ya got some ballz.

Enembee and I will fuck you up.

Seriously, when you define 'epic' it has to be stories along the same vein that I produce. Enembee produces. Silens, another. Stories that surpass the ordinary, not just in terms of originality, but in terms of imposing or flat-out impressive ideas.

My rule of thumb has always been:

Epic = world-shattering events.

The protagonist falls, the whole wide world falls with him. The scale is so insurmountable that it becomes almost pointless, which is when, I've learned, you have to ground the protagonist in gritty, terrible reality - a lost love, a failure.

They don't have to lose, but they can't always win.

Which is how Wastelands was born, all things considered.

 

While I agree that that is a definite prerequisite of epic Joe, I also have to say that it requires a certain style of writing and prose. There's not a specific style that every epic story has to adhere too, but without the prose, world shattering events just don't feel world shattering.

 

Evil Be Though My Good - by Ruskbyte

Epic oneshot, and the only rec deserving of my 666th post.