Hi all,
I've been working on this epic fantasy novel(s) of mine for a while now (there are four), and while I'd already decided to divide my first novel into two pieces, I'm now strongly considering three, and I could really use some advice. I don't know if anyone out there has read much epic fantasy lately, but here's the general make up of the book:
Book 1: characters meet, quest, fail quest but come up with a new plan.
Book 2: characters embark on new quest, quest fails again, everything almost falls apart, then everything resolves.
My problem has always been that "characters meet" section of the first book. It's by far the longest section, taking up nearly half of the first book, and though I've now redone it about three times, I'm just not happy with it.
SO, my new idea is to make it its own book, but my idea for the story is a very, very popular trope and I'm wondering if its been done to death. Essentially, it's the "enemies to friends" trope combined with the "Seven Samurai" (i.e. the "Magnificent Seven"). They come together to defend a village from bad guys. And when I say its popular, I'd argue it is the most common one out there. I mean, it's the basic plot of the first Avengers movie and the first Gaurdians of the Galaxy movie, just to use recent examples.
My question is - is it a bad thing to use such a popular (some might even say cliche) trope?
Any thoughts or opinions would be loved.
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