Is a bandit ambush a fatal, cliche mistake?
Background
I've planned the chapter I'll write tomorrow. It features a bandit ambush! That's so exciting! Wow! The sickly scent of blood, the glistening blades and powerless enemies. They are nothing compared to my godly knight who is so skilled with a sword she can slice asunder the shaft of an arrow. Here's my characters mission plan:
We're getting tired on the road. There's a building up ahead, maybe we should go and spend the night there because it's snowy. But, it's filled with people from the Black Cross bandit gang or something. We're going to need to clear it out, face the bandits, and fight valorously. Luckily, we have the young lady who is able to cut arrows in half on our side. Automatic victory.
The idea is, they dash in and wreck the fort the bandits are staying in. Compared to the combined tactics and communication of our heroes, they are naught. So, the plan will be successful without any issues, and they will successfully clear out the bandits. Furthermore, my godly knight will have another time to shine, where she mercilessly shall sever an enemy's head from their shoulders.
Question
So here's my question:
Is it really cliche to have an ambush?
Is it a good idea to make the adventure a little more interesting by having the occasional battle?
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/26058. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
2 answers
You are accessing this answer with a direct link, so it's being shown above all other answers regardless of its score. You can return to the normal view.
As I see it, there are three possible uses for such a scene.
-
You show the skill of your protagonist because you need your reader to know it later. Just saying that your knight is skilled is not sufficient, you need to prove it.
This is like the bus fight scene at the beginning of the movie The Specialist, where before the fight starts we know that the character played by Sylvester Stalone will beat the ruffians' asses, but the scene is there to show just how effortlessly Stalone puts them out. Also, he pets the dog.
Michael J. Sullivan uses a bandit ambush in this way at the beginning of Theft of Swords.
-
Fantasy fiction isn't always as plot driven as thrillers. In some books, some scenes are there only to allow the reader to spend more time exploring the fictional world.
Tom Bombadil at the beginning of the Lord of the Rings serves no purpose regarding the main plot. We learn nothing about the characters, or the background of their quest. This scene is just there because the Lord of the Rings is about experiencing a world.
-
While the ambush fails predictably, something else happens during it.
If it was me writing that book, then one of the knight's companions would be all sexed up from the violence and they would all hump each other afterwards ;-)
-
Did I say three? Here's another.
If the tongue-in-cheek style of your question is any indication then your novel might have a humorous touch. If that is so, repetition and meaningless events might be part of the humor.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26066. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
0 comment threads
If they can't possibly lose, it is not a battle, it is a spot of exercise. There is nothing exciting about a bandit ambush if the bandits have no chance. Certainly going to win and do is not exciting. Probably going to lose and don't is exciting.
0 comment threads
0 comment threads