Epic battles

Combat is the basis of the vast majority of fantasy books. The confrontation begins with one-on-one battles, when the hero defeats his opponents and gradually develops. Then the heroes can gather in groups and here there will be a confrontation not just one on one, but a victory of a squad over the same squad or simply over a very strong single opponent.

In the process of developing the plot, the author has several paths. A hero can develop gradually, without going beyond the capabilities of a single person, albeit with additional powers. His opponents will also gradually become stronger, but not dramatically.

In heroic fantasy, the hero will constantly evolve and gain strength. And very soon he will have problems finding worthy opponents. In this case, the scale of battles can gradually increase. First, the hero confronts small groups of opponents (either himself or as part of the same group). Then the scale grows, and we can already observe the confrontation of entire armies. If this turns out to be insufficient, then the scale may grow further, and there will already be battles of many thousands and sometimes even many millions of armies.

If we are talking about fantasy, then magical powers can allow heroes to have enormous capabilities. It can get to the point where the hero alone will confront armies and use spells that can destroy cities, armies of the undead, etc. Moreover, his opponents may also have comparable capabilities.

Here a lot depends on the author’s imagination. After a certain point, simply scaling your usual spells will no longer look plausible. If the heroes need to destroy entire cities and armies, they need to make sure that the existing magic system in this world allows this to be done.

Of course, the main character is not always the main driving force behind a large-scale confrontation. Often he is only an ordinary participant in epic events that form the background for the development of the main plot.

For space science fiction, epic battles generally have virtually no limitations in scale. From skirmishes between single spaceships to battles between fleets of thousands and the destruction of planets. Here the main character, of course, will not destroy armies with one gesture. But he can be the strategist who commands the entire battle. Or a key participant whose actions will help tip the scales in the right direction at a critical moment.

It must be borne in mind that the more large-scale confrontations develop in the book, the less attention the author can pay to the fates of individual people, descriptions of their characters, etc. The scale is growing, and the importance of single people (with the exception of the main character himself) is becoming less and less important. This will be a drawback for those who are looking for complex moral dilemmas from fiction, revealing the characters of each character and a leisurely development of events.

If you are a fan of heroic fantasy or epic space battles, then this book will definitely be your choice.