Creating fantasy worlds

One of my books (Banners of the Sa'yen) had a fan who made an unusual comment; he said the story was less than exciting. But the world the story was set in was interesting.

The comment was unusual because the reader identified a portion of fantasy riting many readers are familiar with and want--but few articulate about ie., the worlds in which the characters of a book live in.

And that's where I think a lot of writers don't pay enough attention to when they write. They sweep over their landscapes with broad strokes of the brush--don't take the time to describe and create a feeling . . a strangeness . .of a world never before seen.

That's half of the experience in reading fantasy. Or Sci-Fi (I'm old school in this; I lump fantasy in with Sci-Fi and can't tell the two apart. Although I know, in reality, everyone else does)

So when I write---anything---I try to put in just enough of the surroundings to get the reader's imagainations fired up. But not drown their imaginations with too much.

Yeah, I know; that in itself can be a dicey situation.