> Something new. Really, I'll sit through a sub par book if the ideas are interesting enough. Also, please stay away from the "let me spend 30 pages describing the trek through the forest because I think I'm Tolkien" thing certain fantasy authors seem to get. That pisses me off; I skimmed Tolkien's crap and I'll just skip yours...

I can't stand the "journey" segments. Can't you just say "They walked a long ways" WITHOUT making it the focus of the book? Usually tacked on in the center of the book to make the manuscript longer, the "journey segments" make me want to yawn, throw the book in the air, shoot at it with a AK-47, watch it drop, do the Mexican hat-dance on top of it, soak it in gasoline, light it on fire, throw it in a river, and watch the allegators eat it. Terry Brooks does the same type of long-trek garbage through most of his Shannara series. Really, if they've got to go somewhere, at least make some nice, interesting segments to scatter throughout the long trek. Killing a deer and cooking it, setting up camp, etc., is not what I consider interesting! (Unless the deer attacks you and chases you off, occupying the tent in your absence, causing you to be eaten by a wild rabbit. Since that is important to the outcome of the story, it is permissible to add in.)