So I'm in the process of outlining a book that I will shortly begin writing, and it occurred to me that the book is going to be *very* dark. The main character's life was destroyed, and he wants revenge, and he becomes what would be considered the villain in most fantasy worlds I've read so far, at least for a time. Now, I'm planning on having some redemptionfor the MC by the end of the story, but I'm afraid that I'll lose my reader long before that because this story will take place in a fantasy setting, and the story is going to break a lot of fantasy norms. I know that I, personally, like fantasy books where the main character has at least a few redeaming qualities and is a good guy at heart, to some extent at least.
So here's the question: How dark is too dark? And the followup question: How do you walk the fine line of balancing too dark vs. dark but interesting enough to keep turning the page?
If I could get a wide range of opinions on this, I would really appreciate it. I know we have a diverse group of writers on the forum, some who prefer YA fantasy that follows the general rules of fantasy (heroic journey, etc.) and some who prefer the grittier science fiction and fantasy books that have an edge to them. I want to hear from both sides so I can hopefully find the right balance.
Furthermore, if you know of some authors who do this well, balance dark vs. readable, please give me some recommendations.
Thanks in advance.