I wonder whether you are arguing against a straw man. Do people really complain about fantasy names because they are foreign to them? Or is it more because they are impossible to pronounce, remember or recognise.
With movies I rarely remember character's names - going mostly by their appearance and role. I cope fine with the visuals.
With fiction books I usually just remember the shape of the name rather than the strict pronounciation. I might not even care whether I can pronounce a name. I am reasonably multicultural in that I am familiar with some foreign culture's names being different to my "home" culture. (eg I find greek names easy to understand and remember: "Mavropoulous" is "blackbird" for example. )
I have thought about this issue recently reading a specific form of fantasy : the Megatokyo web comic. The setting is a blend of real life Tokyo and a fantasy anime/manga inspired one.
Firstly we have honorifics: "-san" and such like to signify the relationship between characters. You might want to do something similar in your fantasy world but for god's sake be careful. I am not a member of your culture so it is going to be difficult for me as a western reader to understand.
There are hardly any western christian names in the whole thing. The token American (who can't speak any Japanese) is called "Largo". The other Americans (I assume) are called "Ed" and "Dom". Everyone else has their own Japanese names which sound authentic.
HOWEVER authenticism can go too far. The writer of Megatokyo often uses multiple names for characters - nicknames, formal names, stage names, short names and so on. This may be realistic but I find it bloody confusing.
So, my vote is, by all means make up a culture which has (a number of) variant naming styles different to our own, but please remember your readers are only human. If they find it too difficult to follow your books then they will put them down unfinished.
no subject
With movies I rarely remember character's names - going mostly by their appearance and role. I cope fine with the visuals.
With fiction books I usually just remember the shape of the name rather than the strict pronounciation. I might not even care whether I can pronounce a name. I am reasonably multicultural in that I am familiar with some foreign culture's names being different to my "home" culture. (eg I find greek names easy to understand and remember: "Mavropoulous" is "blackbird" for example. )
I have thought about this issue recently reading a specific form of fantasy : the Megatokyo web comic. The setting is a blend of real life Tokyo and a fantasy anime/manga inspired one.
Firstly we have honorifics: "-san" and such like to signify the relationship between characters. You might want to do something similar in your fantasy world but for god's sake be careful. I am not a member of your culture so it is going to be difficult for me as a western reader to understand.
There are hardly any western christian names in the whole thing. The token American (who can't speak any Japanese) is called "Largo". The other Americans (I assume) are called "Ed" and "Dom". Everyone else has their own Japanese names which sound authentic.
HOWEVER authenticism can go too far. The writer of Megatokyo often uses multiple names for characters - nicknames, formal names, stage names, short names and so on. This may be realistic but I find it bloody confusing.
So, my vote is, by all means make up a culture which has (a number of) variant naming styles different to our own, but please remember your readers are only human. If they find it too difficult to follow your books then they will put them down unfinished.