How to Start a Fantasy Book

The movies of the Lord of the Rings also start very slowly. When they were converted into movies they started with a big fight scene. The modern James Bond movies have started incorporating that stunt into the overall plot, which I think is definitely a step up in some ways. It's not aligned like the main character woke up for all eternity but it establishes. And I think that's what you want to do. Not give us the whole history of the world.