Sounding out a new fantasy novel idea

The story basically follows two orphans friends who join a crusade to a evil Shadowlands to defeat an evil menace where they are hardened by war and are separated from each other. Im trying to have a pretty epic scale with all of the Five Races, magic but more off screen. Just trying to see if it sounds good plus tips or critiques

You're gonna want the Writer's Block forum.

If you're not being paid to write in the dungeons and dragons expanded universe, why use standard fantasy races that are done to death? If i'm looking for a book and find orcs, trolls, dwarves or elves it goes right back on the shelf, because to me that says a huge dearth of creativity. I don't want fantasy that is basically Tolkien fanfiction, i'm interested in what can actually come out of an author's imagination.

I don't know, I personally love Fantasy Kitchen Sink type settings.

But why stick to the 5 Races schema? You could have, say, humans, dragons, shapeshifters that switch between bears and wolves, phoenixes, tree-squid and dolphins as intelligent races. Kitchen sink without the creativity sink.

I love reading fantasy novels and coming across some really out-there and crazy species (better word than races) that the author has come up with. China Mieville probably king at coming up with truly bizarre intelligent species, the bas-lag series has over a dozen very unique ones. I was also really impressed with the creatures that lived in The Shift from Steph Swainston's books, which featured carnivorous turtle men and a female assassin known as The Vermiform whose body was composed of a colony of worms that acted as the turtle's chief of police