Written in the language of dreams

George R.R. Martin on why we read fantasy:

"The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real...for a moment at least...that long moment before we awake.

"Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plwood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habañeros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minath Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?

"We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices, and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamed that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.

"They can keep their heaven. When I die, I'd sooner go to Middle Earth."

The art today is by the award-winning Belarusian painter and illustrator Pavel Tatarnikov. He was born in Brest, studied at the Belarusian Academy of Arts, and now lives and works Minsk. His many publications include The Song of Igor's Campaign, The Princess in the Underground Kingdom, The Knights and Architects of Grodno, Arthur of Albion, The Rhinegold, King Lear, The Seven Wonders of Belarus,  The Snow Queen, Beauty and the Beast, and White Russian History in Legends. Go here and click on each of the book covers to see the gorgeous illustrations within.