What do you as a reader get, from reading a fantasy book?

[[deleted user]]

Hi everyone. I am just curious, as a reader, what do you get out of reading a fantasy book?

I am asking this because I am curious what different things we get from reading these kinds of books.

Thanks for your time.

[Michelle]

possibilities

[Satinder]

Sometimes life doesnt feel enough, like theres got to be something MORE. I think most daydreamers/highly imaginative people feel like this. So fantasy gives me that 'more'...new worlds and experiences,concepts that defy the laws of nature i.e magic. Not to mention the feel of having an adventure while sitting on your sofa! I wouldnt be without it :-)

[Lee]

One word: escapism. I like the freedom and imagination of fantasy.

[Satinder]

Nienna, i love your profile pic

[Femmy]

I read it for the story. I like that characters and emotions and events are larger than life in fantasy.

[Kevin]

The Triumph of the Human Spirit

[Lee]

Satinder wrote: "Nienna, i love your profile pic"

Found it on Pinterest. No idea who the artist is but I thought it was a gorgeous picture.

[RuthAnn]

How the impossible is possible...

[Sandra]

Enjoyment? Like I expect to get from any book I read.

[Lisa]

Spot on Nienna. For me definitely escapism. I want to be transported where know else goes, and life is completely different to what I know.

[Parvathi]

Suspension of disbelief. I love reading about something that's far away, nestled in the imagination, and yet true enough for me to relate to.

I also find fantasy stories very, very intriguing.

[Doug]

I like seeing what happens when highly creative people try to invent their own world. Good fantasy creates a unique, vibrant world completely different from our own. Great fantasy does that and yet also makes statements about our own world.

It annoys me that so often, writers just take cultures from our own world and give them different names, and scatter them randomly around a new map. "Let's put some desert dwelling religious fanatics here, some proto-romans over here, some mongol like horsemen here," etc.

[Michael]

Escapism. Nothing beats delving into a good fantasy book and imagining yourself there within the author's realm. I'll read most book genres, but it is fantasy - the grandness of the landscapes, or the epic battles - which uniquely capture my interest.

[Michelle]

There are so many possibilities in fantasy that don't exist in real life; you never know what's going to happen next.

[Lee]

Doug, that is my biggest pet peeve in fantasy.

[Daniel]

Nienna wrote: "Doug, that is my biggest pet peeve in fantasy."

Agreed. If you wish to right historical fantasy, which I am a fan of, do it. If you are going to create your own world, do it.

[Leady]

Images, especially places.

[[deleted user]]

Leady wrote:"Images, especially places."

I also enjoy visualizing the places created by the authors, particularly if the world is very different to real life. The prose and imagery required to create vivid images in the reader's mind is also one of the things I like about fantasy. This results in one of my pet hates of some authors: they don't take the time to create a unique world or different animals, and some time they don't even describe things completely enough for me to clearly picture what is happening.

[Leady]

I also enjoy visualizing the places created by the authors, particularly if the world is very different to real life. The prose and imagery required to create vivid images in the reader's mind is also one of the things I like about fantasy. This results in one of my pet hates of some authors: they don't take the time to create a unique world or different animals, and some time they don't even describe things completely enough for me to clearly picture what is happening.

You're right! I prefer authors who describe their worlds until the small details, because details are important to create the atmosphere and the impression of a real place. I like drawing and painting, and fantasy books give me a lot of inspiration.
I think if you are not interested in create an imaginary world, you don't need to write a fantasy book, real world is big enough to all the stories you want to set!

[Anne Denise]

I read fantasy for the same reason that I write fantasy, which is summed up perfectly in the following quote by Ray Bradbury:

"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."

I feel the same applies to reading. But it has to be reading that transports me away from that destructive force called "reality".

[Olga]

Nienna wrote: "One word: escapism. I like the freedom and imagination of fantasy."

Definitely - an escape from our everyday, mundane existence. The only magic I can get is in the books I read. Or write. That's why I write fantasy too, I suppose.

@Anne Denise: great quote by Ray Bradbury!

[L.G.]

I enjoy fantasy for a number of reasons. I love to imagine all the worlds that the stories take place in, but I also love the language and poetry used to describe those worlds (not surprisingly, I'm a huge Tolkien fan).

I also enjoy seeing how differences in culture or world affect the psychology and behaviour of the people.

[Cheryl]

Theatrics

[Doug]

Daniel wrote: "Nienna wrote: "Doug, that is my biggest pet peeve in fantasy."

Agreed. If you wish to right historical fantasy, which I am a fan of, do it. If you are going to create your own world, do it."

I am reading right now. It is a story of the Requonquista.

Now, Historical Fiction is my other favorite genre, but this book, while good in other aspects, is ridiculous. The map in the front of the book is the Mediteranian, with very slight alterations. There are three religions, which very closely mimic islam, judaism, and christianity.

It is a historical fiction with the names changed.

Which is basically just a wuss out... he didn't want to get called out on historical inaccuracies (a favorite pastime of historical fiction readers) so he can claim it is a "fantasy" instead.

[S.J.]

I enjoy the fodder for imagination that fantasy (and sci fi!) provide. Nothing sparks my interest like immersing myself in an awesome, "never-been-here-before" world or setting for awhile. I don't read much in other genres because I often find them a little too mundane.

[P.M.F.]

I want wisdom and a connection with the eternal truths, packaged in a really fun way. Doesn't happen often, but it seems in fantasy many writers are at least trying to reach for it.

[P.M.F.]

Doug wrote: "Daniel wrote: "Nienna wrote: "Doug, that is my biggest pet peeve in fantasy."

Agreed. If you wish to right historical fantasy, which I am a fan of, do it. If you are going to create your own wo..."Yeah, but I like his writing. ;->

[Travis]

escape, Escape, ESCAPE!!!

In a good fantasy story, the pages and words disappear and the movie plays in my mind. I feel like it also helps me stretch my imagination. I mean John Grisham is a great writer and I enjoy his books too, but I live in the Southeast US and it's not that difficult to picture what's going on. I've never been to Middle-Earth or Midkemia, so that gets the ole imagination juices flowing.

Also, as several have stated above, I feel like a fantasy novel that just takes modern cultural stereotypes and tweaks them is, well...a cop out. Honestly, much of the escapism for me is to remove myself from all of the political and cultural upheaval in our world right now. I don't want a veiled liberal or conservative message shoved down my throat.

Many people may feel that literature just isn't "meaty" enough unless it makes a profound statement about society. I really don't feel that way. I want to care about the characters and to believe in their world, but I don't need my perspective on life flipped on it's head. :-)

[Toni]

Escape, sure enough is very important.
Then, I like my imagination to be activated and to find myself in other worlds, visualizing never-seen things. It also gives me a feeling of Katharsis to follow a well-loved character through his quests and to find out what kind of meaning he finds in his world.

[Sandra]

Anne Denise wrote: "I read fantasy for the same reason that I write fantasy, which is summed up perfectly in the following quote by Ray Bradbury:


"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."


I..."

Please read the rules about authors talking about their own writing.

[Sandra]

I read fantasy for the same reasons I read other genres, to go for a ride.

In fantasy the worlds are more complex, I like that a lot.

I disagree a bit with other comments here. I do like to learn new things about our world when possible. So I don´mind to see mirror cultures, especially when they are ancient civilizations.

[Lee]

I do enjoy some historical fantasy too. :)

[Sandra]

Nienna wrote: "I do enjoy some historical fantasy too. :)"

:D

[L.G.]

NYKen wrote: "Thanks everyone for sharing your insights and opinions regarding the topic. It is an interesting read.

I have recently read this past summer, the first three books of A Song of Ice and Fire series..."

A Song of Fire and Ice is great fun if you like to speculate. When I was reading the books, I'd try to see if I could guess what would happen. It's a great form of mental exercise too!

[Deleva]

I would definitely say escapism but there's more to it than that. With epic or high fantasy it's the discovery of a new world. Urban fantasy... the discovery of a world within our own but not of it. It's amazing fun.

[Benjamin]

Escape.

[Christopher]

From a decent fantasy I get escapism. From a really excellent fantasy (LOTR...can't think of any others) I get escapism and glimpses of truth and beauty that somehow convey a more profound life beyond our reality.

[Molliver]

Fantasy offers something realistic fiction doesn't. It offers everything realistic fiction does, plus a whole world of new possibilities. You can relate to the characters, and go on incredible adventures with them. Ideas can be presented in a different non-offensive (most of the time) way. Your imagination, mind, and heart can expand all at once. -end rant-

[[deleted user]]

Thanks everyone for sharing your insights and opinions regarding the topic. It is an interesting read.

I have recently read this past summer, the first three books of A Song of Ice and Fire series. Although it may be "wordy" in too much descriptions at times, I love how the world is woven, and I am sucked in and allowed me to invest in the "well-being" of the characters, especially since certain major characters are shockingly killed off, keeping me as a reader at the edge of my seat if a character that I like to read about will meet his/her untimely demise.

[L.G.]

NYKen wrote: "Thanks everyone for sharing your insights and opinions regarding the topic. It is an interesting read.

I have recently read this past summer, the first three books of A Song of Ice and Fire series..."

Emotional investment is a big thing, I think. The worst thing a book can do is make you not care. One of the things I like about well-written fantasy is that it can often make you care about people you didn't think you'd care about (ASoIaF is a good example of this).

[Emmy]

I'd hate to call it this but in some way for me fantasy is also about social experiments. How do people react in circumstances that are not earthbound or anchored in our real world.

[Luke]

Escapism.

Losing myself in a world.

Character empathization (not sure if that's a word, but I'm using it anyways).

Plot twists and surprise endings.

[Christopher]

Lloyd Alexander said:
“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it.”

And I certainly agree with that...

Tolkien said: “Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. .”

There's a point both ways... and for me it was both at different times. These days, of course, more the former... I am now embarking on a journey that is mostly ecstatic in nature due to the results of imaginative work... and the music of it.

The main point of the article I wrote is how The Power Of Fantasy can transform... anyone... whatever your starting place. It transcends one's personal situation. No matter how difficult or pleasant one's life may have been at any particular time, there will be travails and journeys, quests and arrival points. By experiencing imaginative adventures which include the basic dramatic principals of good storytelling... as well as plenty of flourishes of pure imagination... whether it's the clear dramatic line of Frodo and Sam or the wild flourishes of E.R.Eddison's 'The Worm Ouroboros'... good fantasy has the very positive effect of growing our consciousness, and our ability to see what's ahead, to imagine what's possible for our lives... whether it’s working in the arts or any profession... or walking down the street and better enjoying the view... because you are now ‘seeing’ with your imagination! Every corner has more mystery beyond it... every shadow has more possibility... the world is less stark, more filled with wonder... and this is inspiring! Inspiring not escape from reality but to make more of it! To enjoy each second more fully, to enjoy and meditate on the play of light on water... and who knows where this can lead?

Tolkien said it so well:

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say”

[[deleted user]]

I just wanted to add to the discussion. There are some major components of fantasy that is universal -- unique worlds, unique magic, and/or unique cultures. You can count on a good dose of angst no matter what the focal points are.

I have my own groups that I put fantasy books in. I find that Urban Fantasy has less angst and more humor. Male writers tend to go with more warfare and less romance in this area. Female authors will usually throw in a good romance alongside the fighting.

There are the coming of age/hero builders like Lord of the Rings, Farseer, and Harry Potter. There are what I call creature features which have a strong mix of paranormal creatures like the aforementioned LotR and Harry Potter. There is dark fantasy which I pretty much qualify for those that have a lot of violence, are unsentimental in killing off major characters, and tend to have endings that are not happily ever after, think of GRRM's ASOIAF series which has spawned an HBO tv show, Game of Thrones. Most have some political aspect or prophecy at its heart while some are solely built around political power struggles. I find that good fantasy has bad guys that are smart and lethal. None of the cartoonish stuff.

[Ian]

It can take you to another world

[L.G.]

One of the things I love about fantasy is the diversity it has. There's something in there for anyone.

[Kelila]

Cloaks.