Today we start a new series focusing on genre fiction. Each installment we’ll ask you, dear reader, about a specific genre that you love, hate, or just feel ‘meh’ about. We want to know what your favorite book in the genre is. Favorite author? And why the genre appeals to you? Is it the escapism, the hope, the mystery, the thrill? We’ll also wind our way through the subgenres that inhabit the wide creative plains.
So let’s hear your thoughts on genre fiction.
We’ll kick it off with: Fantasy.
We know the masters of the genre here, Howard, Lewis, Tolkien, Moorcock and Le Guin. We run the gamut from sword and sorcery to gritty urban magic living alongside us every day.
What is it about the flash of sword, the clank of armor, the breathless love of paupers and princes or the sizzle of a dragon’s breath that enthralls you so? What is it about the flash of a wand and dark secrets buried in an ancient land that keeps you coming back for more?
And is there a subgenre that bubbled to the reading surface for you? Are you into faerie tales? Or romantic fantasy?
What is it about fantasy that you love so much?
I’m a bit late in replying…but since I’m here:
I think what initially drew me toward fantasy as a young whelp was a combination of a fascination with mystical creatures, namely dragons, and my older brother’s video and computer game repertoire, which ran the typical gamut of madden and pga tours and nba all stars, but also included things like Heroes of Might and Magic, D&D (I never got into that), and Final Fantasy. The first fantasy books I can remember reading were Tamora Pierce’s books, which were awesome and I should go back and reread. Then I stepped to Robert Jordan’s WoT series and I was hooked.
The world and character building draw me now, I think. As an adult, I appreciate the escapism the fantasy genre offers. GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire has a gritty, dirty realistic spin on the fantasy genre that I also appreciate.
I read to fall in love with the characters and watch a large, significant chunk of their life change that of the world around the,.That’s why it will always be my favorite genre.