Why I Love Fantasy

The main reason that I haven't done this post before is that it was so obvious I didn't think of it.

I have loved reading since before I can remember (according to my mother - obviously I don't remember). I love narratives and I think that informs my mindset and way of looking at things. I've loved fantasy fiction since I was a child.

I love imaginative ideas. I love things that are larger or weirder than real life. I love reading about the impossible, the new and the downright strange.

I'm quite excited that fantasy seems to be on the rise in television and film. I think we've reached a technological point where fantastical concepts can be conveyed on screen with more ease than ever before. I'm looking forward to what could get made in the next decade, and I hope we will see high quality storytelling as well as high quality visuals.

Fantasy has it's traditions as any genre does. It can be familiar or derivative, and it certainly has it's share of stereotypes, which are often all that outsiders see. Plenty of good fantasy subverts and plays with the established stereotypes, and a lot ignores them in favour of something completely different.

Escapism is part of the appeal, getting away from the grind of ordinary life -though that applies to a lot of realistic fiction too.
I enjoy a bit of escapism, but for me the appeal of fantasy is more than that.
It's the delight of letting your mind explore realms of the impossible and getting a glimpse at the power of human creativity. I love seeing the brilliant, crazy, hilarious, ridiculous, monstrous things that people can come up with.

I like fantasy that's wild, strange, powerful, fun, or even all of those things.

Great fantasy transports you, it makes you think, and it takes your breath away.