# Tell us why you love (or hate) fantasy as a genre **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409 "2009-02-18T16:37:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/41 "2009-02-19T13:58:57Z")
> [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > When I was a little girl, all the girls in fantasy novels were smart and brave and beautiful and all the boys were gallant and strong. The girls didn’t get made fun of for being weird and uncool, and even if they were, everyone discovered how special they were at the end. The boys weren’t mean and teasing and they didn’t call you Buckwheat and throw your toys in the trees. A unicorn would be your best friend and you could ride him through beautiful forests. So you managed to avoid Meg Murry and “A Wrinkle in Time”. She was a classic outsider. Menolly too from “Dragonsong” is another good example. I thought many of the heroes were misfits and social outcasts or “misunderstood” by their parents and it was their adventures that made them special or accepted. I think even Dorothy Gale might fit this description. I think Schmendrick from the Last Unicorn would also count. Heck the main point of the Hobbits I thought was that the small and the meek could do great things and show great courage. For young adult Sci-Fi and Fantasy it seems like a common idea for the hero or at least a major character to be some sort of outcast at the beginning of the book. I liked this facet of speculative fiction too. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/42 "2009-02-19T15:10:07Z")
I just don’t like it. It fails to excite me in any way. I could say a million reasons why, and you could give a million defenses. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve rarely finished a fantasy novel I’ve picked up. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/43 "2009-02-19T15:22:33Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I just don’t like it. It fails to excite me in any way. I could say a million reasons why, and you could give a million defenses. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve rarely finished a fantasy novel I’ve picked up. No defenses needed. Many people just do not like some genres and while there might be one or two gems, it is not worth the time to find them. I feel this way about westerns (i’ve enjoyed a few), mysteries and especially romance (like Danielle Steel & Jackie Collins). I do enjoy some Espionage and the rare Legal/techno thriller. However, I love Fantasy, Sci-Fi and History and I stick mainly to them. ---
**Author:** ![HolyFreakingMoly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@HolyFreakingMoly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HolyFreakingMoly)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/44 "2009-02-19T15:25:47Z")
There are different genres within the genre as you’ve categorized it. I LOVE horror and thriller fiction novels but I don’t care for fairies and goblins and wizardry type fantasy. Stephen King and Dean Koontz are two of my favorite authors for schlock, mindless reading pleasure… Could never get through Tolken, or the bible. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/45 "2009-02-19T15:36:38Z")
> [@HolyFreakingMoly](#): > > There are different genres within the genre as you’ve categorized it. I LOVE horror and thriller fiction novels but I don’t care for fairies and goblins and wizardry type fantasy. Stephen King and Dean Koontz are two of my favorite authors for schlock, mindless reading pleasure… Could never get through Tolken, or the bible. 😃 I consider Horror and Thrillers to be different genres. Generally books stores do also. ---
**Author:** ![HolyFreakingMoly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@HolyFreakingMoly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HolyFreakingMoly)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/46 "2009-02-19T15:44:26Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I consider Horror and Thrillers to be different genres. Generally books stores do also. Exactly my point… I like the horror genre and the thriller genre and the mystery genre and the crime novels. I don’t care for what I consider to be fantasy nor do I care for espionage or a lot of non fiction but I like some biographies and auto biographies. I have someone writing my autobiography right now! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/47 "2009-02-19T16:34:38Z")
I like fantasy because, even as an adult, I still want to fly around on dragons, perform magic, travel through space, and have great adventures. And since I’m not able to in the real world, I love a genre that lets me do these things vicariously. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/48 "2009-02-19T17:33:47Z")
To me, fantasy can do something that other genres can’t: It can bend reality in order to reveal character. In fantasy, there is no “that couldn’t happen” constraint. There is only “what if it did? What happens then?” They are the way to explore the hypothetical questions that don’t happen in real life. Ask someone what they would do if X and there will be a million reasons why X can’t happen. In a fantasy, X can happen so you can’t weasel out of the hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/49 "2009-02-19T17:35:45Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > I like fantasy because, even as an adult, I still want to fly around on dragons, perform magic, travel through space, and have great adventures. And since I’m not able to in the real world, I love a genre that lets me do these things vicariously. I think this is a great answer. There’s a lot of things I like about fantasy, but one is it’s just _fun to imagine_. When I’m reading a novel, I like to imagine what it would be like if I were in the place of the character. The sights and action are more visually interesting to my mind’s eye, if that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/50 "2009-02-19T17:40:48Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Hate, simply because its existence reminds me of other habits of my 12-year-old self which I _haven’t_ been able to shake since then. > > The OP’s definition seems broad enough to include, say, many of Jorge Luis Borges’ short stories, but I don’t include that in the “fantasy genre”, although I might have trouble explaining the difference. I was deliberately vague. It’s what the respondents think of as fantasy that interests me. [QUOTE=jsgoddess] To me, fantasy can do something that other genres can’t: It can bend reality in order to reveal character. In fantasy, there is no “that couldn’t happen” constraint. There is only “what if it did? What happens then?” They are the way to explore the hypothetical questions that don’t happen in real life. Ask someone what they would do if X and there will be a million reasons why X can’t happen. In a fantasy, X can happen so you can’t weasel out of the hypothetical. [/QUOTE] I really wish I had written this. It’s quite well-spoken and largely capturs my own feelings. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/51 "2009-02-20T06:22:56Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > So you managed to avoid Meg Murry and “A Wrinkle in Time”. She was a classic outsider. Menolly too from “Dragonsong” is another good example. I thought many of the heroes were misfits and social outcasts or “misunderstood” by their parents and it was their adventures that made them special or accepted. I think even Dorothy Gale might fit this description. I think Schmendrick from the Last Unicorn would also count. Heck the main point of the Hobbits I thought was that the small and the meek could do great things and show great courage. > > For young adult Sci-Fi and Fantasy it seems like a common idea for the hero or at least a major character to be some sort of outcast at the beginning of the book. > > I liked this facet of speculative fiction too. Heh. No, I loved Meg Murry and I read a good bit of young adult fiction that took place in the real world. My truest love when I was a girl was historical fiction, and I still love a book that can transport me to another place. Whether it’s Middle-Earth or ancient Rome or Japan in World War 2 or a galaxy far far away, I want to take a trip. And The Last Unicorn is one of my favorite books of all time. Highly to be recommended. Not a fantasy novel.. well, it does have a unicorn and a magical monster and a king and a magician and a witch and really, it’s still not fantasy, except where it is. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/52 "2009-02-20T14:06:28Z")
> [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > Heh. No, I loved Meg Murry and I read a good bit of young adult fiction that took place in the real world. My truest love when I was a girl was historical fiction, and I still love a book that can transport me to another place. Whether it’s Middle-Earth or ancient Rome or Japan in World War 2 or a galaxy far far away, I want to take a trip. > > And The Last Unicorn is one of my favorite books of all time. Highly to be recommended. Not a fantasy novel.. well, it does have a unicorn and a magical monster and a king and a magician and a witch and really, it’s still not fantasy, except where it is. And there’s your trouble right there. You’ve put fantasy in a ghetto populated entirely by crap. Look, 90% of what you’ll find in the fantasy section of your Barnes & Noble is crap. But that’s true of every section except for the “Classics of Fine Literature,” which is excepted only because the stuff there has had the crap shaken out by time. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409/53 "2009-02-21T02:17:32Z")
These kinds of discussions are funny for me (maybe others as well) because although I’ll happily “admit” to reading and enjoying plenty of fantasy, when fantasy-haters start listing their reasons I usually think “Well, I hate those kinds of books too!” So I guess it would be most accurate to say I love SOME fantasy. There are people who do seem to like fantasy because it’s fantasy and will read any damn thing with a unicorn on the cover, and there clearly is a market for fantasy novels I’d consider pure dreck, but I’m sure many fantasy fans are like me – we like what we feel are interesting, well-written, and clever fantasy novels\*, but hate badly written and formulaic stuff of the _Epic Chronicles of the Quest for the Amulet of Plot Significance_ variety. \*I recognize there can be a wide difference of opinion as to what books fall into this category. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-why-you-love-or-hate-fantasy-as-a-genre/486409.md?page=2)