I’m a fantasy reader, though I don’t read that much of it these days, and what I do is often a re-read. I’m not sure I can explain why good fantasy touches me in a way other books can’t, except to say that the emotions seem more…pure, perhaps because I don’t -know- about all the baggage and problems lurking around the edges because I don’t have the ‘lived there every day’ familiarity with the world.
All that said, I do find it interesting that a lot of the “don’t like” people who’ve posted so far mostly seem to be explaining why they don’t like -BAD- fantasym, of which, certainly, there is plenty. I am not convinced however, that Fantasy has any higher a percentage of badness than any other fiction genre - it seems to me that essentially all categories of fiction (and, in a different way, nonfiction) is full of bad, cliche, make-a-quick-buck writing. I wouldn’t say that you are any more likely to encounter cliches, genre conventions, and the like in Fantasy than in, say Mystery or Espionage novels.
Sturgeon’s Law, I expect. Those who would dismiss fantasy as a result of it’s stereotypes would do well to remember it.
I have absolutely no interest in fantasy fiction. I generally tend to read mostly non-fiction anyway, but for me good fiction has to be at least a little plausible. It has to take place in the “real world” as much as possible. Now, I don’t mind a touch of the supernatural every now and then IF it is not overdone and used in a clever manner. Off the top of my head, I’m thinking of stuff like The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby.
But the minute you mention Hobbits or wizards or dragons? Goodbye. I simply cannot gain any kind of mental traction in that genre.
I mainly read Fantasy/Sci-Fi. I think the reason is tied up in the fact that my love of reading is tied to two of the greatest of each field. My reading level through 5th grade was below level. In 6th grade I discovered both Tolkien and Heinlein. I was suddenly a reader as I found something I loved. I ripped through the Heinlein juveniles, found Lloyd Alexander, Andre Norton, John Christopher and made it through the Silmarillion before 6th grade was over. I never looked back. I was reading on a 12th grade level by the beginning of 7th. I think Professor Tolkien and Heinlein were the reason. I have thousands of books in these two genres and have read many hundred more that I own.
I read non-fiction, especially history; I read a lot of Tom Clancy, who is also a big fan of Heinlein. I find most fiction does not appeal to me and I am not sure why. Mysteries were somewhat enjoyable. I did like Sherlock Holmes but Agatha Christie did little for me. I’ve tried modern mysteries and I am not thrilled. I’ve read a lot of horror, but none in the last 10 years. I got bored with it.
I love the Fantasy genre because it has no real limits to it. Any world can be created. Any rule. Any plot. All that’s required is for someone to think of it. I also love how it can address real world dilemmas and situations from a completely new angle.
And because it connects me to my childhood love of fairy tales. There will always be 12 princesses who love to dance and a beast that used to be a man.
I would hope to point out that Tolkien and the genre of so-called ‘high fantasy’ that was directly or indirectly spawned by his stories isn’t Fantasy as a whole. Fantasy goes as far back as mythology/folklore through fairy tales, up through what they used to call ‘Romances’ and Gothic stories. In the last couple centuries the genre has continued under the Speculative Fiction banner.
I just worry that people will avoid the stories available because of the huge influence and popularity of High Fantasy on the perception of the general public. I would normally recommend that if you don’t like stories about dwarves and dragons, epic struggles of good versus evil, etc. then please check out the following:
Mervyn Peake
Jeff Vandermeer (City of Saints and Madmen)
China Mieville
Cordwainer Smith (Usually considered SciFi, but I think the manner that the stories are executed in can cause it to overlap into Fantasy, in a sense.)
Ellen Kushner (Swordspoint)
Catherynne M. Valente
Ekaterina Sedia
and as a poster above noted Jorge luis Borges and similar writers.
Don’t give up on the Fantasy because of the magic, (or the widespread low threshold for writing quality,) I bet that you could find something that you like in it somewhere.
I’m not a big fan of fantasy, but I was a nut for Ray Bradbury when I was a kid. I liked Bradbury because it was believable on some level. I’ve never been able to get drawn into fantasy. It just never holds my attention, and I’m not quite sure why. I love other forms of fiction.
I despise the pseudo-medieval pap that makes that up the majority of the fantasy books sold and that people with very narrow world views consider the total sum of “fantasy” but I have no problem with fantasy as a genre in general. Those books are based more on the shallow overlay of a Renaissance Festival than anything resembling a functioning society. Consequently my suspension of disbelief is mugged, beaten to the point of having spinal injuries, and has to undergo extensive physical therapy as I read them and mentally try to put their people who act like modern day characters into context with the rest of the poorly drawn world. The whole thing never fits together correctly and it drives me crazy.
You should’ve read last week’s; it was called “The Invasion from Outer Space”. Really.
For me, I like weird stuff and bizarre ideas, and find them most often in science fiction/fantasy. On the other hand, I can’t get into the high swords-and-sandals fantasy in the pseudo-medieval Tolkein model–it seems so monotonous.
I like exploration and discovery stories, where they discover places, and concepts, and things about themselves, that are all new to them, and then learn to cope or interact with them.
But I also like it when the protagonists are living with simplification, and limitations that we don’t have to deal with in our modern world.
I prefer Fantasy to SF, because though SF has discovery and exploration, it also has advanced technology, which I don’t find very enjoyable to read about, and tends to be the motivation and resolution of the plot.
Admittedly magic can also sometimes be used, like technology or science does in SF, as the deus ex machina, but it is actually much rarer used than you might think.
I think that’s a reason that I generally dislike fantasy. (I haven’t given it a real try, and occasionally I read a book that loosely fits in the genre that I love, so my hatred is by no means categorical.) But when a writer is not good, I start wondering why on earth I care about this world that only exists inside one author’s head. It seems to me like cheating to get to create all the rules, and easy to not explain why things have to be a certain way.
I also just like boring books that are set in our own world. I guess I have a stronger inner sociologist than philosopher - I’m more interested in mundane facts of people’s lives than in completely revising ideas about the world by starting from scratch. Even as a child, I was always interested in reading about life in different countries or different eras, but didn’t have that much interest in fairy tales or unicorns or such.
This is an over-generalization, and I know it, but I think I also have always perceived fantasy as being a very male genre. It’s only in recent years that I’ve started reading a significant number of books written by men; I’ve just always been more drawn to “female” books. So this might be a time to try some more fantasy. (And I know there’s tons written by women, too.)
I used to think I hated fantasy. Now I’ve revised that to say that I hate the vaguely medieval, ladies-in-flowy-dressed, unicorny type of fantasy. I hated The Princess Bride and could not sit all the way through Lord of the Rings.
That said, I love surrealism and absurdism, both of which I can see as a kind of fantasy. I loved the Twilight Zone and Ray Bradbury when I was a kid, and have happily read Bertolt Brecht and watched movies like Dogville and Manderlay and liked them.
The thing is I’m not sure what makes me like one thing and hate the other. Why does anyone like or hate anything? Sometimes it’s just a matter of personal taste.
Mainly this. Real life is boring. I live it every day. While my favorite part of fantasy (or sci fi) isn’t usually just seeing the worlds constructed (which I know for many people, is the appeal), I do enjoy the chance to see “cooler” ideas like sword fights and demonic evils and amazing super powers in action.
At the same time, I need my fantasy to be grounded in some sort of reality - faithfully approximating human emotions and actions and the like. I suppose I just enjoy that with a more interesting window dressing.
Man, you really ought to read A Song of Ice and Fire. With some of its protagonists named Robert, Ned, Jonn, Catelyn, and Brendan, very little overt supernaturality (shut up I made up that word and I like it), and incredibly flawed characters, it sounds like everything you don’t hate. Admittedly there are a lot of names with y’s in them and some famous people do have monikers like Kingslayer, but they earn those suckers. Just by his name I want to know more about Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning.
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.
It was another place so unlike this one where you could spend all your time not worrying about homework or popularity or Mom and Dad fighting. It was made to be better. Something that was just happy stories about here and now wouldn’t transport you the way fantasy does.
Today I like it because it makes me a little nostalgic, because some of it is really worth reading, and because it can provide an interesting backdrop to very true, basic stories.
I love good fantasy because the real world is not enough.
That’s just playing “No True Scotsman”, like Margaret Atwood does. Borges absolutely is fantasy, and “Magic Realism” as a genre is just a cop-out by intelligentsia trying to avoid the “F” word.
This is why I generally don’t like the fantasy genre. Reality holds so many possibilities that good fiction can explore an incredible range of concepts while still holding a toe within the boundaries of “this could happen.” If it can’t stay within the realm of conceivable possibility, it should at least ask thought-provoking questions, which is why I enjoy Borges immensely.
This isn’t set in stone, of course. I enjoyed the LOTR trilogy and loved the Dune series.
If I want to read about ordinary people doing ordinary things, I can read ordinary books. If, however, I want to read about extraordinary people holding the fates of nations - or of worlds - in the palms of their hands, then I have three options: I can read modern techno-thrillers, which are generally formulatic and absurd; I can read historical fiction, which is often dry and anachronistic and besides, I already know how it ends; or I can read fantasy.
In other words, I prefer fantasy literature because it has better stories.
With some of its protagonists named Robert, Ned, Jonn, Catelyn, and Brendan, very little overt supernaturality (shut up I made up that word and I like it), and incredibly flawed characters, it sounds like everything you don’t hate. Admittedly there are a lot of names with y’s in them and some famous people do have monikers like Kingslayer, but they earn those suckers. Just by his name I want to know more about Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning.