A while back, I wrote an post about horror and what I love about it. It’s interesting that consider horror my favorite genre because, while I do love horror movies more than just about anything, if you ask me what my favorite books are, I’d tell you The Stand by Stephen King and the Dragonlance Legends trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.
There are two things I notice about this, first, despite the King name, neither of those titles are horror. And second, I read those four books….oh my god….over 25 years ago. Well, I guess it’s official: I’m old. Queue the sad violin music.
Anyhow, it’s strange that in the twenty years since high school no other books have had the same lasting effect on me that a giant killer-plague book and a fantasy trilogy based on a table-top RPG did. And I think that’s because when it comes to the books we enjoy, we remember what they were about, but when it comes to books we love, we remember how they made us feel.
We look for characters we can create an emotional connection with, and as soon as we find that connection, we become one with the book in a way. In the Dragonlance series, for example, the sickly, bitter, mage, Raistlin Majere, was my gateway drug. In my head, while reading those books, he was me. When he “completed his heel turn” I was right there thinking, the world drove him to this. It’s not him; it’s them.
Ha ha…the things depressed high school boys think when they can’t get dates…
And now to fast forward to the present, I recently said I’m working on a new not-quite-writing project. Without giving away too many hints, this project does involve fantasy. As does the book I’m reading right now. As does the novel I’m taking a short break from writing right now.
So Golly Gee Wilikers, I guess I do love fantasy.
And so do millions of other people.
But what is it that makes fantasy such an attractive genre?
I think it’s rather simple. Behind all of those dragons, elves, kings, and knights, it all comes back to the characters we fall in love with.
It’s finding ourselves in that one character, who manages to stand out in the fantastic world surround him or her, overcome the odds and achieve the goal–conquer the quest–they set out for.
It goes all the way back to the basics of storytelling.
- A character.
- A goal.
- An obstacle.
In the end, it’s want to want to see as reader and it’s what we want to create as writers. And there’s no better place to do that then in fantasy.
What are some of your favorite fantasy novels or series? Leave a comment and let us know!
