Why is the Fantasy Genre so Good?

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Sup! It's Nate here, and in this post I'll be talking about why I like the fantasy genre so much. Fantasy books make up a large portion of my reading, and from classics like The Hobbit to newer books such as Akata Witch, I have thoroughly enjoyed most of them.

Before I get into why they are good, I should probably define what fantasy books are. Fantasy is a type of fiction that includes magic or other supernatural phenomena--essentially a plot that can't take place in the real world. This is a pretty big appeal for me of fantasy--their plots are different from daily life, which makes them unique and interesting. It's always exciting when reading a new fantasy book to see what direction the writer chose to take their story. The many, many possibilities for a plot, much more than there would be with a more realistic setting, makes fantasy unpredictable and engaging.

Another reason I like fantasy is the chance to read about a well-designed world and characters. The setting of fantasy can be designed in so many unique ways, and in most fantasy books the writers seem to put a lot of effort into making a cohesive and detailed world for their characters. Characters also often have special powers in fantasy stories, and I really enjoy reading about how their powers develop. The characters themselves usually also develop along with their powers, which adds more depth to fantasy stories.

Overall, fantasy books are excellent if you want a detailed and unique story with engaging plot elements. Some of my favorite fantasy books are the Harry Potter series, the aforementioned Akata Witch, and the Keeper of the Lost Cities series (which you can read Aditi's post about). I would rate the fantasy genre a 9.5 out of 10 and would recommend fantasy books to anyone.

Comments

  1. Miriam AApril 2, 2020 at 8:13 AM

    Great post! Since my favorite genre is also fantasy, I agree with everything you said. About 80-90% of all the books I read are probably fantasy because of their unpredictability. I also enjoy realistic fiction, but this genre is typically not as exciting as fantasy books. Some of my friends don’t like fantasy books because of this unpredictability, and critique this genre for having books that have random events without enough explanation. Unless a book provides no explanation whatsoever for why something happened, I generally like this aspect of fantasy books because they provide interesting plot twists that are harder to find in novels with a more realistic setting.

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  2. Elan PanApril 3, 2020 at 10:00 PM

    Amazing post! Thanks for the info, and I completely agree. As an avid fantasy reader myself, I really get what you're talking about here. I really liked how you compare fantasy to other fiction genres - it puts your comments in perspective, which is always good. Looking forward to your next post!

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  3. ShoorsenApril 5, 2020 at 3:53 PM

    Interesting post! I agree with you that with fantasy books theres many possibilities for a diverse world, but I don't think being in one particular genre can automatically make a book good or more likely to be better than some other book. In my opinion, what makes a book good is up to how well the author crafts the story and its various elements, regardless of the genre.

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  4. SafaApril 6, 2020 at 8:05 AM

    As someone who has read lots of fantasy books, I agree that fantasy books are popular and engaging because of their unpredictability. But, I also think that if the unpredictability starts acting way too much in the protagonist's favor, the book becomes boring. I do think that fantasy books have really good character development arcs and it's really interesting to see the character's powers (or control over powers) slowly changes as the story goes on. Over, great post!

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  5. Emily SApril 7, 2020 at 1:33 PM

    Your review was quite accurate when it comes to describing the pros of the fantasy genre- the world building that results is quite astounding! However- when it comes to certain stories- the Neverending Story comes to mind- I feel like the worldbuilding is overdone to the point where it's ridiculous. Regardless, I enjoyed your review! I have to say though- horror/fantasy mixes are absolutely no doubt the best books of the fantasy genre.

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  6. NickApril 10, 2020 at 3:15 PM

    Nice post! I agree with many of the pros that you presented in this post, but I think that sometimes having the ability to justify weird creatures and behavior is sometimes more of a con than a pro. Especially as new ideas are needed for a fantasy book to become popular nowadays I think that authors are trying to be unique in character and setting design instead of making a plot that makes sense or is interesting. That being said, I agree that an original fantasy book that takes advantage of its liberties, but doesn't go overboard can be a great book.

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  7. Jashan TApril 12, 2020 at 1:28 PM

    This was a very interesting post. I share many of the same reasons about liking the fantasy genre. It's really a genre that allows for the writer to be creative. Fortunately, a ton of books nail the creativity and execution aspect, whie being believable at the same time. Nice job.

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