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The Real Power of Fantasy Writing

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This article is by Darren Andrews.

Fantasy can be a potent form of writing if you understand how to use symbolism and maintain the inner consistency of reality.

J.R.R. Tolkien, perhaps the greatest of all fantasy writers, observed that “the realm of fairy-story is wide and deep and high and filled with many things…” (“On Fairy- Stories”, Tree and Leaf, p. 9).

Fantasy literature is purposely imaginative. The author of fantasy has the ability to engage the reader’s imagination more powerfully than the author of another genre – if it is done correctly. High fantasy has a very clear purpose in doing this: it is to take the reader on a journey to reaffirm certain principles of good and evil, of morals, of the spiritual and unseen. Fantasy breaks free of any attachment to political correctness or populist thought.

Is YA the Death of Epic Fantasy?

by Featured Author

This article is by Frank LaVoie.

For those of you not familiar with the YA moniker, it refers to the genre of Young Adult literature. In the realm of publishing, it is most often coupled with the word ‘fantasy’, thus denoting a fairly specific breed that has proven its popularity in the form of the Harry Potters and Percy Jacksons of the literary world. The growing scope of YA Fantasy has been wholly responsible for an entire generation taking to books. Even medical science has had to pay attention; they credited Rowling’s works with the highly contagious Hogwart’s headache, onset by nonstop reading of the author’s seven-hundred-word whoppers.

But does the rising fashion-ability of YA Fantasy come at a price?

Fantasy Writing and the Spiritual Quest

by Test Administrator

Smaug from Tolkien's The Hobbit, as illustrate... — Smaug

Many fantasy writers experience our craft as being more than a hobby, or even a career choice. For us, it is a calling.

On my tenth birthday I received a precious gift: a hardback edition of The Hobbit, illustrated by Michael Hague. This marked my first foray into fantasy literature, and it irrevocably touched my life.

Upon discovering Tolkien I experienced a new realm of possibilities. While clearly fictional, the world which he described had a distinctive aura of truth to it. It was a place of magic, where unseen power filled every aspect of life. Although my mind told me differently, my heart recognized something very real.