Theatrical release poster for the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film – still arguably the defining image of fantasy in popular culture, so much so that it is often dubbed the Conan pose (as originating in pulp fiction covers, particularly when combined with the leg cling trope not in this poster)
“Fantasy isn’t just a jolly escape: It’s an escape, but into something far more extreme than reality, or normality. It’s where things are more beautiful and more wondrous and more terrifying.” – Terry Gilliam
Exactly what it says on the tin – counting down my Top 10 Fantasy Books.
In effect, it runs parallel to my Top 10 Literature list, albeit there is quite the fantasy overlap in that list, in that this is my top ten list of fantasy literature. Comics tend to be fantasy or SF – at least the ones I like – but I have a separate Top 10 Comics list. Similarly, I like many fantasy or SF films or TV series, but they have their own top ten lists.
But what is fantasy?
Magic is often seen as or argued to be the defining feature of fantasy, not least by me.
Which prompts to mind this quotation from TV Tropes – “Fantasy: it’s stuff with magic in it, not counting psychic powers, or magic from technology, or anything meant to frighten, or anything strongly religious, or the technology behind the magic that is magitek, or — where did that clean-cut definition go?”
Fictional genres can be notoriously difficult to define or difficult to distinguish from other fictional genres, with the two looming largest – and closest – to fantasy being science fiction and horror, with all three often being classed within the category of speculative fiction.
Again as per TV Tropes – “While the core of the fantasy genre is clear enough, there is no succinct definition that encompasses it all. The boundary with science fiction is notoriously ambiguous and the boundary with horror is often no less fuzzy.”
Indeed, I will note where science fiction or horror loom large or close to the fantasy for my entries.
That core of the fantasy genre is often defined as high fantasy – fantasy set in a so-called secondary world or world other than our own, even if linked to or evolving into our own in some way. Hence the counterpart of fantasy set in our own world is often defined as low fantasy. These distinctions within the genre of fantasy, usually classed as sub-genres of fantasy, intrigue me even more than the distinctions between fantasy and other genres – and fantasy sub-genres are worthy of their own top ten.
Whether in its core of hard fantasy or in other sub-genres, fantasy tends to be defined as such by common features or themes. And yes – magic or supernatural elements is the primary feature or theme, but not always. There are fantasy works with low or no magic.
Secondary worlds are another common feature or theme, as are imaginary beings or creatures – here be dragons! – and what TV Tropes calls the appeal to a pastoral ideal.
Anyway, here are my Top 10 Fantasy Books – or my Top 10 Fantasy Literature.