Now that you've read my somewhat random post on the catagories of fantasy, it's time to take a look at what makes fantasy so popular. It's a fact that fantasy books usually sell very well among kids and teens, and even adults sometimes. Part of the reason probably has to do with the Harry Potter craze, and the fact that almost every children's author in America wants to imitate it, but I think there's just something about fantasy that attracts people. The question is, what is it?

Now I'm no expert, as you'll probably be able to tell, and I certainly can't speak for all fantasy lovers, but I can at least give you some reasons why I love fantasy. I don't think I'm totally unique among readers, so hopefully some of these will apply to the majority as well.

1) The first reason why I love fantasy is that it's just plain cool! Good fantasy tales of either catagory are always exciting, suspenseful, and full of heroic knights, beautiful princesses, and epic battles. I love adventure stories, and this genre offers some of the highest adventure there is. I get so wrapped up in fantasy books that, whereas an old classic like Bleak House takes me a month to complete, I can tear through a fantasy of similar length, like Eldest, in just a few days.

2) Fantasy also leaves more room for creativity than any other genre. Just think - if an author has invented his or her own world, then there are no limits to what they can put into that world. They don't have to follow any rules except the ones they make up. In a historical fiction novel or a mystery, of course, it would be unrealistic to have a dragon swoop down and start attacking a town. But in an imaginary world, anything can happen! I think this is one of the reasons so many people write fantasy, too. I have now finished the first draft of a fantasy book and am starting the process of writing a historical fiction book, and I can already tell it's going to be a lot harder than the fantasy book. Fantasy is much easier and more fun than a lot of other genres.

3) Those two points are probably the only reasons most people would give for liking fantasy. But I think, at least for me, there's another  reason - one that we might not think of right away. It has to do with what fantasy books do to us.

I've heard several people talk about how fairy tales (and, according to some, all novels) are "escapist". They say that people read books about other worlds in order to get away from their own troubled world - in order to escape reality. While I don't think that "escaping" into a fantasy world is the right way to cope with our problems, I have to admit that that has sometimes been my motive in reading fantasy. Although I've grown in this area lately, I have often been tempted to just lose myself in a book and forget about my problems.

The truth is, the world we live in is very dark. It's full of problems that range from minor inconveniences to devastating tragedy, and oftentimes it's hard to know what to believe or who to trust. Fantasy worlds also have problems, and there are just as many bad guys there as there are in the real world. But in fantasy books (all the good ones, anyway) the difference between good and evil is crystal clear. And good always wins in the end. People who can't find that kind of clarity in the real world, or aren't sure if their stories will have happy endings, want to escape from reality through fantasy stories.

For Christians, though, fantasy is not escapist. Why? Because we know that there really is a clear distinction between good and evil. We know that good ultimately does win the battles. For us, fantasy is a reflection of reality, not an escape from it. We don't need to find refuge in fantasy books, and we shouldn't try. But we can still enjoy them - even more than non-Christians, I think - when we remember that they reflect the way the real world works.

"But wait," you might be thinking. "What about all the fantasy books where the line between good and evil isn't so clear - or worse, where evil seems to be exalted over good? What about the Inheritance books? What about Harry Potter? What about His Dark Materials?" Well, what I've been describing so far is the ideal fantasy. Just like every genre, fantasy has a certain standard to live up to. And, just like with every genre, the majority of fantasy books don't live up to it. Of course, as I've said before, no author is ever going to equal J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis, but some authors come closer than others. The best fantasy stories reflect Christian reality, but that doesn't mean they all do.

This brings us to another cool aspect of fantasy: it's the best genre for portraying an author's worldview that I know of. Many writers use fantasy stories solely for the purpose of convincing others to believe as they do, and even when they don't, their beliefs seem to slip in anyway. Of course, an author's worldview shows up in his writing no matter what genre he's using, but it seems to be especially clear in fantasy. Nowadays, most fantasy writers are non-Christians, so their imaginary worlds reflect how they see the real world: confusing, depressing, and without purpose.

I'm not saying that all fantasy written by non-Christians is bad. And I'm definitely not saying that all fantasy written by Christians is good. I'm just saying that the best fantasy will inevitably be written by Christians, because only Christians can make fantasy accomplish its highest purpose, which is to bring people closer to God. I'll try to explain this in more detail in the next post.

I'm sure there are many other reasons why people love fantasy. This list is not exhaustive, and some of you may not even be able to relate to it. Hopefully some of you will be able to relate to my last reason for loving fantasy, though. I think it's an important thing to remember, especially when we start thinking about writing fantasy ourselves.