Are Fantasy Books For Geeks

Most people I know have very mixed feelings on fantasy novels. On the one hand, fantasy children’s books are a big part of almost everyone’s childhood. We love stories of heroes, dragons, valiant quests, evil wizards and all that. Kids devour fantasy books and always have, delighting in the simplicity of the stories and the magical beauty of the settings.

Nonetheless, it will always be a good world for those of us who write fantasy books. Writing fantasy fiction, in fact, is one of the easiest ways to make money off of the poorly developed tastes of young readers. You see, fancy story books are mostly about coming out into the world. It can be hard to deal with issues of love and romance, adult responsibilities, and growing up in general in a realistic setting. The great thing about fantasy books is that they let younger readers and teenagers remove these issues one level from their daily lives. Stuff that is hard to literally talk about becomes easily accessible once it is disguised under a cloak of metaphor. This is why fantasy books will always sell. In every generation, people face essentially the same struggles.

On the other hand, liking fantasy books as an adult is definitely not cool. Even teenagers who read fantasy fiction are often mocked for it. Although things have changed recently with the Lord of the Rings coming back into popularity, fantasy book reading is still mostly an activity for geeks once you get past a certain age. And it is no wonder either. I am a huge fan of fantasy sci fi books, and even I have to admit the fact that most of them are complete junk. They are poorly written, often by factories that don’t even involve the original author of the series anymore. They come out by the dozens, each telling essentially the same story over and over again. Although there is definitely some wheat among the chaff, it is often lost in the flurry of junk that gets published.

In the end, this is the saving grace of fantasy books. They are not, and will never be, high literature, but they do serve a purpose. They help people see something epic and important in their lives, elevating their own daily struggles to world shaking events. Learning to take your life seriously is one of the most important things about growing up. A fantasy book can help people do just that.

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