WHAT DOES FANTASY MEAN TO YOU?

Fantasy is probably my favourite genre in storytelling. It gets a bad rep among literary snobs, but fantasy fiction is such a versatile genre it can, literally, be about anything. If you think about it, quite a few of the stories that are held up as beacons of Good Literature (or heralded as the words of a deity) are, essentially, fantasy.

But what is fantasy? 

Well, if we begin with the definition of the word itself, fantasy is “the power or process of creating especially unrealistic or improbable mental images in response to psychological need,” according to Merriam-Webster (2020). It can also refer to the mental image(s) you create in your head when you envision something like winning the lottery or having a hot encounter with that particular person you thirst for. 

As this blog is all about storytelling, I primarily talk about fantasy as a genre. Fantasy, or fantasy fiction, is what we call imaginative stories that (often) take place in really strange settings and feature heroes, villains and all sorts of creatures. And magic. Not necessarily all at the same time. In gaming, fantasy usually refers to a game where you create characters and immerse yourself in the story by becoming an active participant in the turn of events.

Personally, my favourite way of enjoying fantasy is almost always through the pages of a book. I read a l-o-t of books, mostly in ebook format these days, but I also enjoy audiobooks as they allow me to “read” even when I can’t. But storytelling can be brilliant on screen and in games too, and I’m here for all of it.

Now, unless something goes terribly wrong, I hope we’ll be able to discuss plenty of  stories here in my panic room in the months to come. We’ll be  covering books, short stories, films, tv-series, games and whatever I stumble across that tickles my fancy. I don’t discriminate and I don’t taste shame. (No, scratch that. I do taste shame. Occasionally. But only if it’s something really, really bad. Sorry, I suck…)

But enough about me. Before I continue talking about fantasy, I would love to hear from you. How do you feel about fantasy? What do you like/dislike? Any particular titles you think I should check out? Let me know in the comments below and let’s talk.

Speak soon!

//Linnea x