I READ 156 FANTASY BOOKS AND THIS IS WHAT I DISCOVERED

I have now read more than 150 fantasy books. Let's talk about what I have discovered!
------------------------------------------
🢚Get 5% off at The Broken Binding using the code LIBRARYOFAVIKING7
------------------------------------------
Art used in this video
🢚Image by Willgard Krause from Pixabay
🢚Image by Larisa Koshkina from Pixabay
🢚Image by Bingo Naranjo from Pixabay
🢚Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay
🢚Image by Andrian Valentino from Pixabay
🢚Image by Daniloart16 from Pixabay
🢚Image by syaifulptak57 from Pixabay

[muhammedshibin]

Whenever I talk about the fantasy genre, most people think that it's a genre about kids saying wrigardium Leviosa or it's all about witches and fairies. It's an ocean with endless possibilities.

[vaughnroycroft]

As a... ahem, somewhat older fantasy fan, I've found that the disdain of folks who don't read--or even "get"--fantasy as a genre is not as severe as it once was. It's getting better all of the time, and I sense that the adaptations are helping. As are the very smart younger authors and their very inclusive books.

I've always loved the Ursula Le Guin quote on the topic: “For fantasy is true, of course. It isn’t factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely why many of them are afraid of fantasy. They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, all that is false, all that is phony, unnecessary, and trivial in the life they have let themselves be forced into living. They are afraid of dragons, because they are afraid of freedom.”

An important topic, and you've made some excellent observations. Good job. Here's to freedom...And to dragons. Cheers!

[benjaminthibieroz]

to quote one master of the genre:
"Fantasy is the best litterary genre because you can tell just about any kind of stories from other styles, and you can add dragons."

[dugonman]

I had a similar confrontation with a guy at a book group once, who said "fantasy is a genre for simple minded children and the stunted adults who can't seem to grow up and read real liturature"

I asked him if he ever read any, he said no. I then told him I've read fantasy AND the snobbish liturature you praise as well. Dont speak with authority on a subject you have no knowledge on, it shows your ignorance.

[GatekeeperDatuck]

"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." - C.S. Lewis

G.K. Chesterton's "A Defense of Penny Dreadfuls" and Tolkien's "On Fairy-Stories" are excellent essays on this topic.

[PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

Fantastic video! I couldn't agree more with your conclusions. Fantasy is, like all literature, a place where we can explore answers to the ages-old questions: Who and what are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? In addition, because of the psychic distance it offers and its embracing of the wondrous, fantasy is uniquely suited to explore such questions in ways that offer catharsis along with a sense of meaning and belonging.

[thelibrarian]

As an academic and literary theorist I am consistently trying to bring fantasy into the academic Canon.

[vajs]

An interview with Stephen Donaldson gave me a great insight into why adults read SF and Fantasy. Modern literature is ripe with themes of hopelessness and despair on an individual level. The reason fantasy has a more impactful way of conveying various issues in its books, might be the distance it provides from our world and our coping with it, before breaking down issues such as depression, isolation, abandonment and so on. Even a dystopian fiction book, such as World War Z, might feel to depressing at times, because we know it's our and therefore - all too real to disassociate our personal experience and emotions from our enjoyment and from experiencing the books in a much more objective and thus much more nuanced way. In a nutshell, fantasy offers us the analyzation of all of our social and emotional issues and positive aspects, in a psychologically safer environment than classic and modern literature does. Kind of like when a therapist says to his/her patient: it's OK, there's nobody here but us, you can open up freely.

[meptdoesstuffs]

Fantasy has always been my favorite genre since I started reading, The story settings and plot just amazes me every time. As a student, I think fantasy helps me in my writing, I tend to have lots of ideas in writing stories which I truly enjoyed it. Fantasy also make me understand people's pov towards the world which I find it interesting.

[Johanna_reads]

What a great video! I had a very different experience than you in that all the people I looked up to growing up were fantasy readers. As a result, I always associated fantasy with intelligence, creativity, and critical thinking. We live in a very exciting time when fantasy is exploring more diversity, while bringing fresh and/or critical perspectives to the themes we adore in the genre: courage, compassion, belonging, honor, and truth!

[crisnice]

The Well of Ascension discusses the consequences of war brilliantly (eg trauma, grief, and depression), in my opinion.

[carlosdiaz]

Fantasy is also Jorge Luis Borges.
Fantasy is also Edgar Allan Poe.

Is an ocean of possibilities

[AbiofPellinor]

This was such a well thought out video! And fantasy is definitely underrated and has so much value to the reader and society

[OverlyAverageBen]

I think I was very lucky to be raised in a family that allowed whatever reading I wanted. My dad is a huge Stephen King fan so weird horror books for kids were handed over, my mum loves crime books so I ended up with young detective novels being handed over and finally my brother was a big fantasy fan so at 13, his copy of Mistborn got handed over and I never looked back.

But without the involvement of my family which a lot of people don't have, I never would have found the books I read because schools simply do not offer them to children.

[baeumchen]

Ah yes. Fantasy 🥰
Cue my Mom: "I don't understand how you can read that, it's so childish"
Also my Mom: has only ever read the first Harry Potter book in the genre.
Idk, maybe if you're not into children's books, don't read a children's book to judge a whole genre? 🤷

[Wolfhailstorm]

What a fascinating video essay! Really gave me some things to think about!

[mikaelaraymond]

It's rare to hear anyone mention religion neutrally/ without vitriol, so this was refreshing.

[safinan]

Hi 👋 wow luv this video!! The first ever adult fantasy book I read Brandon Sanderson mistborn series which I loved then after after that I never looked back... never be embarrassed that u luv reading. Never change for anybody... 😊😊 always be urself.... happy reading to you!! 🎬📖🦋

[Angela-ieql]

Thats crazy my experience in high school was very different, hispanic litarature pride itself in the 'realismo magico' genre which is heavily associated with fantasy

[henriksorensen]

I agree 100% with you and I wish schools gave fantasy and sci-fi the respect it deserves. I am dyslexic and reading was not something that interested me until the librarian at my school forced me to read the first four pages of books about different genres and when one day I read more than four pages it was in a fantasy book and I borrowed the book . She gave me new books in the same style and voila I became a book nerd. The nonsense that it's only classics that are real literature just makes me angry. Because it only shows how little the "real" readers has an understandings of how to show different problems that exist in our society through different genres, even if it is through fantasy or sci-fi. Whether it is war and peace, sexuality or mental health. Because if you read the book and are willing to see what is said in plain text or between the lines, you can actually get a lot out of it.