Late April 2019, I published my blog Crime novels and the 7 Belief systems. I’m still quite proud of its accompanying diagram. Some novel writers were surprised by that diagram because my perspective was brand new to them.
This blog is about fantasy novels, which is probably a (very) misleading term because nothing in those books in about unknown unknowns (my 2016 blog). Most fantasy books are a mix of history, legends & myths.
The success of the mix depends on its ingredients, like betrayal, cooperation vs competition, greed, love, lust, nudity, and power (eg, dark side vs white light). The more relatable, the higher its chances on (commercial) success.
Example 1: the Harry Potter books (1997-2007) are about wizards in a human world. The main characters are students cooperating to dissolve mysteries. Two fall in love. Two elderly men, fighting for good vs bad, are eternal enemies.
Example 2: the Lord of the Rings is about tiny humans (The Hobbits), dwarves, elves, assisted by the good wizard Gandalf, who are up against an evil world ruled by the Dark Lord Sauron. Cooperation wins from competition.
Example 3: Game of Thrones, as originally written by George R. R. Martin. It features several of the ingredients that were not listed in examples 1+2: (extreme) betrayal, lust, nudity, and violence. That mix was very successful.
Example 4: the Westworld tv series (2016-2022) is based on a 1976 science fiction book and film by Michael Crichton (1942-2008). In 1976, it was still a technological fantasy. Today, it’s almost reality (eg, AI, sex robots).
In my view, fantasy books is a rather exaggerated term because the “only” imagination involved is a combination of history, legends & myths.
“And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge.”
A quote by Galadriel from The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
Fantasy (1978) by Earth, Wind & Fire
band, lyrics, video, Wiki-band, Wiki-song
Every man has a place
In his heart, there’s a space
And the world can’t erase his fantasies
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.
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