- High fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy literature that involves an author inventing a whole new world that has no relation to Earth. The new world will have its own culture, races and history. Literature written in the high fantasy sub-genre will have a plot in which good characters are fighting evil and trying to save the world from peril or complete destruction. An example of high fantasy is the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
- Contemporary fantasy is sometimes called low fantasy, urban fantasy or real world fantasy. This type of fantasy involves characters operating in the real modern world and magical or supernatural elements or events occur which drive the story in different directions. One example of contemporary fantasy is the Harry Potter series: Harry Potter lives a normal English life until he learns that he is truly a wizard and is sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which he gets to through the magical Platform 9¾ at King's Cross station, a real train station in London.
- Dark fantasy is a type of fantasy literature that has horror elements. Dark fantasy is typically based in a real world setting where an unreal predator is stalking, killing or scaring characters. The main difference between a horror novel and a dark fantasy novel is that the evil in a horror novel is real, such as a serial killer, while the evil in dark fantasy is fictional, such as a werewolf. Stephen King is a popular dark fantasy novelist.
- Heroic fantasy may also be referred to as adventure fantasy or sword and sorcery fantasy. This type of fantasy is sometimes confused with high fantasy but can be differentiated because heroic fantasy is focused on the hero and his adventure and does not need a high purpose for the adventure, such as the world's end. The hero in these novels must be humble and often becomes a reluctant leader. Author Robert E. Howard is commonly associated with heroic fantasy.
- Science fantasy literature is the combination of science fiction and fantasy. This type of fantasy often takes place in a science fiction world, such as space travel in the far future. While the world tends to be explained by future unknown science, elements of the world must be imaginative, magical or unexplained. "Star Wars" is an example of science fantasy: the world of "Star Wars" is explained by future science and there are robots and a wide array of space ships but the Force an is unexplained and magical element.
- Young adult fantasy is sometimes called juvenile fantasy. This type of fantasy literature is marketed to a younger audience, usually pre-teen to teen. In order to market to a younger audience lead characters in young adult fantasy tend to be youths and this type of literature tends to have less graphic violence or sexual connotations. A common theme of this type of fantasy is coming of age. The Chronicles of Narnia is considered young adult fantasy.
previous post
next post