Journey Through the Genres: Fantasy
There’s no better way to enter a whole new world than with a fantasy book. This month’s spotlight on our year-long Journey Through the Genres invites you to imagine the possibilities. What could happen in a world filled with magic and adventure? How would it feel to be a hero or a dragon? What can you discover as you explore other realities?
Fantasy has always been my favorite genre. As Criminal Minds paraphrased the author G.K. Chesterton, “Fairy tales don’t tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.”
Fairy tales and fantasy can give you hope, allowing you to see the light in the darkness, and give you courage and confidence in your own strength. Fantasy is an escape from our world and all its craziness. These reads can also helps us to see our world more clearly by imagining how things could be different and inspiring us to make changes.
What I love most about fantasy fiction is how each person reacts differently to it because the stories take you deep into your own imagination. The only limits to the possibilities are the limits of your own dreams.
Read on to explore my suggestions of fantasy reads. If you want to chat with me and other readers about your latest fantasy reads, stop by the library's fiction wing Fri, May 2, 2025, 7-8pm.
High Fantasy
These are the sweeping tales of adventure and daring. If you're looking for inspiration to go on an epic quest and maybe save a dragon or two along the way, this is the subgenre for you!
The Lord Of The Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien is the archetype of this subgenre. Terry Pratchett famously compared his works to Japan's largest mountain, "J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it’s big and up close. Sometimes it’s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it’s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji."
I can't help but agree with his assessment, seeing as how nearly all epic journey fantasies published after Lord Of The Rings either shamelessly borrow themes from the epic saga or deliberately exclude it. Either way if you want to begin your fantasy journey at a well-spring of fantasy journey literature, then Tolkien is a fantastic place to start!
I also cannot stop mentioning how much I love The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis! The Shannara series by Terry Brooks also fits in nicely here.
Cozy Fantasy
If you're looking for something on the opposite end of the spectrum, perhaps a tale you can curl up with in front of a purple fire, then look no further than Cozy Fantasy! A favorite book for me in this subgenre is Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen or pretty much anything by her. Allen has a way of writing worlds that are somewhere just on the border between realistic and magical. Her characters are all grounded, three-dimensional people, which makes the fantastic elements in her stories stand out so much more in contrast and adds an extra sense of wonder.
I am also a fan of Miranda Asbedo, a Kansan author, and particularly her book A Constellation of Roses. One that has been on my to be read list forever, but I haven't gotten to yet is The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst.
Dark Fantasy
Embrace your dark side! This haunting books often feature a magic that has a terrible price and characters who must decide if they're willing to pay it. I recently read Where The Dark Stands Still by A.B. Proanek and loved it! Based on the back cover summary, I started it expecting a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. While it does borrow some themes from my favorite fairy tale, it very quickly established itself as a unique story. The book didn't leaned into some of the darker aspects of the original fairy tale and added a new depth and richness to them. Elements of mystery and macabre kept my heart thumping as I wandered deeper and deeper into the enchanted forest Proanek builds with their arresting prose.
Holly Black is also a paragon of this subgenre, and my favorite of her works is The Darkest Part of The Forest. If you're looking for something not quite that dark but still a little eerie, maybe try Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett.
Special Powers Fantasy
A lot of young adult fantasy falls into this subgenre, where the main character has special powers and must grapple with them as they navigate their world. They usually end up saving that world at some point along the way. My favorite trilogy in this subgenre is the Annals of the Western Shore trilogy by Ursula K. Le Guin. I started reading Le Guin on a recommendation from a friend. The trilogy tackles themes of disability, choice, culture and the importance of stories. Le Guin weaves a tapestry showing a rich and complicated world with its own nuances and foibles. The story kept me mindfully engaged until the very last page. I mostly read it outdoors and I highly recommend doing the same for a fully immersive experience as she takes you through a number of biomes.
Another popular series I recommend is the Graceling series by Kristen Cashore. If you prefer a newer series with a more diverse cast, try the Guardians of the Dawn series by S. Jae-Jones.
Mythological Fantasy
This is a subgenre that has been growing in popularity recently. These tales retell ancient myths and legends, sometimes giving them modern twists or focusing on a character who gets less attention in the conventional narrative.
Madeline Miller has been making a splash in this subgenre and I love her book Circe. This book takes a character who is a side character in The Odessey and acknowledges her as a powerful figure and goddess in her own right. I love how in this story Circe's fate isn't defined by the choices of the men in her life. She stakes her own claim on the story and turns the world on its head.
Jennifer Saint is another writer specializing in mythological fantasy. My favorite of her works is Ariadne. If you're looking for something a little less Greek, I recommend Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim.
