Four Fantastic Reasons You Should Read More Fantasy Novels

If you are a regular on this blog, you might know that fantasy is my favorite genre. But it would be foolish of me to assume it’s yours as well. I do blog about other things, to be sure, and have written in other genres (CIRCUS IN A SHOT GLASS, woot!) Now, I’m going to say something important:

Life is too short to read a book you don’t like.

It’s true. You should read what you enjoy. BUT…have you given fantasy a fair shake? No two books are exactly alike, and I think it’s a pretty awesome genre. So, with my bias in mind, I present to you a short list of reasons it might behoove you to give magic a go:

1. In most fantasy books, there is a definite good versus evil or at least right versus wrong (SIX OF CROWS has a different sort of moral code, but I’ll discuss the books/show in a different post.) A good way to study how to be and not to be! But even the morally gray books have benefits: you have to think and decide for yourself. Thinking is usually a good thing…hehe.

2.  Fantasy can challenge and expand your vocabulary. Like literary fiction (a non-genre), fantasy authors seem to like to go for the bigger words. But if fantasy authors can’t find one they like, they can make one up themselves. Tolkien made up his own languages. He was, after all, a mighty linguist with some writing skills. He just needed a world for people to speak his words in.

3. Fantasy novels are a must for fantasy novelists. If you’re writing in this genre, you should really be reading in it as well. You need to know the tropes and the pitfalls of fantasy…to either follow or break them (tropes) and to avoid them entirely (pitfalls.)

4. They have great fandoms. There are entire conventions dedicated to science fiction and fantasy. You can dress up and be a fool and no one will judge you at these events—well, I mean, mostly. And the big guns (like Rowling and Sanderson) have awesome sites dedicated to their works. Fans flock to these in droves to discuss the books and swap their own work. When you love something, it’s nice not to love it alone.

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What are some things you love about fantasy? If you’re not a fantasy reader, what do you like most about the genre YOU read?

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Keep your nose in a book,
Beth

P.S. Today is Good Friday 2021, the 2,000th-ish anniversary of Christ Jesus’ death. But don’t worry…Sunday is coming. Sunday is the anniversary of His resurrection from death, guys, when I get to say “He is risen!” (and then you can say, “He is risen indeed!”) It’s a very happy holiday, but first there’s Friday. The anniversary of the darkest day in human history.