Fantasy

International Cat Day: Why Fantasy Needs Cats

2 Comments / Interesting Bits / / 4 minutes of reading

Today is International Cat Day, which seems the perfect excuse to talk about one of fantasy’s most enduring companions: the cat. From mysterious familiars and talking felines to shape-shifters and ghost-watchers, cats have always belonged in fantasy. Join me as I celebrate nineteen-year-old Strider—our gloriously opinionated Norwegian Forest Cat—and explore why cats may have been magical long before fantasy writers ever noticed.

International Cat Day: Why Fantasy Needs Cats Read More »

Do Fantasy Readers Actually Want Simpler Worlds Again?

Leave a Comment / Food for Thought, Worldbuilding / / 4 minutes of reading

Fantasy readers often say they want “simpler” worlds, but is that really what they’re asking for? Maybe the problem isn’t complexity at all—it’s the steep learning curve many modern fantasy novels demand before the story can truly begin. A look at why great fantasy invites readers into its world instead of handing them an owner’s manual on page one.

Do Fantasy Readers Actually Want Simpler Worlds Again? Read More »

When Reality Outdoes Fantasy

Leave a Comment / Worldbuilding / / 2 minutes of reading

Some of the most fantastical settings aren’t found in fantasy novels—they’re right here on Earth. A single photograph of Seljalandsfoss in Iceland is a reminder that nature often creates landscapes so extraordinary we’d hesitate to put them in fiction for fear readers wouldn’t believe them. It’s a lesson that Peter Jackson understood when bringing Middle-earth to life on film.

When Reality Outdoes Fantasy Read More »

What Fantasy Looked Like Before Tolkien Won

Leave a Comment / Reading / / 5 minutes of reading

Fantasy readers often trace the genre back to Tolkien, but fantasy’s history is far stranger and more varied than many realize. Long before epic quests and dark lords dominated the shelves, writers such as Lord Dunsany, George MacDonald, H. Rider Haggard, Arthur Machen, and Hope Mirrlees were exploring dream kingdoms, lost worlds, fairy realms, and mysteries lurking just beyond reality. Join me on a journey down the forgotten paths of fantasy and discover what the genre looked like before Tolkien’s road became the main highway.

What Fantasy Looked Like Before Tolkien Won Read More »

When Fantasy Creators Become Legends

Leave a Comment / Book Culture, Myth & History / / 3 minutes of reading

What happens when fantasy creators stop feeling like ordinary authors and actors and begin to resemble legends themselves? From Tolkien’s mythic life story to Christopher Lee’s astonishing wartime history and larger-than-life presence, fantasy fandom has a habit of turning its creators into part of the mythology. On Biographer’s Day, we take a look at why fantasy readers love biographies almost as much as they love dragons.

When Fantasy Creators Become Legends Read More »

The Battles We Remember (and the Ones We’re Not Sure Happened)

Leave a Comment / Interesting Bits / / 5 minutes of reading

May 2nd marks the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts—one of the rare moments in fantasy with a date you can circle on a calendar. But most fictional battles don’t come with anniversaries. Some feel like they should. Others might not have happened at all. And a few… aren’t the sort anyone would want to remember too closely. Which raises an interesting question: in fantasy, what actually makes a battle worth remembering?

The Battles We Remember (and the Ones We’re Not Sure Happened) Read More »

Why Bridges Are Always Trouble in Fantasy

Leave a Comment / Food for Thought, Myth & History, Worldbuilding / / 5 minutes of reading

Bridges look simple, but they quietly reshape the world around them. From Tolkien’s Last Bridge to the rainbow span of Bifröst, bridges in fantasy turn geography into decisions, create natural chokepoints, and mark the crossing from one world into another. As history shows—from Roman Corbridge to the Rhine in 1945—who controls the bridge often controls the story. Which may be why so many unforgettable fantasy moments happen right in the middle of one.

Why Bridges Are Always Trouble in Fantasy Read More »

The Unfinished Epic (Or: A Gentle Nudge to Authors Who Wander Off Mid-Apocalypse)

4 Comments / Book Culture, Movies & TV / / 3 minutes of reading

Epic fantasy promises us war, prophecy, ancient evils, and—eventually—an ending. But what happens when “eventually” starts to feel like a geological era? Let’s talk about unfinished series, glacial winters, and why finishing a story might be the most heroic act of all.

The Unfinished Epic (Or: A Gentle Nudge to Authors Who Wander Off Mid-Apocalypse) Read More »

Scroll to Top