fantasy books

Thirty Years Later: What Game of Thrones Did To Fantasy

Leave a Comment / Book Culture / / 4 minutes of reading

Thirty years after A Game of Thrones changed fantasy forever, it’s worth asking what the genre gained — and what it may have lost along the way. From the rise of grimdark and political fantasy to sprawling epic series and morally compromised heroes, George R. R. Martin’s influence is impossible to ignore. But as fantasy readers increasingly rediscover wonder, heroism, and adventure, has the pendulum finally begun swinging back?

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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.

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Lost Sock Memorial Day and the Great Fantasy Sock Conspiracy

2 Comments / Fae / / 2 minutes of reading

Today is Lost Sock Memorial Day, and fantasy readers know perfectly well that socks do not simply “go missing.” Somewhere beyond the washing machine lurks an unseen kingdom of fae creatures, goblins, or possibly liberated house elves, all conducting mysterious business with our unmatched footwear. After all, fantasy has immortalized swords, crowns, rings… and at least one very important sock.

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The Fire Before Summer: Beltane in History and Fantasy

Leave a Comment / Celtic Myth & Culture / / 4 minutes of reading

Beltane, the ancient Celtic fire festival marking the beginning of summer, once stood as a powerful turning point in the year—a night of bonfires, fertility rites, and thinning veils between worlds. Though largely forgotten today outside neo-pagan circles, Beltane still echoes through Celtic-inspired fantasy, where it often serves as a moment of magic, transformation, and looming consequence. In this post, we explore the origins of Beltane, how it was celebrated, and why it continues to shape modern fantasy storytelling—including its pivotal role in The Rivers Ran Red and other Celtic-influenced works.

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Why Fantasy Keeps Hiding Magic in Libraries

Leave a Comment / Book Culture, Magic / / 5 minutes of reading

There was a time when fantasy looked outward, toward lost kingdoms and blank spaces on the map. Today, with the world thoroughly mapped and disappointingly short on hidden plateaus full of dinosaurs, fantasy has shifted its secrets elsewhere. Now the lost world waits behind a locked door in the back of a library, or on a shelf in a bookshop that was not there yesterday.

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Why Fantasy Worlds Feel Smaller Than Middle-earth

2 Comments / Reading, Worldbuilding / / 5 minutes of reading

Fantasy maps have the same problem as those diagrams of the Earth and the Moon: they make impossible distances look deceptively small. A quarter-inch on the map between Rivendell and Hollin hardly seems worth mentioning—until you realise the Fellowship spent weeks walking it. Why does Middle-earth feel so much larger than other fantasy worlds, even worlds that are technically bigger? The answer may lie not in the map itself, but in the long, cold, weary miles between the names.

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