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Fantasy Fiction

The "fantasy=escapism" equation is older than the genre as we know it. People in the old days boycotted the Theater, not just because it was a potential hotbed of wickedness, but because it was something other than Real Life and therefore odious to Sensible People. Some radical Christian sects have prohibited the reading of fiction on grounds that only the Bible has any literary value (....even though Jesus clearly told fictional stories).

In our day, fantasy as a fiction genre is more narrowly defined than simply "that which is not established fact." It encompasses stories of dragons, elves, dark and mysterious woods, magic (or majyck, or whatever the kids are calling it these days), unicorns, gnomes, etc. High fantasy usually takes place in a world or realm other than our own; low fantasy imports fantastic elements into the-world-as-we-know-it.

Certainly, there is plenty of fantasy fiction that can be defended on no grounds. The flood of worthless literary drivel with images of buxom maidens and swarthy sword-wielding savages with pointy ears on their paperback covers began sometime in the 1960s and has only increased as its putrid waters have swelled. But there's plenty of good fantasy, too, some of it among the best fiction ever written.

Because good fantasy, of course, has something to say about the human condition. Sometimes taking characters out of the humdrum of Earth-bound existence allows authors more artistic freedom to create the situations necessary to tell the narrative they have burning a hole in their imagination. Or sometimes they just make the story a bit more fun. Sometimes they make it darker, or scarier, or just plain more weird.

If you're J.R.R. Tolkien, the fantasy element plays a different role (mythmaking) than that of the story it frames (the sinfulness of sin and the cost of redemption). The point is, good fantasy isn't just about the fantastical. In most cases (Ursula K. LeGuin comes to mind), the unfamiliar is used to show how even it is ultimately familiar, and if we can see ourselves in the Edmund Pevensies and Gurney Hallecks we read about, the fantasy has done its job.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Doug Wilson: Magic in Literature
Should Christians read books with "magic"?
43 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 12th grade (Ages 17-18), Mass market paperback
Alloy of Law
Mistborn Chronicles Era Two Book 1
by Brandon Sanderson
from Tor Fantasy
for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Arthur
Pendragon Cycle #3
by Stephen R. Lawhead
from HarperCollins
Celtic Fantasy for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Avalon
by Stephen R. Lawhead
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Bands of Mourning
Mistborn Chronicles Era Two Book 3
by Brandon Sanderson
from Tor Fantasy
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Book of Lost Tales 1
by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Mythology, Faërie for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Book of Lost Tales 2
by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Mythology, Faërie for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Book of the Dun Cow
by Walter Wangerin Jr.
from HarperCollins
for 8th grade-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens,
Enriched Classic from Pocket Books
for 9th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Dracula
Puffin Classics
by Bram Stoker
from Puffin Books
for 10th-Adult
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
Farthest Shore
Earthsea #3
by Ursula K. Le Guin
from Simon Pulse
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings Trilogy #1
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Grail
Pendragon Cycle #5
by Stephen R. Lawhead
from HarperCollins
Celtic Fantasy for 8th-12th Grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
Gulliver's Travels
Puffin Classics
by Jonathan Swift
from Puffin Books
Satire/Social Commentary for 9th-Adult
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.99
Hinds' Feet on High Places
by Hannah Hurnard
from Tyndale House
Allegorical and Moral Stories for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Hinds' Feet on High Places
by Hannah Hurnard
from Benediction Classics
Allegorical and Moral Stories for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
History of Middle Earth - Boxed Set
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
from Del Rey
for 9th-Adult
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$49.95
Hobbit & Lord of the Rings - Mass-Market Boxed Set
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Mti from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 4th-12th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$35.96
King Solomon's Mines
by H. Rider Haggard
from Dover Publications
Adventure for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.00
Lays of Beleriand
by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Mythology, Faërie for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Lord Foulgrin's Letters
by Randy Alcorn
from Multnomah Books
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lost Road and Other Writings
History of Middle-Earth Volume 5
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
2020 Del Rey Mass Market Edition from Del Rey
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Merlin
Pendragon Cycle #2
by Stephen R. Lawhead
from HarperCollins
Celtic Fantasy for 8th-12th Grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
Once and Future King
by T. H. White
from ACE Publishing
for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.99
Once and Future King / Book of Merlyn
by T. H. White
from ACE Publishing
for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Out of the Silent Planet
Space Trilogy Book 1
by C. S. Lewis
46th Printing from Collier Books
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Pendragon
Pendragon Cycle #4
by Stephen R. Lawhead
from HarperCollins
Celtic Fantasy for 8th-12th Grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
Princess Bride
by William Goldman
from Harvest Books
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Return of the King
Lord of the Rings Trilogy #3
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Shadows of Self
Mistborn Chronicles Era Two Book 2
by Brandon Sanderson
from Tor Fantasy
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Shaping of Middle Earth
History of Middle-Earth Volume 4
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
2020 Del Rey Mass Market Edition from Del Rey
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Silmarillion
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight / Pearl / Sir Orfeo
by Anonymous, J. R. R. Tolkien (Translator)
from Ballantine Books
Medieval Fairy Tale/Poetry for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
Stardust
by Neil Gaiman
from HarperCollins
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Taliesin
Pendragon Cycle #1
by Stephen R. Lawhead
from HarperCollins
Celtic Fantasy for 8th-12th Grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Tehanu
by Ursula K. Le Guin
1st edition from Simon Pulse
for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Through the Looking-Glass
Puffin Classics
by Lewis Carroll
from Puffin Books
for 10th-Adult
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.99
Tolkien Reader
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 4th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
Tombs of Atuan
Earthsea #2
by Ursula K. Le Guin
from Simon Pulse
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
1972 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Two Towers
Lord of the Rings Trilogy #2
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Unfinished Tales
by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Mythology, Faërie for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Wee Free Men
by Terry Pratchett
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$10.99
Wizard of Earthsea
Earthsea #1
by Ursula K. Le Guin
from Graphia
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Wizard of Earthsea
Earthsea #1
by Ursula K. Le Guin
from Graphia
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
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