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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"?
53 Items found Print
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Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by Geoffrey Brock, with an introduction by Umberto Eco and an afterword by Rebecca West
from New York Review of Books
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.00
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by John Hooper & Anna Kraczyna
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$15.00
Airborn
Airborn Trilogy #1
by Kenneth Oppel
from HarperCollins
for 5th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.99
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
by Lewis Carroll
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.00
Boxen
by C. S. Lewis, Major Warren Hamilton Lewis
from HarperCollins
for 4th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$21.99
Children of Hurin
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Complete Fairy Tales
Penguin Classics
by George MacDonald
from Penguin Classics
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$17.00
Complete Tolkien Companion
by J.R.R. Tolkien & J.E.A. Tyler
3rd edition from St. Martin's Griffin
Lord of the Rings Reference for 8th-Adult
in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR)
$27.00
Conspiracy of Kings
by Megan Whalen Turner
Reprint from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Coraline
by Neil Gaiman
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$16.99
Dark Tower
by C. S. Lewis
Reissue from HarperOne
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Enchantment
by Orson Scott Card
1st edition from Del Rey
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00
Endless Knot
Song of Albion #3
by Stephen R. Lawhead
2nd edition from Thomas Nelson Publishers
Celtic Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00
Farthest Shore
Earthsea #3
by Ursula K. Le Guin
from Simon Pulse
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.99
George MacDonald
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Devotional Material for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
Harvey
by Mary Chase
from CreateSpace
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.99
If The South Had Won The Civil War
by MacKinlay Kantor
from Forge
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
by Susanna Clarke
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
King of Attolia
by Megan Whalen Turner
Reprint from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$15.99
Last Unicorn
by Peter S. Beagle
from ROC Science Fiction
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$17.00
Lilith
by George MacDonald
from Eerdmans
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.99
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Harvest House
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$11.99
Lost in a Good Book
Thursday Next Book 2
by Jasper Fforde
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.00
Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Jim Kay
Reprint from Candlewick Press
for 5th-Adult
2012 Carnegie Medal
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00
Norse Mythology
by Neil Gaiman
for 8th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$15.95
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing
Thursday Next Book 6
by Jasper Fforde
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Out of the Silent Planet
Space Trilogy Book 1
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Perelandra
Space Trilogy Book 2
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Phantastes
by George MacDonald
from Eerdmans
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$18.99
Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English
by John Bunyan
from Bridge-Logos
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 9th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$19.99
Pilgrim's Progress in Today's English
by John Bunyan
from Moody Press
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Piranesi
by Susanna Clarke
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Queen of Attolia
by Megan Whalen Turner
Reissue from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$15.99
Return of the Thief
Queen's Thief #6
by Megan Whalen Turner
from Greenwich House
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Saga of Eric Brighteyes
by H. Rider Haggard
1st edition from Leaves of Gold Press
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$29.95
Seeker
Shiloh #2
by Helena Sorensen
from Rabbit Room Press
for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$14.99
Shiloh
Shiloh #1
by Helena Sorensen
from Rabbit Room Press
for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$14.99
Silmarillion
by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight / Pearl / Sir Orfeo
by Anonymous, J. R. R. Tolkien (Translator)
from Mariner Books
Medieval Fairy Tale/Poetry for 8th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$18.99
Something Rotten
Thursday Next Book 4
by Jasper Fforde
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$22.00
Something Wicked This Way Comes
by Ray Bradbury
from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Songbird
Shiloh #3
by Helena Sorensen
from Rabbit Room Press
for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$14.99
Spinning Silver
from Del Rey
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00
Story of Kullervo
by J.R.R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
That Hideous Strength
Space Trilogy Book 3
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Thick as Thieves
by Megan Whalen Turner
from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$15.99
Thief
by Megan Whalen Turner
Reissue from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$15.99
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels
Thursday Next Book 5
by Jasper Fforde
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$22.00
Two Towers
Lord of the Rings Trilogy #2
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Watership Down
by Richard Adams
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Animal Fiction for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Well of Lost Plots
Thursday Next Book 3
by Jasper Fforde
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$22.00
Wise Woman
by George MacDonald
from Eerdmans
Fantasy for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$22.99
Worm Ouroboros
by E. R. Eddison
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.95
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