As time passed and you aligned yourself with the experiences of Tolkien you started to see more of his world through his eyes, and likely your experience as a writer lets you appreciate the intricacies of his work on a higher level too.
I can especially relate to this because of painting, I very often find something that looked mildly interesting before is now mind blowing to me, because I can read the brushstrokes or appreciate the composition.
I'm also learning that it is ok if others don't see it the same way I do. On so many levels your whole journey is very relatable to me.
It’s fun to think about how differently you can see a piece of art once you understand some of the things that it takes to built it. It’s one reason why no one comes away from a good story with the same exact experience and takeaways. It’s a beautiful thing.
I was 10 when I first read LOTR. I had loved The Hobbit and wanted more. Fellowship starts out as a clear sequel to The Hobbit, so I plowed ahead.
I can still clearly recall my first reading, and how annoyed I got at all the world building. I just wanted to know what was going to happen next, damnit!
Needless to say, I enjoyed Tolkien far, far more as a teen and adult than on my first attempt. On the other hand, my 10-year-old self grew so annoyed at The Two Towers for going away from the hobbits for an entire book! And oh, the cliffhanger at the end shocked me in a way it never did again, so there’s that.
Well said. I had some friends who read LOTR as kids—further solidifying my own initial alienation from the genre, thinking I must just not like it as much as everyone else—but I can’t imagine many children understand the depth of it.
"I believe that’s an essential piece of art. Visual art, music, and literature are all striving to articulate some truth or reveal some aspect of beauty that we cannot simply communicate without that art." I love this passage and fully agree with you. Art does enter the realm of *theoria* here, doesn't it?
Weirdly, I’ve always been a fan of fantasy video games and RPGs, yet could never quite get into fantasy literature. Maybe I just find the actual swinging of a sword more fun than imagining someone else doing it. I’ve read two trilogies by Mark Lawrence and the first four volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire. That’s about it, aside from a few stray books here and there.
Lately, a friend has been bugging me to try Sanderson, and I bought The Way of Kings, but I just cannot get into the writing. Same with Jim Butcher. It just seems so simple, so…not exciting. I think that’s probably what grinds my gears about modern fantasy. So many writers who are great at complex world-building (which I’m not especially keen on), and so few wordsmiths. I heard Robin Hobb is wonderful with words. And to be honest, the kind of fantasy you describe seems right up my alley; unfortunately contemporary authors just don’t seem to fit the bill. Reading them has kinda felt like reading a Marvel movie.
I wonder what your opinion on the current state of the genre is, and who your top five fantasy authors are.
I hear you, definitely. And in many ways I agree. Though I love the genre, I’m also exceptionally picky. I’m not saying others should be as picky, but if I don’t enjoy a book I do not bother trying to finish. I’d want to explore your questions in a larger post, or else on Notes; I’m not even sure I could put a Top 5, not because there’s fewer than 5 I like, but because authors like Guy Gavriel Kay or Sherwood Smith have wow’ed me with one book but I haven’t had a chance to pick up a second. Top Three would be Tolkien, Pratchett, and Tad Williams. For what its worth Sanderson would probably not make the top 5 when it comes to corpus of fictional work, though I remain a huge fan for his fiction-adjacent work, like his writing lectures.
Don’t compare, mon frere. It was your essay that had a hand in prompting this one, so I thank you. It’s not about us all going after one prize, this is just all of us talking to each other! But thanks for reading and for your kind words.
I did not mean to make it into a contest, just saying that I greatly liked yours, it was splendidly written. I think we three shall have to do this again; three essays in dialogue with one another. It helped all of us and made things quite fun. I only wish I had been quicker to respond, and should we do this again will be happy to do so.
Just re-read this essay and will confessing to agreeing with you still, though as a curmudgeon who agrees with Tolkien, I think he had a point about seeking Higher Truth, that said I do laugh at how you put it.
Oh I am absolutely a curmudgeon myself! Much of the reason I love Tolkien as an author and as a man. I only note it because I acknowledge his stories are not, in fact, going to be for everyone, and his often-narrow definitions are too prescriptive. At some point I'll tackle his essay, "On Fairy Stories" and I hope to explain more fully.
I love the trend of articles you started. I'm a little busy now, but I will definitely revisit this trend when I've had time to put together my own thoughts and journey with fantasy. I loved reading this article and the others you linked here—it's so good to see others here with similar views of fantasy to my own. In my college writing program, most of my fellow students were so focused on the escapism part that they missed so much of what fantasy can really do.
A brilliant essay, thank you. Bizarrely, having spent over a decade writing a fantasy trilogy, I have only now really started to examine why I felt compelled to write fantasy in the first place. I think, as you imply, the reason strays into the mystical/spiritual. All those fantastical creatures and settings in fantasy worlds start to open our eyes to the possibility that our own reality may have far more layers than we are led to believe - that existence may be far stranger and more wonderful than we might ever dream. And who knows where that glimpse may lead us...Thanks again for the splendid though-provoking piece!
Thanks, TK. I think there’s something true in what you say, that the fantastical lends itself to spiritual and metaphysical realities in a particular way—-unsurprisingly perhaps given “spiritual” things like magic. I think that’s one of the threads I’ll pull at when I talk about the difference between fantasy and sci fi…
I'll look forward to reading that. My next book looks likely to blend the mythological/fantastical with sci-fi, so these things are very much on my mind - and eager to find help in thinking them through!
I think you have presented here a means by which I too could get more excited by fantasy. I’m currently not really a fantasy person. Although I did take LOTR on my honeymoon. So deduce what you want from that. But coming to the genre from an appreciation of medieval history and specifically textual artifacts is a path that excites me. I still find it wild that anyone can just walk into the British library and see medieval texts just sitting there all old and golden like.
Yeah, I fully got hooked by the history-to-fantasy pipeline. And it's why, like you, I have a certain resistance to centering "magic" and "magic creatures" in my stories. I frankly find humans more fascinating, even if secondary worlds allow us more freedom to explore certain aspects of humanity than other genres of fiction. More on that to come.
God knows if it'll ever see the light of day, but a book I'm working on begins every chapter with an in-world epistolary, sometimes fragmented or broken, all written from the perspective of the "bad guys." Including that exercise in interpreting textual artifacts and their authors' biases will (I hope) be a way to add layers and depth to a story that presents as "good vs. evil" and challenge the reader to deal with the fact that no story---no character---is one-sided. Plus, it's 100% rooted in my love of history as a topic and as a discipline.
I still haven't read this book and this isn't quite 'textual' artifact, but if you don't know of its existence, H. Rider Haggard's "She" (which Tolkien reportedly loved) tells a story based around made-up historical artifacts. You can see images of the artifacts in some of the book editions: https://archive.org/details/cu31924098819562/page/n9/mode/2up
Loved this essay. Looking forward to the “more like this” promised. I love LOTR and The Hobbit, and reading your essay made we wish I’d read more ancient history and literature to be able to appreciate it on a deeper level. Perhaps that’s something for me to work toward…
I also enjoyed the humor in this piece, such as: “only taking in “new and modern” literature (like Milton’s Paradise Lost) when absolutely necessary.” 😂
But your explanation of why fantasy is important, and can move us, was so resonant. Glad you learned to love fantasy!
Me too! And I’m glad I could make you smile with some self-deprecation.
On the ancient history question, perhaps it’s less that you need to do more homework and more that I can look for ways to share the parallels I’ve seen with others! I can maybe use LOTR / fantasy as a way to talk about ancient history and show people that “other world” of the past 🤔… something for me to think about
Look at you, appearing in the fiction chart with this non fiction, French loving essay 🤪
I'm glad that fantasy brought this all home for you. I've always been into fantasy but I didn't read the Hobbit or LOTR til I was about 12/13. I remember being fully, greedily immersed in The Hobbit. I've reread it countless times.
I agree with what you say about science fiction. I write science fiction as well as fantasy and there are so many rules! With fantasy, it's a run into the horizon of a distant world and anyone can be anything. Magic just exists and serves as an explanation for everything. I prefer writing fantasy.
Yeah at some point I want to comment on so-called “hard” vs “soft” magic systems because oftentimes some fantasy settings can almost feel like sci fi with all the rules.
It’s certainly easier to write when you get to make up the rules (not that sci fi doesn’t get also do that, but you get it)
Yes! I think there are some worlds where it is accessible and some where it isn't. I've had to write a bit about dark magic vs light magic in my other story. I think as long as we explain the rules, it's OK. Sci fi on the other hand... I write it and worry that Sci fi devotees will think it's silly and farfetched 🤣
I first read the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit last year and fell in love with it. The lore, the characters, the story, the descriptions it all fit. In my opinion, it's the greatest modern fantasy story of the modern era. I know Tolkien was a bit of an elitist, but I get his dislike of Dune. It was very much a deconstruction of traditional heroism and religion, so it makes sense why it didn't click for him. But he kept his criticisms quiet out of respect for Frank Herbert.
That’s one other detail I appreciate: Tolkien generally kept his criticisms to himself, and it’s only now as everyone’s combing over his letters than we can construct this image of his curmudgeonliness
Just now realizing that this post is not recent but I wanted to comment and say that I enjoyed your explanation! Knowing history definitely makes fantasy more enjoyable - especially something as meticulous as Tolkien's work! I didn't finish reading Lord of the Rings until the summer after finishing college (despite having loved Tolkien for years) so I was in the same camp of being embarrassed for not enjoying it enough when I was younger. I don't think it should necessarily be something to be embarrassed about, though. It's hard to slow down enough to enjoy Lord of the Rings, and learning more about history and classic writing helps to appreciate it a lot more, which usually doesn't happen young. When looking into older fantasy authors I also kept noticing that many of them also translated classic legends or historical accounts...I can see how translating someone else's worldbuilding would positively impact someone's skills and imagination when attempting to make a new world. I sometimes wonder how helpful of a worldbuilding practice it would be to do something similar.
I think this speaks a bit to all of us.
As time passed and you aligned yourself with the experiences of Tolkien you started to see more of his world through his eyes, and likely your experience as a writer lets you appreciate the intricacies of his work on a higher level too.
I can especially relate to this because of painting, I very often find something that looked mildly interesting before is now mind blowing to me, because I can read the brushstrokes or appreciate the composition.
I'm also learning that it is ok if others don't see it the same way I do. On so many levels your whole journey is very relatable to me.
It’s fun to think about how differently you can see a piece of art once you understand some of the things that it takes to built it. It’s one reason why no one comes away from a good story with the same exact experience and takeaways. It’s a beautiful thing.
I was 10 when I first read LOTR. I had loved The Hobbit and wanted more. Fellowship starts out as a clear sequel to The Hobbit, so I plowed ahead.
I can still clearly recall my first reading, and how annoyed I got at all the world building. I just wanted to know what was going to happen next, damnit!
Needless to say, I enjoyed Tolkien far, far more as a teen and adult than on my first attempt. On the other hand, my 10-year-old self grew so annoyed at The Two Towers for going away from the hobbits for an entire book! And oh, the cliffhanger at the end shocked me in a way it never did again, so there’s that.
Well said. I had some friends who read LOTR as kids—further solidifying my own initial alienation from the genre, thinking I must just not like it as much as everyone else—but I can’t imagine many children understand the depth of it.
"I believe that’s an essential piece of art. Visual art, music, and literature are all striving to articulate some truth or reveal some aspect of beauty that we cannot simply communicate without that art." I love this passage and fully agree with you. Art does enter the realm of *theoria* here, doesn't it?
Thanks, Hyun Woo. And I agree. Any *good* art will be an invitation to some deeper reflection and contemplation.
This one was illuminating.
Weirdly, I’ve always been a fan of fantasy video games and RPGs, yet could never quite get into fantasy literature. Maybe I just find the actual swinging of a sword more fun than imagining someone else doing it. I’ve read two trilogies by Mark Lawrence and the first four volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire. That’s about it, aside from a few stray books here and there.
Lately, a friend has been bugging me to try Sanderson, and I bought The Way of Kings, but I just cannot get into the writing. Same with Jim Butcher. It just seems so simple, so…not exciting. I think that’s probably what grinds my gears about modern fantasy. So many writers who are great at complex world-building (which I’m not especially keen on), and so few wordsmiths. I heard Robin Hobb is wonderful with words. And to be honest, the kind of fantasy you describe seems right up my alley; unfortunately contemporary authors just don’t seem to fit the bill. Reading them has kinda felt like reading a Marvel movie.
I wonder what your opinion on the current state of the genre is, and who your top five fantasy authors are.
I hear you, definitely. And in many ways I agree. Though I love the genre, I’m also exceptionally picky. I’m not saying others should be as picky, but if I don’t enjoy a book I do not bother trying to finish. I’d want to explore your questions in a larger post, or else on Notes; I’m not even sure I could put a Top 5, not because there’s fewer than 5 I like, but because authors like Guy Gavriel Kay or Sherwood Smith have wow’ed me with one book but I haven’t had a chance to pick up a second. Top Three would be Tolkien, Pratchett, and Tad Williams. For what its worth Sanderson would probably not make the top 5 when it comes to corpus of fictional work, though I remain a huge fan for his fiction-adjacent work, like his writing lectures.
Yes, I agree with you there! His lectures are a great resource. I look forward to a larger post/Note on this topic.
Loved t his essay, can't believe it took me this long to leave a comment, damn this was much better than my own.
Don’t compare, mon frere. It was your essay that had a hand in prompting this one, so I thank you. It’s not about us all going after one prize, this is just all of us talking to each other! But thanks for reading and for your kind words.
I did not mean to make it into a contest, just saying that I greatly liked yours, it was splendidly written. I think we three shall have to do this again; three essays in dialogue with one another. It helped all of us and made things quite fun. I only wish I had been quicker to respond, and should we do this again will be happy to do so.
Bravo! Well said!
Thanks, Clifford! I’ve really enjoyed your commentary on the topic as well!
Just re-read this essay and will confessing to agreeing with you still, though as a curmudgeon who agrees with Tolkien, I think he had a point about seeking Higher Truth, that said I do laugh at how you put it.
Oh I am absolutely a curmudgeon myself! Much of the reason I love Tolkien as an author and as a man. I only note it because I acknowledge his stories are not, in fact, going to be for everyone, and his often-narrow definitions are too prescriptive. At some point I'll tackle his essay, "On Fairy Stories" and I hope to explain more fully.
Agreed and good mentality to have, I should read it some time myself. Still reading through his letters.
I love the trend of articles you started. I'm a little busy now, but I will definitely revisit this trend when I've had time to put together my own thoughts and journey with fantasy. I loved reading this article and the others you linked here—it's so good to see others here with similar views of fantasy to my own. In my college writing program, most of my fellow students were so focused on the escapism part that they missed so much of what fantasy can really do.
Thanks, Michael. If/when you do get to writing your own piece, tag me! I'd love to read it.
A brilliant essay, thank you. Bizarrely, having spent over a decade writing a fantasy trilogy, I have only now really started to examine why I felt compelled to write fantasy in the first place. I think, as you imply, the reason strays into the mystical/spiritual. All those fantastical creatures and settings in fantasy worlds start to open our eyes to the possibility that our own reality may have far more layers than we are led to believe - that existence may be far stranger and more wonderful than we might ever dream. And who knows where that glimpse may lead us...Thanks again for the splendid though-provoking piece!
Thanks, TK. I think there’s something true in what you say, that the fantastical lends itself to spiritual and metaphysical realities in a particular way—-unsurprisingly perhaps given “spiritual” things like magic. I think that’s one of the threads I’ll pull at when I talk about the difference between fantasy and sci fi…
I'll look forward to reading that. My next book looks likely to blend the mythological/fantastical with sci-fi, so these things are very much on my mind - and eager to find help in thinking them through!
I think you have presented here a means by which I too could get more excited by fantasy. I’m currently not really a fantasy person. Although I did take LOTR on my honeymoon. So deduce what you want from that. But coming to the genre from an appreciation of medieval history and specifically textual artifacts is a path that excites me. I still find it wild that anyone can just walk into the British library and see medieval texts just sitting there all old and golden like.
Yeah, I fully got hooked by the history-to-fantasy pipeline. And it's why, like you, I have a certain resistance to centering "magic" and "magic creatures" in my stories. I frankly find humans more fascinating, even if secondary worlds allow us more freedom to explore certain aspects of humanity than other genres of fiction. More on that to come.
God knows if it'll ever see the light of day, but a book I'm working on begins every chapter with an in-world epistolary, sometimes fragmented or broken, all written from the perspective of the "bad guys." Including that exercise in interpreting textual artifacts and their authors' biases will (I hope) be a way to add layers and depth to a story that presents as "good vs. evil" and challenge the reader to deal with the fact that no story---no character---is one-sided. Plus, it's 100% rooted in my love of history as a topic and as a discipline.
I would 100% read fantasy told through in-world artifacts. That's world-building craft exercised in the way I love (and love to practice) the most.
This gives me hope, and many many ideas.....
I still haven't read this book and this isn't quite 'textual' artifact, but if you don't know of its existence, H. Rider Haggard's "She" (which Tolkien reportedly loved) tells a story based around made-up historical artifacts. You can see images of the artifacts in some of the book editions: https://archive.org/details/cu31924098819562/page/n9/mode/2up
Well articulated! Thank you for sharing. I found myself in many of the things you shared, and for similar reasons I also write fantasy.
Thanks for reading. Would love to hear more of your thoughts on the genre if you get a chance to do a write up
I'll think about creating one, good idea!
Loved this essay. Looking forward to the “more like this” promised. I love LOTR and The Hobbit, and reading your essay made we wish I’d read more ancient history and literature to be able to appreciate it on a deeper level. Perhaps that’s something for me to work toward…
I also enjoyed the humor in this piece, such as: “only taking in “new and modern” literature (like Milton’s Paradise Lost) when absolutely necessary.” 😂
But your explanation of why fantasy is important, and can move us, was so resonant. Glad you learned to love fantasy!
Me too! And I’m glad I could make you smile with some self-deprecation.
On the ancient history question, perhaps it’s less that you need to do more homework and more that I can look for ways to share the parallels I’ve seen with others! I can maybe use LOTR / fantasy as a way to talk about ancient history and show people that “other world” of the past 🤔… something for me to think about
I'd definitely be interested in reading that, if you end up pursuing it!
Look at you, appearing in the fiction chart with this non fiction, French loving essay 🤪
I'm glad that fantasy brought this all home for you. I've always been into fantasy but I didn't read the Hobbit or LOTR til I was about 12/13. I remember being fully, greedily immersed in The Hobbit. I've reread it countless times.
I agree with what you say about science fiction. I write science fiction as well as fantasy and there are so many rules! With fantasy, it's a run into the horizon of a distant world and anyone can be anything. Magic just exists and serves as an explanation for everything. I prefer writing fantasy.
Yeah at some point I want to comment on so-called “hard” vs “soft” magic systems because oftentimes some fantasy settings can almost feel like sci fi with all the rules.
It’s certainly easier to write when you get to make up the rules (not that sci fi doesn’t get also do that, but you get it)
I'd like to read that when the time comes.
Yes! I think there are some worlds where it is accessible and some where it isn't. I've had to write a bit about dark magic vs light magic in my other story. I think as long as we explain the rules, it's OK. Sci fi on the other hand... I write it and worry that Sci fi devotees will think it's silly and farfetched 🤣
I first read the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit last year and fell in love with it. The lore, the characters, the story, the descriptions it all fit. In my opinion, it's the greatest modern fantasy story of the modern era. I know Tolkien was a bit of an elitist, but I get his dislike of Dune. It was very much a deconstruction of traditional heroism and religion, so it makes sense why it didn't click for him. But he kept his criticisms quiet out of respect for Frank Herbert.
That’s one other detail I appreciate: Tolkien generally kept his criticisms to himself, and it’s only now as everyone’s combing over his letters than we can construct this image of his curmudgeonliness
Just now realizing that this post is not recent but I wanted to comment and say that I enjoyed your explanation! Knowing history definitely makes fantasy more enjoyable - especially something as meticulous as Tolkien's work! I didn't finish reading Lord of the Rings until the summer after finishing college (despite having loved Tolkien for years) so I was in the same camp of being embarrassed for not enjoying it enough when I was younger. I don't think it should necessarily be something to be embarrassed about, though. It's hard to slow down enough to enjoy Lord of the Rings, and learning more about history and classic writing helps to appreciate it a lot more, which usually doesn't happen young. When looking into older fantasy authors I also kept noticing that many of them also translated classic legends or historical accounts...I can see how translating someone else's worldbuilding would positively impact someone's skills and imagination when attempting to make a new world. I sometimes wonder how helpful of a worldbuilding practice it would be to do something similar.