Epic Fantasy Books - Popular for many reasons

Fantasy books, especially those with an epic scope, are enormously popular. A March 2008 Harris Interactive poll of over 2,500 adults produced a list of the favorite books of U.S. Readers, and fantasy dominated.

Here are the top 5 favorite books of Americans:

1. The Bible by God and a dedicated staff of writers and editors
2. Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. Harry Potter series by. J.K. Rowling
5. The Stand by Steven King

That is a solid fantasy list if I ever saw one. To offer further evidence of the popularity of the fantasy genre, as of this writing, 94,575 books are shelved by readers under the heading "fantasy" at www.goodreads.com. I participate in this wonderful site for book readers, and the fantasy shelf is always in the top 5.

What makes fantasy books so popular? The typical answer to this question is that it provides people with escapism. That is mostly true, but I think the reasons go deeper. I read all kinds of books, especially nonfiction, but I always come back to the fantasy genre. Here are some elements that I get out of fantasy.

Esteem for Nature - When I first read The Lord of the Rings, I was struck by its symbolic exploration of the old Nature-based world and the emerging darkness of Industrialization. I don't know if any of this was intended by the author, but I suspect that it was an influence. Tolkien cast the Shire, in all its agrarian loveliness, as an ideal, and his reverence for the potent power of forests was obvious throughout his writings. Against these charming or ominously wild settings, he cast the deforesting rampage of Saruman and his orcs, who laid waste to the forests around Orthanc to feed his forges of war.

He also described the reeking fume from Mordor many times along with its pits of rubble and hard barren plains. These images reminded me of strip mines, toxic dumps, and the insatiable hunger of industry that has overturned too much of our world. Amid the grueling quests of Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Aragorn and the others, I contemplated this deeper message of the power and glories of Nature that were presented as good or neutral compared to the evil of war machines that trod on all that was fair.

In many other works of fantasy, I have found a common theme of reverence for Nature, and this truly appeals to many readers, who find this sentiment lacking in other places. Tones of the potent power of Nature are evident in Greg Keyes' newly completed series the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone in which the forest and the Briar King are magnificent forces in the epic.

Heroes & Heroines - People need heroes, and through stories people seek to identify with heroes and possibly see in themselves a place that can answer the call to courage.

Heroes or heroines do not necessarily have to be good. Sometimes a fantasy story satisfies our desires to swashbuckle along with pirates, rogues, and jaded soldiers-of-fortune. One of my favorite heroes is Conan, created by Robert E. Howard, and Conan can hardly be described as good. His drinking and wenching are legend, but I was always able to root for him.

Magic - Magical elements are nearly universal in the fantasy genre, and I think mandatory in epic fantasy. Magic is very much a distinguishing feature of the genre because many kinds of stories can have heroes and sensitivity to Nature's power.

The attraction to magic derives from people's acknowledgment that they cannot understand everything. We are aware that there is power within us and between us, and this realization leaves our imaginations hankering for the ability to command the powers of the physical and spiritual realms.

In fantasy fiction this can be expressed in limitless ways. Characters can be mindreaders, clairvoyant, telekinetic, able to cast numerous spells, able to fight with magic, fly and so forth. On the surface, the element of magic in such stories makes for plain old fun and pleasurable reading.

More deeply, the magic in fantasy fiction represents the human capacity for mastering what at one point seemed impossible. For example, our modern technical abilities to photograph and film ourselves and transmit these images all over the Earth would seem marvelously magical to our ancestors. Frankly, it's quite amazing to me. Imagine the magic many thousands of years ago when a human drew a picture of an animal and captured its image and spirit. The concept of magic is ubiquitous throughout human cultures and many of us remain fascinated by stories colored by this type of world view.

Monsters - I believe a deep part of our psyches is concerned about monsters. We used to live in a world populated with many threatening beasts, and to some extent we still do. We prefer to avoid monsters like tigers, bears, wolves, lions, giant pythons, sharks, etc. but confrontation can and does occur. The hunter might seek out the large dangerous animal so as to kill and claim part of its power or the hunter might just be hungry. Whatever the motivations confrontations with large dangerous beasts has been a part of human existence. Some fantasy readers like to tap into this feeling and examine it.

Battling monsters is commonplace throughout fantasy books, and especially necessary in fantasy role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. In addition to providing exciting entertainment, struggles against monsters in stories satisfy our need to imagine how we would cope with such challenges. In general, people want to imagine themselves as strong, courageous, and able to prevail against monsters.

Freedom to Interpret our World - Fantasy worlds provide an excellent place for writers to comment on human and social problems and avoid the endless debates about historical accurracy, such as an author of historical fiction might face. In fantasy the story does not have to be compromised by facts. It can be devoted to exploring a subject be it political, spiritual, cultural, commercial, or all of these things. Fantasy books frequently take on gender inequality, political corruption, religion, broken homes, slavery, and militarism as well as gathering human traits such as greed, courage, good, and evil into its literary arms.

Readers of fantasy surely recognize all or some of the reasons I've noted for the popularity of fantasy books. This genre has the toolbox to satisfy many readers with diverse interests and perspectives. Today, fantasy is enjoying immense popularity, fueled by the success of Harry Potter and the film interpretations of The Lord of the Rings, along with a host of fantasy games and best-selling authors like George R.R. Martin, Terry Brooks and R.A. Salvatore.

I have entered myself in the tournament of fantasy writers and hope someday to win a round and claim the horse and armor of a worthy opponent. I wrote the epic fantasy series The Rys Chronicles. Most of my readers have discovered my work by downloading the free fantasy ebook Union of Renegades at www.braveluck.com. The first book is also available in trade paperback for the temptingly enchanted price of 99 cents. For fantasy readers interested in finding a new series to which they can pledge fealty, kindly go to Brave Luck Books where strong characters take chances.