Nancy, I don't enjoy fantasy either. I like things to make sense.

My adopted grandson has mild Asperger's, so I'm very interested in your comments about being misunderstood. It took him until 9th grade to make a really good friend, and he wanted friends very badly. He wasn't diagnosed until maybe 6th grade, so we didn't understand what he was dealing with. The doctor explained it as similar to learning to play the piano--you can do it, but someone has to show you how. He is a wonderful, sweet boy, now 16 and has his driving permit which is a whole 'nother world.

Have you read Jodi Picault's House Rules?

I'm with Carolyn. I might have enjoyed talking animals, magic kingdoms etc as a child but I don't need fantasy especially elves, hobbits, little people and what-not in my increasing old age.

I don't care for fantasy either - don't care to use my precious reading time on it. And yet ... I've read and enjoyed all the Harry Potter books, which is hard to explain. I suppose it's because I see them as very imaginative children's books (with age-old, tiresome plots though).

Interesting question, Nancy. IâÂÂll admit that my initial response was âÂÂWhy should I have to defend why I enjoy reading fantasy?â But then I thought about it more and realized that you were simply asking out of curiosity. So here are some thoughts about why I read fantasy:

The reasons I read at all are many and varied -- to learn, to experience people and places I will probably never experience in person, to be reminded of places that I have experienced, and, probably most important, to escape. I learn all kinds of things from the non-fiction I read, but I also learn a great deal from the novels I read. Nothing can tell me more about human relationships than a well-written novel. The same goes for âÂÂexperience.â A really well-written, well-researched novel can tell all sorts of details about exotic places and interesting people.

Then thereâÂÂs escape: I have found no place better to escape than into a great story. The world is always âÂÂtoo much with usâ anyway. When IâÂÂm really looking for an escape, given the choice between reading a âÂÂrealâ story about some horribly dysfunctional family, with horrific tales of rape, incest and such, for example, and a fantasy novel, IâÂÂll always choose the fantasy novel ⦠but it must be one that doesnâÂÂt also include these topics.

IâÂÂm pretty pragmatic myself, but I love the Harry Potter stories, as well as Philip PullmanâÂÂs Dark Materials trilogy. I also love Terry Pratchett, who is about as far from âÂÂrealityâ as you can get, and yet his characters, human and non-human, reflect the types of people I deal with every day. And he can be hilarious.

What is reality anyway but perception? Plus, what science tells us is fact one decade might turn out to be not so factual a decade or two later, or vice versa. If we didnâÂÂt have bones to prove that dinosaurs once roamed the earth we might not easily accept them as having been real.

I donâÂÂt exclusively read fantasy, though. In fact, itâÂÂs a pretty small part of my reading diet. But when I do discover a good fantasy writer, I know IâÂÂm in for some great reading hours. So, those are my reasons, for what theyâÂÂre worth.

Regarding the AspergerâÂÂs, I recently saw a wonderful movie on Netflix titled âÂÂAdam.â HereâÂÂs what the Netflix write-up says:

When beautiful teacher Beth (Rose Byrne) moves into a nearby apartment, strangely awkward Adam (Hugh Dancy), who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, breaks through his limited social abilities and flirts with the young woman in this moving romance. Beth responds to Adam's unusual courtship, and as they overcome the obstacles to intimacy, they learn how to face life's other challenges.

I actually love fantasy. I think I've decided that the problems of the real world are so many and varied and deep that they will never be solved. It is a relief to escape into a different reality from time to time. It refreshes me for coping with the World As It Really Is, as we all must do. On the other hand, I can see why someone would not like it. Even I who love it insist on strict internal consistency. I get impatient when the fantasy world does not make sense with itself. As with any genre, the majority of fantasy novels are tired and unoriginal. You could insert mystery, romance, western, thriller, horror, or anything else for fantasy in the previous sentence and it would be just as accurate.

Funnily enough, I despise books with talking animals, and always have, even as a child.

Rosefolly

No secret that I mostly read mystery novels but even they can get fantastic at times. I don't like animals doing unlikely things or books where the detective is so wealthy that money is used rather than brainwork. Discounting paying for a detective to do the leg-work as with Poirot. That is fair enough!
Even my beloved Enid Blyton stories were rather fantastic but as a child I accepted a gang of children chasing German spies! Just what I should have liked to do, it gave one some sense of power in the middle of the insanity.

My 37 year old son reads a lot of fantasy, but also devowers history. He is an outspoken atheist, insisting that the existence of God and all things religious are unrealistic, so I think it is amusing that he isn't put off by fantasy. But hey--he grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Nancy

I rarely read fantasy, but do love a riveting mystery book !

For me it's important that a book -- whether fiction or non-fiction -- have Truth. It doesn't have to be strict reality. It's just that the characters and the universe they inhabit have to have a logic, and the AUTHOR HAS TO STICK TO THAT LOGIC.

2 examples of not sticking to the logic -

In the movie "E.T." I was so disappointed -- and annoyed! -- when something major went against the logic expressed earlier in the story -- and nothing went wrong. G-r-r-r-r ! The movie treats the audience as if they're supposed to suspend their reasoning and just go along with whatever happens on the screen. So far I've never read or heard any comments on that movie's logic "blip". I wonder why.

The same thing happened in the film "Superman": when he turned back history (by spinning Earth backwards to get to the previous day!) -- something he was told he should never do because of horrible, irrevocable consequences. The dire consequences never happened ... the movie went on to a happy ending ... no explanation given. (A day later a very intelligent woman was talking to me about that film and she brought up that puzzling omission -- of logic.)

My husband, who loved science fiction and fantasy, used to wonder how Superman had a costume that apparently defied all kinds of assaults yet was made by his Earth mother who cut it from a cloak he was wrapped in and sewed it on a sewing machine! Interesting material!

Creative thinking is a huge part of who I am and perhaps this explains in some part why the departure from the norm appeals to me. I absolutely loved the HP series ( note: I am a grandmother ) and find novels involving good historically based time travel to be very enjoyable reading.

However, I do not enjoy sci fi writing and found Margaret Atwood to be difficult to read because of her abrupt plunges into strange sci fi story lines.

I avoid any books about murder, death, sorrow, abuse, child neglect and any other real topics.
There is no enjoyment for me in reading that type of material however real it might be.

There is enough grief in the world....I look for pleasure when I pick up a book.

I used to think people who read fantasy were so sad and spent a lot of time alone playing Sims or Dungeons and Dragons. However, after reading fantasy myself, I love it just as much as any other genre. There are rules, to which a person such as yourself can relate, escapism,and symbolism. I can appreciate that you may not have expected the fantasy bit from King originally, so not knowing what you're getting may have been the source of the negative impact. I would suggest giving him another chance; he's a great writer. I often try not to like his books because I'm not a fan of his personal outlook on life, but in spite of it, I get each one that comes out. He's a master craftsperson. Once you learn the rules of fantasy you may find you like it too.

**That's not to say all fantasy is good--just like not all romance, historical fiction, literature, mystery, thrillers, etc are all good**

The comment about time travel reminded me that I like Diana Gabaldon very much--except when she goes on and on and on as in one book in which one afternoon took an incredible number of pages.

I like fantasy for many of the same reasons I like science fiction. It provides a fresh lens for looking at our world and our problems. In a fantastical world our prejudices and preconceptions don't apply. We come with a fresh eye.

Laura Marie makes a very important point - the world created by the author must follow the rules established by the writer, or it's throw against the wall time. I hate when a character discovers he has a new magic skill just in time to save the day. Unfortunately it isn't rare in fantasy, which is why I read so little of it any more.

I was mildly disappointed by the Maisie Dobb's An Incomplete Revenge wherein we discover she has a hitherto unknown psychic skill perfect for solving her case. Mildly disappointed because otherwise I was thrilled that this book was so much more enjoyable that Winspear's earlier novels. I began reading the series because of unfamiliar setting and because they struck me as worthy. The last couple have been a pleasure to read.
All I can guess is that Winspear's skills have grown with the writing of her novels.

I saw E.T. with cousins on the Christmas it opened. I came home ranting and raving about how awful and derivative it was. Ha! What did I know?

Dead mice returning to life and magic buggy smoke? You think that's weird? I just attended a wedding - two lovely normal middle-class people who spent $25,000 on an event that put them heavily into debt - that included a staged "mishap" which was rehearsed and orchestrated by a video production company, involving a bridesmaid fainting and being revived by dancing groomsmen -

Then I went to work and listened to a colleague agonize over his daughter's inability to make the soccer team - he is desperately worried about her social skills and her entire future - she is two years old.

Real life isn't so real. Space aliens and elves have nothing on modern life.

Siobhan,
How true. "There is nothing so strange as folk."

I don't read a lot of fantasy, but I don't avoid it, either. Like a lot of other posters, I want consistency within any book. Historic fiction must be historically accurate or at least as historically plausible as possible (the reason I threw Philippa Gregory over the deck railing and begged DH to mow over it), mysteries must be solved plausibly and fantasy must make sense to itself. I enjoyed the Harry Potter books and admire the craftsmanship of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

And like Yoyobon, I do not willingly choose to read about realistic graphic violence or abuse. That is why I do not plan to read the second and third books of the Dragon Tattoo series, although I have been assured by many people that they are wonderful. So much contemporary fiction seems to be "issue of the week" related, and I don't need a rehash of the horrors in the news when I am looking for entertainment and escapism. Cozy mysteries are not realistic. That is probably why I like them.

I don't like any kind of supernaturally based books (a la S. King), the ones usually advertised as 'horror' something or other, but love some actual fantasy ones (a la Harlan Ellison, or many sci-fi ones) because I am so visually/art oriented that I like being able to imagine the settings of them, and the people.
They let me 'decorate' whole worlds in my mind.

I am very fond of GOOD fantasy (and I once owned a collection of nearly 600 sf and s.fantasy books) but I agree wholeheartedly with Lauramarie: they have to follow rigorously the logic they have set up and the internal logic.

One of the best is Ray Bradbury's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. No little elves and fairies and softies there: near Halloween, the circus comes to town in the middle of the night..... there's the carousel which plays Chopin's funeral march backwards or forwards, whichever way you choose to ride it... the terrible Hall of Mirrors where you can disappear..... The two 13 year-old boys set out to destroy the forces of evil they find there, including Mr Death and the Dust Witch and are very nearly destroyed themselves. It's so beautifully written, too - Bradbury is a real and original stylist.

For other reads of his, there's the collection of short stories called The Illustrated Man: and, of course, he wrote Farenheit 451 which was made into a memorable film. There are others if anyone wants to chase him up.

Dido

dido1,

You just reminded me of one of the best sci-fi movies I ever saw. (And I usually don't care for sci-fi.) "Fahrenheit 451" was soooo good. Maybe the reason I liked it was because it was all about books! It was the first time I ever saw Julie Christie in anything. It was fascinating to see the book tribe that hid out in the forest so they could read books, and hide from the police.

I do not consider myself a fantasy fan. Most of it seems awfully childish to me. However, every year at the beginning December, I take worn and dusty copies of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings off my shelf and read through them again. I could really care less about hobbits and palantirs and mythical beasts. I keep coming back to these stories because I am obsessed with the heroic myth. It's not about the elves and dwarves so much as it is about the struggle of good and evil.
The earlier poster nailed it, I believe, when they said that fantasy or science fiction is there to give us a fresh lense through which to view the struggles in our actual world and the battles we face daily in our actual lives. Everything in the Lord of the Rings, or any sophisticated fantasy for that matter (I don't think I will include Star Trek or Dungeon's and Dragons novels) has a real world counterpart. Even in the original post, The Green Mile is not supposed to be about a magic guy who brings rats back to life so much as it is a commentary on injustice.

Lauramarie,

Farenheit 451, wonderful book as well a film, is also by Ray Bradbury - who wrote 'Something Wicked' which I put up earlier.

Dido