If you’ve been with me for a while now, you’ll know that fantasy is my favourite genre. As much as I try to read widely (and though I do read a lot of historical fiction), fantasy is always the winner. I can’t get enough of it!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and this week’s prompt is:

Reasons Why I Love Fantasy

This is an interesting prompt today and I think a fun one to explore. Whenever I’m in a reading slump or just feeling a bit “Eh”, fantasy always does the trick. Right now, I’m behind on my reading for May (honestly, I’m just too busy to hit my reading goal dangit) so my go-to pick-me-up is fantasy. No question. So let’s have a look at WHY I love it!

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1. Pirates

There is just something about pirates I can’t pass up. They always come with the best adventures. Daughter of the Pirate King has a leading female pirate character, sirens and a hunt for a map. To Kill a Kingdom is like a wicked version of the Little Mermaid with a hardcore prince and a not-so-evil siren/mermaid. And The Mermaid the Witch and the Sea is a new release that I’ve heard good things about already!

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2. Adventure

A sense of adventure makes fantasy books so much fun – and adventure comes in many shapes and forms. Six of Crows is about a heist. The Falconer has a strong female lead slaying pesky fae. And Even the Darkest Stars I’ve yet to read but is about royal explorers.

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3. Unique Settings

There’s nothing quite like fantasy for placing us in different worlds! Okay, maybe sci-fi does a good job too (sometimes). The Eyes of Tamburah is set in an uninhabitable land because the surface has became a barren desert – so peole now live in underground cities! Empire of Sand is set in a beautiful kingdom with Indian inspiration and also plays with the desertlands idea. And Reawakened is about ancient Egypt which is SUPER cool #Houck4Ever.

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4. Magic

We can’t go any further without acknowledging magic. Magic is SO much fun and adds a wonderful element to a story. Truthwitch has characters who are born with certain abilities, but not everyone has magic. Novice is all about summoning magic through runes. And Tiger’s Curse looks at breaking curses and the magic of shape-shifting.

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5. Dragons

We all know I love my dragons. That being said, I haven’t actually read a wealth of dragon books – I don’t know why!? In Seraphina we toy with the idea of dragons being unwelcome and disruptive. In Eragon we see how wise and totally awesome dragons are. And whilst I haven’t read His Majesty’s Dragon it’s basically about Napoleon if he had dragons and that’s the best thing anyone could have ever added to history.

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6. Unusual People

Let’s not forget how different people can be within fantasy novels, just to shake it up! In The Belles we have a world where people are grey and no longer beautiful, and those who are and have the magical ability to make others beautiful again. In Children of Blood and Bone we have magical people who have distinctive looks with white hair. And in The Girl at Midnight I’m fairly certain some of the characters (all?) are sort of …. humanoid birds.

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7. World-Building

Some people love it, some people hate it. The grand world-building you tend to find in Epic Fantasy certainly makes for a heavier story. But it’s so rewarding! We have an incredibly complex world of ethniticies and kingdoms in The Ruin of Kings. We all know just how complex A Game of Thrones is. And Assassin’s Apprentice imagines one of the most tangible medieval kingdoms I’ve ever read about.

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8. Retellings

One of my favourite subgenres of fantasy is retellings. Whether that is fairytales or reimaginings of history, I don’t mind. In A Curse So Dark and Lonely we have a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. In And I Darken we have a gender-swapped retelling of Vlad the Impaler. In The Shadow Queen we have a reteling of Snow White (with dragons).

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9. Quests

Aren’t quests just so much fun!? I have a real thing for quests in books. In White Hart see a girl sent on a quest in her attempt to avoid being married off to the prince of the realm because of her magical powers. Fire & Flood sets people off in an epic challenge/quest to win the race and save a loved one. And Graceling see the main character off on a quest to uncover the truth about a mystery.

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10. Caste Systems

And finally, we have caste systems!! These always add an nice layer to the dystopian setting of the world. In An Ember in the Ashes we see the struggle between this separation in more racial terms. In Red Queen we have people separated by their “colour”. And in The Selection, people are split into their classes by number.

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That’s a wrap!

What genre do you LOVE?

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~~ Kirstie ~~

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