Muddling Through Why Fantasy Occupies My Shelves

Most of the books on my shelves are fantasy.  And when people ask, I tend to say this defensively.  All too often, fantasy is frowned upon. Scoffed at.  I frown upon the scoffers' scoffing.

I mean, if I think of the stereotype of fantasy literature, it's all muscly barbarians hefting swords and white-robed priestesses with heaving bosoms, and grumpy dwarves, willowy elves, disguised royalty, a large amorphous mass of pure evil, and at least two apostrophes in each name.

So I get where they're coming from.

But not all fantasy is like that, thank the gods.  Barely any, if you stick to children and teen fantasy.  Which I do, despite being plenty old enough to read about heaving bosoms.

The thing about fantasy--and sci-fi, the two of which one should NEVER CONFUSE--is that it opens you up to possibilities.  Faeries may not be real, but what if they are?  How would you know what to do if you were taken below into their faery kingdom and offered food?  Or take science fiction.  Think how much less surprised and panicky you'd be if you were an avid sci-fi nerd and suddenly encountered an alien.  There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio.

Basically, it prepares you for the unlikely.

It makes life more magical.  You read enough fantasy or sci-fi, and you start believing it--while you're reading, of course, but some of that belief stays with you even after you've finished the book.  Just enough sparkle that you're wary around mushroom circles, or that you're more open to the idea of sentient life in space.

Sci-fi and fantasy explore possibilities that no other genre can.  Other fiction is bounded by a tedious thing called "reality," and non-fiction is constrained by not only this "reality," but also truth.  But sci-fi and fantasy are completely free.  Reality? Pssh. They make their own reality.  And truth? It is true in that reality. They're sort of a problem-solving exercise as well...the author thinks up the craziest scenario possible and then tries to fix it.

And of course: it's the best escapist literature offered.  I have to live in reality, so why would I want to read about it as well?  Dull.

So really, don't ever feel embarrassed about reading fantasy or sci-fi.

(Unless you're reading the one with the muscly barbarian.)