Modern Fantasy

Modern fantasy literature allows for a break with reality. In fantasy, anything is possible, from flying cars, to traveling to other worlds. Similarly to Science Fiction and other genres in order for such stories to succeed, the author needs to suspend the reader's disbelief of the plot and characters. We accept fantastic characters as real because authors strive to 'humanize' them.

Modern fantasy is broken down into some of the following categories:

Articulate Animals


 * In this category, animals talk like people and have human emotions but still retain animal qualities. Often the animals become caricatures of the human quality they portray (i.e. the sneaky snake, the sly fox, the wise owl, etc.).

Topsy Turvy Worlds


 * This is the realm of Alice in Wonderland and such, where the impossible becomes very likely to become possible.

Strange Worlds


 * The natural world as we know it does not exist. The laws of physics are altered, languages are different as well the belief systems that we as Earthlings adhere to.

Faerie Realm


 * These stories often look at life from the perspective of Faeries and often deal with the complications that arise when their world and ours collide.

Ghosts and Demons


 * The category deals with malicious or benevolent spirits, hauntings and possession. Such stories have a science fiction base in order to suspend disbelief, but the true horror lies in our belief that what we perceive as 'fantasy' may in fact be real.

Time Travel


 * These stories are almost always a paradox, but they are entertaining in that characters gain an insight from traveling back or forward in time.

Science Fiction


 * In this category, science and technology run the show. The incredible places visited and things done are usually due to machines and technology. This is an often misplaced category, as it often fits more than one slot. There is almost one constant with science fiction: Just about everything that occurs can be traced to Man's development of technology to allow him to do the impossible.