Life is a Fantasy

As I entered my teen years, at about age twelve or thirteen, I discovered a new sort of fiction genre. Thus far, my main interests were mystery (like Sherlock Holmes) and science-fiction (especially Robert Heinlein). My new discovery was the fantasy category. I had previously spotted fantasy titles whenever I scanned the SF (science-fiction) shelves at my local library, but I had yet to venture into those worlds of sword and sorcery. 

I believe The Hobbit was my first full-fledged fantasy novel. It was glorious. I was seriously hooked on J.R.R. Tolkien's unique characters and adventure story. And then when I learned about the old man's Lord of the Rings trilogy... well, that set me off on over a decade of exploring the genre, starting in the mid-1970's and on into the 80's.

Armed with knowledge of the lore of Tolkien, Leiber, and Moorcock, I joined... or helped organize... a Dungeons and Dragons role-play game group in early high school. So while the jocks lugged their sports gear in their gym bags to the locker room, we nerdos hauled our D&D books and dice to the library "quiet" room. Read more on my D&D days here. 

My interest in the genre grew while I was in college, and I learned about several more authors, many of them listed below. I maintained and satisfied my voracious appetite for reading then, even with a heavy school workload. 

Here are some of my favourite fantasy authors and books:

JRR Tolkien... The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Silmarillion was tough, though)
Piers Anthony... Apprentice Adept series
Michael Moorcock... I loved the Elric (I'm still impressed), Conan, Hawkmoon series
Anne McCaffrey... Dragonriders of Pern (not really a fave, but unique and interesting)
Robert E. Howard... I read one Conan book, and liked it, but not enough to delve further
Fritz Leiber... Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series, Conjure Wife & other dark fantasy/horror
Stephen R. Donaldson.... Thomas Covenant series
Robert Holdstock.... Mythago Wood
C.S. Lewis.... Chronicles of Narnia
Marion Zimmer Bradley.... Mists of Avalon
Terry Brooks.... the first Sword of Shannara book (did not continue with the series)
Lyndon Hardy... Master of Five Magics (still, after all these years, a fave novel on my shelf)
Mary Stewart... Arthurian saga

Growing up, I developed a taste for progressive and heavy rock music that dealt with fantastical themes in lyrics. Artists like Yes, Led Zeppelin, Blue Oyster Cult, Rush, and Iron Maiden borrowed ideas from fantasy literature. Sword and sorcery became closely linked to heavy metal for a time, with bands like Savatage, Black Sabbath, Dio, and even Megadeth dabbling in the imaginative and often dark worlds. There is a whole post dedicated to the subject... here. 

Thaumaturgy, alchemy, magic, sorcery, wizardry.

Better get 'em right, or there'll be Hell to pay!

I recently discovered the richly detailed mythos/urban fantasy by Canadian author Charles de Lint. I am most familiar with the novels he wrote in the 80's, like Moonheart, Greenmantle, and Wolf Moon. Moonheart in particular was an exceptional example of fantasy blended with our real world; the story is set right in Ottawa, where I live. 

As a youngster I loved sci-fi and fantasy films; my favourites of the latter were the Sinbad movies, Jason and the Argonauts, Three Worlds of Gulliver, and countless others. Good versus evil tales and mythological sagas are timeless in their appeal... these movies still hold up today. Just don't judge them too harshly based on their somewhat dated special effects. In fact, I prefer those old-school practical effects to today's too-slick and distracting computer-generated imagery in film. Clay figures and wooden models, since they are real materials, are more interesting to watch than digital effects that are lifeless and often lack dimension. In my books, anyway.

The old Sinbad movies dazzled the hell out of me when

I was a kid. They still do, thanks to the artistry of

stop-motion animation wizard Ray Harryhausen.

During the 1980's, my friends and I found further escapist fare in movies. Early in the 80's, we would pool our money each Friday night and rent a VCR (before players were more affordable and common for every home) and a stack of videos This decade saw a glut of medieval, sword and sorcery, and other fantasy in the cinema. There were the good and the bad, but some of the more notable ones were Excalibur, the Conan films, Ladyhawke, Beastmaster, Dragonslayer, Clash of the Titans, Dark Crystal, Krull, Legend, Highlander, Willow, and the Narnia TV serial out of the UK. 

Though I recognize the brilliance of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, my interest in the movies has waned. Yes, they are perfectly realized, if rather long... though the films certainly have a lot of literature to adapt, so it's understandable. Jackson's more recent "prequels", The Hobbit, did nothing for me. In fact, one movie was enough for me. I was bored to sleep by the excessively long first part of the Hobbit trilogy. Hey, it was originally a slim children's book, for crying out loud! How on earth can any film-maker in his right mind believe it's a good idea to translate such a short story into three three-hour movies? Nope, Jackson lost me there. 

I don't actively look for modern fantasy in fiction nowadays, but I did trip upon author extraordinaire China Miéville about a year ago. His urban fantasy The City in the City blew me away. I am about to begin his first book of a trilogy, called Perdido Street Station. Rarely has my mouth watered in anticipation over a fictional feast, but this one is doing it. 

Nearly time to chow down.