Fantasy Defined

Fantasy fascinates and caters to the mind and brings to life even the dullest of imaginations. Fantasy is a stream of creativity and encourages openness to possibilities and acceptance toward unfathomable and/or unexplainable worlds/planes and its creatures. Fantasy allows its user's minds a temporary or permanent escape, depending on what the user believes in. Enter a world of fantasy and the user has separated from perceived reality and entered a world of fantastical wonders where possibly birds sing, animals talk, magic wishing wells exist, labyrinths that maintain itself complete with a Minotaur within, and perhaps somewhere along the journey...a yellow brick road. Yellow is always so exuberant, isn't it? Fantasy excites and I would like to believe non-discriminatory to any person of any heritage. Fantasy stories always seem to draw a very distinct line between good vs. evil. Good characters usually prevail and usually encouraged to do so.
I remember during the first day, we lighted touched on the difference between fantasy and science fiction. It just so happens I was finishing this book called Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory and in it, there is a Truth demon by the name of Valis that comments on these two things.

"'But you cannot separate science fiction from fantasy'....Take psionics; take mutants such as we find in More Than Human. If the reader believes that such mutants could exist, then he will view Sturgeon's novel as science fiction. If, however, he believes that such mutants are, like wizards and dragons, not possible, nor will ever be possible, then he is reading a fantasy novel. Fantasy involves that which general opinion regards as impossible; science fiction involves that which general opinion regards as possible under the right circumstance. This is in essence a judgment call, since what is possible and what is not cannot be objectively known but is, rather,a subjective belief on the part of the reader" (74).

It's too bad wizards and dragons are not possible to exist, huh? Not that this world is not already pretty interesting as is, but wizards and dragons would certainly kick it up a knotch. So like many of the people in class were saying, the difference between science fiction and fantasy is not only determined by the delivery chosen by the author but also derived from the reader's perspective and interpretation of the realm of possibilities.

Jennifer C.