"Fantasy is hardly a way of escaping from reality; it's a way of understanding it." -Lloyd Alexander
I love this quote by Alexander. It sums up exactly how I feel about fantasy. So many people dismiss fantasy as "escapism," or go the opposite direction of thinking it a badly disguised allegory for reality. In truth, it is neither. It is, as Alexander put it so succinctly, a way of understanding reality.
Not allegory, not escapism, simply a way of putting concrete form to many of those insubstantial issues that plague everyday life.
When I read - or write - fantasy, it helps me see the world in which we live more clearly, which in turn helps me live in it better. That, to me, is the essence of good fantasy.
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