_{Photo Courtesy of Lilly Trace}

For as long as I can remember, I’ve filled my life with fantasy. I grew up on shows like Dragon Tales and Wizards of Waverly Place, started Dungeons and Dragons before I could tie my own shoes, and spent the rest of my childhood creating worlds and stories through playing with my brother. Fantasy has surrounded me for so long I can hardly remember how it began, but I do know what sparked my love for it in books. The first fantasy series I ever read was Avalon: Web of Magic, and I’m pretty sure it changed my brain chemistry.

I’ve been hard pressed to find anyone else who has read this series, but it is the quintessential fantasy adventure; three normal tween girls discover magic and a prophecy, stating they are the chosen ones who must save the world. As a story, we’ve seen, read, and played it hundreds of times, so its magic has worn off– but for a first time reader, it couldn’t be more potent. I was captivated: the use of gemstones to channel their magic, the prophecy they worried they were doomed to fail, the magical animal companions determined to help them every step of the way. The girls were guideless, and had to figure everything out largely on their own, all while trying to not butt heads with each other. I devoured every book in the series with a hunger I’d never felt before, and I’ve been trying to sate it ever since. It’s led me to books in every corner of the genre, from the serious tones and hard-magic system of Mistborn to the silly and satirical stories of Discworld like Going Postal. 

With so much difference between the fantasy settings and modes of magic across these stories I’ve loved, there must be some central draw that keeps me coming back. I think it’s the freedom of imagination. In the world of fantasy, anything you think can be committed to the page and made real. The only restrictions in place are those that are self-imposed. You are free to stretch your mind to the limits to imagine things no one has ever thought of before. And what better way to share these creations than writing? Reading someone else’s writing is the closest we can get to being inside their mind; it gives us a chance to experience the world they’ve created only inside their mind. The endless creativity and perspective provided by the medium keep me from ever tiring of fantasy books. So if you’re anything like me, I turn this question back to you: What are your thoughts on fantasy?

Eli Norton