A Short History of Fantasy

by Farah Mendlesohn, Edward James

A history of the fantasy form, this work traces the genre from the earliest years with The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey through to the origins of modern fantasy in the 20th century with such acclaimed writers as Terry Pratchett and J. K. Rowling. An exploration of the great variety of fiction published under the heading “fantasy,” this engaging study seeks to explain its continuing and ever growing popularity.

Genres: Fantasy, Literary Criticism, Writing, Books About Books, Adult, Theory, Academic

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Farah Mendlesohn is a Hugo Award-winning British academic and writer on science fiction. In 2005 she won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book for The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, which she edited with Edward James.

Mendlesohn is Professor of Literary History at Anglia Ruskin University, where she is also Head of English and Media. She writes on Science Fiction, Fantasy, Children's Literature and Historical Fiction. She received her D.Phil. in History from the University of York in 1997.

Her book Rhetorics of Fantasy won the BSFA award for best non-fiction book in 2009; the book was also nominated for both Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

In 2010 she was twice nominated for Hugo Awards in the Best Related Books category.

She was the editor of Foundation - The International Review of Science Fiction from 2002 to 2007. She formerly was Reviews Editor of Quaker Studies.

Reviews

[Dolatshahi · Rating 2 out of 5]

بنظرم کتاب مناسبی نبود برای انتخاب بعنوان تاریخچه
این کتاب نحوه بیان یا ارایه مطالبش خیلی خوب نیست و مجموعه مطالبش هم ناقص هست
بعنوان یک کار رفرنس مناسب نیست
ستینگ کتاب بیشتر به این درد میخوره که بعضی از فصول یا مطالبش ترجمه بشه و در یک کار تحقیقی یا مجموعه مقاله بهش ارجاع داده بشه یا از اون ترجمه ها استفاده بشه.

[Jason Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

At around 200 pages, this history certainly is short. There is a wide-ranging survey up to the 1900s, and separate sections devoted to Tolkein, C S Lewis, J K Rowling, Pullman and Pratchett, because of their prominence and influence. After that the book basically covers one decade per chapter, telling of the influential rising stars, trends and fresh developments in that period (mostly books, but other media too). The observations are interesting and intelligent, but readily accessible, not weighed down by academia, and the coverage is extensive. (Sometimes funny too: David Lindsay’s A Voyage To Arcturus is memorably and accurately described as “a blinding headache of a book”!) The authors tease out the 'speciation' of fantasy, first in its divergence from horror and SF, and then on into different modes: immersive, intrusive and indigenous fantasy; portal worlds; quest series; pocket universes; liminal fantasy; the New Weird, etc.

Much of the material discussed was new to me, particularly from the explosion of the last two decades. Fans of fantasy would be well advised to avoid reading this whilst sitting at a computer with access to amazon… Indeed, so much has been published in recent years that the last couple of chapters are in danger of descending into frantic lists. Trilogies whoosh by in a sentence and entire ‘movements’ come and go in a page or two. I was left mildly distressed that I could never possibly catch up with all the good stuff.

I would like to have seen more discussion of individual style: I would not learn from this book, for instance, that Donaldson’s novels are laden with character psychology, or that Eddison’s are written in a prose of high splendour. And of course there were a few works not covered that I felt were important (Ricardo Pinto springs to mind, and James Hilton's neglected Lost Horizon). Nevertheless, this is a lively history full of infectious enthusiasm and sensible appreciation, with an extensive appendix of major works and two indexes. A great read.

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two issues with this book. First, there is too much story summary. Each work or series mentioned gets from a few sentences to a paragraph describing its story. This would be fine if there were more written about those works. However, there are a lot of smaller works mentioned which get name dropped and receive a story summary, but then the book just moves on to the next work. As a work of history, I expected to read more about why each work was important, how it was influenced by past works, what works it influenced after it, and how it is relevant to modern readers. Without this, it just feels like a list of works published within a certain decade at times. This could have been improved by being more selective in choosing which works to include. This would allow the authors to write more in depth about a smaller selection of works.

Second, some deeply influential works are skimmed over while works that seem to be of great interest to the authors receive more coverage. For example, Lovecraft, who has a strong influence on later horror, fantasy, and science fiction works, is just mentioned in passing, while Philip Pullman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer get more coverage. This gives the impression that personal preference rather than literary or historical merit has determined the selection of works here.

I've only mentioned negative points so far, but I did find something positive about this book as well. As it covers the entire history of fantasy literature, there were a lot of works from the past that I was not familiar with, especially from the 60s and 70s. Reading through these chapters, I found a few works that intrigued me (and the story summaries probably helped with this), which I added to my to-read list. So, for someone who is not familiar with certain periods of fantasy literature, this could be a great way to find works worth reading.

[شیما · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty informative book if you are interested in fantasy and its history; ofc i expected it to be more of a encyclopedia rather than a history book but alas (i like the word), it was my own mistake...

[яσвεят · Rating 5 out of 5]

به عنوان کسی که مطالعه ی پیوسته ای روی ادبیات ژانری مخصوصا فانتزی داشتم این کتاب برای من مثل یک وعده ی مهم غذایی فکری عمل کرد که این‌رو میدونستم
کتاب داستانی نیست بلکه قراره یک تاریخچه ای به شما بگه از نخستین پیدایش ادبیات فانتزی اینکه از آخرین تاریخ ها و مدارک و شواهد کتابها کدامیک از آنها جزو فانتزی ها بودن
اینکه توی یک برهه از زمان این سبک ساختاری توسط کلیساها ممنوع بوده
وقتی به این سال های ۱۹۰۰ میرسه دقیق تر بررسی می‌کنه
تا جایی که پرچت ، رولینگ و پولمن رو سه راس فانتزی معرفی می‌کنه و به قشنگی نیروی اهریمنی اش ، هری پاتر ، دنیای تخت رو اسپویل می‌کنه 😂😂
قبل تر از همه ی اینا نشستی پیش تالکین و دنیای سرزمین میانه و ارباب حلقه هارو جور دیگه میبینی
در کل ظاهر جلد زیباست
متن فوق العاده است ، ( اگر فونت ریز آخر هر فصل که پی نوشت ها و در نظر نگیریم )
فصل ها کامل
و یک کتاب لازم المطالعه برای هر کسی که میخواد در دنیای ادبیات فانتزی حرفی برای گفتن داشته باشه و تاریخ اون رو بشناسه
در آخر مطالعه این کتاب و همچنین دنیای خیالی جین کارتر رو برای همه فانتزی خون های میان رده لازم می‌دونم.
خوب مطالعه کردید بگید که آزمون از شما گرفته شود :)

[Harun Musho'd · Rating 4 out of 5]

By the editors of 'The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature.' Having read Adam Roberts's Palgrave History of Science Fiction as part of a degree module on science fiction, and which I found very useful, I wanted to do the same for fantasy to help get a better context for reading my favourite genre. Like Roberts's book this was broadly structured chronologically, with two extra chapters to discuss major authors of the 50s (Tolkien and Lewis) and 90s (Rowling, Pullman and Pratchett). The second chapter (pre-1900) is laid out chronologically, but the other chronological chapters are atrucrued by sub-genre.

There are a number of flaws. First, the authors are generally a little sloppy about sticking to their structure. For example: in chapter 3 (covering 1900-50)there are two separate sections on adult book length fantasies for no particularl reason, and it talks about there being two major British author, apart from Tolkien and Lewis in this period (David Lindsay and Hope Mirless) but then spends more time talking about a third author (T H White); Sean Stewart's 'Galveston' (2000) is reviewed differently in two different chapters in seeming ignorance of the other review (it is, or is not, a magic realist novel) while Stephanie's Meyer's original 'Twilight' novel is reviewed twice in the same chapter.

Secondly, the criticism can also be inconsistent - we are told that Robert E Howard's reputation was damaged by Arnold Schwarzenegger's 80s films but later Arnie's two Conan films are praised.

Thirdly, the authors sometimes stray beyond fantasy. That can be hard to avoid at the margins of any genre, of course, but why, in a section on silent fantasy films, mention Fritz Lang's Metropolis and M, the first is clearly SF and the second is a non-fantasy thriller and also a sound film, but not his two silent fantasy films - Destiny and Die Nibelungen?

Finally,the last chapter (2000-2010s) appears to have been hastily revised for the second edition. A lot of works are thrown in, no doubt in part because the genre has boomed fuing this time. but this chapter either needs to be more selective or expanded.

However, for all the numerous quibbles I have (and there are far more than I have set out here), it has compensating strengths. The chronological structure generally helps to identify trends, so the reader gets to understand why fat quest fantasy books so dominated the fantasy book market; how the internet helped create the Harry Potter phenomenon; the slow death and rebirth of the sword-and-sorcery sub-genre; how the adult fantasy genre rode in on the back of the success of children's fantasy; and the rise of the New Weird sub-genre. A Short History of Fantasy was a useful and enyoyable read, and enabled me to update my genre reading list as a result.

[Jersy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love learning about the history of genres and tropes, so this book was a must-read for me. The authors mix their passion for everything speculative with a more scientific structure, including recommendations for further reading and sources, as well as an extensive list of influential fantasy books in the appendix. I liked how this book is structures by decades and talks about the trends of each one, even though that proved to be not the best way to go, but I´ll talk about that later. Also, the German edition I read just looks gorgeous.
While all of that sounds good, I had some issues with this book.
First of all, a lot of the early chapters are more about Science Fiction than about Fantasy. Sure, it was the more successful genre at that time and a lot of authors also fall within both categories, but it still felt out of place. I love SF as much as Fantasy, but if you cant fill the chapters with your actual topics, you shouldn't dedicate a whole chapter to it. Also, sometimes books are discussed in detail that the authors admit that they "aren't really fantasy".
In general, I didn't really get why some works were focused on more than others. There are some novels I never heard of that are praised as classics (which is cool, I want to learn about new things), but then actual classics, books that have stood the test of time and are still discussed and read today, are name dropped only, never to be really spoken of. Some of them have one comment about them, sometimes only a negative one, but it never felt clear why this isn't important to talk of but another book gets an entire page dedicated to it. It felt the authors were just picking what they personally liked best.
Also, a lot of books are not discussed as much as listed or recapped. I would have loved to know what makes the books so great or influential, which was described sometimes, but more often than not everything I learned about a books was that the author wrote a lot and a very vague or very extensive plot description. Like, one sentence or one page, there was little in-between. Also, no holding back on spoilers, even a one sentence recap could spoil the last book in a series.
It was entertaining, easy to read and interesting as a whole, but it could have explored the subgenres and trends more, made it more clear why these old books are still worth reading and present a better sense on what to focus on. I enjoyed it more than the review makes it seem, but it doesn't entirely satisfy my need to learn about the fantasy genre.

[Sherwood Smith]

This book reaches back into the history of English literature for the threads of fantasy. The authors do not make judgments of the material--that is not their purpose. What they have set out to do is give as complete an overview as possible of the development of fantasy in English. It's quite fascinating to dip into.

[Saige · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fairly young lover of fantasy, I think that this survey of historically important fantasy is an amazing resource. Mendlesohn does a great job of tracing important texts alongside the cultural and industrial conditions that made or broke them. The comprehensive reading list at the end has basically given me a new TBR, one that I'm really excited to delve into. However, I had some frustrations with this book. For a "history" of the field, Mendlesohn sure likes to assert her own opinions. There were a lot of books she either dismissed as derivative or held up as "the best of the decade" with very little justification for either label. Also, Mendlesohn deserves a better editor. This text was riddled with garden path sentences and minor punctuation errors that bugged the hell out of me. In a less academic text I might not mind, but Mendlesohn is one of the most important thinkers writing in the field of fantasy today, so it was very strange to find so many fixable errors in this book.

If she ever offers us an updated history, I'm curious to know what Mendlesohn will make of Rothfuss and Sanderson. Both are now giants in the field (at least to my mind), but their books came out just before this one was published, so Mendlesohn might not even have known about them. I fully expect the Stormlight Archive to deserve a chapter of its own when academics get around to reflecting on the 2020s and 2030s.

[Mark Pedigo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an interesting overview of the history of fantasy literature. There is a huge listing of influential fantasy books as an appendix.

The text itself starts off well, but eventually reads like a slightly fleshed-out version of that list. Whole series are commented on in only a sentence or two, and the explanation of books and authors runs together pretty quickly. Maybe it's better used as a reference book/reading guide than a literary history. To be fair, though, there's been an enormous amount of fantasy books hitting the market, especially after Harry Potter, so a more thorough book would take up volumes, and this is perhaps the best one can expect of a one volume work.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best book I've read on Fantasy fiction. Though, the author(s) seem to gush on a bit much over female authors and cut short male authors towards the middle and end of the book. Misses the mark on the most recent era covered which spotlights wrongly The New Weird as the wave of the future. Completely ignores the Grimdark movement and GRR Martin's huge influence on the genre as a whole.

[Solomon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A history of the fantasy genre that suffers from its apparent desire to be inclusive while also seeking to live up to its title promise of brevity (“A Short History”).

In the book’s introduction, Mendlesohn & James set out their definition of fantasy, which transpires to be more of an anti-definition: a grammar, a fuzzy set, a conversation. Interesting, to be sure, but abstract to the point of being unhelpful. Contrast this with a more polemical history like Lin Carter’s “Imaginary Worlds”, which begins by setting out a hard and fast definition and then detailing all its exclusions - especially historical fiction and children’s stories - none of which are excluded from Mendlesohn & James’ book. The effect is that the subject becomes far too broad to be covered in any real depth and certainly with any real clarity: we have everyone here - from Horace Walpole to A.A. Milne to Ray Bradbury to Roald Dahl. Mendlesohn & James even decline to limit their definition to the written word and so we get cursory discussions of art, film, and television to boot.

The short-broad dialectic also leads to strange and sometimes frustrating compressions and elongations. The first half of the 20th century, from 1900 to 1950 is reduced to one chapter, but later we get an entire chapter for the unholy trinity of Pullman, Rowling, and Pratchett who we are told have “made as much of an impact” as Tolkien and Lewis (I’ll admit that I shuddered and skipped it). Decades like the 60s and 70s get around 20 pages each, while the 00s gets more than double that.

And this gets to the heart of my other criticism of the book: a fuzzy definition and a need for brevity means that personal taste becomes the real but unspoken driver. To give just one example: Michael Moorcock’s short fiction of the 60s is largely dismissed as “hackwork” and we are told that his “most impressive fiction” is 70s science-fantasy like ‘Dancers at the Edge of Time’ and high concept literary stand-alones like ‘Gloriana’ - but these are just opinions, and frankly not very interesting ones, which Mendlesohn & James don’t have time to argue for.

Again, the contrast with Carter’s earlier history is instructive. Carter sets out to write an opinionated history and, having conceded that, he is at pains to justify his judgements, even if that means we get pages of critique before the history starts moving again. Mendlesohn & James don’t fully admit what they’re about, perhaps not even to themselves, and therefore the opinions are more intrusive and less robustly defended.

I wanted to be more charitable with this review, but I also wanted to keep it relatively short, so, much like with “A Short History of Fantasy”, what you’re getting is just some cursory judgements. If you don’t know much about the genre, this book is still going to be a good resource for reading lists, but in other areas I’m sorry to say it comes up… well, short.

[Julio Enrique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Con este libro los autores querían demostrar que la fantasía no sólo son dragones, brujas y vampiros. La fantasía es un género al que las personas se acercan, o del que se alejan, guiados por prejuicios. Este libro tiene la intención de exorcizar estas ideas a la par que se estudia la evolución del género desde 1900 hasta el 2008; es decir de lo pulp a lo posmoderno (New Weird e Interstitial Fantasy). Yo no soy fanático ni de Todorov ni de que la fantasía y lo fantástico sean conceptos distintos. Aquí dejan claro desde el principio que lo que Todorov entiende por fantástico es una de las múltiples formas en las que la fantasía se manifiesta. Algo interesante es ver los puntos de contacto entre la fantasía y la ciencia ficción y cómo en la primera mitad del siglo XX los límites entre ambos géneros no estaba bien marcados. También aparecen conceptos conocidos con otros nombres. Por ejemplo, indigenous fantasy en lugar de real maravilloso. No todo es perfecto. En su afán totalizador sólo hablan de pasada de las obras y omiten a autores como Karl Edward Wagner, a pesar de ser uno de los creadores del término Dark Fantasy. Otro bemol es que cuando quieren aproximarse a otros medios como el cine o los videojuegos lo hacen con una brevedad pasmosa. En todo caso, lo recomiendo ampliamente. Quisiera traducirlo al español un año de estos.

[Amber&Silver · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title says, this is a short history of fantasy and focuses almost exclusively on USA/UK fantasy.
Overall, it was a basic first approach to the history of the genre. The problem was that, especially in the last chapters, there were too many authors to mention and not enough said about them to make it more than a list of titles and names.
Still, it did sketch a frame of the evolution of the genre and it did help me understand where the authors I knew were coming from with the kind of fantasy they wrote, but I admit I didn't take much with me when it came to authors I haven't yet read or at least heard about.

[Katherine Sas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely short and mostly consisting of a list of important titles. But as a list of important titles, very useful. There is simultaneously not enough critical discussion of any of the titles and yet a little too much of the opinions of the authors; but again, not enough of a problem to undermine this as a helpful reference. It gives a nice summary of various movements and subgenres, especially as distinguished between the UK and US.

[Nafiza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drier than I expected it to be though it does go through a large number of fantasy titles (all of it in English-language so with limited diversity) that figure in the history of fantasy. I wonder at the absence of any mention of Alison Croggon whose Pellinor books have a worldwide following and whose contribution to the genre is considerable. Maybe I just missed it.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1398365.html

This book is precisely what it says on the tin, with a first chapter taking the genre to 1900, a second taking it to 1950, and then individual chapters for each subsequent decade, with two extra chapters for a) J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis and b) Philip Pullman, J.K. Rowling and Terry Pratchett, the whole text weighing in at less than 220 pages (plus index and lists). It doesn't interrogate the nature of fantasy literature in depth (one of the authors has done that elsewhere) but does define the genre clearly and convincingly, and also looks at when and why particular sub-genres (cute animal fantasies, paranormal romance, Big Commercial Fantasy) have become popular at different times. The authors integrate children's literature and also genre films and television into the narrative; this is not just about fantasy for grownups. It would be rather a good (and inexpensive) gateway text for the reader of fantasy (and/or sf) who wanted to dip their toe into criticism.

I know I always say this, but when I read books like this I want i) a better understanding of books I have already read and ii) suggestions of books I might read in the future which may appeal to me, and I got plenty of both here; I also was provoked to start thinking (though not sufficiently to complete the thought) about the books which received popular and/or literary acclaim which I just didn't like (including Little, Big, Light, and The Sword of Shannara). Mostly I found myself nodding in agreement or realisation with just the occasional raised eyebrow - Diana Wynne Jones surely wrote more than four books in the 1970s (p.139)?

[Rafal Jasinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Przystępna, błyskotliwie napisana i stosunkowo aktualna - obejmująca przestrzeń czasową od roku 1900 do 2010 (po wstępie o wpływie mitów, baśni i legend na ukształtowanie się gatunku) - analiza rozwoju literatury fantastycznej z przedstawieniem pojawiających się w jej obrębie najpopularniejszych tropów i motywów, typów i podgatunków, oraz z krótkim - acz miarodajnym - omówieniem dorobku jej najwybitniejszych przedstawicieli - dawnych i współczesnych.

Mimo, iż autorzy koncentrują się głównie na literaturze, nie zabrakło też miejsca na to, by pokrótce omówić jej wpływ na inne dziedziny kultury. Dobór przykładów z zakresu filmu może poniekąd dziwić - z pewnym zaskoczeniem odebrałem wzmiankę o serialu "Sześć stóp pod ziemią", choć oddać trzeba, że autorzy bardzo ładnie uzasadnili pojawienie się tego tytułu w opracowaniu - a nawet lekko rozczarować lapidarnością. Z pewnością nie jest to książka, której docelowym odbiorcą mógłby być ktoś poszukujący szerszej wiedzy w materii filmowego fantasy. Jakkolwiek te krótkie wzmianki o serialach i filmach (oraz zaledwie dwa słowa o grach) mogą zachęcić czytelnika do szerszej samodzielnej eksploracji.

Natomiast dla czytelników i fanów literackiej fantastyki "A Short History of Fantasy" będzie idealnym kompendium i punktem wyjścia do poszukiwania nieczytanych wcześniej autorów i książek z tego gatunku. Jest to zdecydowanie pozycja, którą powinno się czytać z długopisem na podorędziu - sporządzona przeze mnie lista pisarzy, powieści i serii książkowych, na które apetyt wzbudzili pani Mendlesohn i pan James, dostarczy mi zajęcia na co najmniej rok. Polecam!

[Josiah DeGraaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent little history that does a great job of detailing all the major works of fantasy over the past two hundred years. Their analysis on the development of fantasy, whether it be how modern fantasy inherently stems from Romanticism, how Tolkien and Lewis changed the course of fantasy, or how different sub-movements in fantasy impacted the course of a genre as a whole, was fantastic. These were my favorite parts of the book.

That being said, this book becomes less analytical and more "here is every fantasy book written in this era" as the book goes on. Some of this is understandable as more and more books are written each year. However, at a certain point, all the books ran together and in their quest to be comprehensive, the authors forgot to be meaningful in their selections.

Overall, I appreciated this book for what it was: a short but comprehensive history of fantasy. I would have preferred a work that was slightly less comprehensive but more analytical and broad in scope. But for what it was, it was a helpful book.

Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Good).

[HV_bookwyrm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This does an okay job of giving a very general overview of the publication history of the genre. However, it reads a bit like a list of published works with attached summaries. There isn't as much analysis of why certain trends and changes emerged. As such, it was a very dry read that ended up feeling overlong. 2.5 stars.

[Jax · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the layout of the book, chapters by decades and then highly specific chapters by authors. Offered an amazing reading list and detailed index of fantasy books/authors, which i'm basically going to print out and carry around with me errywhere.

[Wander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was interesting to see how fantasy developed as a genre, but read a bit too much like a list.

[Johan Agstam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant.

[R E · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding introduction to fantasy books, art, movies and comics spanning the late 1800’s through 2008.

Personally, I’m grateful that a number of my favorite works made the list, including Elizabeth A. Lynn’s brilliant Chronicles of Tornor, especially The Dancers of Arun, and artist P. Craig Russell (for The Ring, 2001; I’m a huge fan, owning rare editions of his full sized page sketches).

An incomplete and out of chronological order list of fantasy types covered include:

• Portal fantasy
• Intrusion fantasy
• Immersion fantasy
• Edifice fantasy
• Dark fantasy
• Horror Fantasy
• Posthumous fantasy
• Detective fantasy
• Urban fantasy
• Indigenous (formerly urban) fantasy
• Sword and Sorcery
• Retellings of Fairy Tales
• Borderline Fantasy/Science Fiction (eg Science Fiction settings but with a fantasy trope or mood)
• Quest fantasy (including books that attemptto critique, lampoon or subvert it’s tropes or to question/remove it’s destinarian and colonial aspects)
• Children’s and YA fantasy
• Commuter fantasy games (not really covered, but referred to)
• New Weird Fantasy
• Liminal Fantasy

Some drawbacks to an otherwise exemplary work include that it already feels dated even although it was published in 2012. Other drawbacks:

1. There’s little to no discussion of self-publishing as the bulk of this phenomenon happens after the book was published. The authors mention the egregiously bad Eragon and painfully bigoted and ignorant Christian fantasy Shadowmancer as both originally self-published, with hard copies of Eragon being distributed by hand; just eleven years later this seems quaint and antiquated. It does cover some small press work from the 2000’s.
2. Right-wing totalitarian extremism, the Left’s response, Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, and the rise of Gen Z have combined to give us new (or newly sharpened) lenses through which to see the world. For instance, Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys is described as having nearly all black characters without addressing the fact that the author is white. I’m not saying this is ipso facto a problem (albeit I haven’t read the book), but in todays cultural climate it bears some degree of reflection. While the book is inclusive to the extent it includes older fantasy novels and works that include LGBTQ characters or themes, glancingly touches on feminism and patriarchy, and 2 or 3 times touches on race, no attempt is made to systematically address the structural underpinnings of bias in fantasy.
3. There’s no discussion of Afro-Futurism and other trends such as the growing ecology/climate change movements in relation to fantasy.
4. As the authors admit, computer fantasy games are too large a topic for this survey.

A number of times the authors refer to a book’s chief literary quality or commercial appeal as it’s telling a “good story.” By context I assume this means an action oriented, thrilling story, but the term is never defined.

Chapter 11 spends many pages on the New Weird in fantasy, primarily in Britain but also the US. Several times the authors say this sub-genre is “hard to describe” but don’t really provide adequate examples.

As a note, the kindle version isn’t all that great; when you highlight, you end up with eye-hurting stripes instead of solid blocks of text highlighted.

Again, outstanding source for understanding the historical shape and evolution of fantasy over the last 150 years. I’m buying the paperback version for my book shelf.

[Elihú · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy ameno, este libro contiene la lista de lectura perfecta con la cual quebrarnos la cabeza si es que de verdad somos unos frikis de la fantasía. Leerlos todos es imposible, claro está, pero nos dará un desglose que recorre décadas para entender mejor este género.

En cada capítulo nos van explicando las formas y las evoluciones que fue sufriendo la literatura de fantasía. Desde los mitos y leyendas de la antigüedad, al siglo XIX, la primera mitad del siglo XX y a Tolkien. También hay un capítulo entero en el que analizan el impacto de merchandising que tuvieron Prattchet, Rowling y Pullman para que, entrando el nuevo milenio, el género se viera catapultado a lo que actualmente conocemos.

Explicándonos mucho sobre la literatura gótica, el romanticismo, la espada y brujería, la fantasía épica basada en puros quests, y hasta el new weird, la labor para comprender todas las formas en que se puede escribir y leer fantasía, es muy reveladora.

Breve pero concisa es esta Historia de la Fantasía, en donde al final tendremos una lista enoooorme de libros, películas, series y hasta pinturas. Si quieres aprender más sobre este género, es el libro ideal.

[Liam]

I found this very useful. Traces origins of fantasy from antiquity to the 2008 financial crisis, highlighting trends as they emerged and influential authors/works. I’d be interested to read a 2008-2025 update.

I was treating this as a textbook to start, but i eventually figured out i shouldn’t be doing that. Once it hit the 1950s I just let it wash over me, perking up my ears at unfamiliar terms or familiar authors.

A lot of the modern section of this book is presented like “also important was this trend. These three authors notably were part of that trend. Author 1 wrote this book which went a little something like this. Author 2 …”

I added a handful to my TBR from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s chapters.

[Susan Peak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and comprehensive survey of fantasy literature, well structured (chronologically) and with a very good index. Two chapters are given to particularly prominent writers: Tolkien/Lewis, and Pullman/Rowling/Pratchett. It's very helpful in explaining the various subgenres (eg, dark fantasy, paranormal romance).

It does develop a rather breathless tone as the writers try to pack in all they can, particularly in the last chapter where one can occasionally find three writers referenced in one sentence. Even with semicolons, it's quite a pace!

Updated in 2012 so doesn't cover more recent writing; I do hope it gets updated again.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great companion, an almost thorough breakdown of the fantasy genre from the ancient times through 90s. Each chapter is dedicated to a decade, giving a detailed account of the books and the trends that have shaped those decades. Writers also track those trends down through the other decades, which provides a great understanding of the development and historical background.

There are two chapters solely dedicated to Tolkien & C.S. Lewis and Pullman, Rowling, Pratchett, all of which have left indelible impacts on the genre. A must-read.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I really liked the concept of this book and I realize that they were taking on a pretty huge task but the book read mostly like a laundry list of fantasy books. Which isn't necessarily bad, I added a lot to my tbr, but I was hoping for a lot more conversation about development and context.
Towards the end, especially in the chapter about the 2000s, personal bias certainly played into what was discussed, which would have been fine if a note about that had been made clear. That all said it was a thoroughly interesting book for fantasy fans.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, thorough excavation of how fantasy came to establish itself as a literary genre. Moreover, it examines the manifold traditions of the fantastic, showcasing the many authors, characters, worlds, and titles which have, down the decades, shaped and reshaped fantasy into the most flexible genre available to its authors and, as important, its readers.