fantasy fiction
Made-up world tales
Fantasy fiction is a genre of imaginative literature featuring magical elements, supernatural creatures, and worlds that operate by rules different from our own.
Unlike science fiction, which typically grounds its departures from reality in scientific possibility, fantasy embraces the impossible—wizards, dragons, enchanted objects, and realms where physics bends to narrative will.
The genre spans epic quests in invented worlds, urban settings where magic lurks beneath modern life, and fairy-tale retellings.
She devoured fantasy fiction as a teenager and still rereads her favorite trilogies.
- grimdarkCynical fantasy subgenre
- dark lordEvil supreme antagonist
- questSeeking journey for something
- dragonLegendary fire-breathing reptile
- enchantmentMagical influence over someone
spellcasting · fae · pantheon · realm · wizard · necromancer · battle mage · sword and sorcery · epic quest · sorcery · runes · worldbuilding · fairy tale · alchemy · chosen one · hidden heir · coming of age · divination
- fantasywizard, witch, magic, dragon, elf
- fictionnovel, novels, novella, novellas, short story
- world literatureworld literature, French novels, American literature, Russian novels, African American literature
- Chinese fictionwuxia, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Three-Body Problem, transmigration, palace dramas
- Enid BlytonGeorge, Julian, Dick, Anne, Timmy
fantasy fictionrealistic fiction
Invented yet plausible storytelling
literary realism · naturalism · social realism · kitchen sink realism · slice of life
fantasy fictionhard science fiction
Speculative fiction emphasizing accuracy
science fiction · technothrillers · cli-fi · techno-thriller · military fiction
fantasy fictionnonfiction
Literature about real events
non-fiction · journalism · biography · memoir · history