Table of Contents
A GUIDE TO FANTASY LITERATURE
Thoughts on Stories of Wonder & Enchantment
by Philip Martin (Crickhollow Books, 2009)
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Introduction to the New Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
A Brief History of Fantasy
Chapter 1
Fantasy and Belief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chapter 2
Where Do Fantastic Ideas Come From? . . . . . . . 29
(The Right Side of the Brain, The Writer’s Notebook, What If?, and more)
Chapter 3
Types of Fantasy: Five Rings of Tradition . . . . . . 37
(High Fantasy, Adventure Fantasy, Fairy-Tale Fiction, Magic Realism, Dark Fantasy)
Chapter 4
Fantastic Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
(The Storyteller’s Skill, Roots in Oral Arts, Repetition, Magic, The Power of Names, Premonitions & Prophecies, Signs & Symbols, Humor & Parody, Pure Imagination)
Chapter 5
Fantastic Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
(“There” and Back Again, The Trick of Particularity, The Place of Evil)
Chapter 6
Fantastic Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
(Transformations, Creating a Hero, Ultimate Desires, Quirks, Casting Against Type, Villains)
Chapter 7
Fantastic Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
(Three Questions of Plot, Beginnings, Hero’s Journey, Crossing the Portal, Magical Journeys, On Theme, Humanity in the Lens of Fantasy, The Invisible Thread)
Basic Bibliography
Index