'Why I write about Elves'

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Daniela A. Wolfe

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'Why I write about Elves' by Terry Brooks

While surfing the web, I stumbled across this document quite by accident. It's written by none other than one of the masters of fantasy fiction himself, Terry Brooks. I think this more or epitomizes my own reason for writing fantasy fiction and I would encourage everyone to read it.

On my various wanderings through various Internet sites, I've noted many lines in blogs and even in comments here or there of people who view Fantasy fiction with a great deal of scorn. Now some of these remarks were politely phrased, but there was no mistaking the underlying disdain these folks had for the genre. There are a lot of people who see fantasy as being nothing more than a bunch of silly wand-waving and childish fancy, but I find that with many fantasy novels if you're able to suspend your disbelief that you can often find some very deep ideas and social commentary hidden just below the surface.

Take my Ragnarok Rising trilogy for example. I'm not going to be so arrogant as to claim that my stories can even remotely compare to some of the great works of fantasy fiction I've read, but I did try to insert some deeper meaning into the stories and I do hope folks have picked up in that. Destiny (the forthcoming third story) in particular is probably the best example of this.

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Comments

I love fantasy fiction

fantasy fiction is a fantastic way to put a bit of magic in your life. And explore many different themes and pathways which exist in the human mind. We become to mired in the drin that stifles our creative side. We can not excape physical Reality it will assert it's self no problem with that. But understanding our imagination opens us to seeing the world in a larger perspective And who says that our reality is not a bunch of hooey, when view from a larger perspective. And we are the ones living in a convenient deniable of facts we do not understand.

PS
When I tried to view the link the page would not display properly.

Huggles Ms Nova

With those with open eyes the world reads like a book

link not working

The link not working is very odd, it works fine for me. Do you have Adobe reader installed? You could try downloading the file you would need to right-click and select 'save link as' or 'save target as' (it depends on which browser you're using.)

or try this:
http://www.terrybrooks.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/brooks...

Have a delightfully devious day,

One of the masters of fantasy fiction?

When I was a kid we had to do a speech every year on something. From grade 3 to 7 I did speeches on the solar system. I loved space, science, and technology. Plus, being a bit lazy, it was nice to be able to reuse my material. But in grade 8 my love of Terry Brooks had grown. I did my speech on him. I talked about the impressive sales and how he was one of the greatest fantasy writers.

The funny thing is, even amongst other fans of fantasy, no one ever seems to know his name. Those that do, have heard of the Shannarah series but not read it. To me, he's become a less than well known author who, I think, should have greater fame than he does. Maybe there just aren't enough people these days interested in high fantasy. Needless to say, I was quite surprised when you mentioned his name.

I found that article informative and quite accurate. There does seem to be an air given off by non-fantasy readers of disdain. I see it all the time. It's even more prevalent concerning manga. So many people look down on anime and manga for no good reason. They don't see the great stories, plots, and messages they present. They see childishness and silliness. I feel sorry for these people, they truly miss out.

Yes...

Yes, I've noticed the same thing about Brooks. I've found it odd considering how many books he's had on the best seller list. He's one of the ones who helped prove that Fantasy and particularly High Fantasy could survive post-Tolkein.

I've been reading his books since about seventh or eighth grade (I'm approach 27 now) when one of my friends recommend the series.

Manga, is a seriously under appreciated medium. I've never been what you would call an avid Manga enthusiast but there have been a handful of series I've enjoyed.

Have a delightfully devious day,

Terry Brooks

As for the author, I have enjoyed his works very much. I especially like Magic Kingdom of Landover series. He also wrote "The Writers Complete Fantasy Reference: An Indispensable Compendium of Myth and Magic " which I have a copy, and its a great book as well.

Now, for the genre I was reading fantasy as soon as I was able to read, writing it as soon as I was able to write. Myths and legends are often forgotten, or shelved as unacceptable diversions but they so much who we are as a race on this planet. Did our ancestors listening to stories about Gilgamesh and Achilles find them of no value? Why have they survived these thousands of years. In our modern times, Masters such as Tolkien used the stories as a veichle to express the horrors of war and the mass industrial changes taking place to his beloved England. Many authors who write fantasy & sci-fi cover very real issues. There is a reason why Harry Potter became such a worldwide phenomenon.

For the unfortunate, such stories are seen as childish, a waste of times and amoral. In a society that insists everything must have a purpose or a value why are we surprised. Art, Music, Drama, Physical education and other so called non-essential class are dropped. What use are they to someone who is going to spent most of their adult life in a 4x4 cube?

I truly feel sad for the person who canâ€™t feel the pure joy or find the value of reading such books as Alice in Wonderland, the Last Unicorn, or The Princess Bride.

For me as a child, those books protected me from the terrors or reality, as I knew true monsters lived in my world. Now, I still find a need to read and to put to pen stories in which magic is real, the villain gets his comeuppance in the end, and there is a happy ending.

For me, I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!

Is fearr Gaeilge briste, ná Béarla clíste.

Broken Irish is better than clever English.

I love fantasy.

And especially High Fantasy. There's just something magical about a world completely unlike but entirely like our own.

And yes, I've heard of Terry Brooks, and yes, I've read many of his books, and yes, I've read that essay before. I think he originally included it in one of the anniversary editions of one of the earlier Shannara books.

A lot of what he says strikes a chord for me as well. I'm not just a fantasy junky, but a speculative fiction junky. In my opinion most of what is considered more literary fiction sucks because it doesn't even TRY to deeply explore the human condition. Good horror, science fiction, and fantasy, on the other hand... Especially hard SF and High fantasy...

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing it.

Abigail Drew.