A guide to fantasy genres

I have always considered Star Wars as a fantasy that take place in space. I didn't know there was an actual genre catagory for that. Great Video!

When I was taught what urban fantasy was, one of the critical elements included in the definition was that the setting acts as its own character. This can come across in the mood, themes, or descriptions. A great example of this is the Kate Daniels series, a post-apocalyptic Atlanta where waves of magic and tech fight each other and only one can work at a time (ie guns work but spells don't when tech is up).

Nice that sword and sorcery didn’t get ignored. It’s largely indie these days, though Baen recently published Lord of a Shattered Land by Howard Andrew Jones and Garth Nix’s Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz counts too (the latter being a sort of homage to Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, a classic S&S series). Cheers!

So, the high/low fantasy definition most commonly used actually isn't totally correct--at least, it isn't accurate to the original meaning. Common use is exactly what you said, but the original definition is just high fantasy=secondary world; low fantasy=Earth with fantasy elements. So that means that The First Law is high fantasy, while The Dresden Files is low fantasy. To me, this is the most useful way to use the terms because it is an objective way to classify things: any fantasy can be sorted into high fantasy, low fantasy, or portal fantasy. However, because so many people do not use the terms that way, they lose their utility in that regard.

One sub genre that doesnt have too many authors writing it is horror/fantasy mix. There are a few but it is rarely mentioned by people. Mark Anthony’s Last Rune series, Tanith Lee’s Dark Castle and Buehlman’s Between Two Fires to name a few.

Its funny because in a lot of ways it almost makes more sense to label fantasy novels with other genre labels as sub-genres i.e. like fantasy adventure or fantasy thriller etc. I say this because although fantasy has its own culture with its own tropes and typical plot structures, the main thing that makes something fantasy is really the setting (specifically a setting involving some form of magic / fantastical elements). So for example Lord of the Rings is really a fantasy adventure (although you can also call it high fantasy since that's specifically describing the type of fantastical setting), Harry Potter is a fantasy action drama and so on.

For some reason, I find this video very soothing.

I really like Flintlock Fantasy, I feel like it is really one of the most niche subgenres though. Great video as always!

To an extent I don’t think subgenres mater to much, because so many of them can overlap. It’s good if you wanting a recommendation though. Like after reading a grim dark Abercrombie book it might be nice to read a cozy book. Or after a Brandon Sanderson epic to read an urban.

I'm starting to know these, but still a fun video. First time I heard about Hopepunk though. Also, you said you have a bunch of magical realism recommendations! Would love a video about that ☺

Arcane Ascension series is one of my favorite “progression fantasy” series. Your video just educated me that it was a sub-genre, so maybe I’m mistaken here😂

So fun! Love the breakdown.

Great breakdown Bookborn!

Great video! I enjoy understanding subgenres because as a reviewer, I think the general framework can help me direct a potential audience to what an author is doing. How, for example, a Conan story functions differently than a Stormlight Archive book. At the same time, I think a rigid adherence to any framework does a disservice to the book and potential reader. Many of my favorite fantasy books tend to be a blend of things. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thoroughly enjoyable. Reminded me of lots of types of books I used to enjoy!

Great video! Got a couple of bits to add. I’ve been hearing noblebright more as a replacement for hopepunk (though still not a huge amount of uptake) and the Japanese term isekai has been slowly replacing portal fantasy. Moving forward through history, after flintlock you have weird west and gaslamp fantasy.

A magical realism/historical fantasy I really enjoyed is Kingdom of Back. It's about Mozart and his older sister who was just as talented as he was. In real life they had a make believe world they would pretend to play in, and the author uses it as a way to symbolically show their relationship and maybe how it changes as she deals with the role effect of being a girl and not being valued for her skills. I actually very highly recommend it!

Yes sword & sorcery is definitely more classic low fantasy, but the magic elements are still VERY strong in it, just not very common. And another older term is comedic fantasy. The biggest example of that to more modern audiences is Discworld.

I thought Magical Realism was when Magic or other Fantasy-elements which appear in the story is treated within that particular piece of fiction as if it is simply as normal or common and every day to those characters and the world as any other aspect of the story is...like eating breakfast, or passing their neighbors' house on a walk? The whole "is it even really happening, or is it just symbolic or a metaphor for something else[ and technically not-so-much even a Fantasy genre story at all]" type thing – I thought – was actually Surrealism or such instead and not necessarily Magical Realism at all? 🤔 Perhaps someone more familiar[ with the distinction between Magical Realism vs Surrealism / Surrealist Fantasy or whatever] can clarify for me better—neither is my own personal typical genre!😊 Have they just both been essentially combined together in one same genre now? ^-^

So not quite with progression fantasy vs LitRPG, though props for including them. Progression Fantasy is where the magic has clearly defines realms of power and those realms of power have an impact on the world or drive of the character. Generally there are the 3 sub-subgenres of progression fantasy: LitRPGs (there are stats and levels. Most have other video game tropes like a quest system or the like, while others are more table top inspired. Some occur in video games, but others occur in worlds where these things are just part of the reality and other have the main character tapping into a power that gives them such abilities in the real world), GameLit (there is still power scaling but tends to be more vague and less math oriented than LitRPGs. So a person might say "I'm a lvl 2 enchanter." So we know they are more powerful than a level 1, but we wouldn't know that their charisma is low making it hard to use offensive enchantments or whatever mechanics the author creates), and cultivation (these ones usually use tropes from Asian mythologies so there aren't usually levels or stats, but realms of power. There is less likely to be xp and more likely to be meditation, alchemy, and the consumption of natural treasures. The realms of power aren't usually stat oriented, but states of being along a defined path to immortality). If the cultivation is written by someone Aisian in a more traditional style, it is often called Xianxia. There are also LitRPG / Cultivation hybrids.