Why We Love Fantasy: The Enduring Appeal of Impossible Worlds
What draws us to fantasy fiction. The psychology of escapism, wonder, and why we keep returning to impossible worlds.
Dragons aren't real. Magic doesn't exist. Other worlds are imaginary.
We read about them anyway. Obsessively. Joyfully.
Why?
The Obvious Answer: Escapism
Real life has:
- Bills and deadlines
- Limited power over circumstances
- No magic
- Slow progress toward goals
- Mundane repetition
- Injustice without resolution
Fantasy offers escape from all of this. For a few hours, we live in worlds where problems have solutions, where growth is visible, where ordinary people become extraordinary.
But escapism isn't the whole story. Reducing fantasy to "running away from real life" misses why it resonates so deeply and why humans have told impossible stories since we first gathered around fires.
The Wonder Factor
Fantasy evokes wonder—the feeling of encountering something vast and amazing.
Wonder is:
- Why we watch sunsets
- Why we look at stars
- Why we explore new places
- Why we seek novelty
- Why childhood felt magical
- Why we remember our first fantasy book
Fantasy manufactures wonder consistently. Every page can hold something impossible, something that triggers that sense of awe we lose as we grow older. Fantasy gives it back.
Children experience wonder naturally—everything is new. Adults must seek it out. Fantasy is one of the most reliable sources. A well-crafted magical system, a breathtaking world reveal, a creature unlike anything imagined—these moments recapture what daily life dulls.
The Power Fantasy
In fantasy, protagonists:
- Gain power
- Overcome challenges
- Matter to the world
- Have clear purposes
- Achieve greatness
- Affect outcomes through their choices
This resonates with universal human desires. In real life, we often feel powerless. In fantasy, actions matter and effort leads to results.
The Simplicity Appeal
Fantasy often offers:
- Clear good and evil (or at least clear sides)
- Solvable problems
- Meaningful choices
- Consequences that make sense
- Justice (eventually)
- Closure
Real life is messier. Problems don't have neat solutions. Justice is often absent. Fantasy can provide what reality doesn't—the satisfaction of resolution.
The Exploration Drive
Humans love to explore. It's in our nature. Fantasy provides:
- New worlds to discover
- Unknown systems to understand
- Mysteries to unravel
- Places that don't exist to visit
- Creatures we'll never see
- Cultures we can only imagine
Exploration without leaving your chair. Discovery without risk.
The age of physical exploration is mostly over. Every continent mapped, every mountain climbed. But fantasy offers infinite frontiers. Each new series is a new world. Each author a different cartographer of the impossible.
The Community
Fantasy readers share:
- References and language
- Recommendations
- Discussions
- Theories and debates
- Found community
- Shared passion
Reading fantasy connects us to others. We aren't alone in loving impossible things.
The Emotional Safety
In fantasy:
- We feel intense emotions safely
- We face fears without real risk
- We experience triumph without failure's sting
- We explore dark themes from safety
- We grieve characters we never knew
Fiction is emotional practice. Fantasy provides particularly potent opportunities for that practice.
Progression Fantasy Specifically
The sub-genre appeals because:
- Clear metrics of improvement
- Visible growth and leveling
- Effort rewarded consistently
- Goals achieved through dedication
- Problems solved through work and cleverness
- Numbers that go up
It's the fantasy of meritocracy actually working. In real life, hard work doesn't always lead to success. In progression fantasy, putting in the effort genuinely makes you stronger. That's deeply satisfying for anyone who's ever felt their real-world efforts go unrecognized.
Why Now?
Fantasy is more popular than ever because:
- Real world feels chaotic
- Progress seems uncertain
- Individual power feels limited
- Community feels fragmented
- Wonder is increasingly rare
- Control is elusive
Fantasy addresses all of these. It offers what modern life often lacks.
Different Readers, Different Reasons
For escape: Cozy fantasy, slice of life For power: Progression, power fantasy For wonder: Worldbuilding-heavy, exploration For emotion: Character-focused, romance elements For problem-solving: Puzzle-dungeons, strategic combat For community: Popular series with active fandoms
Fantasy serves many needs. The genre is broad enough to satisfy diverse desires.
The Embarrassment Factor
Some feel embarrassed by fantasy:
- "It's not real literature"
- "Grow up"
- "Waste of time"
Counter-points:
- All fiction is made up
- Joy matters
- So is everything that isn't work
- People have loved fantasy for millennia
- Shakespeare wrote fantasy
- Great literature IS fantasy
- The Odyssey is a fantasy epic
The myths that shaped civilizations were fantasy. The stories that defined cultures featured gods and monsters and magic. This isn't a modern indulgence—it's humanity's oldest storytelling tradition.
Read what you love. No justification needed.
narrator's Role
narrator exists because people love fantasy enough to want:
- More than exists
- Exactly what they imagine
- Specific combinations
- Instant satisfaction
- Personalized stories
The love of fantasy drives the desire for more fantasy. We built a tool for that love.
The Endless Return
We keep coming back to fantasy because:
Something in us wants the impossible.
Dragons and magic. Other worlds and new powers. Adventures and wonder.
Real life gives us much. Fantasy gives us what it can't.
Once upon a time...
We never get tired of those words.