Perspectives on Fantasy – serie

Fantasy literature inhabits the realms of the orthodox and heterodox, the divine and demonic simultaneously, making it uniquely positioned to imaginatively re-envision Christian theology from a position of difference. Having an affinity for the monstrous and the ‘other’, and a preoccupation with desires and forms of embodiment that subvert dominant understandings of reality, fantasy texts hold hitherto unexplored potential for articulating queer and feminist religious perspectives.Focusing primarily on fantastic literature of the mid- to late twentieth century, this book examines how Christian theology in the genre is dismantled, re-imagined and transformed from the margins of gender and sexuality. Aligning fantasy with Derrida’s theories of deconstruction, Taylor Driggers explores how the genre can re-figure God as the ‘other’ excluded and erased from theology. Through careful readings of C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces, Angela Carter’s The Passion of New Eve, and Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness and the Earthsea novels, Driggers contends that fantasy can challenge cis-normative, heterosexual, and patriarchal theology. Also engaging with the theories of Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray, Marcella Althaus-Reid, and Linn Marie Tonstad, this book demonstrates that whilst fantasy cannot save Christianity from itself, nor rehabilitate it for marginalised subjects, it confronts theology with its silenced others in a way that bypasses institutional debates on inclusion and leadership, asking how theology might be imagined otherwise.

Fantasy literature inhabits the realms of the orthodox and heterodox, the divine and demonic simultaneously, making it uniquely positioned to imaginatively re-envision Christian theology from a position of difference. Having an affinity for the monstrous and the ‘other’, and a preoccupation with desires and forms of embodiment that subvert dominant understandings of reality, fantasy texts hold hitherto unexplored potential for articulating queer and feminist religious perspectives.Focusing primarily on fantastic literature of the mid- to late twentieth century, this book examines how Christian theology in the genre is dismantled, re-imagined and transformed from the margins of gender and sexuality. Aligning fantasy with Derrida’s theories of deconstruction, Taylor Driggers explores how the genre can re-figure God as the ‘other’ excluded and erased from theology. Through careful readings of C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces, Angela Carter’s The Passion of New Eve, and Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness and the Earthsea novels, Driggers contends that fantasy can challenge cis-normative, heterosexual, and patriarchal theology. Also engaging with the theories of Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray, Marcella Althaus-Reid, and Linn Marie Tonstad, this book demonstrates that whilst fantasy cannot save Christianity from itself, nor rehabilitate it for marginalised subjects, it confronts theology with its silenced others in a way that bypasses institutional debates on inclusion and leadership, asking how theology might be imagined otherwise.

In this cutting-edge study of Tolkien’s most critically neglected maps, Anahit Behrooz examines how cartography has traditionally been bound up in facilitating power. Far more than just illustrations to aid understanding of the story, Tolkien’s corpus of maps are crucial to understanding the broader narratives between humans and their political and environmental landscapes within his legendarium. Undertaking a diegetic literary analysis of the maps as examples of Middle-earth’s own cultural output, Behrooz reveals a sub-created tradition of cartography that articulates specific power dynamics between mapmaker, map reader, and what is being mapped, as well as the human/nonhuman binary that represents human’s control over the natural world.Mapping Middle-earth surveys how Tolkien frames cartography as an inherently political act that embodies a desire for control of that which it maps. In turn, it analyses harmful contemporary engagements with land that intersect with, but also move beyond, cartography such as environmental damage; human-induced geological change; and the natural and bodily costs of political violence and imperialism. Using historical, eco-critical, and postcolonial frameworks, and such theorists as Michel Foucault, Donna Haraway and Edward Said, this book explores Tolkien’s employment of particular generic tropes including medievalism, fantasy, and the interplay between image and text to highlight, and at times correct, his contemporary socio-political epoch and its destructive relationship with the wider world.

In this cutting-edge study of Tolkien’s most critically neglected maps, Anahit Behrooz examines how cartography has traditionally been bound up in facilitating power. Far more than just illustrations to aid understanding of the story, Tolkien’s corpus of maps are crucial to understanding the broader narratives between humans and their political and environmental landscapes within his legendarium. Undertaking a diegetic literary analysis of the maps as examples of Middle-earth’s own cultural output, Behrooz reveals a sub-created tradition of cartography that articulates specific power dynamics between mapmaker, map reader, and what is being mapped, as well as the human/nonhuman binary that represents human’s control over the natural world.Mapping Middle-earth surveys how Tolkien frames cartography as an inherently political act that embodies a desire for control of that which it maps. In turn, it analyses harmful contemporary engagements with land that intersect with, but also move beyond, cartography such as environmental damage; human-induced geological change; and the natural and bodily costs of political violence and imperialism. Using historical, eco-critical, and postcolonial frameworks, and such theorists as Michel Foucault, Donna Haraway and Edward Said, this book explores Tolkien’s employment of particular generic tropes including medievalism, fantasy, and the interplay between image and text to highlight, and at times correct, his contemporary socio-political epoch and its destructive relationship with the wider world.

Exploring a range of international works such as films, streaming television series, a graphic novel, and a picture book, this open access book interrogates how, and to what extent, fairy tales are put to work for justice in the areas of environment and ecology, kinship and family, ability and disability, and sex and gender. As Bacchilega and Greenhill demonstrate, some 21st-century fairy tales channel the genre’s wonder to offer otherwise possibilities for being and acting in the world that are not confined to socially sanctioned paths. Drawing on visual and audio-visual case studies of texts such as The Magic Fish, Julián Is A Mermaid, Pokot [Spoor], Gräns [Border], The Dragon Prince, Gatta Cenerentola [Cinderella the Cat], and Sweet Tooth, they examine how the wonder and preternatural of fairy tales model a sustained desire to believe in and realize new ways of existence that have often been too easily dismissed. Guided by theories in fields including ecological, gender, disability, critical race, Indigenous, fantasy, posthuman, and adaptation studies as they intersect with folklore and fairy tale studies, this book examines how creators of wonder tales since the beginning of the new millenium have presented provocations around humans’ political and social relations with nature and culture. Analyzing justice from a variety of positions and establishing how tales of the otherwise can develop optative thinking, Justice in 21st-Century Fairy Tales and the Power of Wonder refutes the conservative, patriarchal, and merely nostalgic Disnified narrative of the genre and insists on the power of wonder within and beyond fairy tales.The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant 435-2019-0691 and The University of Winnipeg, Canada.

Exploring a range of international works such as films, streaming television series, a graphic novel, and a picture book, this open access book interrogates how, and to what extent, fairy tales are put to work for justice in the areas of environment and ecology, kinship and family, ability and disability, and sex and gender. As Bacchilega and Greenhill demonstrate, some 21st-century fairy tales channel the genre’s wonder to offer otherwise possibilities for being and acting in the world that are not confined to socially sanctioned paths. Drawing on visual and audio-visual case studies of texts such as The Magic Fish, Julián Is A Mermaid, Pokot [Spoor], Gräns [Border], The Dragon Prince, Gatta Cenerentola [Cinderella the Cat], and Sweet Tooth, they examine how the wonder and preternatural of fairy tales model a sustained desire to believe in and realize new ways of existence that have often been too easily dismissed. Guided by theories in fields including ecological, gender, disability, critical race, Indigenous, fantasy, posthuman, and adaptation studies as they intersect with folklore and fairy tale studies, this book examines how creators of wonder tales since the beginning of the new millenium have presented provocations around humans’ political and social relations with nature and culture. Analyzing justice from a variety of positions and establishing how tales of the otherwise can develop optative thinking, Justice in 21st-Century Fairy Tales and the Power of Wonder refutes the conservative, patriarchal, and merely nostalgic Disnified narrative of the genre and insists on the power of wonder within and beyond fairy tales.The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant 435-2019-0691 and The University of Winnipeg, Canada.

Focusing on representations of Celtic motifs and traditions in post-1980s adult fantasy literature, this book illuminates how the historical, the mythological and the folkloric have served as inspiration for the fantastic in modern and popular culture of the western world. Bringing together both highly-acclaimed works with those that have received less critical attention, including French and Gaelic fantasy literature, Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy explores such texts as Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Alan Garner's Weirdstone trilogy, the Irish fantasies of Jodi McIsaac, David Gemmell's Rigante novels, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison Keltiad books, as well as An Sgoil Dhubh by Iain F. MacLeòid and the Vertigen and Frontier series by Léa Silhol. Lively and covering new ground, the collection examines topics such as fairy magic, Celtic-inspired worldbuilding, heroic patterns, classical ethnography and genre tropes alongside analyses of the Celtic Tarot in speculative fiction and Celtic appropriation in fan culture.Introducing a nuanced understanding of the Celtic past, as it has been informed by recent debates in Celtic studies, this wide-ranging and provocative book shows how modern fantasy is indebted to medieval Celtic-language texts, folkloric traditions, as well as classical sources.

Focusing on representations of Celtic motifs and traditions in post-1980s adult fantasy literature, this book illuminates how the historical, the mythological and the folkloric have served as inspiration for the fantastic in modern and popular culture of the western world. Bringing together both highly-acclaimed works with those that have received less critical attention, including French and Gaelic fantasy literature, Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy explores such texts as Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Alan Garner's Weirdstone trilogy, the Irish fantasies of Jodi McIsaac, David Gemmell's Rigante novels, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison Keltiad books, as well as An Sgoil Dhubh by Iain F. MacLeòid and the Vertigen and Frontier series by Léa Silhol. Lively and covering new ground, the collection examines topics such as fairy magic, Celtic-inspired worldbuilding, heroic patterns, classical ethnography and genre tropes alongside analyses of the Celtic Tarot in speculative fiction and Celtic appropriation in fan culture.Introducing a nuanced understanding of the Celtic past, as it has been informed by recent debates in Celtic studies, this wide-ranging and provocative book shows how modern fantasy is indebted to medieval Celtic-language texts, folkloric traditions, as well as classical sources.

Exploring the phenomenon of Femslash fanfiction (fan narratives that bring together heterosexual female characters from mainstream media and fiction), this book analyses fan-authored works as forms of literature worthy of studying at length. It examines the anti-racist, feminist, sapphic fan works produced in response to white supremacist, heteronormative, queerbaiting mainstream fantasy and argues that they represent a significant site of queer healing for marginalised audience members.Focusing on the 'Swan Queen' fandom, where fans pair the ‘white trash’ heroine, Emma Swan and the villainous Latina Evil Queen (Regina Mills) from ABC's hit show Once Upon a Time, Alice Kelly redresses the widespread academic neglect of queer female fandoms and responds to urgent calls to diversify fan and fantasy scholarship. With reference to complex theoretical subjects such as ethnography, sociology, psychology and decolonial, queer, film and media studies, the book also delves into the alternative timescales on which queer female and genderqueer fan authorship runs; offers intriguing insights into fanfiction narrative structures; and tackles the issues of broader fandom representation and contextualization.Making the case that fan texts deserve attention in the academy, Kelly shows how some of the most prolific fan works have the ability to enact colour reparation and a reclamation of memory, fantasy, romance, maternity, childhood, parenting and magic. These fictions serve fan communities as a whole through intersectional challenges to the power dynamics of the source text and within the fandom itself and, as the book demonstrates, offer attendant validation to fantasy fans who have been repeatedly told that the genre is not for them.

Exploring the phenomenon of Femslash fanfiction (fan narratives that bring together heterosexual female characters from mainstream media and fiction), this book analyses fan-authored works as forms of literature worthy of studying at length. It examines the anti-racist, feminist, sapphic fan works produced in response to white supremacist, heteronormative, queerbaiting mainstream fantasy and argues that they represent a significant site of queer healing for marginalised audience members.Focusing on the 'Swan Queen' fandom, where fans pair the ‘white trash’ heroine, Emma Swan and the villainous Latina Evil Queen (Regina Mills) from ABC's hit show Once Upon a Time, Alice Kelly redresses the widespread academic neglect of queer female fandoms and responds to urgent calls to diversify fan and fantasy scholarship. With reference to complex theoretical subjects such as ethnography, sociology, psychology and decolonial, queer, film and media studies, the book also delves into the alternative timescales on which queer female and genderqueer fan authorship runs; offers intriguing insights into fanfiction narrative structures; and tackles the issues of broader fandom representation and contextualization.Making the case that fan texts deserve attention in the academy, Kelly shows how some of the most prolific fan works have the ability to enact colour reparation and a reclamation of memory, fantasy, romance, maternity, childhood, parenting and magic. These fictions serve fan communities as a whole through intersectional challenges to the power dynamics of the source text and within the fandom itself and, as the book demonstrates, offer attendant validation to fantasy fans who have been repeatedly told that the genre is not for them.

The first comprehensive study of the works of William Hope Hodgson, one of the true innovators of Weird fiction, this book examines the Weird novels and stories upon which his posthumous reputation rests, his non-fantastic writing, identifiable literary influences, and the historical contexts in which he wrote. Focusing extensively upon major works such as The House on the Borderland (1908) and The Night Land (1912), Timothy S. Murphy surveys topics including Hodgson’s experiments with code switching and linguistic experimentation; his depictions of racial and ethnic differences and gender and sexuality; the function of space and place in his writing; the adaptation of his shipboard experiences; and his use of abyssal time. With special attention paid to his paradoxical nihilist humanism, this book explores what made Hodgson a respected precursor to later innovators such as H. P. Lovecraft and C.L. Moore, and what makes him an important ancestor to 21st-century writers such as China Miéville, Greg Bear, and Charlie Jane Anders.Demonstrating how his work is both of his time and ‘untimely’, Murphy recovers Hodgson as the most significant figure to precede the fantastically popular but deeply controversial Lovecraft, as well as a figure whose work challenges what has thus far been accepted about the genre and the interpretive perspectives from which we view it.

The first comprehensive study of the works of William Hope Hodgson, one of the true innovators of Weird fiction, this book examines the Weird novels and stories upon which his posthumous reputation rests, his non-fantastic writing, identifiable literary influences, and the historical contexts in which he wrote. Focusing extensively upon major works such as The House on the Borderland (1908) and The Night Land (1912), Timothy S. Murphy surveys topics including Hodgson’s experiments with code switching and linguistic experimentation; his depictions of racial and ethnic differences and gender and sexuality; the function of space and place in his writing; the adaptation of his shipboard experiences; and his use of abyssal time. With special attention paid to his paradoxical nihilist humanism, this book explores what made Hodgson a respected precursor to later innovators such as H. P. Lovecraft and C.L. Moore, and what makes him an important ancestor to 21st-century writers such as China Miéville, Greg Bear, and Charlie Jane Anders.Demonstrating how his work is both of his time and ‘untimely’, Murphy recovers Hodgson as the most significant figure to precede the fantastically popular but deeply controversial Lovecraft, as well as a figure whose work challenges what has thus far been accepted about the genre and the interpretive perspectives from which we view it.

Approaching translations of Tolkien's works as stories in their own right, this book reads multiple Chinese translations of Tolkien's writing to uncover the new and unique perspectives that enrich the meaning of the original texts. Exploring translations of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin and The Unfinished Tales, Eric Reinders reveals the mechanics of meaning by literally back-translating the Chinese into English to dig into the conceptual common grounds shared by religion, fantasy and translation, namely the suspension of disbelief, and questions of truth - literal, allegorical and existential. With coverage of themes such as gods and heathens, elves and 'Men', race, mortality and immortality, fate and doom, and language, Reinder's journey to Chinese Middle-earth and back again drastically alters views on Tolkien's work where even basic genre classification surrounding fantasy literature look different through the lens of Chinese literary expectations.Invoking scholarship in Tolkien studies, fantasy theory and religious and translations studies, this is an ambitious exercises in comparative imagination across cultures that suspends the prejudiced hierarchy of originals over translations.

Approaching translations of Tolkien's works as stories in their own right, this book reads multiple Chinese translations of Tolkien's writing to uncover the new and unique perspectives that enrich the meaning of the original texts. Exploring translations of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin and The Unfinished Tales, Eric Reinders reveals the mechanics of meaning by literally back-translating the Chinese into English to dig into the conceptual common grounds shared by religion, fantasy and translation, namely the suspension of disbelief, and questions of truth - literal, allegorical and existential. With coverage of themes such as gods and heathens, elves and 'Men', race, mortality and immortality, fate and doom, and language, Reinder's journey to Chinese Middle-earth and back again drastically alters views on Tolkien's work where even basic genre classification surrounding fantasy literature look different through the lens of Chinese literary expectations.Invoking scholarship in Tolkien studies, fantasy theory and religious and translations studies, this is an ambitious exercises in comparative imagination across cultures that suspends the prejudiced hierarchy of originals over translations.

Focusing on a corpus of fantasy texts written in colonial India during the late 19th and early 20th century, this book explores the origins, motivations, nature, and role of fantasy and speculative writing during a period of tremendous social and political churning.Taking stock of Bengali texts often marginalized as children’s literature or deemed unworthy of serious critical attention, Mayurika Chakravorty examines the works of authors such as Sanjibchandra Chattopadhyay, Trailokyanath Mukhopadhyay, Parashuram (Rajshekhar Basu), Abanindranath Tagore, and Sukumar Ray to shed light on how their writing offered stringent commentaries on the colonial situation whilst grappling with larger questions around science, progress, environment, social hierarchies, ethics, and morality.With a focus on how key authors and their works—largely omitted from the established canon—were influenced by diverse cultural streams from European, Persian, classical Sanskrit, and local folk traditions, Fantasy and the Politics of Subversion explores how these texts challenged dominant tropes and conventions while subverting authority, both literary and political.In highlighting overlooked writing within Indian literary history, fantasy and children’s literature studies, Chakravorty demonstrates that, in understanding these works in relation to one another, they provide evidence of compelling bodies of work produced in the context of, and in resistance to, the empire.

A comprehensive history and analysis of the Soviet illustrated editions of The Lord of the Rings published between 1981 and 1993, this book explores the production and reception of these works against a backdrop of oppressive state censorship, restrictive publishing practices and logistical struggles of translating such long texts. Highlighting the intense creativity, innovation and resourcefulness of illustrators from the USSR, Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc demonstrates how new forms of Tolkienian imagery reforged Western fantasy artwork and brought fresh iconographical diversity to late 20th-century fantasy visuals. In employing comparative analysis to reconcile the neglected Soviet illustrations with their popular Western equivalents, the book situates both pictorial traditions within the wider cultural and political contexts of the period and reflects upon their relevance to current debates regarding visual heterogeneity in fantasy.Carefully reconstructing the diverse Middle-earth visions of illustrators such as Gyozo Vida, Jerzy Czerniawski, Yassen Panov, Alexander Korotich, Èduard Zarjanskij, Denis Gordeev and Sergei Iukhimov, Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc broadens notions of how Tolkien's work was received beyond Anglo-centric, Western audiences. A vivid record of artistic reception and the permeability of cultural boundaries during the final years of Communist rule, author Joel Merriner offers an art historian's analysis of these illustrations of Tolkien's beloved work and sheds new light on the role of visual art in shaping cultural content.

A comprehensive history and analysis of the Soviet illustrated editions of The Lord of the Rings published between 1981 and 1993, this book explores the production and reception of these works against a backdrop of oppressive state censorship, restrictive publishing practices and logistical struggles of translating such long texts. Highlighting the intense creativity, innovation and resourcefulness of illustrators from the USSR, Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc demonstrates how new forms of Tolkienian imagery reforged Western fantasy artwork and brought fresh iconographical diversity to late 20th-century fantasy visuals. In employing comparative analysis to reconcile the neglected Soviet illustrations with their popular Western equivalents, the book situates both pictorial traditions within the wider cultural and political contexts of the period and reflects upon their relevance to current debates regarding visual heterogeneity in fantasy.Carefully reconstructing the diverse Middle-earth visions of illustrators such as Gyozo Vida, Jerzy Czerniawski, Yassen Panov, Alexander Korotich, Èduard Zarjanskij, Denis Gordeev and Sergei Iukhimov, Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc broadens notions of how Tolkien's work was received beyond Anglo-centric, Western audiences. A vivid record of artistic reception and the permeability of cultural boundaries during the final years of Communist rule, author Joel Merriner offers an art historian's analysis of these illustrations of Tolkien's beloved work and sheds new light on the role of visual art in shaping cultural content.

A critical deep-drive into conceptions of power and society in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, this book brings together experts in fantasy literature, political sciences, economics, philosophy, history, and journalism to consider the intricate social tapestry of one of the most intricate worlds in modern fantasy. Surveying the Discworld’s institutionalised power structures from government and police to civil services, banks and societies, it explores ideas such as language, translation, humour, crowds, community, justice and coercion in the series’ major works. Featuring analyses of novels such as Men at Arms, Equal Rites, Carpe Jugulum, Guards! Guards!, Jingo, Night Watch, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad and many more, this collection illuminates how Pratchett juxtaposed his narratives with contemporary reflections on social constructs. Broken down into parts looking at social power dynamics, building and destroying worlds and the power of language, the book offers a much-needed corrective to the dearth of scholarship on one of fantasy literature’s worldbuilding titans.

A critical deep-drive into conceptions of power and society in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, this book brings together experts in fantasy literature, political sciences, economics, philosophy, history, and journalism to consider the intricate social tapestry of one of the most intricate worlds in modern fantasy. Surveying the Discworld’s institutionalised power structures from government and police to civil services, banks and societies, it explores ideas such as language, translation, humour, crowds, community, justice and coercion in the series’ major works. Featuring analyses of novels such as Men at Arms, Equal Rites, Carpe Jugulum, Guards! Guards!, Jingo, Night Watch, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad and many more, this collection illuminates how Pratchett juxtaposed his narratives with contemporary reflections on social constructs. Broken down into parts looking at social power dynamics, building and destroying worlds and the power of language, the book offers a much-needed corrective to the dearth of scholarship on one of fantasy literature’s worldbuilding titans.

The first full-length study examining Tolkien’s major narrative works through the lens of material culture studies, this book explores the treatment of objects in Tolkien’s works and their adaptations. From Galadriel’s mirror and Bilbo’s mithril coat to Aragorn’s sword Andúril and the One Ring itself, Tolkien’s Material Cultures looks at the creation, gifting, retention, collection, display, and destruction of Middle-earth’s articles and how they constitute a meditation on the role of things in human experience and community. Tolkien’s textual works and their multi-media adaptations are infused with people’s sentimental bonds with precious and everyday objects, which embody particular histories, values, and identities. Examining Middle-earth’s 20th- and 21st-century contexts, Marie H. Loughlin looks at post-war monuments and public commemoration; the birth of the museum; the advent of anthropology; film and televisual adaptation; digital games; licensed/unlicensed object replicas and extensions; LEGO’s Middle-earth building sets and communities in the texts from The Hobbit to The Silmarillion to Peter Jackson’s cinematic trilogies and Amazon Prime’s The Rings of Power.

The first full-length study examining Tolkien’s major narrative works through the lens of material culture studies, this book explores the treatment of objects in Tolkien’s works and their adaptations. From Galadriel’s mirror and Bilbo’s mithril coat to Aragorn’s sword Andúril and the One Ring itself, Tolkien’s Material Cultures looks at the creation, gifting, retention, collection, display, and destruction of Middle-earth’s articles and how they constitute a meditation on the role of things in human experience and community. Tolkien’s textual works and their multi-media adaptations are infused with people’s sentimental bonds with precious and everyday objects, which embody particular histories, values, and identities. Examining Middle-earth’s 20th- and 21st-century contexts, Marie H. Loughlin looks at post-war monuments and public commemoration; the birth of the museum; the advent of anthropology; film and televisual adaptation; digital games; licensed/unlicensed object replicas and extensions; LEGO’s Middle-earth building sets and communities in the texts from The Hobbit to The Silmarillion to Peter Jackson’s cinematic trilogies and Amazon Prime’s The Rings of Power.

Reframing debates surrounding long narratives to explore their impact, this book develops a critical vocabulary for discussing the formal, social, and political affordances of length and duration in fantasy novels, and by extension, other genres.Beloved by fans, fantasy books frequently receive dismissive treatment from book reviewers and academics. For literary critics, lengthy narratives have long posed problems: for aesthetic critics, they are too sprawling and unstructured; for the politically engaged, they are suspect as part of a culture industry that commodifies texts. Reading Length in Fantasy Fiction switches up this discussion of long narratives, exploring their use of repetitions, narrative rhythms, and complexly ramifying structures to shape readers’ perspectives on such concepts as historical causation, group inclusion, the conflict between traditional values and innovation, and human agency in relation to a complex social totality.As the first book-length study of the length of fantasy novels, this book uses insights from aesthetic theory, phenomenology, and cognitive studies to ask both “what does length do for fantasy narratives?” and also “how does fantasy length help us understand the function of extended duration in narrative?” Calling upon readings from a diverse set of writers including J. R. R. Tolkien, Brandon Sanderson, George R. R. Martin, N. K. Jemisin, Marlon James, Barbara Hambly, Steven Erikson, Samuel Delany and Katharine Kerr, Matthew Oliver illustrates the breadth of approaches structuring long fiction and the impact of strategies for managing length on a range of issues including race, gender, and social class. Finally, offering a critical vocabulary for the formal analysis of length and a set of tools for relating the duration of texts to their social and political consequences, this book presents a major intervention in criticism of the fantastic.