First, think of your favorite fantasy book or series. Now, pick a single word that describes what made you love that story.
Have the word yet? If so, skip down to the comments and enter it. Do not let the words of others influence you.
In Worldcon in Reno, I pounced on many an unsuspecting person and asked, “What makes fantasy a great genre? And can you answer that in one word?” Most of these heroes found their word, from fantasy author luminaries, to Indie writers, to—–the most important–—readers.
Only one person refused to answer the question. With a jolly laugh and a twinkle in his eye, the merry ol’ Patrick Rothfuss explained that he could not pick one word, that fantasy enchanted people for different reasons, that each person took a different treasure from a novel’s pages. This is, in fact, why I like asking this question. The fantasy genre is like a jewel, and I am asking you to pick just one of its sparkling facets. Only by knowing each of the gem’s faces can we better understand the gemstone itself, appreciate its breadth, and understand the diversity of its connoisseurs.
Have your word now? I suggest going with the first that came to mind. Let me know and I’ll add your contribution to the hoard.
Breakaway:
The following are earlier concoctions of words. Drink them in with your eyes. With your eyes, I say!
Starlight:
City Lights of Fantasy:
Fantasy Pond:
Happy Fantasy Holidays 2011:
The Tree of Life:
Flag of Fantasy:
Fantasy Number Four:
Credits for which dreamer picked what verbal jewel. And if you’d like to hear wax poetic on the top ten choices seen in these images, read my article on Fantasy Book Critic.
What’s your word? I will create a new Wordle image for each ten new entrants, so tell your friends. Do it for Fantasy, and for Science!
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The word that came to my mind was “harsh”, because the existence of magic made the obstackles in the characters paths so much greater than the ones in the real world. Yet the triumph over those obstackles was also greater and made me believe that I could overcome my ordinary problems.
Thanks for the note. I wondered what you wanted the words for. This is a lovely idea that I’d be happy to pass around.
Very cool! I love how you arranged this. And it was a great question. It was nice to meet you at WorldCON. Hope to see you again sometime.
Hi, I joined the platform campaign and you are in my group, so I thought I would introduce myself and take a look at your blog.
My word is escape.
Hello from a fellow campaigner!
It was REALLY hard to only choose one word, but I’ve chosen: Transcendence
Hey Alan!
A pleasure to read your blog — I’m from the Campaign trail as well, from the Fantasy group! I absolutely loved this post, and while I’m more along the lines of Rothfuss’s thinking, I’ll think of my current favorite fantasy series and contribute the word: perseverance. It’s the main character’s drive to overcome increasingly greater and greater dangers that truly drew me into it. I love seeing the odds stacked up against someone — overcoming that, to me, is truly fantastic!
Great words, everyone! I am all about word diversity. And keep ‘em coming. Four more words and I’ll create a new word cloud.
Versatility
Picking one word is really hard! For now I’ll say magic.
That’s what I enjoy most about it. 
Rebirth
What a fantastic idea
Bravo
My word: Cathartic. I’m thinking Lord of the Rings here. But really, isn’t all great writing that stays with you the kind of writing that produces a catharsis of some kind?
Strange
Possibility.
Abnormal – since it is not the norm of what we are used to and that is why it is also Fantastic
Have to go with adventure.
“Magic” …broadly speaking. The magic of strange and wonderful places, the magic of spells and conjuring, the magic of being transported to where all this lives and breathes.
possibilities
Magnanimous.
Thank you for asking! It’s FOREST, of course.
What a great idea! Love the question. My first thought was FUN because fantasy is so much fun to read and become a part of the story world. And then I thought of ILLUMINATING since fantasy illuminates so many facets of the human experience, emotions, and yearnings.
What a fantastic blog! Your signature at the top is super and your title is so deep, true, exciting, and sends my mind on fascinating tangents! Thanks for coming to my blog and commenting – I’m so glad to meet you! It definitely would be great to keep in touch with a fellow fantasy writer.
I would say Humor becasue that really brings all the other elements together for me. Very cool thought
Thank you for your words! I’m going to shake these up in the djinn bottle and unleash a new word cloud.
I must wag my finger gently at Brenda Sills, for mentioning two words and not saying specifically which she preferred. I will go with the latter because I feel that’s likely what she intended. Also, please refrain from the words “fantasy” or “fantastic.” That would be cheating.
Ten more words for a new cloud. Keep ‘em coming.
Love this. My word is “Sweeping” because I love how the genre takes characters through so many twists and turns through different landscapes and cultures.
I’m a fellow campaigner and look forward to the experience.
Hi, thanks for popping by my blog earlier. Nice to ‘meet’ you!
My word has to be enchanting!
Imaginative. Goodness, I must be part of the hive mind. =)
My word is “gods” … because the living gods that walk on the earth, more or less among the mortal people were always one of the aspects I enjoyed most in David Eddings books.
simmering
My word is Wonder. Although Adventure came a close second.
Hello from a fellow campaigner.
Timeless_____ because the best ones stay in print for generations.
INTELLIGENCE.
The first thing I thought of was infinite possibilities but since that’s two words I’ll go with limitless.
Fellow campaigner here – we’re in the same fantasy group. I write just about everything – from PBs on up to adults. Looking forward to getting better acquainted!
Myths.
Thanks for visiting the blog. Welcome to the Campaign.
Ooo this is a toughy! I can’t seem to narrow this down (have 3 words whizzing through my mind: evocative, enchanting and epic -I know all the E’s!). Though I think it has to be my first choice word and that is *drum rolls* Evocative -it just fits perfectly to that mystical, fantasy realm…
*smiles* yep, I finally made it to your blog.
Epic and Heroic
(I couldn’t think of just one word hehehe).
The word has to be “wild imagination”. Wait, that was two words. Oh, well.
No double dipping! “Wild” or “imagination?” Pick a side! Or, better yet, find a friend who will commit to one and pick the other.
What a great idea! The word that’s coming to me right now is boundless. I love how there are few restraints in fantasy. Almost anything is possible if done well.
Happy campaigning,
Unexpected. One thing I can always count on when reading fantasy is that there will always be something completely unexpected within the story. I love that.
I didn’t plan to give you another wordie with this comment. Instead, I’m giving you The Versatile Blogger Award. For more info, check out this link: http://aneclecticmuse.blogspot.com/2011/09/and-winner-is.html
And to stay within the idea of this comment, you could probably use versatile as another wordie.
Hey there fellow Fantasy writer and Campaigner. I didn’t think there were so many people writing Fantasy. Anyway, happty to meet you. I’m following you.
wonderful
‘Experimentation’ because you can make the rules be anything you like, any of the rules, laws of the land, rules of physics/magic, whatever. And then you can imagine what would happen next. It’s like a whole multiverse of thought experiments.
Numinous.
I considered and discarded epic, expansive, ascendant, enveloping, wondrous, and fantastical to get there.
Bravery. I’m drawn to characters (and people) who do what they have to do even though they’re afraid.
Humor is taken, so I’ll have to say wordplay or puns. Take your pick. Xanth, anyone? Unseriously better than Mundania, any day. Discworld is would love to discuss, but never cuss. I would hitchhike across the universe for Douglas Adams. I have an in-verse relationship with Dr. Seuss. What’s your excuse?
Aside from that, Twitter has me so confused I may never know if you’re in my campaign group. Don’t care. Hi anyway. I will love fantasy and SF until the day I die.
A great idea and you got a lot of fascinating answers.
I approached the idea more concretely than most. The first thing that came to my mind was a particular element of a fascinating fantasy world: daemons and the idea of people having a tangible soul companion in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials serie. How cool would it be to hang out with your soul. And it made me to wonder what form my daemon would take.
My one word for the fantasy genre would be ‘ingenuity’.
The first word that popped into my mind when I thought of my favourite series was: -
TIME
Mystic.
Hope was the first one I thought of, but there was also victory, and a phrase: Morning Star that pierces the night
Escape!
Because when I read fantasy books, that’s exactly what I’m doing – I am escaping from this world into one with limitless possibilities.
Alternative, that is my world. like the idea that this is not the only reality.
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
UNICORNS!
Out of the words that came to mind (that aren’t taken as of yet), my word would have to be universe. The reason I say this is because, even though fantasy takes place in a world all its own, that world is part of a planetary system much like our own. The beauty of fantasy is that it can cross over to other genres, or planets within the writing universe.
I understand the need to be original. At the same time, I would not call any of these words “taken.” Not even “imagination.” Again, I’d go with the word that first comes to mind. Then, if other people have thought of the same word, you may want to click through the links and meet people who had the same impeccable tastes as you.
The word that comes to mind for me is “rebellion.” Fantasy stories often involve characters that have to stand up for what they know or strongly believe to be right, regardless of their societies’ conventions. They are frequently forced to rebel against taking the easy path and are constantly under assault for their choices and beliefs.
To write a fantasy story is often to write a story about a rebel. So, “Rebellion” is my choice.
I think ‘frontier’ describes my approach to fantasy. Crossing boundaries between reality and fiction, this world and another…
Wow! Great to find a post knoikncg my socks off!
magic
Escape
Invigorated!
my word would be ‘truth’ for all the fantasy or sf genre books I have read the ones that stand out are those which reflect the true moral dilemmas.
Indeed, our greatest fear is not that the protagonist will die but that she will have to resort to dark means.
Personal
Belief
Forgive my laziness in not reading all the comments, I’m kind of short on time.
I’d say ‘equality’ because a girl can be a hero as well as a man. Apologies if you’ve already gotten this one.
Historically, men passed on both family names in marriage, and the women’s family were required to pay a dowry to marry off their daughters. This always struck me as abrasively unequal, so in my fantasy setting, the Lands of Loam, bride prices are used, not dowries. Of course, the stories also feature heroines, and I have a matriarchal setting bubbling into a story.
Oh, but it’s not necessary to pick a new word. I would prefer you pick the one that first comes to mind, and if it’s “imagination,” well, that just means many would agree with you.
The word that springs to my mind is “Triumph” as in the triumph of imagination over the mundane. The Triumph of metaphors and meta worlds in my everyday life. The way fantasy can say more about my situation the any non-fiction
.
The word that came to mind was eldritch. not because I’m trying to toss fancy words about mind you, but because it is a great and beautiful word. It is fancy, and sounds as magical as it is. That’s what I think of when it comes to fantasy; fancy magic. Eldritch.
Flight. That covers mythical creatures as well as the sensation of freedom.
The characters are the best bits cuz if u dont bulid up a relationship with at least one of them then u dont get as excited or annoyed at certain bits of the story.
Relentless. Because if the pages are going to keep turning, that’s how the action needs to be. Any writer who fails to adequately torment their protagonist isn’t writing fantasy; they’re fantasizing.
“Truth” was my first, followed right after by “Beauty”.
-Merlin-
That’s my single word. It is the name of the male avatar body used by the woman Nimue Alban as she awakens on the planet Safehold ~800 years after her physical body was destroyed. This is the “Safehold” series by David Weber. He/she must slowly bring technology to a world suppressed for its own protection.
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Absorbing and captivating, together. Maybe there’s already a word for it. Absivatingly captisorbing. My favourite books (and Brood of Bones is right up there) draw me in so deeply that the real world all but disappears…. and I think that just provoked the beginnings of a short story idea.
coherent
“Alive”
Every Fantasy work I love has characters that are very much alive. And consequently makes me feel alive too, makes me want to go and do something, create and learn, start my own adventure. But as I write it now, I realize that is probably true for everything I love – it is sparkling with life. Simple. Almost cliche :]
Ethereal, I like fantasy that feels other worldy with magic and enchantment. ETHEREAL fits because their is nothing more heavenly than getting lost in good book.
Depth
What a fabulous idea… tough to pick an answer though I have to say that the first word that came to me was passion… Won’t try to explain the thinking behind it….
My word would be ‘HOPE’
Wonderment
My one would be portal
Fairy
Magic … or even better imagination, I couldn’t choose there are so many!
Serendipity. This word comes to mind when reading your work my friend!