fantasy: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	fantasy literature • phantasy

Photos

Illustration of an open book with fantasy characters emerging, including a knight with a shield, a wizard, a red dragon, an orc, and stars in the background.

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Topics

Behind the Scenes: 9 Historical Inspirations for Game of Thrones popular literature genre science fiction romance ballad Western musical spaghetti western detective story Cyberpunk manga mystery story

Key People

Stephen King smiling and wearing glasses and a light blue collared shirt.

Stephen King

American novelist

C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis

Irish-born author and scholar

The man who invented Middle-earth

J.R.R. Tolkien

English author

Sarah J. Maas poses in a light-colored jacket with black trim at the Tory Burch Fall/Winter 2024 New York Fashion Week event, standing in front of a textured silver backdrop.

Sarah J. Maas

American author

Anne Rice in 2016, with gray bobbed hair, wearing a dark top and a beaded necklace, looking at the camera against a dark background.

Anne Rice

American author

Gene Wolfe, an older man with a bald head, large mustache, and glasses, wearing a light jacket and gold watch, poses with his hands folded in front of a stone wall.

Gene Wolfe

American writer

George R.R. Martin wearing a dark cap, glasses, and a blue shirt with suspenders, smiling outdoors in 2011.

George R.R. Martin

American writer

Author Philip Pullman smiling and wearing a black beret, glasses, and a light jacket over a white shirt.

Philip Pullman

British writer

Terry Pratchett wearing a black hat, glasses, and a black leather jacket, standing against a plain blue background.

Terry Pratchett

English author

French satirist Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac

Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac

French author

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E.T.A. Hoffmann

German writer, composer, and painter

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Italo Calvino

Italian author

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Michael Moorcock

British author

Lukyanenko, Sergey

Sergey Lukyanenko

Russian author

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Amos Tutuola

Nigerian author

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Diana Wynne Jones

British writer

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Jean Ray

Belgian author

Eichendorff, Joseph, freiherr von

Joseph, baron von Eichendorff

German writer

Andre Norton

Andre Norton

American author

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Fritz Leiber

American author

A Mad Tea Party. Alice meets the March Hare and Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll's "Adventures of Alice in Wonderland" (1865) by English illustrator and satirical artist Sir John Tenniel.

Fictional Worlds Quiz

Alien planet, fantasy world, water, mountains

Fantasy Lands