7 Reasons I Love High/Epic Fantasy Novels

  I was thinking (surprising even myself) that I want to grow my blog but... how do I do that if I don't post? So here I am on Sunday (when I was supposed to post, oops) writing this post for Monday (what's a schedule???) and trying (and failing) to be funny entertaining.



  Today I will tell you why I love high and epic fantasy novels even though I don't read as many of them as I'd like to. (There was a time when I'd avoid them just because it took me too long to read them and I had no new content (meaning review) for my old blog.)

1. New Worlds

  I love reading about the unique worlds authors create (and if the series isn't YA, there is a big chance of a good and thorough world-building) and I'm always fascinated with the completely different cultures and races, flora and fauna and everything else. 

  For example, The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson is an amazing series with a fascinating world. He has thought of every single detail probably. There are new plants, new animals, new races and traditions, there are so many things that I would probably need a whole post just for the world-building of this one series (with 3 out of 10 books out).

2. Interesting Characters

Of course that the genre doesn't determine the characters and how interesting they are but my experience so far has led me to believe that the characters in these books are just more interesting and have more depth to them. One of the reasons I love long books or long series (or both) is that I get more time with the characters. I love me some well-developed and strong characters who know what they want and how to get it, who can fight, who are funny and... *insert unrealistic expectations towards everyday people*

Another reason which can be listed under this point is that most characters aren't teenagers or if they are, they are either mature or described as children (which is kinda confusing but it also depends on the world). I am trying to learn not to think about the characters' age (since I really hate reading about young characters) but in this genre I don't need to worry about that.

(I also know that I can find very interesting characters in other genres but I read mainly only fantasy.)

3. New Races 

This is somewhat part of the world-building but I'm always fascinated with the new races, cultures and traditions no matter if they were inspired by something or a complete fiction. 

For example, I'll give The Stormlight Archive again. There are a lot of different countries and races but the two that I like the most are the Thaylens and the Horneaters. The Thaylens are known for their long, white eyebrows and the Horneaters... I'm not exactly sure what they look like but I totally love their names which cannot be pronounced at all - Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor.

4. Various Religions

I'm an atheist but when I first started reading The Final Empire and was introduced to Sazed, I was captivated by his words about religion. He would constantly offer Vin different kinds of beliefs and even though I'm not a particular fan of religion and gods, I just love how they were described in this book. 

I'll also stick to my theme for this post and say that I  love how they are described in The Stormlight Archive series and in The Greatcoats series by Sebastien de Castell. In the Greatcoats some aspects are still a little vague like the gods because the characters pray to different saints most of the time (with very interesting names by the way) but it's still interesting. In the third book (Saint's Blood) a certain character found a way to kill saints and guess what (!) chaos, blood, fights, gore and Falcio val Mond trying to figure out who did it and why.

I love Falcio, go give him some love as well, he needs it, he deserves it...

5. Politics

I don't get politics.

But I like reading about them in these kinds of books. I then find them interesting.

One of my modules for this term is Politics and Law for Journalists and I am not amused but I'm slightly interested because of these books. Novels motivate me to study. Kinda, at least I'm paying attention. 

Anyway, I like reading about the politics in a certain world and a certain situation. I find it interesting and entertaining. I understand almost nothing if it's in the real world, but when it comes to some manipulation, some weird insult wrapped in mockery, wrapped in a fine compliment that's not a compliment... Then I'm all for it.

You probably can see what I meant when I said that politics and I are complete strangers.

6. Conflicts

  Okay. What do you mean conflict? There is some kind of conflict in every single book. Why are high and epic fantasy novels any different?

Well, let me tell you that there is a difference. I like reading about wars, some interesting conflict between new and weird races, I also find them more original or if they aren't, they are just written better than others (in some occasions!) but I'm also a newbie to this genre so I probably don't know what I'm talking about and this point is a waste of space.

7. Length 

Yep. You read that right. One of the reasons I love this genre is because of the length of the books. I'm a sucker for a long series or a long book (or both) and I just like to go throughthesee books as slowly as I am willing to, trying to savour every single chapter because I am masochistic. I find them heavy to read because the style is usually harder than the other fantasy subgenres but still I love them, I love some big books and I cannot lie, haha. 

What about you? Do you like high/epic fantasy? Why?

Tell me some of your favourite books in this genre.