Fantasy

One of the most popular genres of modern times, fantasy literature has as rich a cultural and literary heritage as the magical worlds that so enrapture its readers. In this book, a concise history of the genre, Adam Roberts traces the central forms and influences on fantasy through the centuries to arrive at our understanding of the fantastic today.

Pinning the evolution of fantasy on three key moments - the 19th-century resurgence of interest in Arthurian legend, the rise of Christian allegory, and a post-Ossian, post-Grimm emergence of a Norse, Germanic and Old English mythic identity - Roberts explores how the logic of 'the fantastical' feeds through into the sets and trappings of modern fantasy. Tracking the creation of heroic and high fantasy subgenres through antiquarian tradition, through C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and into the post-Tolkien boom in genre fantasy writing, the book brings the manifestation of the fantastic beyond literature into art, music, film and TV, video games and other cultural productions such as fandoms. From Tennyson and Wagner, through Robert Graves, David Jones, Samuel Delany, Dungeons and Dragons, Terry Pratchett and Robin Hobb, to the Game of Thrones, Skyrim, The Witcher and The Lord of the Rings media franchises, the book digs into the global dissemination and diversity of 21st-century fantasy. Accessible and dynamic, wide-ranging but comprehensive, this is a crash-course in context for the most imaginative form of storytelling.

• - All you need is a dice and you can choose which way the story goes - Be careful - the main character can die at any point! - 20 million copies sold worldwide in 32 languages - Perfect for kids who love gaming - A great way to encourage children away from gaming on screens and get them back into reading books!

Nostalgia, Fantasy, and the Futures of Masculinity explores how nostalgia-driven fantasies shape contemporary masculinity and capitalist culture, and how these dynamics constrain our ability to imagine new futures. Drawing on Lacanian psychoanalysis, cultural theory, and media studies, Timothy Richardson examines the ideological and affective structures that link masculinity to mythic pasts and deferred promises of progress.

Through case studies of music archives, fan cultures, and iconic films such as Blade Runner 2049, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Ex Machina, the book reveals how popular media recycles familiar tropes to sustain capitalist discourse and masculine ideals. Richardson argues that these nostalgic scripts not only naturalize gender norms but also perpetuate cycles of consumption and stasis, even as they promise novelty.

Foregrounding Lacanian concepts of fantasy, desire, and the capitalist discourse, this monograph offers a critical intervention into debates on gender, temporality, and ideology. It combines rigorous theoretical analysis with accessible prose, making it essential reading for scholars and advanced students in psychoanalytic theory, cultural studies, gender studies, and media studies.

Of science fiction and fantasy, guest editor Olivie Blake writes, "It's hard to look upon these genres and not see tools of life preservation." The characters in these pages embody this sentiment as they choose to forge ahead despite the most daunting obstacles. An inscrutable woman imprisons a monster in her bathtub, a sentient spaceship carries 10,000 frozen human embryos to a distant space colony, a memory tailor alters memories for customers seeking a different past, and a girl goes to great lengths to attend a prestigious magical university. From dystopian resistance to utopian deceit, these stories acknowledge the helplessness, anger, and despair so prevalent in the world. But, as Blake reassures us, they also convince us that ultimately "faith, persisting and unshakable, will be enough to win."

THE BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY 2026 INCLUDES: SARAH LANGAN - THOMAS HA - ALIX E. HARROW - ALEX IRVINE - NAOMI KANAKIA - ISABEL J. KIM - RICH LARSON - RAY NAYLER - P.C. VERRONE - AND OTHERS