Meaning of high fantasy | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A subgenre of fantasy fiction set in a secondary world or fantasy world as opposed to the primary world or real world.
   uncountable
2. A subgenre of fantasy fiction that focuses on universal events, instead of just those directly associated with the main characters.
   uncountable
3. A work in this subgenre.
   countable

Examples

“Fantasy fiction has been categorized and described in different ways. One classification divides fantasy into two major types:¶ low fantasy, which takes place⟳ in the primary world (our world);¶ high fantasy, which takes place⟳ in alternative worlds.”

“A term used by Lloyd Alexander in a 1971 essay on “High Fantasy and Heroic Romance" and subsequently developed by Kenneth J. Zahorski and Robert H. Boyer in an attempt⟳ to develop⟳ a terminology with which to deal⟳ with genre materials. In Zahorski and Boyer's taxonomy, high fantasy consists entirely of fiction set⟳ in second worlds, while the low fantasy with which it is immediately contrasted consists of fiction set⟳ in the primary world, into which magical objects and entities are introduced piecemeal (ie. intrusive fantasy).”

“High fantasy of the George RR Martin kind hinges on world-building. When there really is a whole world to build⟳, and not just a historical period or a particular country, world-building does not take⟳ a few paragraphs in a short story; it takes chapters.”

“High fantasy is a complex, philosophical form⟳ of literature that focuses on themes such as the conflict between good and evil.”

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