The Ultimate Guide to Fantasy Sub Genres
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
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Here is my Ultimate Guide to Fantasy Sub-Genres! In this video I'll be going over 25+ subgenres and giving recommendations! This guide will help you to explore the vast and varied world of fantasy fiction and determine which sub-genre's are best suited to your personal preferences. So, if you're looking for a deeper dive into the world of fantasy, here it is!
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Table of Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:55 - NordVPN
2:54 - High
3:56 - Epic
5:01 - Low
5:42 - Urban/Paranormal
6:24 - Historical
6:54 - Comedic
7:23 - Portal
7:42 - Dark
8:11 - Grimdark
9:18 - Military / Flintlock
10:02 - Steampunk
11:08 - Heroic Fantasy
11:43 - Sword & Sorcery
12:19 - Fairytale/Fable
12:32 - Romance/Erotica
12:57 - Mythopoeia
13:22 - Gaslight/Gaslamp
13:41 - Fantasy of Manners
14:11 - Court Intrigue
14:38 - Science Fantasy
15:05 - Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic
15:29 - Coming-of-age
16:10 - Magical realism
16:43 - Superhero
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Table of Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:55 - NordVPN
2:54 - High
3:56 - Epic
5:01 - Low
5:42 - Urban/Paranormal
6:24 - Historical
6:54 - Comedic
7:23 - Portal
7:42 - Dark
8:11 - Grimdark
9:18 - Military / Flintlock
10:02 - Steampunk
11:08 - Heroic Fantasy
11:43 - Sword & Sorcery
12:19 - Fairytale/Fable
12:32 - Romance/Erotica
12:57 - Mythopoeia
13:22 - Gaslight/Gaslamp
13:41 - Fantasy of Manners
14:11 - Court Intrigue
14:38 - Science Fantasy
15:05 - Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic
15:29 - Coming-of-age
16:10 - Magical realism
16:43 - Superhero
Hey, where do you find the concept art for your videos, they look so sick, is their a site or account that you find it from?
@@criticizedreviews1081 I search for them all over but usually I get most of it from ArtStation or DeviantArt
@@CapturedInWords oh ok cool, thanks man
Which sub-genre do you like to write the most?
Comedic Fantasy? Get the fantasy books of The books of L. Sprague de Camp, suhc as: "Compleat Enchanter;" and "Goblin Tower" is 100% hilarious fun if a bit scattered.
Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and more are nearly Steampunk-ish, ahead of its time.
And just as a general heroic & myth related: "The Forge in the Forest" is worth a read, some real clever repackage of Norse and other myths.
For a wild offshoot and inspiration the works of Carlos Castaneda are gripping, especially to younger readers. Be aware some people believe this is real.
The Omaran Saga by Adrian Cole is worth looking at.
As a Colombian I have the legal obligation of recommending A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. One of the best examples of magical realism.
I've heard a bit about that book! I'll definitely need to read it soon!
Since legal obligation has been brought up I now feel obliged to mention that the book is obviously filled with symbolism but it is better understood if you know Colombian history. The book takes place in what would’ve been the first half of the 1900s and a bit of the second half. It is an amazing book and you’re technically not needed to know history to like it but it is definitely so much more insightful and just easier to appreciate if you do understand the historical context
Does it translate it well, or should I try to read it in the original spanish even though I'll need to stop and look up words a lot?
@@jfidrocki I've only read the original spanish version so I can't give you a definite answer. I'd say the original spanish version is better just because that way you can experience the author's prose and use of language in full but a translated version should be fine too.
@@jfidrocki Ok, to be completely honest I've never read it in English. And I realize you were probably asking the first commenter lmao. But maybe my opinion might help as well idk. Imma list what I personally think could be some pros and cons of reading it in one language or the other and maybe that'll help you pick or give you a bit more clarity. In regard to my first comment though, the symbolism I was talking about is mainly found in the actual events that are happening in the book, more so than the in the writing, so you should be able to catch most, if not all of that. Now, this other thing that I want to mention you should take with a grain of salt since I've only ever read the book in Spanish. This is just something that I've noticed when comparing things written in English vs in Spanish. I'm not sure if it's a cultural thing honestly, but Spanish works tend to be really description heavy. We will have really long passages describing probably irrelevant things and run on sentences are really common. There's less dialogue too usually. This could both be a pro or a con. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is really well known for his prose, and his vivid and beautiful descriptions. Since I haven't read the translated work, I don't know how well those translate, so you might miss out on that. But those are not things that are necessary for the plot. It's more of a part of the experience. On the other hand, depending on how fluid you are in Spanish, it could make it harder or not, specially taking into account that there might be some words or expressions exclusively used in Colombia. So, it really just comes down to comfort and personal preference. Sorry, this was very long, and I'm sure I missed a couple of things, it's been a while since I read it. This is just me trying to make that decision easier for you. I don't think you can go wrong either way. The only thing that I do heavily and wholeheartedly recommend is the investigating a little bit about the events the text is alluding. Makes the read so much better. Anyways, hope you do pick it up and enjoy it, it is a beautifully written novel, filled with nods to Colombian history and it does have its fair share of commentary when you understand the events the book is referencing. Hope this helped, sorry for the length😅
Your videos are probably the best produced "Book-Tube" videos I've seen. I love your work; please dive into Malazan soon, I want to see you geek out about it.
Definitely need more Malazan 💯
This is what I’ve been saying since the beginning all he had to do was make the videos. I love this dude!!
What series is Malazan?
@@warbrothers7745 umm you might be new to fantasy or haven’t been around the fantasy book tube block but it’s a super intense series by Steven Ericson( may have gotten the name wrong) but it’s real love or hate with the community but some people go super hard core with it.
@@warbrothers7745 Malazan Book of the Fallen, by Steven Erickson.
Your editing skills are amazing. You're my favorite booktuber and I think this is one of your best videos!
Thank you so much 😄
Truly, his editing skills has stepped up a notch or two lately, and I'm loving it.
Easily the best edited videos out of all Booktubers I've seen
Love how at 13:42 you mistake the old city of Kraków, in Poland, for a fantasy painting. Living here and loving this picture!
Really good list, even if it cannot be exhaustive. A few of the more prominent examples it seems to be missing are distinctly newer genres like LitRPG fantasy and Progression Fantasy as well as a whole slew of non-Western Fantasy genres like the Chinese (Wuxia or Martial Arts, Xianxia or Immortal Cultivation, Xuanhuan or Eastern Fantasy), together with the overpopulated Japanese Isekai -genre (with Reincarnation and Transmigration subgenres) that can be kind of similar to Doorway Fantasy series that were once more popular in the West (and which are also missing from the list: think series like Narnia or the Fionavar Tapestry, for example).
Id add too the myths and legends of different cultures and their national epics.
Is there any isekai wich isn’t childish escapism?
@@adamnesico Yes there are if you are interested in reccomendation the channels giguk and mothers basement are good places to start .
Accendance of a bookworm worm sick girl gets reincarnated and has to navigate the complex political social and economic ties of the medieval world RUclips doesn't like links to channels
Trash-Tier Waifu has a playlist going through the books in detail if you are interested .
Isekai for me is less childlike escapism it is more like escapism from the exhaustion of modern life working insane hours with little time to do anything else especially in Japan
Also related, Slow Life Fantasy, which aims for a relaxed atmosphere, with the protagonist pointedly NOT going on epic quests or the like.
Another recommendation for comedic fantasy -- the Xanth series, by Piers Anthony. I'm not aware of an earlier example of a comedic fantasy series than Xanth, there are currently nearly 50 books in the series. Another comedic series that started around the same time is the Myth Adventures series by Robert Lynn Aspirin. Both of these series are full of puns and absurd situations, along with some pretty good fantasy.
Piers Anthony also started another series, The Incarnations of Immortality. The first book is, On A Pale Horse. More Urban Fantasy than Xanth.
I’m so happy that someone has finally recommended The Dragonriders of Pern it is one of my all time favourites I do recommend anything by Anne McCaffrey especially The Tower and Hive series, The Crystal Singer trilogy and The Catteni Sequence.
I love the Catteni books
She is also one of my favourites i havent tried the catteni series but love the other 3!
Grimdark and Sword & Sorcery are my favorites. I like some urban fantasy, weird fiction, bizzaro fiction and fantastical horror if those count too haha.
The editing on your videos is absolutely insane, it takes me forever just to cut around and insert memes 🤣but great video! I never thought of prince of thorns as coming of age just with how brutal it was but looking back it holy shit it was. To me my favorite reads that aren't afraid to mix the subgenres, bits of grimdark, epic scales, threads of humor, leaving your PI job as a wizard in Chicago to step through a portal to fight ancient fairy tale creatures...etc
Another fun comedic fantasy series was the Myth Adventures by Robert Asprin, later co-authored by Jody Lynn Nye. Such titles as "Another Fine Myth", "Myth Conceptions", "Myth Directions" and quite a few more.
Also, don't forget Piers Anthony and the Xanth series of books. Apparently, I live in Mundania.
This is a very helpful and beautifully produced video! I'll be recommending it to my students in my fantasy novels course in the fall. Cheers, Jay!
Thanks Philip, glad you enjoyed! Wow that's awesome you'll recommend it to your fantasy novels course! Much appreciated!
There's also Progressive Fantasy, a Power fantasy focused on Character progression in power rather than character development, for example, series like Cradle, and Thousand Li
I don't know if I'm more pleased by the great content, or the stellar editing upon the video. Nice job man, tons of fine recommendations.
Two of my favorite magical realism novels: House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Gorgeous novels.
Thank you for the recs, I'm going to add both of those to my lists of books to read!
Like Water for Chocolate is such a trip. Good way to spend the day reading the book.
Just started with the fantasy genre and I really needed this. Thank you so much!
I love how Sanderson just peppered his way through numerous subgenres. That giant is productive af!
Another great video! I'm going to be reading Piranesi this month as well - I've heard such great things about it. My top 5 subgenres would have to be High, Epic, Heroic/Sword & Sorcery, Dark and Grimdark. I think. Hard to nail down!
Your videos are so awesome, the editing always on point 👌 thanks for all the hard work you put into them!!
It amazes me how you always succeeds at pulling a topic more interesting and appealing than the previous one. You really deserves all the great comments you receive. Thanks for the valuable content.
I have no words to describe how I love your videos! The editing, the artworks, the music, it’s all perfect! It always makes me excited to read more and my TBR always get bigger!❤
That makes me so happy to hear!! I put a lot of work and passion into making my videos, so I'm glad they're enjoyed 😁
I randomly came across this channel a few weeks ago, now i'm reading Mistborn and i love it!
Love all if your videos!! I am so glad you did a video for this topic in the fantasy genre. I had no idea there were so many!! Just added tons more books to my TBR pile. Lol Thanks!! 😊
You're so welcome! And thank you for watching! :D I'm happy the video is helpful!
your editing is so exciting! im pretty well versed in fantasy anyway but i loved watching this!! so concise and helpful
Thank you!! I'm happy you enjoyed it 😁
Your editing is always top notch. Got me hooked to read more fantasy.
As someone who has read and loved about 10 Discworld books so far, I can confidently say that "Orconomics" by J. Zachary Pike is a fun comedic fantasy book. There's also a sequel, "Son of a Liche" which I have yet to listen to. The first book is a satire like Discworld, but it still has its own style and specificities. The humor is dry and fast-paced, the narrative revolves around satirizing the heroics in fantasy through the lens of capitalism and corporate cost-effectiveness. As much as Discworld is utterly British in its humor, the same can be said about Orconomics and its American style of early slapstick wit and humor. It just works and the whole experience is seamless and an amazing palate-cleanser.
Commenting mostly for engagement but high fantasy, grim dark, and historical are my favourites and it’s always a bonus if some come in standalone books.
Looks like you put a lot of effort into your video here and excited to see what you make you next!
Great video, one of your best! You've alway done awesome editting, but this is just on the next level!
I appreciate the nod to Kings of the Wyld when talking about high fantasy (that is not neessarilly epic).
Thanks Alex! I tried to switch up my editing style a lot in this one, so I'm glad it was enjoyed! :D
what a teacher you are. I learn more from you than any other booktuber. thank you!😊
This is absolutely one of your best videos EVAH! Masterful, informative, and fun.
Wow, thank you! :)
Ok, top 5 sub genres: High, epic, steampunk, gas light, and fantasy of manners. Also, it’s cool to hear the Goblin Emperor get a mention, it’s one of my favorite books!
Great choices! The Goblin Emperor is soooo good! It's definitely one of my favorites as well, and it deserves more love
The Goblin Emperor is also one of my favourites I adore it
Really great summary! Genres are a little arbitrary (and every series can be considered multiple), but it's a good way to kinda identify your own personal tastes and find good recommendations. My favorites definitely skew towards High/Epic Fantasy, Coming of Age, Dark Fantasy, and Sci-Fantasy
Great video Jay! Recently, I have really enjoyed many of the books by Drew Hayes, especially "The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant" and other books in that series. It's not quite comedy fantasy, but I guess I would call it light-hearted (mostly).
You might like Dakota Krout too. Dungeon Born was a fun read, if you like killer bunnies and mayhem.
@@nanimaonovi2528 thanks, I'll check that out!
The Dungeon Eternium series and the following Completionist Chronicles by Drew Hayes are downright awesome.
Puns, snarky characters, and absurdism abound. Like, one guy has T-Rex heads for hands and somebody else makes up a war crimes song to the tune of “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
@@HeatherSchrivener-el2mx I'm glad you enjoy Drew Hayes, although I think Dakota Krout wrote The Completionist Chronicles.
The Critical Failures series by Robert Bevan is a good comedy fantasy series. A group of friends (who aren't the smartest) get sucked into their D&D game as their characters. They have to either make do being level 1 adventurers making money or try and figure out a way back home.
My favourite portal fantasy: The "Fionavar Tapestry" trilogy by Guy Gavriel Kay
I absolutely adore your content ❤. You’re one of my favorite youtubers, cant wait for more videos!
Thank you so much!!
This was such an interesting, well thought out and informative video!
editing is sooo good!
Fantastic video, man! Thanks for making this 👌
Glad you enjoyed it!
The editing is so sick!
Thank you so much for this summary! ^_^ I especially appreciate your explanation of the Dark Fantasy sub genre since I focus on it in my own writing 😊💙
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is a great breakdown of the sub-genres Jay!
Loved the video; so nice to know you are reading Piranesi! Aaaand, I like how your hair looks haha
Thank you!! 😁
I love your videos! I can't tell you how many books I have read just because you suggested them. Plus, I can't even think of a single book you suggested that I haven't liked! Thanks so much for your suggestions and videos!
That makes me really happy to hear! I'm glad you've enjoyed my recommendations! :D
I was so happy you included Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series in the science fantasy section! That’s one of my favorite series of all time and I hardly see anyone talk about it or mention it, and usually it’s not positive when I do see it. Made my day!
I love high and epic fantasy, urban fantasy, science fantasy, grim-dark, and supernatural fantasy. Though as long as the characters and plot can engage me I’ll try probably any sub genre 😅
Awesome video as always, Jay!
Thanks for watching!
this is such a great informative video 🙌🏽 thank you for making 🖤
I learned a lot from this video! Thanks for taking the time to research the topic. My top five sub genres are Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction. Octavia E. Butler is my favorite Speculative Fiction writer.
I'm a new subscriber and I dig your content. If you haven't already, would you consider a series of videos based on this one where you give your recommendations for each sub genre of fantasy?
Thanks for subscribing! I've actually been thinking of making videos like that, I plan on making individual 'Sub-genre Explained' videos where I talk about the origin of the sub-genre then dive into some recommendations. Hope to start making those later this month :)
Great content ! love it 😍
Great content, phenomenal editing!
Much appreciated!
Fun video. Some of these were new to me. My faves: Time travel books, steampunk, paranormal fantasy, retellings, historical fantasy.
one of the best feelings after watching is that there are some other people that like fantasy that much as I do ) thank you for the list, it opened my eyes to what I could read next )
I'm happy to hear this, glad you enjoyed the video!
I've started reading fantasy not so long ago so I'm not good at recognizing it's sub genres yet.
But since I love The First Law series grimdark looks perfect to me. And I think, epic and urban will work for me as well. I'm also willing to look closer into military fantasy.
And everything I've read by Sanderson. The Wax and Wayne series is terrific. Especially Wayne.
Glad I've found this channel, very helpful videos. Thanks!
Came to leave a like but now i do have found some new titles for my tbr
I love this video. I would love a deep dive series of videos like: “Ultimate Fantasy Guide Part 1 , 2 , 3….. : ( about 3 or 4 sub-genres ) taking time to explain what they are, using visuals please 🙏🏻 (which I love 🤩🤩🤩 in this video) the evolution of clasic books in that genre vs new books in the same genre.
The quality of these videos is just amazing
Thank you!!
Damn dude the editing was killer. Great video.
Thank you!
Great video! Really enjoyed it
Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching! :D
Nice overview! My personal favourites are Sword & Sorcery and it's slightly more sci-fi oriented Sword & Planet. Hey, I'm a sucker for a really great adventure! I also really enjoy Urban Fantasy. A particular favourite of mine in that subgenre is Charles de Lint. I would recommend his books 'Moonheart', 'Yarrow', and 'Memory & Dream', three of my all-time favourites. Also for some really unique dark urban fantasy, try Elizabeth Hand's 'Waking the Moon' and 'Black Light'.
Top 5 fantasy sub genres: High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Coming of Age, Grimdark, and Mythopoeia. I would further include Dark, Portal, Heroic, Fairytale, and Military. I think combining a Coming of Age story with any of the Fantasy sub genres makes for a really interesting story, because there's so many different ways people can grow up and develop in these strange worlds.
Another great video Jay, I always look forward to your latest upload. My top 5 are:
1) Epic
And then in no particular order Grimdark, Portal, Coming of Age.
Then in the #5 spot Sword and Sorcery, which I generally only read one or two books in this subgenre a year, but I find it a great way to break up the above subgenres when things get to heavy.
I've been told the clashing definitions of łów fantasy come from two sources. The Earth-like one comes from literature while the low magic comes from tabletop RPGs.
i just stumbled apon your channel as i looked for new books to read after i finished LotR and Mistborn in the last weeks. Super good and well made video love the images that you used. The only negative i have to say is the first edit of the pictures wich made me a bit sick xD.
Otherwise great video now subscribed to the channel.
Thank you for the recommendations! I think the pace if this video was a bit fast. It made it somewhat exhausting to watch. Other that that great job as usual!
I'll keep this vid as a reference since I'm currently writting a Fantasy story but I didn't know that it had various sub-genre aside from what I know. This could help which Fantasy Genre should I focus first.
I've been following you and other fantasy book tubers for a while now, but I have a confession: I only recently (like 2 days ago) started the first fantasy novel/series I've read in years and years. I went with Book of the New Sun, and I'm enjoying it immensely
That's awesome to hear you're getting back into reading, Book of the New sun is a great choice! It's an incredible story!
Oh. You are missing my favorite subgenre. Romantic fantasy - which isn’t the same as fantasy romance! Though they can overlap. Mercedes lackey writes a lot of them.
The blue rose rpg system does a really good job explaining what is unique about the genre from fantasy romance.
Would have been nice to mention iskai (basically portal but usually involves dieing and reincarnating), VR, LitRPG, progression and cultivation/ Xianxia.
Another fantastic video! Thank you!
Thanks for watching! :D
What a visual masterpiece this video is! Wow! 😱
High fantasy, coming of age and dark fantasy is probably my favourites, but I love the Dresden files too so I guess I have to add urban fantasy. I think gaslight fantasy will soon be on my top 5 list as well as I really enjoyed the ones I:ve already read. That's not surprising as I've always had a love for old Britain and Charles Dickens is one of my favourite authors.
Casting my vote for more longer videos about histories of sub-genres!
3:22 bro those transitions got me geekin theyre so smooth
One of my favorite authors is Tom Holt. His novels are a crossover between comedic & portal fantasy. He has stand-alone novels based on myths and legends. But he also has his "YouSpace" multiverse series with doughnuts as portals.
Thank you! That was super helpful.
I am not sure I understand the difference between Low Fantasy and Magical Realism?
He gave us homework 😩This was awesome dude. Very good video ❤
Glad you enjoyed! 😊
Thanks to you I've discovered, that the book series I'm currently writing is mainly nested in Mythopoeia and Court Intrigue Fantasy but has a Sci-Fantasy aesthetic to it, so I guess the people who sort the book stores will have a fun time finding a shelve for this stuff. 😂
No really, thank you so much! You've answered a question, that many other creators didn't, with your video. ❤
I'm really happy to hear my video helped! 😀 Good luck with your writing!
Thank you for recommending Nausicaä. It’s my favorite of Miyazaki’s amazing works.
Nausicaä is probably my favorite of all his works too, I love both the manga and the movie!
Also would love in depth videos about the subgenres. I love learning about bookish history.😊
I love the Reckoners series! Its what got me into Sanderson. Glad someone on booktube is showing it some love.
I need to continue the Reckoners! I read the first 2 books and really enjoyed them :) I definitely think they should be talked about more
@@CapturedInWords The last one is amazing. I think it might be my favourite in the series, although that could be recency bias. As much as the first one is the perfect opener for me, the last one is the perfect conclusion.
Five possible fantasy sub-sub-genres not covered:
* Noblebright - clean, moral and idealistic fantasy maybe even a touch of Christian influences. C.S. Lewis might be an early example.
* Hopepunk - '"The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part.' Sort of a 'Nobledark'. The world is grim, but someone has hope to change it. Stories of resistance and hanging onto your humanity.
* Hard Fantasy - like hard sci-fi, but with a high fantasy setting. Rigorous and detailed world building. The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick might be an example.
* Surreal Fantasy - You got your surrealism in my fantasy. Alice in Wonderland or A Wrinkle in Time might show a bit of this. Metamorphosis by Kafka. This often overlaps pretty heavily with New Weird with books like K.J. Bishop's, Etched City and many of Miéville's works.
* Postmodern or Philosophical Fantasy - Jorge Luis Borges (a personal favorite) might fit in here. It might also be called Slipstream fantasy as Richard Dorsett and Bruce Sterling coined the term in contrast to the mainstream.
Really, when you delve down into the bottom of the weird fiction it all gets really muddled together under New Weird or even just Speculative Fiction. There is much splitting of hairs for the sub-sub-genres, and it's not entirely enlightening since you want a genre to market to you what you're getting into and if the whole idea is to completely surprise you, it's hard to categorize.
Magical Realism recommendations:
Pretty much anything Murakami. Wind-up Bird Chronicles is great as is IQ84.
The Buried Giant - Kashuro Ishiguro
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
I never really got into these two Magical Realism books, but I have friends who adore them:
Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
The best portal fantasy out there today is probably He Who Fights With Monsters by Shirtaloon
"It’s not easy making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer. At least, Jason tries to be heroic, but it's hard to be good when all your powers are evil.
He’ll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters...and that’s just on the first day. He’s going to need courage, he’s going to need wit, and he’s going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he’s going to need pants."
I have found it hard to find a grimdark/mythic fantasy book yet but i really think they would work well together. Mythical world, grimdark heroes and villains.
This is terrific! So good to have all the genre differences laid out side by side.
My top five:
1. High Fantasy
2. Epic Fantasy
3. Portal Fantasy
4. Science Fantasy
5 Steampunk Fantasy
Great choices! As I did research for this video it made me realize that there's a lot of subgenres I haven't read much of. I've always liked the idea of steampunk, but haven't actually read much of it other then a few books
@@CapturedInWords Ditto on the steampunk.
For Superhero Fantasy, I DEFINITELY wanna highlight Invincible!! It's probably my favorite piece of Superhero media!!
Comedic fantasy series: The Xanth novels of Piers Anthony...? But top five subgenres for me are grimdark, heroic, epic, urban, sword and sorcery. Great video, btw!
Really enjoyed your video. Two comedic series I have enjoyed are Unconventional Heroes by L G Estrella (the Audible versions are very good and laugh out loud) and Magic 2.0 by Scott Meyer (first three books good go downhill from there). I also LOVE the Benedict Jacka series Alex Verus -everyday London, fantastic action and such intriguing magic and a “grey” hero. I relisten to this series a lot.
Enjoyed the video. Clearly a labour of love. Due to the essentially limitless potential of fantasy fiction, the number of subgenres is also limitless. Subgenres are essentially just combinations of theme and tropes that gain popularity over time. Seems like you've covered the most popular ones up til now. As for some of the comments about subgenres not covered, exploring these emerging subgenres would make for a great follow up video down the road (most of us may not have even heard of them). Personally I'm interested in something that's probably more of a trope than a subgenre, but I enjoy the concept of "elder gods" -- ancient, powerful beings from a previous age who somehow return to the world or influence the world through their worshippers/acolytes (which brings me to Lovecraft's stuff, Kraken by China Mieville, and I also like Dan Simmons's Hyperion -- which is more sci-fi). Are there any fantasy books that use that theme/trope? Sometimes dragons or demons, I guess, can act as elder gods too.
I really love this channel
I enjoyed A Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin (Magical Realism) and The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (several genres). Just to add a couple to your great list. If you like older fantasy, there's George MacDonald, Lilith and there is Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queen
High fantasy, heroic fantasy, and coming of age, which are all similar enough to overlap significantly, are my top 3, followed by sword and sorcery and comedic fantasy (for Discworld on its own)
My top 5 are high, epic, court intrigue, military and science fantasy. Honourable mentions to portal, fantasy of manners and coming of age.
Comedic Fantasy
- John Moore - Slay and Rescue or The Unhandsome Prince
- Christopher Moore - Lamb or The Stupidest Angel
- Douglas Adams - The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
Comedic-ish Fantasy
Simon R. Green - Blue Moon Rising
(The book has many funny scenes, but turned out to be more serious than I'd expected.)
For Magical Realism, I highly recommend '100 Years of Solitude' and 'Love in the Time of Cholera' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Hey can someone tell me where the image of Krakow at 13:45 is from?
To me, High Fantasy doesn't mean it takes place in a make believe world; it just means that there are "unrealistic" aspects, like magic and dragons. Low fantasy is basically just your "generic" medieval settings, where people are still people, with all of the human limitations that come along with that.
Here is my top 4!
1: Dark. My two favorites being Berzerk and the Witcher
2: Epic Fantasy. Having a real hard time choosing between Lord of the Rings and Stormlinght Archives here....
3: Casual Fantasy. It's low stakes and dumb fun. Often overlaps with Comedic fantasy. I love it. Two examples that I love are Legends and Latte and A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking. I love to read these between two more serious books.
4:Grim Dark. The first law is a must here.
Tell me what you think!
Great delineation of some great sub genres. May I suggest a man whose works often stride across several of these? Tim Powers, especially in these books: The Anubis Gates, On Stranger Tides, Last Call, Declare, and The Stress of Her Regard.
Love this! Where would you say Cinder by Marissa Meyer or Odins child by Siri Pettersen fit in here?
Cinder by Marissa Meyer would be a mix of fairy-tale retelling and I think Scifi-Romance. I'm not too sure about Odins child but it looks to be high fantasy, mythopoeia/mythology, and romance