Focus on Fantasy

It is not easy to classify Pan’s Labyrinth as the movie is quite different than most other fantasy movies. Combining fantasy and horror elements, Pan’s Labyrinth is probably best labled as a dark fantasy movie.

The movie is set in Spain during the Second World War. The young girl Ofelia is given several tasks by a Faun to proof she is the reincarnation of a princess Moanna of the Underground Realm. But these tasks are not easy and the difficult circumstances and her evil step-father force her to make some difficult choices before she can return to this Realm.

Released in 2006, Pan’s Labyrinth is one of the best fantasy movies of recent years. The movie has won 3 Oscars and dozens other awards. It is the 70th best movie ever according to IMDb.

As mentioned above, Pan’s Labyrinth contains a mixture of contempory fantasy elements and disturbing horror elements. Thus results in a very intense movie, with breath-taking special effects and impressive story that really gets to you. It is not a movie that every one will like as it is not easy to swallow but I believe it to be a true masterpiece.

Sir Terence David John Pratchett, famous for wearing his black cowboy hat (and sometimes other strange hat-like creations), was born on April 28, 1948. He is extremely popular in Great Britain and also very successful around the world. Novels of his famous fantasy series Discworld have sold tens of millions of times.

Pratchett’s Discworld novels are by far the greatest example of humour in the fantasy genre. Stories by the hand of Pratchett are always brilliantly written with a lot of word puns and strange but fascinating characters, often resembling to other fictional of real persons.
Combined with well-thought-of storylines in a carefully created world, this makes for highly entertaining novels. Pratchett is not afraid to combine classic fantasy with lots of humour and modern-day political and social themes and issues.

Discworld

As mentioned above, the most famous work of Terry Pratchett is his Discworld series. Or better, the collections of novels with stories taking place in the Discworld. Over the last 25 or so years, Pratchett has written close to forty of these higly acclaimed Discworld novels with titles as Night Watch, Hogfather, Going Postal, Mort and Guards! Guards! among the most most popular and best known examples.
Allthough not being a fan of Hollywood, several of Terry Pratchett’s novels have also been made into television movies.

Sadly, Pratchett is suffering from a form of Alzheimer. We can only hope he will stay healthy and writing fit for a long time to come and will extend his Discworld empire even further.

Official website of Terry Pratchett

A new page has been added to this site, discussing the best computer/ console games related to the genre of fantasy. It is an overview of what I believe to be the best and most influential fantasy games ever made.

While not all games have a strict link with fantasy as we know it from books and movies, several clearly are based on the classical form of fantasy with elves, goblins and the lot. Game characters are likely to have special abilities, like being able to fly, superstrenght and other powers. Also, games are often set in imaginary worlds with creatures such zombies, orcs, elves and vampires that either are playable characters or enemies.

The list of course contains games like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy but also several games you may not have thought of.

Click here to go to the Best Fantasy Games…

Written between 1977 and 1983 by Stephen R. Donaldson, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant tell the tale of a lepper who is despised in real life and very frustrated with himself.

After an accident Covenant enters a magical Land (possibly in his own mind) where he is healthy again and is considered a hero destined to defeat an evil lord. Covenant struggles to believe the world is real and tries to prove it is not, while against his wil he does take upon himself the role of defeating The Despiser.

The story takes place in a fantasy world which is very well created and often regarded as of the same level as Tolkiens Middle-earth. However, the story itself and the characters are not that comparable to Lord of the Rings.
The main character, Thomas Covenant, is an unstable, bitter man and the story is dark and psychological, with deap meanings and moral issues. This might scare away the average, casual fantasy reader but at the same time it will grip the attention of many. I believe it is a series that should definitely be read.

In the late seventies and eartly eighties Stephen R. Donaldson wrote two Covenant trilogies, the first being “The Cronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever” and the second aptly called “The second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant”.

“The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” is currently in the making. Donaldson has written and published first two books and two more are to come. The first of these is expected for October 2010.

Warner Bros has released a trailer for the movie Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows. This movie will be the first of two movies that will finalise the Harry Potter series. Part one will be released on November 17 2010 (or 18/19, depending on where you live).

Although I am not a big fan of Harry Potter, as I mentioned earlier, I will definitely watch the movie. I have good hopes that the last two movies will be darker and more violent than the last couple of movies. It will definitely be fascinating to see how the end of series is depicted on the big screen, especially in 3D.

Click here to go to the official Harry Potter movie website.


Below the trailer of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.

The movie The NeverEnding Story has had a big impact on me as a child. As far as I remember this was the first fantasy movie I ever saw. That, combined with the popularity of the movie, is what it has a high ranking on the list of best fantasy movies.

The NeverEnding Story is based on the novel Die Unendliche Geschichte by the German author Michael Ende. The book was published in 1979, the movie was produced in 1984.

The story is about a boy Bastian who, when reading a book, finds himself in the land Fantasia. Fantasy is on the verge of being destroyed by “The Nothing”. The Childlike Empress of Fantasia summons a young warrior from the Plains People, Atreyu, to find a way to save Fantasia. On this quest Atreyu sees an image of Bastian but, despite Atreyu’s best efforts, and those of this fellow adventurers (two gnomes, an urgl and a luckdragon), he returns empty-handed.
The Empress of Fantasia makes clear that Bastian as reader of the book can save the world and he does so by shouting the name of the Empress “Moonchild”. Fantasia is saved just in time and Bastian can then wish the whole world back by means of his imagination.

The NeverEnding Story is a classical eighties movies with corresponding story, visual effects (like the luckdragon Falkor) and music. Two sequels were made but neither were as good and popular as the original.

One of the great classic movies, The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939. The story is one we all know, although many will have come to know it through one of the many remakes.

The story is based on a novel by L. Frank Baum, who wrote it around the year 1900. The 12 year old girl Dorothy is knocked unconscious and finds herself in a strange fantasy world called the Land of Oz. Helped by the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion, she goes looking for the Wizard of Oz who can bring her back to her own world. In the mean time the are pursued by the Wicked Witch of the West. It doesn’t work out the way they planned but in the end Dorothy is able to return to her world by herself.

Although the initial release was not that successful but later releases and the showing of the movie on national American television several times, made the movie very popular and influential. The story, the fact that the movie was made in color (Technicolor) and the songs all contributed to this.

There have been several remakes of the movie and also a cartoon television series. This also ensured that every child growing up in the western world has been introduced to the story. After the success of Tim Burton’s new Alice in Wonderland, there are also plans for producing a new Wizard of Oz movie.

Not only is The Wizard of Oz fun to watch, it has also been very influential and is seen by many as one of the best movies of all time. Even after 70 years, it still is a great movie to watch and one you should have at least seen once in your lifetime.

Born on January 22, 1906 in Texax, Robert Ervin Howard became famous in the world of fantasy and literature as the the creator of Conan the Barbarian and the Sword & Sorcery fantasy genre.

Howard grew up in a booming oil town in Texas where he also spent most of his life. He was very interested in becoming a writer since he was young and starting writing when he was in his teens. Although he had a difficult start, Howard became a popular author and was able to live from his writing. Howard wrote stories and novels, mostly surrounding fantasy and western themes with his Conan stories as his pinnacle. He became friends with H.P. Lovecraft, another fantasy and science fiction author, best known for his novel The Call of Cthulhu.

After hearing that his mother had slipped into a coma and was about to die, Robert E. Howard committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. He was aged only 30.

Conan and other works
In his short life Howard has written quite a few stories and short novels. Most of these were horror and fantasy related but later on in his life he also started writing western stories.

By far the most famous character Howard created was Conan the Barbarian. After the stories of Kull were not received well, Howard changed the character into Conan and changed the stories to become more dark and brutal. They show the downsides of civilication like corruption and oppression. Conan, on the contrary, is honest, straightforward, speaks his mind and does what is right.
Over the years Howard wrote serveral Conan stories, with his main outlet for his writing being the magazine Weird tales. Howard also published several novels containing one or more Conan stories.

Conan was always depicted as the barbaric warrior who, depending on the story, saved a damsel in distress or fought an evil oppressor. Howard’s worlds are full of violence in which magic is used by Conan’s enemies.
This type of hero and storyline inspired many other authors and were the basis for what we now know as Sword & Sorcery. Throughout the twentieth century Howard’s work was more and more seen as important and influential literature, making him one to be considered as one of the best fantasy authors of all time. His influence and fame grew even more by the movies that were made based on his stories and characters, especially the cult movies Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer and Red Sonja, all starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.


By creating the character of Conan the Barbarian and Sword & Sorcery, Howard has had enormous effect on the fantasy genre, influencing many authors even to this day.

We all know the story told in the movies based on the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. The three Lord of the Rings movies are generally considered to be among the best movies ever made and to me they are also by far the best fantasy movies ever. I will provide a short analysis of each movie and then answer the question: when comparing the three movies, which one is the best?


The Fellowship of the Ring

As the introduction to the world and characters of LOTR, The Fellowship of the Ring pulls viewers into the story, amazing them with the rich and detailed world and likeable characters. The movie sets up the complete story line and prepares viewers for what is to come. It is therefore very memorable but at the same time it is somewhat slow-paced with lots of dailogues and less action/ battles.
IMDb rating: 8.8 – Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%

The Two Towers

The second movie of the trilogy is well balanced: Frodo and Sam go off to destroy the ring while at the same time the rest of the fellowship go on their own quests. This results in several story lines focusing on the struggles of Frodo but at the same time gives attention to the other people and races that inhabit Middle-earth and their fight against the forces of evil. There is much attention for politics, deceipt and mistrust while the dialogues between Legolas and Gimli even provide some humor. The battle of the Ents at Saruman’s tower and the legendary battle at Helm’s Deep between the Rohirrim and the Uruk-Hai are a great conclusion to this movie.
IMDb rating: 8.7 – Rotten Tomatoes rating: 96%


The Return of the King

The third and last Lord of the Rings movie focuses on two major topics: the ever more difficult quest of Frodo to reach mount Doom and destroy the ring on the one hand and the build up to the enourmous battle on the Pelennor Fields at the city of Minas Tirith on the other hand. Together they bring the trilogy to a very tense, tragic and impressively made ending. A minor downside is that it takes a really long time to get there: at some point I felt like ‘just get it over with’!
IMDb rating: 8.8 – Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%


Comparison and Conclusion

You may already have understood it when reading the short analysis of each of the movies: The Two Towers is my favorite LOTR movie. It has the best balance between character development, the journey to destroy the ring and action in the form of smaller fights and the large battle at Helm’s Deep. The other two movies were great but focused a bit too much on specific themes which to me made them just a little less good.

Still, together I believe the movies to be by far the best fantasy movies made and I do not expect any other fantasy movie to ever outclass them. However, I do hope that one day The Hobbit will also be made into a movie and that it will be of the same quality.

Spanning a total of 14 books (of which two still have to be completed by Brandon Sanderson) written over a time of more than two decades, The Wheel of Time series is one of the legends of the fantasy genre.

The series is about the young sheepherder Rand al’Thor who turns out to be the only hope the world has in defeating the Dark One. In a world where women are allowed to channel (use magic), the Wheel of Time spins round and round: every Age going through the same struggle between good and evil. Always there is a so-called Dragon who stands against the Dark One but turns out to be unable to utterly defeat him. This Age, Rand al’Thor is the Dragon Reborn and with the help of many, many friends, he just might pull it of.

The wheel of Time is a great and influential series with the cliché story of a simple boy who turns out to be the great hero. However, these series is well written with original ideas and approaches, both when it comes to story telling and in relation to the use of magic.
A lot of attention is given to the personal issues of the main characters and development of them throughout the books but the series is often considered to be a bit too extensive and having too many characters. It feels like the story could have been told in three books or perhaps a some more and that now it just drags on.

Author Robert Jordan passed away in 2007 before finishing the 12^th book of the series. He has handed over the torch to Brandon Sanderson who completed the Gathering Storm in 2009. Hopefully he can write a satisfying end to the series.

The Books
1. The Eye of the World
2. The Great Hunt
3. The Dragon Reborn
4. The Shadow Rising
5. The Fires of Heaven
6. Lord of Chaos
7. A Crown of Swords
8. The Path of Daggers
9. Winter’s Heart
10. Crossroads of Twilight
11. Knife of Dreams
12. The Gathering Storm
13. Towers of Midnight (forthcoming)
14. A Memory of Light (forthcoming)

There have been many rumours for quite some time and although producer ABC Studios has not officially said so, several sources are now saying that Legend of the Seeker will be cancelled after it’s second season.

Although I am personally not a big fan of the series and haven’t seen the second year, I do acknowledge Legend of the Seeker as a decent series, probably one of the best fantasy television series around. it would be a shame to see Legend of the Seeker being cancelled this soon.
The TV series has a large fanbase and the episodes had more than reasonable ratings, both in grades and in number of viewers but apparently these have not been good enough for ABC to order a third season.

About Legend of the Seeker

Legend of the Seeker is a television series loosely based on The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. It tells the classical story of the boy Richard Cypher who is destined to become the Seeker of Truth and defeat his evil father Darken Rahl. Richard gets help from wizard Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander, confessor Kahlan and mord-sith Cara.


As indicated above, the cancellation isn’t official yet so there is a chance we will be pleasantly surprised with news that a third season of the Seeker is ordered but don’t count on in.

Steven Erikson is the pseudonym of Steve Rune Lundin, a Canadian author born on October 7, 1959. He has written some novels under his real name but became famous as the author of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, one of the greatest fantasy series ever written.
By writing this critically acclaimed series he has received much appreciation and gained a large fanbase. To me Erikson is one of the finest authors of the moment and may likely become one of the greatest ever.

Erikson started writing quite late in his life and only wrote some short stories before starting on Gardens of the Moon, the first book in the Malazan series. The Malazan world he had created together with Ian Cameron Esslemont, author of several other novels in the Malazan universe with several of the main characters of Erikson’s books.

Erikson tried selling this Gardens of the Moon, at first even intended as a movie script, in the early nineties but was unable to so. Eventually, in 1999 publisher Transworld published the book and after its succes paid Erikson £675,000 to write 9 other novels to complete the series.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen

The Malazan Book of the Fallen is fantasy series consisting of 10 novels, telling the story about Gods and humans and the wars they fight and games they play. In the middle of all that, the Malazan empire, expanded over several continents, is slowly collapsing. As a reader you mainly follow a group oe Malazan soldiers and their battles against incredible powerful wizards, scary demons, ambitious ascendants and scheming Gods while at the same time you also look at the world and conflicts from the point of view of the enemies of the empire. Read more about The Malazan Book of the Fallen.

Steven Erikson writes like the devil himself is on his heels, producing a book almost every year. I also do not know another author who writes this intense on such an epic scale. Hopefully, he has something in mind after he finished his fantastic Malazan Book of the Fallen series.

Official website of Steven Erikson