Fantasy Evaluation

In order for the reader to suspend their sense of reality and answer the previous question with a resounding, “Yes, it can.” Fantasy authors must have “internal consistency”. In other words, rules created by the author must be maintained and sustain the “alternative reality depicted in the book.”

Vardell stresses that fantasy stories must be engaging with an “unusual perspective that is outside the ordinary- yet not so outside that we don’t believe in it.”

CHARACTERS:

•Young readers should be able to identify with them, even if the characters are not human.

•Readers should care about what happens to the character

•Kinships are developed

•Reader believes that the character is worth the adventure

•Well written fantasies have believable characters who initially doubt the fantastical but when they are convinced of it, so are the readers.

•Their relationships shape both the conflict and plot

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PLOT:

•Must be believable, logical and internally consistent

•Is both original and creative

•Is often firmly grounded in reality before gradually moving into fantasy.

•Involves quests, journeys, “tasks to accomplish, obstacles to overcome, and villains to vanquish.”

•MUST be “well-paced, clearly described…and should grow out of the character’s” behavior.

SETTING:

•Must have enough description to help the ”reader visualize the surroundings.”

•Has details that are integral to the development of the story.

•All of a reader’s senses should be engaged.

THEME:

•Should reflect universal truths

•Good > Evil

•Power < Love

•Transcends time and place

•Roots itself in “folklore” which is “why fantasy is so satisfying!”

STYLE:

•Must be clear and consistent

•“Encourages (a) willing suspension of disbelief.’”

•Often includes the coining of new terms

•Reader believes that the character is worth the adventure

•Includes a clear explanation of the fantasy world that does not overwhelm the reader.

•Creates a vivid world via the author’s pacing, description and dialogue.


Vardell, S. (2008). Children's Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide (1. publ. ed.). Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Libraries Unlimited.