Our five-part exploration of fantasy literature is now complete! Originally presented five years ago as a three-part exploration, I’ve gone through and completely revised and rewritten most of the series and greatly expanded on it. In this part, you’ll find short descriptions and examples of eighteen different subgenres of fantasy literature! This includes dark fantasy, grimdark fantasy, military fantasy, flintlock fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, gaslamp fantasy, and more! Below is a snippet of the introduction to this new essay, along with a link to the full piece:

One of the fascinating things about fantasy literature is how many different types of stories fall under this massive umbrella genre. Everything from elves and goblins in a medieval setting to witches and vampires in the modern day can be considered fantasy. This has led to a plethora of subgenres that help us communicate and identify what kind of fantasy a story is. The number of these is growing all the time, so it’s hard to even count them all. In this essay, we’ll take a closer look at some of the most enduring, popular, and interesting of these.

Click here for the full essay!

Or, if you want to start from the beginning and read through the whole series in order, you’ll want to head over to The History of Fantasy Literature.