Fantasy for Dummies

There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.
-- Thorin, The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

This week's Sunday Scribblings prompt is "Fantasy" and it seemed ironic, given that I'd just discovered the book shown to the left in a local used bookstore. I found it because I had some time to kill and I love to prowl through used bookstores to see what I can discover. I took the picture because I thought it was funny that someone would try to reduce Tolkien's rich and meticulously designed world into a Dummies book. (If the customer reviews at Amazon are any guide, the final result was less than, um, successful.)

If you're not familiar with the Dummies series, it's considered one of the most successful franchises in technical publishing. Initially, the series focused on computer related topics, such as database programming, Photoshop, web design, and the like. The series did so well that it was expanded to cover topics like bartending, chocolate, and even sex. (One shudders to think of the kind of person who would been seen at the Barnes & Noble checkout with a copy of Sex for Dummies.)

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there's a Dummies book on Middle Earth or that there's also one on C.S. Lewis and Narnia.

I think it's rather tragic that there are enough people out there who would rather read a book about fantasy novels rather than actually read the novels. To my mind, the best way to understand Tolkien's Middle Earth, Lewis's Narnia, or any other fantasy world is to sit down and experience the source material for yourself, e.g. read the actual books.

The amazing thing about fantasy (or any genre of fiction, frankly) is that, when done right, you don't question the way things work in the world of the story, you simply accept it because it makes sense given the characters and the way they react to their world. Through those characters, those people living through the trials they encounter through the course of the story, you share their experiences, their challenges, and their transformations (if any).

Fiction, regardless of genre, only works when it's believable, consistent, and driven by needs of the characters. It only works when you care about the people you're reading about. And you only care about characters you believe. Sure, there are "thud and blunder" confections meant to distract you for a time, but the really good titles, the ones you remember and reread are those that capture something about the essence of being (if the Elves in the audience will pardon the expression) human.

Fantasy is more than set dressing and good (as in excellent) fantasy novels go beyond swords and sorcery to discover what it means to be human in a world that includes elves, swords, and sorcery.

If you're a writer (or would like to become one), please remember that your goal is to tell a good story well. It takes a lot of work to construct a story. Tolkien invented mythologies and languages for each race Middle Earth. Jumping genres, it's said that Frank Herbert took twenty years to understand and finish the original story of Dune.

If you're a reader, you shouldn't look for shortcuts to understand the intention of the original author. If you would truly understand Middle Earth, don't start with a Dummies book. Start with The Hobbit and then continue with The Lord of the Rings. Draw your own conclusions from those works.

In the end, there is only one way to know what you'll find when you look for something...and that, my friends, is to look for yourself and to not rely on what someone else says is what you should find when you look.