Ahhh, escapism at its finest.

An Argument for Fantasy: I must first say that I enjoy being entertained, and that is the first thing necessary to enjoy fantasy. Some authors (purposefully or otherwise) incorporate inner meanings to stories; political, social, or moral commentaries that may enhance or detract from the reading experience. However, the great works of this genre (and I admit, I haven't read many of them) are for one purpose and one purpose alone: to excite readers and introduce them to other worlds filled with interesting, compelling characters that suck you into their adventures. As the master of fantasy once said: "to please readers was my main object." If you don't know who the master is, you shall see. Anyway, I read fantasy books to be transported to other realms where magic is real, where dragons roam the lands, where dark lords and evil empresses seek total domination, and where heroes rise and fight. Not all fantasy takes place in other worlds or dimensions; some occur in our world, and in our time. Some involve elves, dwarves, nyads, goblins, dragons, trolls, or just really evil men. Whatever the cast of character include, the thing that makes them appealing is that they're human (-chuckle- when I say 'human' I obviously don't mean human beings per say). The characters that I enjoy the most have the most thoughts, feelings, desires, confusions, fears, etc. that I myself have.
The second reason is the ever-present battle between good and evil. I am a big Star Wars fan for this very reason, and it thrills my soul when the villian confronts the hero. It is, in my opinion, a microcosm of the spiritual warfare that constantly takes place on the battlefield we call Earth. Hell's angels against Heaven's, with our very souls as the spoils of this particular war.
The final reason (and this is for the sake of brevity, I could go on for hours) is because I love to read and fantasy gives me an excellent excuse to read.

Of course, when talking about the genre of fantasy, the first name that must be mentioned is that of J. R. R. Tolkien, the inventor of the modern realm we know as fantasy. Beginning with The Hobbit and continuing with "the greatest novel of the twentieth century," The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien has swept readers away with his remarkable imagination and masterful composition of the story of a single ring and the adventures that surrounded it. Tolkien's invention of several languages, a whole mythology and history of Middle Earth, and appealing characters is what seperates LOTR from the rest. The action is breathtaking, the poetry scintillating, the descriptions fascinating, and the plot as complex as you could want. What else can be said besides Read This Book!

The next author is still writing his series, and seems to be nowhere near the end, despite 9 books of around 700 pages each. The author is Robert Jordan, and the series is The Wheel of Time. Some Tolkien fans claim that Jordan's books are rip-offs of The Lord of the Rings, but I think that Jordan stands apart from Tolkien in the creation of his world. True, there are some cases you can make concerning the characters: I find elements of Gandalf and Galadriel in Moiraine Sedai; Treebeard in Loial; perhaps a combo of Frodo and Gandalf in Rand al'Thor; a little of Pippen in Mat Cauthon; and probably the most obvious example is the similarity between Gollum and Padain Fain. So, the characters began as distant derivations of Tolkien's cast, but I would argue that they have become their own entities as the story progresses. The Trollocs remind me of the Orcs of Mordor (or even the trolls, combine the two words and you get troll-orc), and the Mydraal bring to mind the Black Riders or Nazgul, and the similarity between Shai'tan and Sauron are peculiarly close. But the actual events and locales are different enough to merit a quality story apart from Tolkien's epic. Since Tolkien is the standard by which all other fantasy books are measured, it is inevitable that there will be some crossover. Jordan's series, however, deserves to be placed among the greats.
I do agree that his description does become tedious at times, and that he needs to wrap up some loose ends and get on with the story itself.

I think that most older readers will agree with my next inclusion of C. S. Lewis' classic series The Chronicles of Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe introduces us to four children who stumble upon a whole new world called Narnia. For those who have read the books, Lewis draws an analogy between the sacrifice of Aslan, the Noble Lion, and the death of Jesus Christ to save sinners from damnation. Some may argue that this deserves the second spot behind Tolkien, since it has remained, like LOTR, remarkably popular over the years, and is still a favorite of both children's lit and fantasy fans. I shall concede that it is a better story; but I would venture that WOT is a better work of fantasy. That being said, Narnia is still very good, despite being written for a young audience. The other five books flesh out the story, as people from our world continue to travel to Narnia to intervene in the magical realm. From the creation to the destruction, Lewis keeps our attention as we hurry to see what will happen next. Unlike some other Christian allegories, Lewis avoids being heavy-handed and preachy, subtly impacting the reader with the full import of Christ's sacrifice, and His continual guidence and protection. Though I must say that my favorite book is Prince Caspian, I really enjoy how Clive Staples wraps up his series in The Last Battle. All in all, these books are fit to read to a five-year-old or a ninety-five-year-old.

I would be amiss to leave out a Arthur adaptation when composing my list of great fantasy. The books I like the best are the two by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy, The Forever King and The Broken Sword. The trick is to make it different. Arthur spin-offs are perhaps the most popular of all fantasy genres, and the difficult thing is to make it new and attractive. The Forever King has a completely different twist, with a modern day setting, an evil genius who holds the key to immortality, and an ex-FBI agent haunted by his failures. It deals less with the Lancelot/Gwenevere scandal than with the Holy Quest of Galahad. The Broken Sword continues the story, though this adventure involves Merlin more, and includes some sorcery. Definitely a couple to read.

Given the immense popularity of the books and the recent release of the filmed version, I feel constrained to comment on J. K. Rowling's series Harry Potter. I must first say I have read all four books and own two, and they are enchanting. There has been, of course, much controversy over the concept of a school of witchcraft and sorcery, and I must agree; this is not for kids who are gullible to magic and that sort of thing, which is the only real problem I have with Rowling. She has marketed these novels as being for kids. Now, I am in my twenties (barely), and I have been exposed to fantasy for about a decade, so I can distinguish fact from fantasy. A child who believes in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny (if you still do, I hate to break it to you but, well, they're dead) cannot obviously be trusted not realize that these are fictional tales. That being said, I do enjoy the books. They are fun, light-hearted (mostly, though the latest one ended on a downer) and should provide much-needed escape from reality for young adults and up. On a side note, Eberts should be shot for giving Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone a better grade than LOTR:FOTR.