Fantasy Favorites Blog Tag
What is a celebration without a few games? We've already kicked off the hashtag game over on the other social media sites, and today I'd like to introduce you to the brand-new blog tag for this year!We’ve had lots of fun with these tags the past couple of years, so here’s a new one (though, you can feel free to to one of the old ones if you’d like. You can find them HERE and HERE.This year, I’m focusing on our favorites in fantasy. Feel free to grab these questions, answer them on your own site, and then keep the fun alive by tagging your blogging buddies!
Rules:Thank the blogger who tagged you.Include the graphic somewhere in your post.Answer the questions.Tag a few blogger friends – and let them know they’ve been taggedHave fun!What is your favorite fantasy book?Kicking this off with a super hard question to answer, of course. My FAVORITE fantasy book. How can I pick just one? Who thought UP these questions?Okay.I look at my shelves and I start to pick one, then another. I hug them close and know that the answer is "ALL OF THEM" and how can I choose just one? Then I give up and cry a little.But when I pick myself up off the floor, I know there can be only one. It's the one I am drawn back to time and again. It's the one that I will recommend most often, defend most ardently, and always be up for a good, long conversation about. Over on social media over the past 5 days I've talked a bit about various different favorite fantasy books... mostly trying to avoid being cliche and/or just using "LOTR" as my answer for EVERY QUESTION because that would be SO EASY.... but here on my blog, where it really counts, where I can talk about my favorites without any sort of character limit... there is only one ultimate favorite... and it is a clear, clear winner, far and away the story that stole my heart and never gave it back:
The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.I know that's cheating because it's more than one book, but it's my tag, so I can get away with it. Besides, Tolkien wanted LOTR to be all one book, so author's wishes prevail here.
What is your favorite fantasy movie or TV show (or both!)?
This one is a little easier. Favorite fantasy movie is Ladyhawke.Surprised?Well, I'd have said The Princess Bride, but Ladyhawke has more fantasy elements, so I think it fits for this question a bit better.Of course I also love The Lord of the Rings trilogy dearly, and the newer The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, as well as the Hobbit trilogy The Neverending Story and SO MANY OTHER awesome fantasy movies including How to Train Your Dragon (see end of post for related awesome giveaway going on now!) and Tangled as my animated favorites, most of the Marvel and DC movies (and I've got a whole post coming up later this month devoted to lesser-well-known favorite fantasy films) but... at the end of the day... no matter what my mood, no matter what other movies have captured my heart... this answer remains steadfast.
Ladyhawke
Favorite fantasy TV show is Grimm. Hands down, without question. **Disclaimer: Grimm is pretty dark and can be creepy, intense, scary, and overly graphic when it comes to violence... I don't necessarily recommend it, but it is my favorite fantasy TV show** I also love Merlin, but I haven't finished it yet... so I don't think I can count it as a favorite until I have done that... as I've heard it has a bummer of an ending.Who is your favorite fantasy hero/heroine?My favorite fantasy hero is probably Haplo from The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I don't talk about him much, because I don't happen across very many people who are familiar with this series, but Haplo is my all-time favorite. Which is saying something! I love that he kind of starts out as an anti-villain but over time he begins to realize more and more that he is NOT the hero he thought he was, and overcomes the lies he's been told and ultimately becomes a true hero.A few runners up would be Ben Holiday from Magic Kingdom for Sale: Sold, Eugenides from The Queen's Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, and Chrestomanci from the Chrestomanci Chronicles.My favorite fantasy heroine is Cimorene from The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. I love her wry sense of humor, her pragmatic personality, and her go-getter attitude. If she was a real person, we'd definitely be friends in real life.Runners up would be Eowyn from Lord of the Rings, Eilonwy from the Prydain Chronicles, and Hermione from Harry Potter.Who is your favorite fantasy side-kick?This one is tough, because I tend to be drawn to secondary characters more than main ones. Samwise Gamgee is definitely high on the list. I also love Luna Lovegood, Eustace Scrubb (after he turns into a dragon, of course), Fflewdder Fflam, Rowl, and many others.Who is your favorite fantasy villain? (the one you most love to hate?)
I'm going to have to go with Sycorax Cavendish from The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher. Of all the fantasy villains I've read, she is hands down the most shudder-worthy!What is your favorite fantasy sub-genre?Based on the books I own... epic is my favorite sub-genre. If it has quests and prophecies and magical weapons, dark lords and something about the end of the world.... WE WANTS IT, PRECIOUS!What is your favorite thing about fantasy?The characters.I love a lot of things about fantasy. But my FAVORITE thing is that by and large, across genres and age-levels, magic systems and unique worlds... fantasy characters are among some of the most real, well-written characters out there. They step off the page and steal my heart as they whisk me along on their various adventures.What is your favorite fantasy realm?Narnia.No contest.What is your favorite fantasy magic system?I tend to like the magic systems where the magic isn't really the focus. People just have it, but I don't need to know how or why or what-have-you about it. If the magic system becomes too much of the focus, I find that it detracts from the story and the characters. (Not always, Harry Potter is a notable exception). (And before anyone brings up Sanderson, I'm just gonna say this right now... his books are EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Too much world-building, not enough character-building).Sell me a fantasy book! Have you written a fantasy book? Give me your best pitch for it! Have you read an exceptionally great fantasy book recently? Convince me to make it my next read!I just recently finished So Sang the Dawn by Ann Marie Pavese and it was spectacular! I am planning on doing a formal review later, but for right now, this is one you definitely don't want to miss. I like massive books, but even I can admit that most of them could have been just as good or better if the author had pruned a couple thousand words or more. Not so with this book. The story and world and characters absolutely call for the book to be the size it is. The pacing is excellent throughout and the story never felt like it was lagging or "boring" anywhere. I also don't always love 1st person stories, but again, this story did it SO well, I kind of forgot it was in 1st person at times. Add in kidnapping, gladiators, an entire fantasy realm hidden in Antarctica, and people with the ability to turn into enormous magical lions with wings... and it all adds up to an awesome adventure.What are you waiting for?And that concludes this tag! If you like the look of this one, consider yourself tagged!
Speaking of fantasy favorites, one of my all-time favorite fantasy animated films is How To Train Your Dragon. It's about time for a re-watch... actually. And we are all SUPER excited about the new movie coming out this month! If you love this movie, you should definitely head over and check out this AWESOME giveaway of all the HTTYD-themed things! The Grand Prize is worth over $200 of amazing draconic items!
Here is a "clean" set of questions so you can grab them and use them on your own blog!What is your favorite fantasy book?What is your favorite fantasy movie or TV show (or both!)?Who is your favorite fantasy hero/heroine?Who is your favorite fantasy side-kick?Who is your favorite fantasy villain? (the one you most love to hate?)What is your favorite fantasy sub-genre?What is your favorite thing about fantasy?What is your favorite fantasy realm?What is your favorite fantasy magic system?Sell me a fantasy book! Have you written a fantasy book? Give me your best pitch for it! Have you read an exceptionally great fantasy book recently? Convince me to make it my next read!