High fantasy
Also known as Epic fantasy · Secondary-world fantasy
High fantasy is set in a completely invented world, with its own history, geography and rules, rather than in our own.
The key thing is the made-up world. High fantasy takes place somewhere that isn’t Earth and isn’t connected to it, with its own maps, languages, religions and history. Low fantasy brings magic into a version of our world, and portal fantasy has a character travel from one to the other.
People use high fantasy and epic fantasy almost interchangeably, though “epic” usually hints at the scale: the fate of the world at stake, lots of point-of-view characters, several books, appendices, and a map at the front.
It’s also the kind of book that asks the most of your memory. A long high fantasy series can have hundreds of named characters, noble houses, cities and factions spread over thousands of pages and several years of releases. No wonder readers keep a wiki open, and no wonder looking up a name without getting spoiled is such a pain.
In BookBubble
This is exactly the kind of book BookBubble’s wiki was made for. Look up a name, a house or a place and you’ll only see what the book has told you up to the chapter you’ve reached.
High fantasy: common questions
What is the difference between high fantasy and low fantasy?
High fantasy is set in a completely invented world. Low fantasy puts magic into a version of our own world.
Does high fantasy have to be long?
No, though it usually is. The label is about the setting, not the length. It just tends to take a lot of pages to build a whole world.