Which do you prefer, high or low fantasy? Any recommendations for either?

My dude! I read the first 2 or 3 amulet books when I was in middle school, then I completely forgot the name. For the last 10-15 years, I’ve thought about it from time to time, but never figured out what it was called. You just mentioned it and showed a brief picture and now I’m gonna go and read them all. Thanks dude!

I think the "walk into a bookstore" bit is a bit misleading. Like yeah, all the High Fantasy stuff will be in the Fantasy section. But the thing about Low Fantasy is it often ends up in other sections of bookstores. Like Outlander, for example. Definitely Low Fantasy, but you're definitely going to find it in the Romance section of any bookstore as opposed to the Fantasy section.

While I think your definition for Low Fantasy is fine, I think there's a better term for that. Urban Fantasy. Fantasy stories set in the real world, but also with magic. Low Fantasy, in my experience, refers more to fantasy stories and settings where magic is rare. Low Fantasy stories can absolutely have their own unique worlds and highly fleshed out lore. The Gentleman Bastard books fall under this definition of Low Fantasy, as do the early books of the Song of Ice and Fire, and the Queen's Thief books.

As someone who is returning to the genre as an adult, these videos are invaluable. Thanks for your hard work!

Thank you! I'd never even heard of "high" vs "low" fantasy until I found Booktube. Now, if you could just explain magical realism!

Would love the see the subgenre ultimate guide video!!! Cant wait for that!

Another great video - I think your editing is getting even better (and I already thought it was the best on booktube)

Great video, I’ve had the definition wrong . I always thought it was about the magic system. High fantasy was fantasy where the magic is “endless” or you can do so much with it (like HP, WoT etc). And low fantasy was when there was little magic

These videos are so damn good, keep em coming!

Great video today! Thank you for an easy place to point all my friends and family for a quick, intelligent way of organizing all this info!

What you’re calling low fantasy is also called urban fantasy. I read a mix of types. What are my favorites? How much time do you have? 😁 I don’t care what you call it, I just want to read good stories! 😊

wow such a short and concise video. i was surprised when it ended early hahah. looking forward to more fantasy videos!

I absolutely adore the high fantasy genre so much

I think almost all the fantasy books I've read end up being high fantasy. Exploring the history and lore of the world is just as fun as the story itself to me.

This was so helpful! You have no idea how much I needed this for my reviews lol.

Amazing video!!! I never new the actual distinction and definitions!!!

This was super useful Jay! Thank you! I recently just finished the Dresden Files stories and had no idea it was "low fantasy" until your wonderful video.

Solid video - very good and enjoyable explanations. I think i will be adding you channel to my regular watch list as I am polishing up a multi novel series of science fiction fantasy that i hope to publish in a couple years.

Great video, as usual! Thanks for explaining the distinction, I was never quite sure what the difference was.

I've always wondered this! what a great video!

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant also takes place on both Earth and another land. I believe it's definitely high fantasy though. This series is seldomly talked about but I thought it was great and I really enjoyed the first two trilogies in the series. Thanks for the video!

Sword & Sorcery can be in secondary or primary world, and is not epic (coined by Fritz Leiber in the 60s). It’s good to remark that the term “High Fantasy” was coined by Lloyd Alexander in 1971.

Hey, can you please provide me link to the concept art work picture of The Shire you used in this video

Thanks for the explanation! 👍🏻

I love them all! Great video!

Interesting! I've never heard of this distinction before, is it newer? Fantasy (all sub genres) has been my go to genre for decades. But I have always called 'Low Fantasy' by 'Urban Fantasy'. Maybe my categorization is just outdated? Or is it still a separate sub genre?

This video makes me wonder how Medium Fantasy would be like

I think the Dresden Files still counts as High Fantasy because there's still a sense of tropes and escapism. The magic is described as magic, wizards are called wizards and there just isn't as much of a sense of realism as you'd expect to see in low fantasy.

Thank you for this presentation! Regarding Portal Fantasy I have a question: What do you think which are the oldest stories/novels that belong to this genre?

I NEED TO KNOW WHERE YOU GET THESE SICK FANTASY PJOTO 4 UR BACKGROUND

I just got a kindle and this video was perfect for me. Thank you!

Did you see there's a Stormlight Archive tabletop RPG coming out soon? Looks great. Thanks for the clarification in your video. I hadn't heard of Portal Fantasy before. Very nicely done. Thank you!

Very good job explaining the difference between these genres.

If my dad likes Rick Riordan an Joseph Delaney books, is it low or high fantasy? And which other books would you recommend that are similar to those?

You mention Harry Potter and Neverwhere as examples of low fantasy, but to me they feel more like portal fantasy. Hogwarts (and other Wizarding World locations, like Diagon Alley) and London Below may not be completely separate magical worlds, the way Narnia or Oz are, but I think they feel and function in much the same way.

Low Fantasy suggestions: Alex Verus by Benedict Jacka - Similar to Dresden in style and feel but takes place in England His Ragged Company by Rance D. Denton - A self pub fantasy western that takes place in Texas The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell - Honestly, I'm not sure if this is best categorized as low fantasy or historical fiction. So I usually call it low historical fantasy.

Thanks for confirming my original research on what my latest writing project is (low fantasy). I was pretty certain after doing Google, but this confirms it.

Dude, where do you find all of your epic book related background pics?

I don't know if I'd say the magic is low in A Song of Ice and Fire. It's definitely subtle and not at the forefront, but if you compare performances of magic to something similar like Lord of the Rings, you'll see clear displays of magic that happen far more often than in Lord of the Rings. Within Lord of the Rings, most of the magic is performed by the Wizards, mainly, Gandalf. Aside from the Balrog, Sauron's eye, the Witch King, Galadriel, and depending on what you consider magic there are a few other things, like Trolls turning to stone, Tom Bombadil, (Also things happen differently in the books than in the show, so Arwen's river scene, the ghost army of the oathbreakers, Tree Ents, and nazgul. Of course, the ring itself is a magical item that Frodo and Sam use along with golem. The fact that I can list most of the magical occurrences within the series of the Lord of the Rings compared to a story like Harry Potter where most scenes contain something magical says something about the level of magic within the world. Now within a Song of Ice and Fire, the magic is far more subtle and happens mostly in the background in clues and hints, but somethings are more blatant. Like the Red Priests bringing people back from the dead along with ice zombies. But you also have the weirwood where greenseers can see through them, at least rumored to be able to. Then there's the Dragons. The Wall itself is a form of magic that prevents things from walking through it. The children of the forest have some weird magic. Then you have the gods who can do unexplained things. Obviously, R'hllor being the most prominent with magic, but then there's others like the Drown God who is possibly some Eldritch diety, the god of many faces, and many others that may or may not have power. Then you have a lot of small things like the Candles, the Warlocks of Qaurth, whatever is going on in Valeryia, Ashaii, and tons of other places mentioned, like the city with the grease black stone that was made from a meteor that fell from the sky and everyone who goes into the city vanishes. Then there's the one blood witch or magi or whatever her name is that tricks Dany into killing her unborn child and taking the soul out of Khal Drogo. Then there's Quaeth or whatever her name is and her abilities which she probably uses a candle to enter people's dreams and talk to people miles away. Then there's the Shadowlands. Not to mention skin changers and alchemy. And the magical horns, the one we see in a book is rumored to control dragons and whoever blows it dies. There's so much magic within A Song of Ice and Fire, but it's so subtle hidden beneath the political drama that goes on. It's definitely more of a soft magic system compared with other systems like in DnD that have more rigid rules. Although, it could be a hard magic system disguised as a soft magic system, but without knowing the rules, we have to use Brandon Sanderson's system and consider it a softer magic system. But either way, it's got a deep magical world that's hidden within the politics and war.

Would you class Hxh as high low fantasy?

I think 2 good examples as to where High and Low Fantasy mix are Wheel of Time and Broken Earth where it is Earth, however cataclysm or vast amounts of time/turnings of the wheel have happened. Also, I'd say they are both epic in scale as it seems both stories focus on potential world-ending situations, possibly more so WoT. One interesting example of Low Fantasy with Epic scale is the Dresden Files. Always Low fantasy, happening in today's Earth (and other magical realms), but goes from low scale to epic scale across the series. In any case, thanks for the video, and Happy Holidays!

Your body is teleporting all across the screen… and I’m here for it. 👍

I'm actually doing both of them at the same time, I wrote plenty material over the years but ever since 2012 when I took it upon myself to write my first work in English I revisited my older stuff and reworked them with my better understanding of writing, right now, working on three projects at the same time, a low fantasy happening on a slightly alternative history earth, a trilogy I had finished years ago but this version of it is only bearing the skeleton of the old one, a high fantasy on an original world of my own, still has the Tolkien tropes but I really drove my own version of them for it and plenty other stuff I had to create, for now I have two stories developing a thousand years apart and I wish to put together a third but the current two are burning through a lot of my idea making capacity as they are, and a semi cyberpunk dystopian Sci fi... I did a trilogy space adventure before this but to test myself I dug myself this hole I had never tried before, a crime trilogy with politics... it either makes me a better writer or it will be a mess... time will tell... new to the channel but I learned plenty even this early. Thank you for the hard work sempai... it's quality material 👌👏🙌💯❤

When will you read Doors of Stone?

I am new to fantasy. I came from science fiction where there was a different distinction between hard and soft science fiction. I read the Nightwatch series by Sergei Lukyanenko who writes sci-fi as well but the low fantasy aspect of the moral complexities of having modern day vampires and magicians as a metaphor for finding morality in a post Soviet Union was interesting to me. Then I recommend the book Hyperion to someone because of the lyrical writing and story within a story method. That person recommended Name of the Wind and my world changed, which is how I found your videos as well. Turns out you don't have to have a relatable setting to tell a compelling story with characters that have depth. Just finished the second Mistborn book because of your recommendation. So thank you for that.

what about the middle?

Would fallout be considered low or high fantasy?

Your art choices are always so fitting. I have spend 2 days trying to find the art of King Arthur pulling the sword at 0:17 and I my efforts have amounted to nothing.

What about discworld? In my opinion I think maybe it depends from book to book? There are plenty of books that are of epic scale. But then there are also books that care more about mundane topics?

I’ve been reading all kinds of fantasy books for a while but I just learned the distinction earlier this year. Great video! I love your transitions 😍

I read both, but my favorite is high fantasy!💜

where does KKC fall into the mix? It's in its own world with its own magic yet does not have anywhere near the number of characters that, say, the Stormlight Archive.

Holy crap thank you for doing this video! I've had sooooo many people insist that high fantasy is high only because it's epic. Yeah things like WOT and Shannara can get confusing but the general idea of high and low is still pretty specific

Really looking for a medieval book where there's magic and realism combined (like swords don't just cut through plate armor and you'd have to worry about heat transfer through a shield if someone threw fire at you).

I have never heard this concept categorized like this. And it completely falls apart when you back away from books and look at video game examples, which are frequently spread between both of your categories due to the way games are structured in comparison to books or movies. Heck, Final Fantasy 6 is a 30 year old game and it checks near every bullet point you gave for both categories.

I get the feeling that a fair number of people confuse low vs high fantasy with low vs high magic. Hard to blame them tbh

Listened to an entire video about the difference between low fantasy and high fantasy. Got explanations, but zero definitions.

Now I wonder what my story fall under. It take place on a different world. Don't got to many fantasy elements though

please make a sub genre video. i’m writing a book and don’t even know what genre it is

I'm on the side of high fantasy. I like exploring the open world where magic, gods, people and other races are bound.😊

High fantasy is my favorite and what I am writing but I like both.

would recommend "The Priory of the Orange Tree" for high fantasy

This would have been accurate... in the 60s. Semantic drift of the terms means that low fantasy in particular isn't at all what you are describing, and the changes were well in place by the 80s, where low fantasy was usually grubby or "realistic" fantasy in a secondary world.

Have you ever read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson? Two trilogies and a recently completed quadrology. The first book was published in 1978 I believe. Great stuff, amazing characters, and some serious world building.

I don't think that Harry Potter is simply low fantasy. It's somewhere between the lines of low fantasy and high fantasy. Hear me out : Yes, it is set in the real world like low fantasy series but it doesn't scatter magical and fantastical elements randomly here and there. It says the magic exists in our world all along and it's very real but people without magical powers (aka Muggles) don't know it or fear it if they somehow encounter it. So, a whole magical society and magic is concealed by the joint efforts of magical and non-magical governments (as it is first explained in the first chapter of The Half-Blood Prince. It's actually one of the main storylines of Fantastic Beasts series, especially the first one). There aren't random fantasy tropes and magic scattered in Harry Potter, there is a whole magical community the history of which goes back centuries ago all over the world. They have their own traditions, own magical laws and rules, own governments, own prisons and education/healthcare systems. They have their own history and historians, their own legends (like Deathly Hallows), wizarding battles and so on. Well, if you look at this way and for example take the very same story from London and put it in a secondary imaginary world like Middle-Earth, Harry Potter is easily high fantasy in my opinion. The fact that J.K. Rowling never fully explored and explained the background of the Wizarding World in the books shouldn't mean Harry Potter is simply a low fantasy/urban fantasy series. She definitely hinted that the roots of the magical setting goes way back and way deeper. She also showed this to us in the books through wizarding legends like The Hallows or many important dates about wizarding history. Yes, it is a low fantasy if you just look at the setting being in our real world but it's in the borders of high fantasy if you consider the background of the wizarding community. And I think that what makes Harry Potter so unique compared to other modern fantasy series. It's both loved by children and adults at the same time because it's both a coming of age story of an orphan boy with lots of fun and exciting adventures with his friends in a setting not so complex and intimidating for children audience and it also has many back stories with solid character arcs and world building elements that appeal more to adult readers. Honestly I don't think many children really care about the political intrigues around/between The Ministry of Magic and The Order of the Phoenix in books 5, 6 and 7 or the wizarding lore given in the later books beginning with book 4.

The naming should be: Fairytales - starting on or interacting with Earth f.e. Potter,Dawn of..., war of flouwers, Alice in wonderland, Elias( Troja+Odisee), Darktower, Lovecraft Not to convouse with children storys Phantasy - an other world with or without magic As The Hobbit+LoR( one of the first of its kind), Soi&f, D&D Your definition is more of a low/hight/epic magic. On that ship, i am with you. Low - no or spares magic High - magic is commen Epic - magic is used on world alltering levels WoT f.e. starts as a low magic Phantasy and ends as epic magic Fariytale.

What would be "mid fantasy?"

Not sure where Terry Brooks fits into this. The Magic Kingdom series flicks back and for, but Shannara I don't think I could class as low but technically it is.

Lol I had no idea how to differentiate high from epic fantasy, thanks

Hey Jay! I'm genuinely curious to know who your favorite female fantasy/sci-fi authors are. I really want to start reading more female authors in these genres & thought you'd be the person to ask! Maybe a video about it too if there's enough to talk about? :))) Thanks!

I still do not now if my book series is high or low fantasy...

I like both and by your takes The First Law and all are High Fantasy but not epic. There are other genres and sub categories for fantasy but I like to think of it as biology as in the animal kingdom (low) and the plant kingdom (high) and each has their own versions of sub genres such as grimdark.

What if a fantasy world looks like our world, but with a different race with modern technology?

Do you know of a book that is an epic fantasy with a “magic system” but isn’t referred to as magic

We also can read wikipedia. Some of us can even read history of edit of this wikipedia article. TL\DR: wikipedia is wrong. LotR is a High fantasy, Game of Thrones is a Low fantasy (at the beginning at least).

If I remember correctly the lord of the rings is placed in an earth ages before our world was built soo low fantasy? I dunno 🤣🤣

I want non-epic high fantasy tbh

I would argue Harry Potter is portal fantasy more than low fantasy. Like it starts on Earth, and technically stays on Earth, but it all happens on a hidden subculture that's isolated from our world and you have to access it through magical places or objects.

You’re adding to your definition of High Fantasy concepts like Hard Magic as a requirement (which is straight up wrong), and I’m surprised there’s no mention of how High and Low fantasy can both be High and Low magic. Example: LOTR is High Fantasy but Low Magic with a Soft Magic system, whereas something like DC comics is “Low Fantasy” by your definition because technically is based around Earth, but is High Magic with several Hard and Soft Magic systems. You can’t generalize like this or you simply sound wrong. High and Low Fantasy can be High Magic or Low Magic, with either Hard systems, Soft systems, or both.

Asking out of curiosity - what is your view on fan fiction? Have you ever read one? If so, of which book? Did you like it? I am personally enchanted with Harry Potter fan fiction community, as it have HUGE collection that enables you to choose different topics - from comedy through adventure to drama. There are even few very well written crossovers. And, honestly, a few of authors can go hand in hand with Patrick Rothfuss in my opinion. I just think the community is very underestimated. If you would like some recommendation, please feel free to let me know (although, I am sure many people on subreddit r/hpfanfiction would be very glad to help you too)

Great vid but I disagree with the distinction that low fantasy takes place on this earth while high on another. Could you not create a series set in this world based on true history but twist the story to include a massive amount of fantasy elements such as dragons/made up races/mythical beings/a lot of magic with hard magic systems, and argue that it's "high" fantasy due to having a high level of fantasy elements implemented within the plot and world? While you could also create a world that functions almost exactly the same as this one with a made up setting, only sprinkle a couple of miniscule pieces of magic throughout, and argue it's "low" fantasy due to the low amount of fantasy elements involved. I guess you could say being set in a fictional world that isn't this earth is a good argument for it being high fantasy, because in that sense it relates more to the literal meaning of "fantasy", but when referring to books that make up what we know as the 'fantasy genre' as a whole, and trying to categorise them, within the subgenres "high fantasy" and "low fantasy", it makes more sense, to me personally at least, to use those terms to refer the amount of commonly used fantasy elements known to the genre and how heavily they are used.

I prefer High fantasy for sure but will read low fantasy. I adore portal fantasies. Another good portal fantasy is Lilith by George McDonald. I’m reading it right now and it’s interesting. His writing inspired C.S. lewis.

Is pokemon High fantasy or low fantasy?

Ngl, always get confused with this stuff Because always thought the axis was about the commonality of magic so you could get High fantasy on Earth and Low fantasy out of it

Jay, have you heard Low Fantasy categorized as Urban Fantasy? Urban is not a perfect descriptor, but prior to watching KZfaq videos I often heard the term Urban Fantasy and not Low Fantasy. Are these two one in the same? Maybe you an explain in a future video? Looking forward to your next video.

👏👌 excellent ❤

Summary: Low Fantasy - Harry Potter High Fantasy - Brandon Sanderson

There is also antiheroes. The best example is the Elric series by michael Moorcock

Is there an example of a fantasy that happens before written history? I mean, this could be interesting, between the first human and the begining of the neolithic period there is at least 80.000 years, maby more. I know that theoretically the events of wheel of time happened both in the future as in the part, so I would say that it doesn't count

What do you call a story that takes place on another earthlike planet, with different geography, different cultures, but has no magic or supernatural elements whatsoever?

I once read that tolkein tried hard not to make his lotr books high fantasy

I was literally reading a Wikipedia page about this just now lol

For me the distinction is pretty clear: low fantasy books are the ones I read in between high fantasy books to give myself a break 😆

Could we argue that Kingkiller maybe isn’t Epic fantasy based on what we’ve seen so far? While Kvothe promises adventure on a grand scale setting up the framed story, so far the story has mostly revealed these claims to be exaggerated, and Kvothe has mostly told a very personal story.

What’s going on with your audio?

You try to explain that low fantasy is on earth en that there is little to no magic in the world but i gotta disagree with Dresden Files. For me its the exact same reason why you put Conan the Barbarian in High Fantasy and not in Low. This also applies to Dresden Files for me.

My preferred sub genre is high fantasy with hard magic if possible and a easy to follow plot. I hate books like Asoiaf that have no/many protagonists who's goals conflict and are complete enemies. now this preference coincides with some specific author so well I find reading hard.

my problem is I LOVED the Hobbit, LOTR, Narnia, Camulod Chronicles (which is probably more in the realm of historical than fantasy, but it deals in Arthurian legends) and Never Ending Story... as much as I LOVED Dresden and Potter.... But when I try to explore new titles in either genre I lost interest incredibly fast. I TRIED to like the game of thrones novels. bought the entire set... and barely made it past chapter seven. and for some reason that's the magic number for me. if a story hasn't picked up pace or made me care about the characters or done SOMETHING hook my attention the odds of me finishing that book are absolute zero. but when it comes to high fantasy the standard is even higher. i rarely make it past the first chapter. Half the time all i see is someone trying to ride on coattails or someone who published fifty years worth of daydreams with way too many characters, way too many details, no discernable plot or goal. i've always had a short attention span. but that's not due to a chemical imbalance in my brain. it's because the content is boring as hell and I would rather be doing something else with my time. i have no trouble reading history books, biographies, journals, memoirs or chronicles. but i am incredibly picky to the point where i had to force myself to STOP buying books all together. i have an entire room full of books i started and couldn't finish, all different fiction genres. i only keep them around because my library has a trade in option... you have to leave a book before you take a book... or bookS.. so they're worth something at least. the whole reason i'm here was in the hopes of finding something new and interesting. instead all i found was titles i've already read or don't want to read. not your fault of course.... i'm looking for something that may not even exist. yet?

Ah I had a totally different definition :P