Escape into Fantasy

I've been on a real reading jag for the past few days, and I'm not through yet.

I'd like to say I'm reading something very intellectual or digging deep into a personal Bible study, but that would be fibbing.

I've loved all kinds of fantasy stories since my childhood. I remember how wonderful it was when I discovered the Oz series when I was seven years old. I devoured them and was sorry when I finished all the volumes our library had. Before that I had read my way through the Thorton W. Burgess books--Reddy Fox, Old Granny Fox, Peter Rabbit, Grandfather Frog, Sammy Jay and all the other residents of the forest and meadow enchanted me. A few years later I read those books to my younger sisters and brother, to a younger cousin, and eventually to my children.

I read and enjoy many genres, but it is no surprise that I still like fantasy. It is the ultimate escapism. Perhaps I enjoy escape literature so much because I am basically very grounded in realism. And real life has the knowledge of a lot of unpleasant things. The good guys don't always win in this world. War and destruction are the incurable diseases of the human race. So, I treasure the good where I meet it, and take a vacation in fantasy land from time to time!

 Presently, I'm involved in one sci-fi type adventure in the book I am reading with my granddaughter. And I am deep in another so-called urban fantasy series on my own. When an author so excels at creating a fantasy version of our world that it sucks the reader right in; when you can feel like you are in a bitter cold winter forest when the sun is brightly shining outside your window; when there is tension and peril but you can be confident the heroine or hero will survive; then you know you have made a great escape!