The appeal of fantasy is the limitlessness of the abstract. Truly, the only limitation of an abstract world is sheer depth of human imagination. If you can think it, it comes to life. Fantasy brings to life anything from the depths of your wildest dreams.

Jason Muckley

I love good fantasy. Particularly, one of my favorite genres of fantasy is science-fiction fantasy. A lot of people don’t realize that Star Wars is more fantasy than science fiction. Some of my favorite books consist of the fantastic worlds created by the greatest literary minds: The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Dune, The Martian Chronicles, A Wrinkle in Time, Thrawn and so many others.

These authors showed us something in their imagination that oftentimes readers had never even thought about in the past. Our minds and thoughts are powerful things. We can use it to conjure up new solar systems and galaxies and worlds that are far different from the one we now inhabit. While fantasy can be completely abstract and unrelated to any person’s experience to life on earth, at the same time, it can start conversations about important questions that we grapple with in this reality.

Reaching towards new worlds and new imaginary places not yet discovered is the perfect way to “exercise” the brain. It can be hard work and it takes time to venture to the deep places, but what you might discover could prove to be invaluable. Any time and mental resources you allot to this task, will not prove fruitless. Learning to think and create this way, will lead to some wonderful new stories to inspire those who come after you.

– Jason