A review by josiahdegraaf
A Short History of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn, Edward James
4.0
Decent little history that does a great job of detailing all the major works of fantasy over the past two hundred years. Their analysis on the development of fantasy, whether it be how modern fantasy inherently stems from Romanticism, how Tolkien and Lewis changed the course of fantasy, or how different sub-movements in fantasy impacted the course of a genre as a whole, was fantastic. These were my favorite parts of the book.
That being said, this book becomes less analytical and more "here is every fantasy book written in this era" as the book goes on. Some of this is understandable as more and more books are written each year. However, at a certain point, all the books ran together and in their quest to be comprehensive, the authors forgot to be meaningful in their selections.
Overall, I appreciated this book for what it was: a short but comprehensive history of fantasy. I would have preferred a work that was slightly less comprehensive but more analytical and broad in scope. But for what it was, it was a helpful book.
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Good).
That being said, this book becomes less analytical and more "here is every fantasy book written in this era" as the book goes on. Some of this is understandable as more and more books are written each year. However, at a certain point, all the books ran together and in their quest to be comprehensive, the authors forgot to be meaningful in their selections.
Overall, I appreciated this book for what it was: a short but comprehensive history of fantasy. I would have preferred a work that was slightly less comprehensive but more analytical and broad in scope. But for what it was, it was a helpful book.
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Good).