The Magic We Need: Guest Post by Alison Levy

What is it about fantasy books that draws in such a diversity of readers? Fans of the fantasy genre come in a surprisingly wide range of ages, genders, and backgrounds. Fantasy has such broad appeal that even books intended for young readers are readily consumed by adults. While I’m sure there are many reasons for fantasy’s popularity, I suspect that one reason lies in the genre’s power to heal our emotional wounds.

Regardless of what form trauma has taken in our lives, it’s effects can remain long after the causal event has passed. The fire may be out, the ashes may be cleared away, but the scent of smoke will linger in the air, a faint but undeniable reminder of the danger we survived; every time we catch a whiff of it, our minds return to the flames. The people who tell us to “just get over it” miss the point. We don’t dwell on our past. Our past haunts us. It clings to us, follows us, jumps out of the shadows when we’re least prepared and demands acknowledgement. The traumatic wound, however old, is always there and sometimes it still bleeds. 

So what makes fantasy in particular so effective at healing these invisible wounds? After all, any book can provide a temporary escape from reality. Just open the cover, dive into the words, and you find yourself transported through time and space into a whole new life! But while there are a great many spectacular books out there that may win awards and become best sellers, many readers nevertheless find them lacking. Most modern fiction is set in the present and revolves around ordinary people living relatable lives. The very fact that the characters are so grounded in reality makes us shy away. We’re already coping with our own day-to-day issues so reading about someone else’s holds no joy for us. This character is navigating political intrigue? The world we live in is such a battlefield of politics that we can feel queasy just reading headlines. That character is coping with family drama? We have been doing that all our lives and have no desire to relive it during our down time. When what’s printed on the page is too familiar, it can poke the trauma wound and even when the book is wonderfully written, it can aggravate our pain.

Fantasy is different. Open a fantasy book and it not only transports us away from home, it takes us out of the world entirely. Suddenly, we’re in a distant realm full of sorcery, inhuman societies, and epic quests. Even a fantasy story set in the world we know feels foreign and full of mystic wonder. Fantasy characters feel relatable in their thoughts and emotions but their daily lives are so far removed from anything we’ve experienced that our trauma wound remains untouched. There can, and often are, elements of political intrigue and family drama but these are woven into the plot as part of a fairy tale, altered and dressed up to fit the fantastical setting so that while they may reflect aspects our lives, they do not feel overly familiar. Reading fantasy whisks us away from reality, away from the triggers that reopen our wounds, and lets us plunge into a story free from the haunting presence of our past. Fantasy is a safe space.

Separation from reality not only makes fantasy appealing, it’s also the source of its healing power. First and possibly foremost, the time we spend in the safe space of a fantasy book is time disconnected from real-world pain. We’ve all been told that the more we pick at a scab, the longer it will take to heal. Similarly, taking break from ruminating on our trauma wounds provides valuable anxiety relief. Four hundred pages of high adventure or magic academia may take only a few hours to read but that’s a few hours spent without the weight of our emotional baggage. Truly, a few hours of rest is magic unto itself.

Secondly, fantasy can heal through empowerment. Trauma often leaves us with a sense of being vulnerable—we felt powerless to prevent the trauma when it occurred and thereafter we feel powerless to break its hold on us. Even after years of hard work and progress, trauma can still loom in the recesses of our minds, ready at a moment’s notice to drag us back into a state of helplessness. The fantasy genre is famous for using “the hero’s journey,” wherein the main character undergoes a transformative adventure. By the end of the journey, they have gained agency over their life, giving them the power to change or escape the conditions that have hindered them. For those of us who have longed to overcome our past, being a part of the hero’s success is empowering and may inspire us to explore new avenues in improving our daily lives.

Lastly, fantasy books can provide trauma survivors something they desperately need—validation. Too often, we’re told that we have exaggerated our pain, that isn’t a big deal. While fantasy is the genre of impossibility, many stories involve parallels to real-life issues. Connecting to a character who has experienced trauma and watching them toil under the weight of it tells the reader that their own struggle is real and valid. Few things are so healing as feeling seen.

Reading a book of any genre can be an immersive adventure but fantasy has a power all its own. Whether a saga of sword and sorcery or an urban fairy tale, fantasy carries us away from our past, away from our pain, away from ourselves, and gives us the magic we all need: rest, strength, and truth. And that is medicine to heal any wound.

Alison Levy has been writing since childhood as a means of coping with undiagnosed anxiety and ADHD. She earned a BA in Anthropology from the University of Virginia and moved to the Washington D.C. area after graduating. Two years later, she moved to Pennsylvania where she attended the University of Pittsburgh Law School and met her future husband. She is currently a stay-at-home mom and lives with her husband and son in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

Find out more on her website.

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