Let's Discuss: Fantasy vs. Fairy Tales

 

I'm back with my last topic idea! Lol. It was a quick run, I thought I had something with my third idea...but turns out, I already discussed that and my answer did not change at all! Lol! Today's topic is another genre comparison.

Fantasy vs. Fairy Tales

I forgot what prompted this topic. Whether it was a review or a BBH prompt, I can't remember. I just jotted it down at the time and when I came to write up blog posts, there was my note! Lol. I feel like the fantasy genre is such a big wide broad thing! There are soooo many books that can fit into what we would just call "fantasy."

You have things like High Fantasy, Sci-Fi/Fantasy (which really, is this just the two genres or more of a melded mesh?), Urban Fantasy, and likely more that I can't quite think of at this time. Then you have the fairy tale retellings or fairy tale-esque books! Books that aren't quite a fairy tale retelling, but have a nice blend of all the fairy tale elements we've come to know. Like it's a mix of a Cinderella and Snow White story than just one of the two!

While fairy tales do fit nicely into the wider Fantasy genre, I sometimes feel like they are a genre all on their own. I mean, most of us have grown up on fairy tales in some format, whether they be the original tales or Disney-ified ones, or just kiddy-ified versions of the true tales, I feel like we all know our basic ones. But for some reason, I've always liked putting fairy tale retellings or their likeness into their own genre. They just feel different even from your newer Fantasy read with magic and curses and royalty and all other matters of not modern day magic.

Like if I were to look at my favorite Fantasy read, Poison Study and hold it up to The Beauty and the Beast, I would find a vastly different set of worlds. Should they be in the same genre of Fantasy? Maybe, but again, I very much prefer to have fairy tales be separate from our new day Fantasy reads.

What's your opinion on this? Do you feel like fairy tale retellings or fairy tale inspired reads are just another branch off of Fantasy reads or do you feel like their kind of Fantasy makes them their own genre? They are the original Fantasy tales and I just feel like they have that different brand of magic that kind of makes them above the rest! Not to say they are better than other Fantasy reads, I just feel like they deserve their own special genre title.