Evaluating+Modern+Fantasy

What should you take into consideration when Evaluating Modern Fantasy?
Consistency is important in modern fantasy. The entire place is often not consistent, such as in Alice in Wonderland, but there is always an element of believable consistency, either in place or person. In Alice, she is the constant, her reactions fit her personality as she progresses from one nonsensical situation to another. The author writes the characters so that the reader feels connected somehow: perhaps with affection, dislike, irritation, pity, respect or compassion. The important point is that the reader becomes emotionally invested in the character(s) as the story progresses, the reader wants to know what happens next. If a society is described it must be maintained. In //The Hobbit// we know what Bilbo Baggins is alluding to when he mentions going home, and it is still there when he finally makes it back. It is his deference to his culture of welcoming visitors that gets him in trouble in the first place – a cultural aside that gives the reader a little more understanding.

The style of the writer is also important. Descriptions are necessary but much can be left to the reader’s imagination and they need not be ponderous. Lois Lowry describes characters and places very well, almost poetically, and she quickly gives the reader a sense of things without verbosity. Describing an overly fastidious dream-giver in the book //Gossamer//, she tells us that Strapping is, “…an orderly sort of fellow, the kind who kept track of things, liked labels and lists and appreciated cleanliness.” From this single sentence we know just what sort of a character Strapping is!

Above all the reader must be able to imagine a different existence. A place where things are not always what they seem.