I made an earlier post on this thread, which I've just re-read, and I'd like to modify that. I agreed with others that for me fantasy is escape. While that's why I read fantasy, I realized it's not why I write it.
For me, I spend so much time and effort constructing my fantasy world of Altearth, it is very real to me. Certainly as real as any other place I have never visited. I think my writing of fantasy is about a couple other things. One, of course, is to give purpose to all that world building. Only by constructing stories does Altearth actually come alive, and it deserves that much.
The other reason is the creation of specific peoples and cultures. I can't think of any other venue (except SF, of course) where the author can play around with beliefs, relationships, prejudice, gender, appearance, architecture, all of it; while at the same time being held to high standards of verisimilitude because our readers are demanding and discerning.
What a fun place to play!
For me, I spend so much time and effort constructing my fantasy world of Altearth, it is very real to me. Certainly as real as any other place I have never visited. I think my writing of fantasy is about a couple other things. One, of course, is to give purpose to all that world building. Only by constructing stories does Altearth actually come alive, and it deserves that much.
The other reason is the creation of specific peoples and cultures. I can't think of any other venue (except SF, of course) where the author can play around with beliefs, relationships, prejudice, gender, appearance, architecture, all of it; while at the same time being held to high standards of verisimilitude because our readers are demanding and discerning.
What a fun place to play!