Fantasy is a very diverse and expansive genre.There are so many subgenres within it that no one can seem to agree on how many different ones there are. The boundaries are so faded that any given book could be placed in several different categories. To add to the confusion, fantasy is often grouped with other genres such as science fiction and horror, which only blurs the boundaries even further. The problem with this is that it is possible for a reader to like one type of fantasy and not another; therefore, it is important that librarians know about the various kinds of fantasy and how they differ. This article will attempt to give an explanation of these themes. In the interest of simplicity I have chosen to use the categories of fantasy as they are outlined in Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults.
