Fantasy. The word alone conjures images of dragons, glowing swords, and possibly a very tired girl with a Chosen One complex. But fantasy isn’t just one big bubbling cauldron of magic and medieval cosplay—it’s a sprawling kingdom with many, many districts, each more enchantingly chaotic than the last.
Some are all ancient prophecy and dramatic cloaks. Others involve cursed coffee shops, murder horses, or enchanted goats who judge your life choices. Fantasy is a genre with range.
And yet, when someone asks “What kind of fantasy do you write?” there’s a moment of internal panic. Because “fantasy” covers everything from The Lord of the Rings to Legends & Lattes, and I promise you, those are not the same brunch.
So let’s break it down.
Today’s post isn’t just a genre breakdown. It’s a literary safari through the wild terrain of eleven major fantasy subgenres, complete with:
- Clear, sarcastic definitions
- Tropes you didn’t know you were obsessed with
- Actual book examples
- And my favorite part: the same scene adapted 11 times to show exactly how tone, world, and rules shift everything.
Because nothing says “genre nerd” like turning a girl-with-a-magical-mark scenario into a grimdark bloodbath, a cozy scone break, and a steampunk court scandal.
What Is Fantasy, Anyway?
Fantasy is fiction that tosses out the rulebook of reality and replaces it with magic, myth, or supernatural nonsense that everyone takes way too seriously.
It’s the genre where:
- Death can be reversed with a flower
- Libraries fight back
- Prophecies never come with footnotes
- Someone definitely has glowing eyes and trauma
Fantasy requires a non-realistic element. That could be magic systems with rules that would terrify an engineer, or a world where grandmothers turn into wolves but no one mentions it at book club.
Unlike sci-fi, which leans on speculative science, or horror, which wants to terrify you into sleeping with the lights on, fantasy is more about wonder, transformation, and—let’s be real—emotional damage in aesthetic packaging.
It also loves blending with other genres: romance, historical, thriller, satire, political drama. Fantasy can be bold, bleak, cozy, lyrical, vicious, or absurd. It’s not a genre. It’s a playground.
So let’s explore its neighborhoods, shall we?
The Fantasy Subgenre Showdown
For each of the eleven subgenres below, I’ll walk you through the basics—and then present the same example, rewritten to reflect that style.
Our hero: a girl. With a strange glowing mark on her palm. Possibly chosen. Probably in danger. Definitely confused.
Let’s see how the genre changes everything.
1. High Fantasy (Epic Fantasy)
Definition:
Set in a fully invented world with its own geography, magic, political systems, and Very Serious Maps™.
Tropes:
Prophecies. Sword names. Royal bloodlines. Sprawling wars. More cloaks than a Renaissance fair.
Examples:
The Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, The Priory of the Orange Tree
Scene Example:
The girl with the mark was raised in the highland steads, far from the court that exiled her parents. But when the sky split open and the stars wept flame, the symbol on her hand blazed like fire. The time had come. She must journey beyond the Dragon Spine to awaken the sleeping crown. The fate of the realm balanced on the edge of her blade—and the secrets sealed in her blood.
2. Urban Fantasy
Definition:
Magic collides with modern cities. Think magical crime scenes, supernatural politics, and sarcastic investigators with trust issues.
Tropes:
Hidden magic. Monster bar fights. Fae in nightclubs. Reluctant chosen ones with day jobs.
Examples:
The Dresden Files, Rivers of London, Whispers of the Selkie (hi)
Scene Example:
The girl with the mark worked night shifts at an antique shop that smelled like regret and old spells. When her palm lit up under the security camera glow, she thought it was a rash. Then the mirror cracked, something whispered her name backwards, and a horned thing climbed out of the basement. It wasn’t even Tuesday.
3. Dark Fantasy
Definition:
Where fantasy goes to get therapy. Gritty, brutal, emotionally heavy, and probably bleeding.
Tropes:
Moral ambiguity. Body horror. Corruption. Despair in a leather trench coat.
Examples:
The Witcher, The Broken Empire, The Poppy War
Scene Example:
She carved the mark off her hand once. It grew back. The priests said she was cursed. The generals said she was a weapon. The corpses she left in her wake didn’t say much of anything. The mark whispered at night now, in a voice that sounded like her mother’s—before the fire.
4. Mythic Fantasy
Definition:
Fantasy that reads like folklore. Archetypal, dreamy, symbolic, and often infused with mythology.
Tropes:
Gods walk among mortals. Symbols have power. The journey is the story.
Examples:
The Bear and the Nightingale, American Gods, Anansi Boys
Scene Example:
The girl with the mark was born under an eclipse, in a village that no longer exists. Her mark sang in moonlight and burned in sunlight. She spoke to crows and dreamed in other people’s memories. The gods said she was meant to bind the sky and sea. But the sea did not want to be bound.
5. Contemporary Fantasy
Definition:
Our modern world—with magic layered in. Think "magic is real but we all have deadlines."
Tropes:
Enchanted objects. Unseen realms. Normal jobs, weird coworkers.
Examples:
The Night Circus, The House in the Cerulean Sea, Neverwhere
Scene Example:
She found the mark while typing an invoice. It shimmered faintly in the fluorescent light, pulsing in time with the coffee machine. No one else noticed. But when she walked past the old bookshop on Bellamy Street, the window fogged with the words: “We’ve been expecting you.”
6. Magical Realism
Definition:
Magic treated as ordinary. Deeply grounded in reality, but with quiet enchantments embedded in daily life.
Tropes:
No big reactions to magic. Emotionally rich. Family sagas. Layered symbolism.
Examples:
Like Water for Chocolate, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Scene Example:
When the mark first appeared, her grandmother nodded and poured tea over it. “It skipped your mother,” she said. “But it always finds someone.” The mark itched during thunderstorms and warmed when she told the truth. No one asked why. In their family, these things happened.
7. Mythic Realism
Definition:
Blends real-world settings with cultural myth and ancestral memory. More rooted in folklore and spiritual tradition than magical realism.
Tropes:
Myth retellings. Intergenerational curses. Spirits in everyday life.
Examples:
Black Water Sister, Gods of Jade and Shadow, The Witch’s Heart
Scene Example:
The mirror her aunt gave her came with strict instructions: never use it at low tide. She didn’t listen. The mark bloomed like sea-glass across her hand, and a voice whispered in a dialect no one living spoke anymore. Her mother called it a curse. Her grandmother called it a calling.
8. Gaslamp Fantasy
Definition:
Victorian-esque settings with manners, magic, and mechanical nonsense. Fantasy in petticoats.
Tropes:
Magical etiquette. Tea with secrets. Arcane societies and clockwork.
Examples:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, The Parasol Protectorate, The Bone Season
Scene Example:
Lady Evangeline adjusted her gloves to hide the shimmering sigil. If the other debutantes saw, she’d be expelled from both the season and the Secret Order. Her parasol, which doubled as a lightning staff, twitched. Something was about to happen. Probably murder. Possibly scandal. Tea first, though.
9. Fairy Tale Fantasy
Definition:
Stories told in the voice or tradition of fairy tales. Moral, magical, strange.
Tropes:
Once upon a time. Enchanted forests. Talking animals. Magical bargains.
Examples:
Uprooted, Stardust, The Hazel Wood
Scene Example:
The girl was born in a village where no birds sang. A midwife screamed when she saw the mark. It shimmered like a promise. Or a warning. By the time the girl was thirteen, the mark had grown teeth. She named it, and fed it, and never looked back.
10. Grimdark
Definition:
Dark fantasy’s angrier, bloodier cousin. Trust no one. Everyone dies.
Tropes:
No good guys. War crimes. Gallows humor. Nothing is sacred.
Examples:
The First Law, Game of Thrones, The Black Company
Scene Example:
The mark meant she’d been chosen. Not to save the world. To burn it. Her sword was stolen. Her friends were traitors. Her lover was dead (again). She smiled anyway. It was the only weapon they hadn’t taken.
11. Cozy Fantasy
Definition:
Low-stakes fantasy with warmth, community, and gentle magic. Think comfort food for your brain.
Tropes:
Magical cafés. Found families. Personal growth. Soft spells.
Examples:
Legends & Lattes, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, T. J. Klune novels
Scene Example:
The girl with the mark ran a tiny tea shop where the scones could tell fortunes. When her hand began to glow, she knew it was time. Time to dust off her grandmother’s spellbook and maybe—if she was feeling particularly wild—start offering enchanted honey scones. Apocalypse could wait. She had customers.
So Which Fantasy Flavor Is Best?
Let’s be real. Fantasy readers are like potion drinkers—we all have our preferred blend. Some like it with a splash of doom and trauma. Others want their magic served with tea and cinnamon buns.
So what’s the best fantasy subgenre?
The unsatisfying but honest answer: it depends.
Do you want to cry while questioning the moral integrity of an undead necromancer? Grimdark’s waiting.
Need your books to feel like a warm blanket after a long week of mortal peril? Cozy fantasy’s got you.
Want a little fae menace in your city’s sewer system? Urban fantasy will not disappoint.
Craving layered folklore, aching memory, and maybe a ghost grandma? Mythic realism is waving from the horizon.
The best subgenre is the one that slaps you in the soul when you weren’t looking. The one that makes you say, “Oh. That’s mine.”
And if you’re like me, you’re probably writing stories that flirt with three or four at once.
Whispers of the Selkie, for example, blends urban fantasy (modern-day setting, secret magic), mythic fantasy (Celtic sea lore and prophecy), and a touch of dark fantasy (curses, trauma, and ocean-based existential dread). It’s a selkie smoothie with a sharp edge and emotional sea spray.
So whether you're a dungeon-crawling grimdark reader or someone who dreams of running a fae bakery with minimal stabbing, there's a corner of fantasy waiting for you.
How to Spot the Subgenre When You’re Reading (or Writing) It
Feeling genre-confused? Here’s a quick cheat sheet for identifying what flavor of fantasy you're sipping:
1. Where does the story take place?
- Invented world? → High Fantasy
- Real world + magic? → Urban or Contemporary Fantasy
- Small towns, soft magic? → Cozy Fantasy
- Historical-ish + corsets + clockwork? → Gaslamp Fantasy
2. How do people react to magic?
- They fear or revere it → High or Mythic Fantasy
- They pretend it doesn’t exist but still use it → Urban Fantasy
- They treat it like Tuesday → Magical Realism
3. How’s the mood?
- Hopeful and whimsical → Cozy or Fairy Tale Fantasy
- Dreamlike and symbolic → Mythic or Mythic Realism
- Bloody, bleak, and morally gray → Dark or Grimdark
- Awkwardly charming with top hats → Gaslamp
- Emotional but no one dies horribly → Contemporary or Magical Realism
4. Does the story start with “Once upon a time” or “She was late for work”?
- If it’s the first → Fairy Tale Fantasy
- If it’s the second → Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
- If it’s “She was late to stab someone for a bag of cursed coins” → Probably Dark Fantasy
5. Do swords have names and backstories?
Yes → Definitely High Fantasy
No → Probably everything else
Remember: most fantasy blends subgenres like a chaotic magical cocktail. That’s not a bug—it’s a feature. Your favorite book might be urban + mythic + cozy + tragic + covered in glitter and seaweed. And that’s beautiful.
Final Call to Adventure
Fantasy is vast. It’s a sea of stories, and every reader (and writer) finds their own tide to follow.
So next time someone says, “Oh, I don’t like fantasy,” smile sweetly and ask, “Which kind?”
Because maybe they just haven’t found their flavor yet.
Now it’s your turn.
Drop your favorite subgenre in the comments. Do you crave dark, brooding necromancers or soft witches running seaside tea shops? Are you mythic by moonlight or grimdark by bloodbath?
And if you want more folklore, fantasy writing tips, worldbuilding nonsense, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into my selkie-ruled chaos world, subscribe to my newsletter:
Where the folklore is deep, the magic is messy, and the sarcasm rolls in like storm tide.