[e-Morgana]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm always getting comments from people about me wasting time reading this "fantasy rubbish" which is completely irrelevant to the real world. Whenever I tell them about all the cool stuff I've learnt from reading these books, a roll of the eyes is usually the most polite response I get.

Apart from the obvious parallels in medieval lifestyle and history, war/battles and strategies etc, I find that I've picked up quite a bit of knowledge in some rather more obscure areas.

I've picked up numerous facts about horses and how to care for them; learned about natural medicines and herbs; about sailing from Janny Wurtz; from Mercedes Lackey, I've learned about falconry and birds of prey in general. Then there's the little tidbits about architecture, religions, other cultures (Asian, Arabic, Viking), black-smithing, the Ice Age - just to name the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
If I think of any others, I'll add them to the list.

What about anyone else - have you learned about anything you would have been ignorant of, if not for reading fantasy? Please let me know.

[Erebus]

Reading any form of literature is a learning experience, whether we realize it or not. Of course, different readers will pick up on different things, but, from an author viewpoint, giving the reader more than just a fun and satisfying read would be something that they'd all strive for, especially given the many hours of research undertaken. I would think that gleaning usable knowledge from any creative work would be a real compliment for its author!

I am an author as well as an avid reader of the SciFi/Fantasy genre and I am constantly surprised at what I myself learn whilst I'm researching a novel. For example, I am currently researching life in a part of Asia Minor circa 3000BCE and it's amazing what I've discovered thus far!

Cheers,

Neil

[Cadfael]

I think my love of history books comes from my love as fantasy as well. I am in no way an academic, but I really like to read about ancient civilizations, Sumer, Petra, Ankhor Wot etc.

It is a two way thing... reading history often helps to put a fantasy book into context, also... reading a fantasy books helps to put ancient history into perspective. I also like to read 'alternative' history, things like the pyramids may have been built as early as 10,000 BC, Mary Magdelene carried the son of christ to France... the Holy Blood = Sangraal = The Grail. I do not say I subscribe to these theories, but having an open mind helps. Reading fantasy requires an open mind as well IMHO.

[Cadfael]

Sorry about that, double post.

[This message has been edited by dennizm (edited May 21, 2001).]

[Bardos]

I think Fantasy has to offer ONE thing above all else, and that's Alternate Ways of Thinking (AWoT http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif).
You can learn about history in history books, about horses in animal books, about herbs in midicine books, but you cannot learn abou AWoT in none of these books, except Fantasy books.
From Fantasy books information about history, animals, herbs, etc may not be --and many times it is no--)correct. But Fantasy broadens yours horrizons because, you learn about all the IFs of how the world --a world-- could be formed. It's something like sociology.
And a good Fantasy writer is a good sociologist (but a good sociologist is rarely a good fantasy writer! And that's because s/he will be so in our society, that he/she will think fantasy "crazy stuff").
Something else you learn from Fantasy is logic, for, even in fantasy, there is --or must be-- logic, in order for the fantasy world to really work. So, I think you, also, learn about Cause and Effect. But, in Fantasy?? (you'll say). Yes in Fantasy! --there's, always, Cause and Effect.

Interesting topic Morgana; I may come back latter, also...

[Shehzad]

Bang in target, Bardos. I like that term, AWoT. And it's not just Fantasy but SF which encompasses AWoT - not only about society specifically but about mankind and life in general.

[Rob B]

I have learned about different historical perspectives.

From reading Thomas Covenant I learned a good deal about lepers.

I have learned from writers like Stover, GRR Martin and Marco things really aren't always black and white, well I kind of knew that, but they really drove the point home.

[Zsinj16]

While I'm reading the MS&T Trilogy by Tad Williams, I am learning more and more info about kingdoms, the feudal system, and tyrannical rulers and the corruption of too much power. I'm also learning about racial discrimation having ties with religious philosophy and theology, such as humans thinking the Sithi and Quanuc are evil races,etc.

[lior]

Yeah, great topic!

I think that when you read fantasy you broaden your horizons especially in two fields, mythologies and life style in the middle ages.
My favourites are the greek mythology(do you hear that, Bardos?) and the wonderful but different Arthurian mythology. most basic fantasy creatures are based on ancient mythologies, a large percentege of them on nordic tales (trolls, for example).

Middle ages life style means society, urban and country life, armory and weapons, food and even deseases.

And to wrap things up, I learned much of my english playing Dungeons and Dragons!

[This message has been edited by lior (edited May 21, 2001).]

[e-Morgana]

Of course! Leprosy!!! How could I forget that one? Not something I would have known much about if not for old Tommy Covenant.

Erebus - I'm glad you think they'd take it as a compliment that we pick up other info while reading their books. I think they deserve all the "warm fuzzy" feelings they can get - after all they've kept me and many others entertained for countless hours. (Just a shame they probably won't see our comments though).

And dennizm - I'd have to admit to hating history when I was at school. I found it exceedingly dull, boring, and irrelevant. Like so many other things, though, I've found that I now have a very different opinion. I love reading about medieval times, ancient civilisations, Celtic history etc. (I've even bought some reference books to look up).

As for AWoT, I don't think you'd be an avid fantasy reader if you didn't have an open mind willing to emcompass all the wide ranging viewpoints and story lines that we find here.

All in all, maybe Fantasy books should become required texts in schools - perhaps the kids would enjoy learning about all this stuff more if it was taught this way. What do you reckon Polgara? http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Thanks for all the input. Next time I get the "withering eyeball roll" I'll have some hard evidence to back up my claims of furthering my education rather than just idling away my time.