Fan of Fantasy

I told the Princess of Penang that I’ll write a rejoinder to his Sex (but not) in this City post. But it has to take a back seat as I just watched The Spiderwick Chronicles and it brought back to life my fantasy craze.

The movie for sure is for kids. It’s a fantasy film on the same breath as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe of the The Chronicles of Narnia and the series Harry Potter and the so-on-and-so-forth: there’s the evil fantastical creature out to conquer the world, there’s a bunch of kids who are so responsible for their age that they’ve taken up the cudgels of saving everyone, then the good overcomes the bad in the end.

Of course, this is a bit simplistic way of telling the story. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy watching the film. But then again, I’ve been a fantasy buff for the past few years and it takes very little imagination of flying beings and magical characters to get my attention.

Then there’s also Freddie Highmore of the August Rush fame and the voice of Pantalaimon in The Golden Compass. He’s not an object of my fantasy (that’ll be gross and a big crime) but I’m willing to wait for the kid to grow up. I liked how he played the two characters of the identical twins but so poles apart in character Jarrod and Simon Grace.

While I do enjoy watching these kind of fantasy flicks, I await the time when fantasy epics will get to the big screen. Much like what they did to the Lord of the Rings.

If I am to be asked what my fantasy films are, I will definitely say The Wheel of Time and The Riftwar Saga. If they can pitch in The Riftwar Legacy, the Legends of the Riftwar and David Eddings' The Belgariad, much better.

TWOT was what hooked me to fantasy books. Penned by Robert Jordan, who unfortunately died before he can finish the last of the 12-book series, TWOT created a whole new fantasy world that millions have followed. Others said that TWOT actually takes up from the tradition of the LOTR. Who cares? My Philo professors used to say that nothing in philosphy is original anymore after the Greeks.

While also placing magic as a major part of his novels, Raymond Feist’s Riftwar Saga meanwhile interestingly put non-magical people at the forefront of the stories. Maybe it had something to do with what Pug aka Milamber said: in the end, there is no magic.

My fantasy character to play Pug is James McAvoy and for Thomas the Valheru, Brad Pitt of course! Give me a break, it is my fantasy.

To the Penang Princess, sorry for not doing a post about yours. But just let me say to him that at the rate things are going here, Sex IN THIS City is also just a fantasy for me.

Most probably, I won’t be able to make a post for the next two weeks due to this and this.

While I do plunge into fantasy worlds, these are the kind of events that keep me rooted in the world’s realities. There’s also the added perk of seeing old friends and comrades.

If ever I don’t find myself blogging, I’ll see you guys after a fortnight!