Browse any bookstore, and you are bound to see a bevy of covers featuring dragons, fairies, warrior princesses, and brave Hobbit travelers. The fantasy book market is red-hot, projected to reach $26 billion by 2033 and seemingly growing faster than any other genre. The latest book in author Sarah J. Maas’s hit “ACOTAR” series, for example, A Court of Splintered Harmony, quickly rose to the number 2 spot on Amazon leading up to its release on October 27, 2026, and saw bookstores across the U.S. selling out of copies for midnight release parties.
With these statistics, one has to wonder whether the popularity of fantasy novels has anything to do with people desperately trying to escape our current reality.
Since the dawn of modern literature, fantasy tropes such as damsels in distress, fantastical flying beasts, and dragon-slayers have been popular fodder for writers. Escapism has always been a reason people turn to books. Today, people may feel they have all the more reason to turn to fantasy novels as the laundry piles up, the email inbox begins to overflow, and back-and-forth political ads dominate daily TV watching. Somehow, reading about a kingdom on the brink of destruction or a powerful huntress on a mission to save her village starts to sound relaxing in comparison.
So what is it about fantasy books that allows people to lean into escapism, and is it a healthy way to deal with a reality that may feel all too “real” sometimes?
Getting lost in a book
Many of us have experienced the thrill of becoming so engrossed in a book that the outside world seems to melt away. The attention to detail, the emotion contained within the prose, and the mental imagery are enough to transport us to another place and time. This sense can be heightened with fantasy novels.
Reading gives us some place to go, if just for a moment. Through reading fantasy, we can become emotionally invested in moments that do not require us to upend our daily lives. There can be great appeal to this temporary escape, especially for people who have a lot going on in the real world. While the fire-breathing dragon may be terrifying, it’s not waiting for your email response.
In one study, one in three respondents said books offered the best form of escapism from a bad day, illustrating that books may not only be a fun form of entertainment, but could be important for overall mental wellness.
Fantasy books offer an enticing doorway to escapism and more
There is nothing more far removed from modern life than a fantasy novel, yet they still offer familiar feelings within those fantastical settings. There’s love, friendship, fear, grief, belonging, and responsibility woven into fantasy stories—feelings that most people can relate to. Fantasy novels give us a peek into what is possible outside of everyday roles. While we may not be able to ride upon a winged horse or consort with fairies, we can embrace friendship or take a chance on new adventures, just like the people in our favorite books.
According to studies, reading for pleasure can support feelings of relaxation, give us new perspectives, enhance empathic abilities, reawaken memories, or give us a better sense of self-understanding. Even for fantasy readers, a story can feel very close to their own lives while still giving them something fun and imaginative to indulge in.
That being said, giving in to the escapism provided by fantasy novels doesn’t necessarily mean that you are actively avoiding your real life. What matters in fantasy reading is how the activity serves you. People want to enjoy a stopover in a fantasy world and then return feeling refreshed, and often that can come with a new perspective on life. This is different from an approach of wanting to stay perpetually distracted so that one never has to face the reality of their current situation.
Readers may want to stop and think about what they get out of their fantasy reading and whether they may find themselves indulging in it more as daily tasks and responsibilities fall by the wayside. When readers take the time to be thoughtful about how reading fits into their lives, escapism can be more about pleasure than detrimental avoidance.
Still, sometimes a book is just a book: a fun escape from the day-to-day doldrums so many of us face. Fantasy novels are there to entertain, and not every enjoyable activity needs to include a pathway to self-improvement. Sometimes, people just need to admit they like spending some time reading about the adventures of fairy warriors, dragon slayers, and trolls.
Fantasies Essential Reads
The useful question when we look at fantasy novel escapism is what that time away from the real world makes possible for us when we return. But in the meantime, we all may need to embrace the idea that sometimes the laundry can wait—at least for one more chapter.
