Stories involving magic, supernatural magical beings and incredible monsters have been in our society since the dawn of man. Homer's Odyssey fulfills the definition of the fantasy genre with its gods, magic, heroes, adventures and monsters. Fantasy lit, as we come to know it, appeared in Victorian times, from authors as William Morris and George MacDonald.

J.R.R. Tolkien had a large role in the popularization of the fantasy genre with his extremely successful publications, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was greatly influenced by an ancient body of Anglo-Saxon myths, particularly Beowulf, as well as modern works by E.R. Eddison. It was after the publication of his work that the genre began to receive the tag "fantasy" replying to the works of Eddison, Carroll, Howard and others. One cannot forget Tolkien's good friend C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia and a fellow English professor with a similar taste of interests, also helped to advertise the fantasy genre.

As we move to the future. Author J.K. Rowling with her super successful Harry Potter series has made the fantasy genre even more hot than ever before. Heaps of fans wait in long lines as the next installment of the Harry Potter books and movies are scheduled to be released. Through rain, sleet or snow, the Harry potter’s true-hearted are there waiting for days in line just to be counted among the first ones to read or view the new movie. Almost on cue, along comes Stephanie Meyer and her fantastic Twilight saga.

These books and movies have snatched the public imagination like no other fantasy, romance, horror book ever have. Just like Harry Potter fans who come out in crowds to be a part of the midnight showing or release party; the Twilight fans are equally prominent. They even have themselves a moniker "twilighters". Another fantasy book that has millions of fans is the Lord of the Rings series. Many movies have been made for this series, and all have done very well.

The Hobbit is the next fantasy book that will see the big screen soon. Will this book to movie be prosperous? More importantly, will the fans support it? If it is anything like The Lord of the Rings and The Harry Potter series, it will do exceedingly well indeed. All fantasy fans sit and wait until their favorite book titles to be turned into movies or for the next saga in an ongoing series to be released.

You can't spell fantasy without fan. Yes, the fantasy genre is growing by leaps and bounds and these days, and the fans are growing right along with it. Debatable fantasy fiction is the most sought after genre going today and it doesn't look like it will be slowing down anytime soon. So sit back and bask in the fantasy fiction ride.