Realism with a Twist

Calling a book “fantasy” often evokes in the mind of the listener something like The Hobbit, Watership Down, The Dragons of Pern, or Star Wars—imaginary worlds populated with non-humans who have heroic adventures that may or may not be human-like. For some people, that’s a real turn-off. They prefer gritty reality.

The truth is, “fantasy” […]