Fantasy mediaHigh fantasy is defined as fantasy fiction set in an alternative, entirely fictional ("Secondary") world, rather than the real ("Primary") world. The secondary world will normally be internally consistent but its rules are in some way different from those of the primary world. By contrast, low fantasy is characterised by being set in the primary world, or a rational and familiar fictional world, with the inclusion of magical elements.[2][3][4][5]
The secondary world of high fantasy exists, or may be entered, in different forms, for example[4]
Where the primary world does not exist, detailed maps, geography and history of the fictional world will often be provided. The secondary world is often based on, or symbolically represents, the primary world. For example, Tolkien's Middle-earth is a fictional "time forgotten to history" based on England and Europe.The Oxford of Phillip Pullman's Northern Lights is similar, a world that is "both familiar and strange". Pullman's preface to that book explains that the setting is "a universe like ours, but different in many ways".[4]
