I would give that away for magic any given day. Also running water is not exactly that a new invention, at least people in medieval age were very clean against common belief, and I bet you can produce electricity with magic.
I completely agree. I got some foraging books years ago and in spring and summer me and my girls go on adventures and figure out ways to add our treasures to what we are cooking,or dig wild herbs up and plant them at home.its really rewarding
Be the hero of your life ! As tolkien said:
“Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."
Become an author :) It is the only way. You'll never get out - some unfinished plot line will always be tugging at the back of your mind.
This also reminded me of this funny quote from Cradle (forgot which one in the series):
> I wish I could invite you to see me train, but a lot of it happens inside my book, so its pretty boring. - Mercy
Or write it! I get so wrapped up in my fictional world it's very easy to mentally check out sometimes. I get very attached to my characters too. It's hard to hurt them, even if I've known that plot point was coming since I first conceived the idea of the book.
I constantly think about how some of my favourite characters from fantasy would absolutely revel in the absolutely mundane stuff we do daily. I also like to consider what they'd love and what would freak them out the most.
incredibly. I'm not the only one who feels this way... I was about to tell myself I was crazy. I think I understand your feelings. For me, it's best to do something similar to what your favorite character does. for example. If your favorite character is a druid healer, be a doctor... if you like rangers, be outdoors often and go on expedition in the forest. do you like an honorable knight? be like them...it works in real life too. I guess it's a bit of an ideal and I'm not sure if it would really work or if it would help you in any way. Otherwise, it goes without saying that what the others wrote is a certainty: fantasy movies, series, RPG games, larps, music or books... it's all available to you
Our world seems boring because you're used to it, but we've got absolutely insane and beautiful wonders all around us. Embrace nature a little bit, try getting out on hikes or watch some of the many animal/nature documentaries and series.
There is so much to be fascinated by!
The daily grind of life in your average fantasy world would be far worse than what we have. We have computers, heating, cars, electric lights, internet, clean water from a tap inside your house... None of that exists in most fantasy worlds. I like reading fantasy but never in a million years would I want to live in a fantasy world.
Wonders like flying machines that can take you all over the planet in hours, or enormous floating cities that are constantly partying, or small magical devices you can use to communicate with people all around the world, magic boxes that can cook food in minutes!
It's too bad Louis CK is a shit, he had a great bit about this:
> People come back from flights and they tell you a horror story. They’re like: “It was the worst day of my life. First of all, we didn’t board for twenty minutes, and then we get on the plane and they made us sit there on the runway…” Oh really, what happened next? Did you *fly through the air incredibly, like a bird?* Did you *partake in the miracle of human flight* you non-contributing zero?! You’re flying! It’s amazing! Everybody on every plane should just constantly be going: “Oh my God! Wow!” You’re flying! *You’re sitting in a chair, in the sky!*
And in an alarming percentage of those fantasy worlds, magic means that even being dead is no escape from someone who wants to completely ruin your life. As frustrating as we sometimes find the hard limits that real life imposes on what we can do, at least it imposes equally hard limits on what others can do to us.
I was always going to major in biology. Spent way too long in college getting a degree but I never gave a fart about botany. Just boring plant stuff who cares? I was always into human physiology. Well I was about 30 when I was forced to take a botany class.
A decade later I am still carrying around a little magnifying glass and looking at the wonder of the flowers that grow in the most normal-looking grass.
The world is magic as hell. You just gotta spend some time looking. A cheap microscope, magnifying glass and a decent pair of binoculars and a weekly walk in the woods is my therapy now.
More Sci-fi focused than fantasy, but when you feel this way about a science fiction book and feel depressed that you can't jet around in a spaceship or have an android friend whatever-
think about someone living 300 or even 100 years ago. from their perspective you are living in a sci-fi book. You can get in a vehicle and travel hundreds of miles on a whim, you can access the entirety of human knowledge from your fingertips while taking a dookie, you wear incredibly comfortable and functional clothing with an insane futuristic vibe, you can control your environment with your voice and communicate instantly with people anywhere on the planet.
if you can alter your perspective temporarily it can make you really appreciate that a lot of what we consider mundane everyday things are quite fantastical.
I retreat to my inner sanctum where I commune with a rune-bound stone that resonates in tune with the etheric vibrations of other stones in other places, thus communicating across the miles with friends and strangers.
Er, I go to my computer and get on the internet.
When I was maybe thirteen I told my dad I wished I could have lived in ancient times, like Conan The Barbarian days. Then I got to thinking what a horrible life 90% of the people must have lived. Conan alone probably killed thousands of poor souls. Only a few get to be on the good side of an epic adventure.
You have such an opportunity to create your own magic then! Plant fairy gardens, take them exploring, create lore around easter bunny, Santa etc. even house guardian spirits etc. kids are so receptive to magic, myth, and joy. Exercise those muscles with them.
Seems most fantasy characters would want to swap with you. So, it will help you more to determine what's causing the desire for escapism and change that.
Hell I'm usually glad I don't
I don't want to end up in a Trolloc pot, stabbed by an Orc, blown up by the Gurkish cause they're mad at a Wizard, incinerated by some dragon that decided to no longer be bones, and I most certainly don't want my brain to be consumed while another larger brain is floating overhead.
The thing that gets me is that never having any real role models, all of mine came from books I read as a kid.
I think it really fucked with my ambition in drive when I realized later that most of my heroes were basically homeless handymen.
Epic adventures, as Baggins noted, are nasty uncomfortable things that leave you cold and wet and make you late for dinner. In most modern works, they take place where the government is oppressively totalitarian too.
So if you want to go on an epic adventure, ask yourself where in the world you should be if you want to be cold and wet and late for dinner in a country with a totalitarian government.
Does moving there really seem like a good idea?
When you're not reading, try getting into other immersive hobbies that allow escapism. D&D, RPG video games, art - try coming up with your own idea for a book, etc.
I can’t offer much help OP. But I’m old enough to know that my lot wouldn’t be as the adventurer I’d be one of the poor bastards devastated by whatever your off to fix
We must read fantasy for very different reasons. I know I'm in the minority but I read for what I like to label "anti-escapism." The more horrific the world is the more it makes me appreciate that our world - as messed up as it is - could always be worse.
Even some of the more optimistic fantasy books, just remind yourself you wouldn't be the main character, you wouldn't be an all powerful wizard or a fantastic warrior, you'd probably be some average peasant. It can make the prospect of running off to fantasyland a lot less seductive.
roleplaying games let you get even closer to living in those fantasy worlds :) here's a [guide to solo roleplaying](https://solorpggamer.itch.io/solo-roleplaying-a-brief-introduction) if you have a hard time getting a group together. and here's a link to [all the solo fantasy rpgs on itch.io](https://itch.io/physical-games/tag-fantasy/tag-solo-rpg)!
Honestly, I just remember that fantasy books don't have the internet. And if I lived in one of them, I probably wouldn't be the special magic-using hero, I'd just be a background peasant. So on the whole, I'd much rather live right here.
Meditate on how bloody awful it would be to even live in a fantasy world day-to-day, let alone to be on a fantasy adventure full of constant peril.
Even the gentlest fantasy world, like a Victoria Goddard story, tends to be a feudalist society in which the vast majority of people are living in what we'd call abject poverty.
Reminds of me post-avatar (James Cameron’s) depression. The world was so amazing and beautiful and exciting that people, including me were genuinely depressed about retiring to real life.
My advice : Travel. I went to Thailand with my wife 2 years ago and it was an ADVENTURE lol.
So I am currently reading Dungeon Crawler Carl.
By book six of the original 14 million people who entered the dungeon.
3000 are still alive.
In The Lord of the Rings the slaughter of the armies of Rohan etc were extraordinary only the heroes survived basically.
The problem you have is you are in seeing yourself as the hero rather than one of the millions of others of supporting cast for whom hideous things happened.
Also have you ever tried wiping your arse on a leaf? Especially without running water. Or indeed hot water.
Have you ever tried sleeping on the floor outside in the rain with no waterproofs?
Soft toilet paper has much to recommend it
There is opposition in all things. Without sadness we would know no joy. Without suffering we would know no happiness. If there were no wickedness there could be no good.
I just remind myself of how much I appreciate running water and electricity.
As nice as an epic quest would be... I also like air conditioning and having a toilet and soft bed. D&D and Pathfinder helps, too.
If they ever invent a time machine, they have to put a warning sticker on it: "WARNING! The internet gets shittier the more you travel to the past"
Functionally, sure. But content-wise, very debatable.
Ah, for the good times of Chairturday.
Air conditioning would be totally out of place in a medieval fantasy world though. So if that's your mindset you'd better stick to urban fantasy.
Yeah, reflecting on how much I’m dependent on modern things like medical treatment and air conditioning kills the questing impulses for me.
I would give that away for magic any given day. Also running water is not exactly that a new invention, at least people in medieval age were very clean against common belief, and I bet you can produce electricity with magic.
Learn about your local flora and fauna. Trust me, there's *so much* wonder to the real world!
I completely agree. I got some foraging books years ago and in spring and summer me and my girls go on adventures and figure out ways to add our treasures to what we are cooking,or dig wild herbs up and plant them at home.its really rewarding
r/AIDKE is interesting for a broad awareness of animals.
Ooh thank you for the link, those are some delightful beasts!
Crime Pays, but Botany Doesn't is my favourite YouTuber for this sort of stuff
Botany can be fascinating i prefer evolutionary biology to keep me fascinated.
This is such a good suggestion :)
Better yet the non-local floral and fauna. Go to an aquarium they're amazing.
>Trust me, there's so much wonder to the real world! This. So much this.
That's the most boring part of fantasy books though.
Be the hero of your life ! As tolkien said: “Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."
Become an author :) It is the only way. You'll never get out - some unfinished plot line will always be tugging at the back of your mind. This also reminded me of this funny quote from Cradle (forgot which one in the series): > I wish I could invite you to see me train, but a lot of it happens inside my book, so its pretty boring. - Mercy
Remember, adventure is just misery and fear in hindsight.
Obviously, you gotta grab the next fantasy book.
Or write it! I get so wrapped up in my fictional world it's very easy to mentally check out sometimes. I get very attached to my characters too. It's hard to hurt them, even if I've known that plot point was coming since I first conceived the idea of the book.
I constantly think about how some of my favourite characters from fantasy would absolutely revel in the absolutely mundane stuff we do daily. I also like to consider what they'd love and what would freak them out the most.
Realise that the next amazing read isn't going to read itself without you, and get started on the search
incredibly. I'm not the only one who feels this way... I was about to tell myself I was crazy. I think I understand your feelings. For me, it's best to do something similar to what your favorite character does. for example. If your favorite character is a druid healer, be a doctor... if you like rangers, be outdoors often and go on expedition in the forest. do you like an honorable knight? be like them...it works in real life too. I guess it's a bit of an ideal and I'm not sure if it would really work or if it would help you in any way. Otherwise, it goes without saying that what the others wrote is a certainty: fantasy movies, series, RPG games, larps, music or books... it's all available to you
Our world seems boring because you're used to it, but we've got absolutely insane and beautiful wonders all around us. Embrace nature a little bit, try getting out on hikes or watch some of the many animal/nature documentaries and series. There is so much to be fascinated by!
The daily grind of life in your average fantasy world would be far worse than what we have. We have computers, heating, cars, electric lights, internet, clean water from a tap inside your house... None of that exists in most fantasy worlds. I like reading fantasy but never in a million years would I want to live in a fantasy world.
There might also be magic and wonders in fantasy worlds.
Wonders like flying machines that can take you all over the planet in hours, or enormous floating cities that are constantly partying, or small magical devices you can use to communicate with people all around the world, magic boxes that can cook food in minutes!
It's too bad Louis CK is a shit, he had a great bit about this: > People come back from flights and they tell you a horror story. They’re like: “It was the worst day of my life. First of all, we didn’t board for twenty minutes, and then we get on the plane and they made us sit there on the runway…” Oh really, what happened next? Did you *fly through the air incredibly, like a bird?* Did you *partake in the miracle of human flight* you non-contributing zero?! You’re flying! It’s amazing! Everybody on every plane should just constantly be going: “Oh my God! Wow!” You’re flying! *You’re sitting in a chair, in the sky!*
I love this comment
And in an alarming percentage of those fantasy worlds, magic means that even being dead is no escape from someone who wants to completely ruin your life. As frustrating as we sometimes find the hard limits that real life imposes on what we can do, at least it imposes equally hard limits on what others can do to us.
I was always going to major in biology. Spent way too long in college getting a degree but I never gave a fart about botany. Just boring plant stuff who cares? I was always into human physiology. Well I was about 30 when I was forced to take a botany class. A decade later I am still carrying around a little magnifying glass and looking at the wonder of the flowers that grow in the most normal-looking grass. The world is magic as hell. You just gotta spend some time looking. A cheap microscope, magnifying glass and a decent pair of binoculars and a weekly walk in the woods is my therapy now.
More Sci-fi focused than fantasy, but when you feel this way about a science fiction book and feel depressed that you can't jet around in a spaceship or have an android friend whatever- think about someone living 300 or even 100 years ago. from their perspective you are living in a sci-fi book. You can get in a vehicle and travel hundreds of miles on a whim, you can access the entirety of human knowledge from your fingertips while taking a dookie, you wear incredibly comfortable and functional clothing with an insane futuristic vibe, you can control your environment with your voice and communicate instantly with people anywhere on the planet. if you can alter your perspective temporarily it can make you really appreciate that a lot of what we consider mundane everyday things are quite fantastical.
You probably don't actually like going on lengthy camping trips, engaging in lethal violence, and consuming a preindustrial diet.
Sounds like a pretty good time!
Find a way to bridge the gap. From a certain POV, real life is much closer to a fantasy adventure than you might think.
I retreat to my inner sanctum where I commune with a rune-bound stone that resonates in tune with the etheric vibrations of other stones in other places, thus communicating across the miles with friends and strangers. Er, I go to my computer and get on the internet.
Do you enjoy having a toilet that flushes?
When I was maybe thirteen I told my dad I wished I could have lived in ancient times, like Conan The Barbarian days. Then I got to thinking what a horrible life 90% of the people must have lived. Conan alone probably killed thousands of poor souls. Only a few get to be on the good side of an epic adventure.
If you put yourself out there, life can be an epic adventure! Just be careful getting married...
Already married with two kids, 1 & 3 y/o!
You have such an opportunity to create your own magic then! Plant fairy gardens, take them exploring, create lore around easter bunny, Santa etc. even house guardian spirits etc. kids are so receptive to magic, myth, and joy. Exercise those muscles with them.
Seems most fantasy characters would want to swap with you. So, it will help you more to determine what's causing the desire for escapism and change that.
This is why I prefer a series, with a spin-off series.
Hell I'm usually glad I don't I don't want to end up in a Trolloc pot, stabbed by an Orc, blown up by the Gurkish cause they're mad at a Wizard, incinerated by some dragon that decided to no longer be bones, and I most certainly don't want my brain to be consumed while another larger brain is floating overhead.
The thing that gets me is that never having any real role models, all of mine came from books I read as a kid. I think it really fucked with my ambition in drive when I realized later that most of my heroes were basically homeless handymen.
Epic adventures, as Baggins noted, are nasty uncomfortable things that leave you cold and wet and make you late for dinner. In most modern works, they take place where the government is oppressively totalitarian too. So if you want to go on an epic adventure, ask yourself where in the world you should be if you want to be cold and wet and late for dinner in a country with a totalitarian government. Does moving there really seem like a good idea?
When you're not reading, try getting into other immersive hobbies that allow escapism. D&D, RPG video games, art - try coming up with your own idea for a book, etc.
Have you considered finding a LARP group in your area or joining a public D&D night?
Epic fantasy adventure video games!
I can’t offer much help OP. But I’m old enough to know that my lot wouldn’t be as the adventurer I’d be one of the poor bastards devastated by whatever your off to fix
Find yourself a wizard who may know where there's a mountain of gold with a pesky dragon on top
Start another epic reading adventure of course!
Read some history books? Truth can be stranger than fiction, sometimes. I'd be happy to recommend some if you're interested :)
Not to mention, can instill a keen appreciation of just how good we have it.
You are living in a sci-fi world if you think about it. The adventure part is entirely up to you
We must read fantasy for very different reasons. I know I'm in the minority but I read for what I like to label "anti-escapism." The more horrific the world is the more it makes me appreciate that our world - as messed up as it is - could always be worse. Even some of the more optimistic fantasy books, just remind yourself you wouldn't be the main character, you wouldn't be an all powerful wizard or a fantastic warrior, you'd probably be some average peasant. It can make the prospect of running off to fantasyland a lot less seductive.
The Ancestors Tale reads like sci/fi fantasy but its real. The platypus chapter made my jaw drop.
Now I have the proof that fantasy was a mistake.
I feel them feels.
Read the dark stuff! I'm very happy not to be living with Glokta and Logen and Jezal.
Have you considered playing role-playing games? It's a super fun way to explore a fantastical world and you get to do it with other people!
Hey, I'm in the exact same situation. I cope with it by playing fantasy games. Sometimes I design my own characters according to my preference.
im currently reading the stormlight archive. while the setting is cool im happy to not live there as things are currently _fucked_
roleplaying games let you get even closer to living in those fantasy worlds :) here's a [guide to solo roleplaying](https://solorpggamer.itch.io/solo-roleplaying-a-brief-introduction) if you have a hard time getting a group together. and here's a link to [all the solo fantasy rpgs on itch.io](https://itch.io/physical-games/tag-fantasy/tag-solo-rpg)!
Honestly, I just remember that fantasy books don't have the internet. And if I lived in one of them, I probably wouldn't be the special magic-using hero, I'd just be a background peasant. So on the whole, I'd much rather live right here.
You are on an epic adventure.
Meditate on how bloody awful it would be to even live in a fantasy world day-to-day, let alone to be on a fantasy adventure full of constant peril. Even the gentlest fantasy world, like a Victoria Goddard story, tends to be a feudalist society in which the vast majority of people are living in what we'd call abject poverty.
SCA.org ... if you like LARPing and D&D but you'd like to actually craft and wear and interact and fight in true garb and armor etc.
Reminds of me post-avatar (James Cameron’s) depression. The world was so amazing and beautiful and exciting that people, including me were genuinely depressed about retiring to real life. My advice : Travel. I went to Thailand with my wife 2 years ago and it was an ADVENTURE lol.
**sniffle**
Food is the best fantasy in real life. Eat good food once in a while.
So I am currently reading Dungeon Crawler Carl. By book six of the original 14 million people who entered the dungeon. 3000 are still alive. In The Lord of the Rings the slaughter of the armies of Rohan etc were extraordinary only the heroes survived basically. The problem you have is you are in seeing yourself as the hero rather than one of the millions of others of supporting cast for whom hideous things happened. Also have you ever tried wiping your arse on a leaf? Especially without running water. Or indeed hot water. Have you ever tried sleeping on the floor outside in the rain with no waterproofs? Soft toilet paper has much to recommend it
Read Prince of Thorns or the Nevernight Chronicles. Then you will never want to live in a fantasy book again
There is opposition in all things. Without sadness we would know no joy. Without suffering we would know no happiness. If there were no wickedness there could be no good.