People tend to assume that fantasy is entirely escapist.  In a sense it is  – the delight of escapism being one of the great attractions to writing and reading fantasy.  But what if it goes beyond that? Once upon a time, the Knights Templar were the sons of nobility who fought and often sacrificed their lives in a neverending war against the evils of this world.  In the fantasy of Terry Brooks we discover the Knights of the Word, who are chosen by the powers to do something very similar.  Only they, when battling against demons and cruelty, can see the feeders that emerge from the shadows to swarm around the dying and rob them of hope and life.  In my fantasy, The Snowmelt River, four teenagers fight to liberate a world that has been reduced to a cruel and enslaved wasteland by a tyrannical and seemingly immortal despot.

Hey - when you think about it - makes you wonder where the line between truth and escapism really lies!