Which fantasy writer are you?

Congratulations! You are Low-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Romantic! These concepts are defined below.

Clive Staples Lewis was born in Ireland, but later moved to Oxford. There he pursued a very successful academic career, and later became a professor at Cambridge, as well. Although he wrote several books that are widely read today, for instance some of his many works on Christianity and a science fiction trilogy, he remains most well-known for the seven books making up The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-56). These books have sold literally millions of copies and have been translated into more than forty languages. They are typical, one might almost say archetypical, of the sort of story where protagonists travel into another world from ours. Though the world, Narnia, to which the children of Lewis' books travel, may not be great in terms of world-building, it is certainly one of the most loved. Lewis was a devout Christian and, though he denied that the Narnia books are allegorical, he used Narnia to pursue the thought experiment of what form Jesus Christ might take in a different world than ours. Both Lewis' dedication to Jesus and his longing for the Christian heaven were poured into the books and manifested as Aslan the talking lion and Narnia, respectively (though Narnia is, of course, in no way meant to be an image of heaven). This deeply romantic dedication to his stories and their setting is noticeable to any reader of The Chronicles of Narnia and forms a large part of what makes them popular.

Narnia's popularity may be compared to that of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, but while Tolkien took great care to be consistent in his world-building effort, Lewis had a tendency to throw in whatever could be used to tell a good story, which is why, in Narnia, Santa Claus shows up alongside fauns and centaurs and also why Lewis, when considered in the light of what has become the standard ingredients of fantasy worlds, comes off as a more experimental writer than Tolkien.

Narnia has its grim moments and the fight against Evil is often an actual fight, a fact that is easily forgotten when one thinks of those charming stories full of talking animals and cheerful English children. Perhaps it's this tendency coupled with Lewis' faith which has caused the Narnia books to be criticized by other fantasy writers, such as Michael Moorcock, Philip Pullman and J K Rowling. Nevertheless, these writers opinions are the opinions of adults, and the Narnia books were written for children. There is no doubt that children will keep reading Lewis' books for a long time to come, often without even noticing the ideaology that's an integral part of it and, when not agreeing with it, surely being able to question it themselves. Either way, its the magic and wonders they will remember.

You are also a lot like Lian Hearn.

If you want something more gentle, try Katharine Kerr.

If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, Ursula K Le Guin.

Your score

This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four different scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetical, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you're at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn't mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.

High-Brow vs. Low-Brow

You received 0 points, making you more Low-Brow than High-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, while a typical low-brow would favour the best-selling kind. At their best, low-brows are honest enough to read what they like, regardless of what "experts" and academics say is good for them. At their worst, they are more likely to read what their neighbours like than what they would choose themselves.

Violent vs. Peaceful

You received 0 points, making you more Violent than Peaceful. Please note that violent in this context does not mean that you, personally, are prone to violence. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you are, and you do, then you are violent as defined here. At their best, violent people are the heroes who don't hesitate to stop the villain threatening innocents by means of a good kick. At their worst, they are the villains themselves.

Experimental vs. Traditional

You received 0 points, making you more Experimental than Traditional. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, experimental people are the ones who show humanity the way forward. At their worst, they provoke for the sake of provocation only.

Cynical vs. Romantic

You received 0 points, making you more Romantic than Cynical. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, romantic people are optimistic, willing to work for a good cause and an inspiration to their peers. At their worst, they are easily fooled and too easily lead.

Author picture by the talented artist "Molosovsky". Visit http://www.flickr.com/people/25360041@N06/ for more!