Would probably whinge a lot less . <| sep |> Seems to show that Tolkien consciously shared the sentiment you are talking about , does it not ? Anyway , like many speculative fiction authors , I ' ve been thinking about this possible essence of Fantasy and what must be at least a part of it curiosity and its building blocks , so I might as well share my thoughts . I ' ve identified at least one possible process that produces the sensation , although it could be just one of many . As I see it , curiosity , supposedly essential for Fantasy as it is , is not just generated by the sense of wonder at something grand and evocative or otherwise beautiful and majesticthere ' s a second element to that which one might leave out if they play by ear . Namely , it ' s the aspect of possible danger . I ' ve come to think that curiosity and wonder is not simply pleasure or danger , but a combination of these . For example , if we know that something is pleasurable , we crave and pursue it . If something is dangerous , we fear and avoid it . But if something is one or the other with equal chance , we wonderand such wonder naturally becomes compulsive . Even animals can feel this a sheltered housecat would look curiously out the door , spook and run back into the house , but compulsively come back and , step by step , attempt to explore . Certainly it ' s not in pursuit of dangerand certainly it ' s not convinced there ' s pleasure . The dual possibility of both , fear of one and hope for the other seems to be generating this powerful compulsion universal to mammals . This cat is one thought experiement that seems to support my understanding of curiosity . In fact , I had a cat whom I used to take out for walks every now and then . It found the outside , especially forests , exhilerating , and as a speculative fiction writer I always wondered how I could replicate that . What it must have felt in the night forest must be very similar to what you say we seek in Fantasy literature , too . In any case , this wondera combination of possible pleasure and possible dangermust be what makes curiosity and wonder different from marvel at the grandiose . The notorious cat of mine would purr as she walked , looking everywhere with glint well , literal glint in her eyesI want to feel that as a reader and to create that as a writer . Also , while we ' re at it , I remember writing a post on rrpg on the origins of Fantasy as I see it . In fact , here it is . I think this might be related to another aspect of our discussion namely , there are lords and knights , but there rarely if ever seems to be any actual feudalism . Classic Fantasy societies aren ' t actually feudal despite the trappings . They seem to be anarchies or meritocracies . Everyone is either a lord or a knight or a temporary peasant who surely is royalty or an elfchild , or a knight that will be king or magician of legend etc . etc . etc .