Fantasy set entirely in an invented secondary world, typically featuring epic stakes and detailed worldbuilding.
High fantasy takes place in a fully imagined secondary world rather than our own. Think Middle-earth, not modern London with hidden wizards. The stakes tend to be large (save the kingdom, defeat the dark lord, prevent apocalypse), and the worldbuilding is extensive, covering geography, history, cultures, and often a magic system with its own rules.
High fantasy is the backbone of the genre and one of the most popular categories in publishing. If you're building an entire world from scratch, you need to understand what readers expect: immersive settings, internal consistency, and stakes that justify the scope. Knowing the conventions also helps you subvert them effectively.
The genre-defining work. Tolkien didn't just create a story; he created languages, histories, and a mythology that made Middle-earth feel lived-in.
Modern high fantasy at its most ambitious: intricate magic systems, multiple POVs, and a world so detailed it has its own physics.
Pushes high fantasy into new territory with second-person narration, a broken earth, and themes of systemic oppression.
High fantasy refers to setting (secondary world). Epic fantasy refers to scope (large-scale conflict). They overlap heavily but aren't synonyms.
Your readers don't need a history textbook. Reveal your world through character experience, not exposition paragraphs.
Draw from diverse real-world cultures, ecosystems, and political systems. Your world should feel genuinely different.
Create a one-page 'orientation scene' for a secondary world. A character wakes up, gets dressed, eats breakfast, and leaves for work. Through those mundane actions alone, reveal three things about your world that have no equivalent in ours. No exposition allowed.