Human imagination has always been enthralled with the concept of hidden worlds and alternate universes. This fascination is evident in the way we create our own stories, where gods have their own domains, people accidentally enter a land of magic, and heroes are called upon from some other land.
One particular subgenre that emphasizes this fascination with fantasy is portal fantasy (or portal-quest fantasy), where a person is transported from one world to another through some kind of magic.
What Is Portal Fantasy?
In her book Rhetorics of Fantasy, Farah Mendlesohn describes portal-quest fantasy as a point-of-view character being introduced to an alien world. The character and the reader learn more about this unfamiliar world as the story progresses.
At the core of portal fantasy is the sudden availability of a way to travel between worlds. It can be anything: a door, a magic ring, a piece of artwork, a hole in the ground, and so on.
The people who discover these ways can be willing or unwilling travelers: in The Chronicles of Narnia, the Pevensie children willingly travel to Narnia several times through different methods, but in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and Toto are swept away by a cyclone and end up in the Land of Oz.
Usually, the worlds characters are transported to are full of magic and populated by creatures considered mythical in the “real” world. (The real world can be our reality, a version of it, or an entirely different one.)
Characters who are transported to the other world are frequently considered saviors or the Chosen Ones. They’re usually sent to that other world in times of need or desperation. In The Neverending Story, Bastian Bux is drawn to a world that only survives through his intervention.
Portal fantasy is often a quest-type narrative, where the characters must navigate the unfamiliar world in the pursuit of a goal. Achieving the goal results in the characters finally going home.
The opposite of portal fantasy is called an “intrusion fantasy,” where the fantastic travels to reality instead. This intrusion into our reality (or its equivalent in the story) generates the conflict that drives the story. For example, in Dracula, the fantastical—in the form of vampires— invade our ordinary, human world.
Top Portal Fantasy Books
If you’re searching for novels that feature a protagonist venturing into other worlds, then I’ve got the perfect list for you! Some of them you might even be surprised to be classified as portal fantasy.
1. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Coraline and her family have just moved into a new house, and Coraline’s already fed up with it. It’s old, boring, and her parents never give her attention. So when she discovers another world behind an innocent door, she’s understandably excited—but her new world isn’t as perfect as she thought, and she’s in terrible danger.
2. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Kell is the last magician who can travel between multiple realities. Sometimes he smuggles people who are willing to pay to view worlds they’ll never see again. When a smuggling trip goes awry, Kell finds himself on the run from mysterious forces, and on a mission to save all the worlds he loves.
3. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Quentin Coldwater always loved reading about Fillory, a Narnia-esque land, ever since he was a child. He is admitted to a secret college of magic where he discovers that Fillory is real—but it’s far darker and more dangerous than he thought.
4. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
September’s father goes to war and her mother goes to work, leaving her all alone in the house. One day, a green wind comes and invites her on an adventure to Fairyland. The new Marquess is fickle and harsh, and September might be the only one who can save Fairyland’s inhabitants from their selfish ruler.
5. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Milo thinks that everything’s a bore and constantly searches for something exciting. So when a tollbooth magically appears in his room, he unhesitatingly passes through. But the other side seems different from his world—there’s a watchdog named Tock, an Island of Conclusions, and MIlo has to rescue Rhyme and Reason!
6. Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica
Sophie Hansa is trying to save the life of an aunt she’s never known when she suddenly finds herself in an entirely different world. Everyone seems to know who she is, and everyone equally wants her gone. To survive, Sophie must not only learn how to navigate this world’s tempestuous seas, but also its far more dangerous politics.
7. The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
Five students suddenly find themselves transported to the land of Fionavar, where every god and myth we know originates from. They are tested to the limits of what they’re willing to do as Fionavar, and the worlds beyond, are threatened by a vengeful god.
8. Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley
Aza has been afflicted with a mysterious disease that prevents her from breathing well, and life for her is a constant struggle. On her sixteenth birthday, she appears to succumb to the disease, only to open her eyes to a new world where she’s healthy and powerful. But her new world and her previous one are on the warpath, and she’s the only one who can prevent it.
Is Portal Fantasy High Fantasy?
Portal fantasy is easily mistaken for high fantasy. It’s more accurate to say that portal fantasy frequently crosses over with high fantasy, as the worlds on the other side of the portal usually conform to high fantasy tropes and conventions.
The most common conventions they exhibit are worlds brimming with magic, an age similar to medieval times, good versus evil, and the concept of a Chosen One.
Is Portal Fantasy Dead?
Portals have long been an element of fantasy, so much so that a lot of people consider it cliché. To be fair, there have been a lot of stories about people falling into fantasy worlds for the past decade or so.
But portal fantasy can still bring a lot of freshness to the fantasy genre. After all, entering another world isn’t always about escape, having new experiences, or restarting life. Imagine getting teleported to the world of the Hunger Games, A Song of Ice and Fire, and the like. I’d probably be dead by the end of the week.
Portal fantasy is an open-ended sub-genre. What’s behind the portal is only limited by the imagination. The land of milk and honey could easily be there as much as any horrible landscape you can think of.
Have you read any portal fantasy lately? Share it in the comment section below!
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Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!
