The fantasy genre is hard to define. Although most of it’s content focuses around the magical, other characteristics have begun to develop beyond the typical witch and wizard that appear so often in this genre. Many of these modern characteristics have diverged the fantasy genre into over a dozen sub genres. The fantasy genre is a mismatch of literature that range from the Harry Potter series to works like Lewis’s "Through the Looking Glass." In any event the genre is a dumping ground for the unique and strange. When a work seems impossible it gets thrown into the genre that nobody is sure how to interpret, and for that reason this genre is more dynamic and diverse than any other. Although the first book to appear in the fantasy genre was in 1872, a work called "The Wood Beyond The World," influences for fantasy literature can trace its “heritage” to Shakespeare and even further back to the magical elements of “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and to the magic of Greek and Roman mythology (Kalif). The fascination with magic is often related with the middle ages, a new and strange time that was livid with legends and stories of dark magic, most likely told to help interpret the strange things happening at the time. It’s understandable that stories about other worlds would become so popular during a time like the medieval periods, where, for peasants at least, the reality around themselves was full of poverty and disease. And the time period never seemed to leave the genre behind. Most fantasy books are categorized by their setting, usually a medieval world (Fantasy Fiction Genre). Although a lot of the genre has moved passed the stereotypical lantern lit world of Fantasy, like the popular Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, almost all Fantasy literature has an element of medieval times. Even the characters in the Harry Potter books, although set in modern day London, still use furnaces instead of heating systems, and carriages instead of busses. Like the Harry Potter series most of the literature in the genre has elements of traditional magic. Characters use spells and potions, and interact in situations that can’t happen in real life and often live with mythical beings that have powerful abilities (Fantasy). Like in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, whic