Peacemakers read cozy fantasy novels

Back in September, All Peacemakers Needed held an event at Viewpoint Books and invited everyone to come in and share their most peaceful reads. I had just decided on pursuing a specialization in cozy fantasy and I was working on creating a new logo for Iridescent Inkwell. I decided to come and nerd out about cozy fantasy, even if I came off as a dork in a room full of more intellectual folks bringing in nonfiction.

I was surprised how well it went. I wasn’t the only one who brought fiction; someone brought Monk & Robot. There was also a nonfiction children’s book about a librarian who smuggled books out of a war zone to protect their knowledge: The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter.

This was after I shared The Spellshop. I had brought a whole bag of cozy fantasy books with me and that was the one I pulled out.

"These are all very deep and important books," I said, referring to the others' recommendations, "but I think we should all heal our nervous systems with the power of winged cats."

This meeting evolved into a regular book club! For their first meeting, they chose two books: What Happened to You by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey and The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst!

We wrote special discussion questions for The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

One of the facilitators emailed to ask me about questions I wanted to discuss, and I submitted these as points I’m personally curious about:

1. What emotions did you feel while reading this book? Did you experience any rare or elusive emotions or unique combinations of feelings?       

I submitted this question because when I first read it, I realized I was feeling a lot more wonderment than I usually get to slow down and enjoy in a fantasy story—or any given story, really. While dealing with chronic illness, I began taking notes on which books left me feeling drained and which left me feeling more uplifted and invigorated. This one was an energizer.

They said they felt safer and freer to enjoy this book and they echoed my sense of wonderment. The talked about The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green as another energizer book. I’m hoping we’ll read this one in the future.

2. Kiela follows her personal passion and finds her own small role in a revolution. What other unique skills and passions might be underestimated at a glance but handy in a crisis?

I submitted this question while thinking about the Librarian of Basra. What other jobs could have a revolutionary or heroic potential, but you might not think so at a glance? What emergency services does your job position you for in a crisis?

We talked about other forms of recordkeeping and archiving that might be important in a crisis, and we talked about the little things everyone can do. If someone is getting hurt, there are ways to intervene. We all look out for each other on a very human level, but it requires concern, courage, and sometimes even curiosity.

Cozy fantasy stories illustrate interpersonal peacemaking

At the beginning of the meeting, the facilitator asked us to talk about something we have done recently to become a better peacemaker. We talked about standing up to people and for people, giving them grace, and helping others find peace with loss. Multiple stories had to do with catastrophic change in the name of development and finding peace with what we cannot control.

As we talked about the book and the ways that Kiela and Larran interact, we found ourselves circling back to these stories. These characters give each other grace, allow themselves enough curiosity to initiate kindness, and learn to respect each other’s boundaries and wishes. Kiela particularly struggles with accepting help, which is important in finding or making peace in any kind of high-conflict situation.

Are the happy endings in cozy fantasy more like a romance HEA or a children’s literature homecoming?

When I first came in, I found a sheet in the second-cushiest armchair available (because I didn’t want to hog the cushiest one, of course. A familiar face walked up to me and asked, “Are you the cozy fantasy lady?”

I said, “Yup, I think that’s me.”

“You’ve converted me.” She explained how she didn’t think she would like cozy fantasy. She thought it would be pure escapism and lack any real meaning. She was surprised how much she loved it. For the first time in ages, she said, she didn’t feel the need to read the end of the first book and emotionally prepare herself. She could read without spoilers and feel free to be surprised and delighted.

I’ve always thought of the “guaranteed happily-ever-after” is something cozy fantasy has borrowed from the romance genre, but she had a different take. She said it felt like how in children’s literature, even if the ending isn’t necessarily happy, the ending always has a sense of coming home.

Cozy fantasy is meaningful; even the escapism is important

The reader who approached me wasn’t the only one who was surprised and impressed with the story after underestimating it as escapism. Some other readers expressed surprise with how meaningful and even political the themes became. For example, we talked about how Meep is a great example of a young, new person who just wants to be a person and goes by nonbinary pronouns. Some of the side characters are gay and this isn’t a focus of the story; it’s just something normal and accepted.

I think the term “escapism” gets a bad reputation it hasn’t necessarily earned. When a ship is burning, the lifeboats provide escape. Does anyone criticize them for it? Cozy fantasy is one of those spaces that “comforts the disturbed,” per the Cesar A. Cruz quote.

Two readers named this as their favorite quote: “Why bother when the world’s problems were so large? Because it’s what I can do.”

A runner up was this moment: "'We can't control what Captain Varrik chooses to do,' Kiela said. 'We can only control what we do and hope other people make the right choices.'"

The next meeting of the Peacemakers book club will take place in February (exact date TBD) and we will be discussing Monk & Robot by Becky Chambers and/or a nonfiction pick (which I will update with soon).

If you live in the Columbus (Indiana) area, we would love to see you there!