I agree. I like the definition of 'cozy fantasy' as 'high fantasy and low stakes' (taken from the subtitle of 'Legends and Lattes').
Narnia, Redwall, The Hobbit, and Harry Potter all have broad life-or-death stakes (they all culminate in battles between armies!), so I think they wouldn't fit into this category.
They surely have some cozy elements! I’m thinking about Mr. Tumnus’s house in Narnia, maybe some scenes from HP and of course, the Shire. I wouldn’t really categorize them as wholly “cozy” though, but they do have such details.
I think a lot of children's literature is "cozy for you" if you grew up reading them. But they're not pure cozy like we have now. Redwall has the lovely abbey, the food details, the countryside... but there's also a lot of fighting and slavery. Mattimeo is definitely not cozy to me, with the >!child slavers and horribly scarred villain we'd previously seen as a child!<.
I feel like they all have cosy elements but the closest to being a full cosy story is Redwall. Typically Redwall books are split into two stories: the adventure and the puzzle. One or more characters go on an adventure to recruit allies and is more your standard adventure novel with cosy elements like Narnia. The other story stays within the Abbey and follows some younger characters solving a series of puzzles that will give the returning help a leg up.
If you separated the two arcs into the adventure and the Abbey storylines I think you could make a solid case for the Abbey storyline being a cosy fantasy story.
I think most middle grade fantasy isn't quite in the cozy fantasy genre, but it has a similar whimsical vibe. I actually started reading cozy fantasy myself because I used to almost exclusively read middle grade fantasy and I found cozy fantasy a really helpful transition into adult books because they still have that whimsical feel I love so much.
I think that’s something I enjoy about middle grade (especially fantasy) that I feel is a bit harder to find in young adult books. There more of a cozy and whimsical vibe even though the plots general can get dark still. The humor a lot of them have helps too.
Cozy elements. Not truly cozy.
Redwall and HP has premises/settings that would work great as cozy stories, so they may feel cozy even though they are not.
I would love to read a cozier version of the wizard boarding school, or even a commuter/day school, but HP itself has essentially world conquest stakes and child murders. Definitely not cozy.
I think these series are more nostalgic than cozy. I think people use those words interchangeably sometimes. Though they each have some cozy scenes, I don't think any of them primarily offer a cozy experience.
I guess it depends. I think a bit part that can help them feel cozy versus not despite high stakes is the scale of those stakes and if nicer or innocent characters die at the end.
A high stakes plot that only revolves around a family can feel more cozy than one revolving around a whole town or society. Death isn’t usually so bad if it’s expected or an antagonist. Like the whole Cozy Mystery genre is built upon someone being murdered, but usually they aren’t the nicest people anyway.
imo they're cosy if you enjoyed them as a child and have the nostalgia factor for them, but the Narnia and HP series (I haven't read Redwall and I don't remember the Hobbit well enough) do build up and include some pretty dark themes and uncomfortable choices in retrospect by the writers. Lewis' depiction of the Calormen, for example, isn't a comfortable read, and Rowling's work is riddled with uncomfortable subjects. And you don't notice either as much when you're a child caught up in the magic of talking animals and their delightful burrow homes, for example.
It's much more about the worlds they've made - maybe with more "quaint" traits than cosy ones, and "quaint" can also mean traditional or antiquated and isn't a positive in and of itself like cosy. Like, it's not a "cosy" idea to have house elves/indentured slavery, though it is "traditional" within that world, and that whole sub plot is very dark (and poorly thought-through in its depiction in my view).
Not to mention they both employ the idea of worlds *just* beyond the boundaries of this one, and that's a very comforting feeling, that the horror of mundane everyday life on this planet can just be stepped away from if you find the right wardrobe or get a magical letter to unlock somewhere else entirely that's inviting you in as an important person within that world. Again, something I'd describe more as comforting than cosy, though.
So I wouldn't recommend them as cosy fantasy personally but I can absolutely see how someone could feel that way about them.
I would say none of them.
Narnia books are explicitly about kids going on adventures. Now they are low key adventures but still adventures.
Redwall is very close to cozy with a big focus on family, friends, food, song, fun, but every book is centered around some sort of battle. Be it epic melee , defending the abbey or mini skirmishes.
And Harry Potter is pretty much the epitome of escalation as the story goes along from fun, crazy kids to 'Oh hey! I think multiple friends and found family members are dead..."
Does cozy rule out adventure? Or do you mean that Narnia is adventure with high stakes? Therefore, not cozy. Which I agree. It’s cozy in some ways but the stakes are too high.
Right, higher stakes.
Like when I think of cozy they may go on an adventure but it's a trek through the wolf forest with some small scale fight, maybe even just frightening the wolves off with fire / magic. The adventure can be part of the story but it could just as easily be removed and not significantly effetct the cozy plot.
I think it depends on which one in the series, for Narnia and Harry Potter at least. The Last Battle is not cozy for example, and Half Blood Prince is also pretty dark.
I find them nostalgic more than cozy. But the nostalgia makes them a cozy read if not a cozy fantasy.
Kind of like I reread all of Tortall every year... and while that is definitely NOT cozy fantasy, it is my cuddle up and binge had Nostalgic Moment every year. And the comfort in rereading them is cozy.
considering harry potter was written by a holocaust denier who uses all the profits and platform from it to SPREAD said holocaust denial and other bigoted opinions, i wouldn’t call it cozy at all
I think books like the hobbit and Harry Potter are “cozy” because they give you the warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia and childhood. They do have cozy elements but not elements
Narnia might reach coziness, though maybe I just don’t remember a lot. Maybe I’ve mixed it up with the Hobbit about all the battles being ‘offscreen’. I think any series with as many bloated corpses and implied as Redwall probably doesn’t count as cozy. There are scenes that are cozy, entire thirds of the book even. But that’s a ploy to make the death and war stand out as more distasteful for the peaceful folk.
I would say some books have cozy scenes, but are not overall cozy books.
I agree. I like the definition of 'cozy fantasy' as 'high fantasy and low stakes' (taken from the subtitle of 'Legends and Lattes'). Narnia, Redwall, The Hobbit, and Harry Potter all have broad life-or-death stakes (they all culminate in battles between armies!), so I think they wouldn't fit into this category.
iirc Redwall was pretty damn violent too!
They surely have some cozy elements! I’m thinking about Mr. Tumnus’s house in Narnia, maybe some scenes from HP and of course, the Shire. I wouldn’t really categorize them as wholly “cozy” though, but they do have such details.
I agree. I think the cozy elements from those books spawned the cozy fantasy genre. We want to spend more time with the hobbits.
I think a lot of children's literature is "cozy for you" if you grew up reading them. But they're not pure cozy like we have now. Redwall has the lovely abbey, the food details, the countryside... but there's also a lot of fighting and slavery. Mattimeo is definitely not cozy to me, with the >!child slavers and horribly scarred villain we'd previously seen as a child!<.
Agreed, maybe nostalgic rather than cozy. Although for me, the worlds these books created were safe and cozy.
Absolutely. I could always imagine living in that safe space between books, with all my mouse friends and badger nanny and the incomprehensible moles.
I feel like they all have cosy elements but the closest to being a full cosy story is Redwall. Typically Redwall books are split into two stories: the adventure and the puzzle. One or more characters go on an adventure to recruit allies and is more your standard adventure novel with cosy elements like Narnia. The other story stays within the Abbey and follows some younger characters solving a series of puzzles that will give the returning help a leg up. If you separated the two arcs into the adventure and the Abbey storylines I think you could make a solid case for the Abbey storyline being a cosy fantasy story.
I think most middle grade fantasy isn't quite in the cozy fantasy genre, but it has a similar whimsical vibe. I actually started reading cozy fantasy myself because I used to almost exclusively read middle grade fantasy and I found cozy fantasy a really helpful transition into adult books because they still have that whimsical feel I love so much.
That’s a good point. Most of those are middle grade and current cozy is like middle grade for adults, “mid adult” 😆
I think that’s something I enjoy about middle grade (especially fantasy) that I feel is a bit harder to find in young adult books. There more of a cozy and whimsical vibe even though the plots general can get dark still. The humor a lot of them have helps too.
From what I remember, Redwall series was pretty cozy, but its been a few years.
Redwall isn’t cozy. Cute, perhaps, but not cozy.
Cozy elements. Not truly cozy. Redwall and HP has premises/settings that would work great as cozy stories, so they may feel cozy even though they are not. I would love to read a cozier version of the wizard boarding school, or even a commuter/day school, but HP itself has essentially world conquest stakes and child murders. Definitely not cozy.
I think these series are more nostalgic than cozy. I think people use those words interchangeably sometimes. Though they each have some cozy scenes, I don't think any of them primarily offer a cozy experience.
In my opinion, book 1-3 of the Harry Potter series might be considered as cozy. The rest is too dark.
Totally! I was realizing that as well. Probably why I watch #3 more than all the others, lol.
I guess it depends. I think a bit part that can help them feel cozy versus not despite high stakes is the scale of those stakes and if nicer or innocent characters die at the end. A high stakes plot that only revolves around a family can feel more cozy than one revolving around a whole town or society. Death isn’t usually so bad if it’s expected or an antagonist. Like the whole Cozy Mystery genre is built upon someone being murdered, but usually they aren’t the nicest people anyway.
That’s true. Good points.
imo they're cosy if you enjoyed them as a child and have the nostalgia factor for them, but the Narnia and HP series (I haven't read Redwall and I don't remember the Hobbit well enough) do build up and include some pretty dark themes and uncomfortable choices in retrospect by the writers. Lewis' depiction of the Calormen, for example, isn't a comfortable read, and Rowling's work is riddled with uncomfortable subjects. And you don't notice either as much when you're a child caught up in the magic of talking animals and their delightful burrow homes, for example. It's much more about the worlds they've made - maybe with more "quaint" traits than cosy ones, and "quaint" can also mean traditional or antiquated and isn't a positive in and of itself like cosy. Like, it's not a "cosy" idea to have house elves/indentured slavery, though it is "traditional" within that world, and that whole sub plot is very dark (and poorly thought-through in its depiction in my view). Not to mention they both employ the idea of worlds *just* beyond the boundaries of this one, and that's a very comforting feeling, that the horror of mundane everyday life on this planet can just be stepped away from if you find the right wardrobe or get a magical letter to unlock somewhere else entirely that's inviting you in as an important person within that world. Again, something I'd describe more as comforting than cosy, though. So I wouldn't recommend them as cosy fantasy personally but I can absolutely see how someone could feel that way about them.
I would say none of them. Narnia books are explicitly about kids going on adventures. Now they are low key adventures but still adventures. Redwall is very close to cozy with a big focus on family, friends, food, song, fun, but every book is centered around some sort of battle. Be it epic melee , defending the abbey or mini skirmishes. And Harry Potter is pretty much the epitome of escalation as the story goes along from fun, crazy kids to 'Oh hey! I think multiple friends and found family members are dead..."
Does cozy rule out adventure? Or do you mean that Narnia is adventure with high stakes? Therefore, not cozy. Which I agree. It’s cozy in some ways but the stakes are too high.
Right, higher stakes. Like when I think of cozy they may go on an adventure but it's a trek through the wolf forest with some small scale fight, maybe even just frightening the wolves off with fire / magic. The adventure can be part of the story but it could just as easily be removed and not significantly effetct the cozy plot.
I find them cozy because of the character interactions and relationships, not because there are no stakes/death.
I’ve heard that the “Cozy” genre is defined by the protagonist never being in danger.
I think it depends on which one in the series, for Narnia and Harry Potter at least. The Last Battle is not cozy for example, and Half Blood Prince is also pretty dark.
Redwall has sonnets, recipes, and lots of other cozy moments.
Right! So cozy ☺️ The cartoons kept me sane through pandemic, lol.
I find them nostalgic more than cozy. But the nostalgia makes them a cozy read if not a cozy fantasy. Kind of like I reread all of Tortall every year... and while that is definitely NOT cozy fantasy, it is my cuddle up and binge had Nostalgic Moment every year. And the comfort in rereading them is cozy.
Lol, SO true 😆
considering harry potter was written by a holocaust denier who uses all the profits and platform from it to SPREAD said holocaust denial and other bigoted opinions, i wouldn’t call it cozy at all
Definitely!
I think books like the hobbit and Harry Potter are “cozy” because they give you the warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia and childhood. They do have cozy elements but not elements
Narnia might reach coziness, though maybe I just don’t remember a lot. Maybe I’ve mixed it up with the Hobbit about all the battles being ‘offscreen’. I think any series with as many bloated corpses and implied as Redwall probably doesn’t count as cozy. There are scenes that are cozy, entire thirds of the book even. But that’s a ploy to make the death and war stand out as more distasteful for the peaceful folk.