The Fantasy genres are the only categories of fiction which has the characteristic of telling the reader what happens at the end of the story from the start. Though there are creative works within other genres that are also very predictable as to where the storyline is going: Fantasy is unique in the sense that the genres are essentially built on the Hero’s Journey concept. A person from a humble beginning is forced on an epic quest to defeat a powerful entity and save the world from the darkness of mythical monsters.
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This type of storyline structure is most likely older than the Roman Empire, example of a Hero’s Journey story being Hercules as many people know, and continues to be the staple story progression people like and has come to expect from the Fantasy genres. And as a result of this, it is very hard to find Fantasy works which does not follow this form of storytelling.
You know where the story ends. It ends with the “good guys” defeating the “bad guys”.
Yet the important parts of the Fantasy genre does not come from the “surprise twist” towards the end of the creative work. It comes from the journey itself. Claiming that spoiling the ending in this manner to be a bad thing is equal to claim that life itself is pointless because we all die at the end. It is silly to think in this fashion.
The world, the events, the characters, the magic and the action are all reasons as for why people find Fantasy to be their preferred fictional genre. Myself included.
Related: Worldbuilding: A Necessary Waste of Time
The exploration of imaginary places can be just as intriguing as exploring the real world. And through exploring fictional places can one also find further will to find out more about the world we live in. This is due to how Fantasy usually has its bases in practices and technology throughout human history and the inclusion of historical practices within imaginary worlds can then lead to the reader learning about our world alongside the fictional one.
For just like real life: it is the journey that matter.
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V. C. Wahlström 