High fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, in which an epic story is set in an alternate fictional world featuring magical or supernatural elements. Other characteristics of high fantasy include vast, imagined settings such as continents (often accompanied by a map in the book's front matter), a quest plot, high character counts, mythical creatures, magic, adventure, and high-stakes conflicts such as the struggle between good and evil or the fate of kingdoms or civilizations. While the term "high fantasy" was coined by author Lloyd Alexander in 1971, the genre is an evolution of ancient myths and legends and has been popular throughout literary history.

Although the genre is best-known through works from the mid-19th century, like J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, high fantasy has become a very popular genre across all reading levels in the 21st century. In the introduction to The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, Ann and Jeff Vandermeer claimed the increase in popularity started in 2001 because “the first Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies were released, having an effect on the popular imagination of fantasy comparable to the effect of Star Wars on the popular idea of science fiction in 1977” (Vandermeer Jeff.