The Prologue in Fantasy Fiction…

The final essay for my MA is based on this exact topic and I am researching to try and ascertain why the prologue is used so often in the genre. What is gained by it? How is using a prologue to deliver this information more beneficial than just putting it in the main text?

Over the years there has been plenty of chatter about the use of the prologue. Some people love them, some hate them. When you look at the work of successful fantasy authors some use them all the time, some never use them, some use them sometimes.

Why? And more importantly, how can the novelist, particularly the debut writer, know whether or not a prologue is appropriate for their story?

So this is a bit of a shout out for comments, musings, and perhaps a bit of research to help my essay along.

What are your views on the prologue?

Love them?

Hate them?

Totally indifferent as long as they hook the reader?

Have you used one in your writing?

If so, why?

If you decided not to go with a prologue, why?

What does a prologue mean or say to you?

To prologue or not to prologue?

It seems a great number of fantasy writers must ask themselves this question when they are writing, so why do so many of them say yes?

Elloise Hopkins.