Give me an arm long enough, and I will reach across the universe and punch myself in the back of the head. Not because I deserve it, but because I ca… - R. Scott Bakker

Palpable gods. Real magic. A certain, objective moral order. Apocalyptic retribution. The primary difference is that fantasy worlds have dispensed with the belief that comes part and parcel with scriptural worlds. Fantasy allows us to lose ourselves in anthropomorphic worlds without the burden of belief. In this sense, they're scriptural worlds that openly acknowledge themselves as fantastic - which is to say honest scriptural worlds.

I wanted a literate, socially intricate, and cosmopolitan world - something I could have fun destroying.

To indulge it is to breed it. To punish it is to feed it. Madness knows no bridle but the knife.