I recently found this essay by Poul Anderson
http://www.sfwa.org/writing/thud.htm & got to thinking....
Does good fantasy have to be rooted in reality to work? Anderson makes some very good points. Does the existence of a Green Sun in a fantasy world mean that humans in that world can be superhumans & break the rules on what humans can & can't do in the Primary world? I suppose the wider question is, what are we prepared to allow a writer of fantasy to get away with? Is there a difference between breaking the 'religious' rules & presenting God as a senile old fake & breaking the physical rules & having a 'Gnorts' gallop his horse non stop for three days straight & then slaughter three dozen warriors with his fifty pound broadsword without breaking a sweat?
Or, in short, how much should a writer - how much can a writer - get away with?