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The difference between the fantasy and magical realism genres is a small one. What distinguishes magical realism is its reserved use of magical effects, which add a touch of metaphysical flavor to an otherwise plausible narrative. Magical realism often deals with adult themes like sex and dying, and it is common for magical realism novels to take long views of history as their backdrop.

Magical realism is a good vehicle for the kind of big ideas that don’t often show up in traditional novels. For instance, Robbins can make broad comparisons between the practice and belief of Hinduism, Christianity, and Buddhism using the zany, referential backdrop of immortality. Alobar’s take on history is very long, and his authority on what happened, say, 500 years ago is beyond reproach. The magical becomes credible.

In fact, magical realism sometimes has the paradoxical effect of making obvious fantasy blend with the sort of spiritual thinking and future projection many of us rely upon to get by in day-to-day life. One may be a hard-hearted materialist, but it would be unthinkably cruel for such a materialist to deny the immortality of a dying couple’s love, or a young orphan’s hope that someday things will get better.