Sci-fi/
fantasy literature of the shallow,
swords-and-sorcery variety. Good examples are
Piers Anthony's "
Xanth" series, and most of
R.E. Howard's
Conan stories.
Popcorn fantasy is short, written at a
middle school to
high school reading level,
lighthearted, and while potentially
enjoyable, mostly
forgettable. They fill the same function in the fantasy audience as
trashy romance novels fill in readers with more
mundane tastes.