Trance Potential

The most important of the subjective judgements readers make about books is the third, trance potential, defined as the perceived capacity of the book to exercise dominion and superiority... Quite often, readers' judgements of trance portential will override judgements of merit and difficulty. Thus, although Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (1954) is a relatively difficult book, many readers prefer it to easier ones because of its great power to entrance.

Nell, p.146

---