So, in contrast to Esquire's brief to catch the latest trends, here's a selection of the classics of the genre. It's what I consider the best of the best, the books I devoted a monthly installment of my old web-column Classics of Fantasy to. It's obviously incomplete; I'm currently working on a Recommended Reading list to cover books I wd have included if the column had run longer (e.g., The Lord of the Rings). Obviously I don't expected anyone else to agree with every item --it's not that kind of list. But I hope these writers and works can be taken as books I'd recommend to anyone interested in modern fantasy, while also drawing attention to some lesser-read masters.
Enjoy.
--John R.
I. The Well at the World's End (1896) by William Morris
II. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (1974) by Patricia A. McKillip
III. Ghost Stories of an Antiquarian (1904ff) by M. R. James
IV. Swords Against Death (1970) by Fritz Leiber
V. Silverlock (1949) by John Myers Myers
VI. A Voyage to Arcturus (1920) by David Lindsay
VII. The Bridge of Birds (1984) by Barry Hughart
VIII. The Worm Ouroboros (1922) by E. R. Eddison
IX. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1926) by H. P. Lovecraft
X. A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) by Ursula K. Le Guin
XI. The Face in the Frost (1969) by John Bellairs
XII. The Night Land (1912) by William Hope Hodgson
XIII. Watership Down (1972) by Richard Adams
XIV. The Book of Three Dragons (1930) by Kenneth Morris
XV. Tales of Averoigne (1929–1938) by Clark Ashton Smith
XVI. The Books of Wonder (1910, 1912, 1916) by Lord Dunsany
XVII. The Hobbit (1937) by J. R. R. Tolkien
XVIII. Hobberty Dick (1955) by Katharine Briggs
XIX. Hour of the Dragon (1936) by Robert E. Howard
XX. The Dying Earth (1950) by Jack Vance
XXI Jurgen (1917) by James Branch Cabell
Rachel Maddux's novel The Green Kingdom has no magic, but might appeal to some readers of thoughtful fantasy. The late Ned Brooks used to recommend it. C. S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces is, I believe, not just an outstanding book in the fantasy genre, but a fine 20th-century novel.
ReplyDeleteDale Nelson
Dear Dale
ReplyDeleteI was not aware of Maddux's novel. Now it goes on my (admittedly overambitious) to-read pile. Thanks.
I've read TILL WE HAVE FACES only once, back in the summer of 1978. It was very well written --probably the best prose of all his fiction -- but I was so outraged by the big reveal that I've never been able to read it again.
--JDR
ReplyDeleteI've praised them before, but I wonder that Mary Stewart, Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander, or Mary Renault didn't make your list. Admittedly, Renault's works might be considered historical fiction but they all have magic in them to one degree or another.
I know I've asked before but this seems a proper place to ask again, are the "Classics of Fantasy" articles available anywhere. or lost to the ether now? I did find this site, which has 15 of the articles printed in full. https://www.isegoria.net/category/media/classics-of-fantasy/
ReplyDelete