Corri's Essentials of Fantasy List

 

1. The Quest to Defeat Evil and Restore Order

 

What would fantasy be without an evil overlord to defeat, and a group of heroes to restore peace and order to the land?

 

The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien

 

If you haven’t read these, do. In case you don’t know, the order is: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.  Anyone wanting to get into fantasy should read these to have something to compare the rest to.

 

The Wheel of Time – Robert Jordan.

 

Ok, let’s see if I can do this from memory...

 

The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, The Shadow Rising, The Fires of Heaven, Lord of Chaos, Crown of Swords, Path of Daggers, Winter’s Heart, Crossroads of Twilight

 

Very possibly the most complicated, well realized fantasy world ever. It’s dragging on a bit, but the characters and setting are so fascinating I don’t seem to mind.  The basic story is about a young man named Rand who is the re-incarnation of a figure called “The Dragon,” who, it is prophesized, will destroy the world and save it at the same time.  Some of the strongest woman characters in fantasy show up in this series, and for that I give RJ props.

 

The Belgariad and the Mallorean, Belgarath the Sorcerer, Polgara the Sorceress – David and Leigh Eddings

 

Belgariad: Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician’s Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, Enchanter’s End Game

Mallorean: Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda, Sorceress of Darshiva, and The Seeress of Kell

 

Saving the world from evil with wit and style. Polgara is one of my favorite fantasy women ever. I wanted to be just like her when I grew up when I was a kid. My first fantasy series outside of Tolkien, so I’m a bit biased.

 

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy – Tad Williams

 

Consisting of The Dragonbone Chair, The Stone of Farewell, and To Green Angel Tower.  Very much in the tradition of Lord of the Rings, but quite original in its own way.  The action is quick, the characters are well fleshed out and the series is so darn LONG that they become a part of you without you really noticing.  I’ve heard it called “The War and Peace of Fantasy,” and I’m inclined to agree.

 

2. Political Intrigue and Other Complexities

 

Though the fate of the world may not be at stake here, fates of kingdoms and interesting characters probably ARE. Series in this category are notable and remembered for their vivid and realistic political situations and characters, with a lot (or a little) magic mixed in.

 

Dragon Prince & Dragon Star Trilogies – Melanie Rawn

 

In order: Dragon Prince, The Star Scroll, Sunrunner’s Fire, Stronghold, The Dragon Token, Skybowl.

 

Fascinating cultures, a very believable system of magic, the questioning of old prejudices, and characters so real I wept for them.

 

The Golden Key – Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, and Kate Elliot

 

My favorite stand-alone fantasy. Set in a pseuo-Italian renaissance where painters have the power to paint things into truth.

 

Tigana – Guy Gavriel Kay

 

The rebuilding of a ruined country that no one speaks of. Possibly one of the most lyrical authors out there.

 

The Tamir Trilogy – Lynn Flewelling

 

The Bone Doll’s Twin, Hidden Warrior

This series isn’t complete yet, but it’s got one of the darkest setups I’ve every come across, and some very realistic people making very difficult decisions.  The plot seems usual – evil uncle usurps throne from rightful heir, but the way it unfolds is anything but.

 

3. Is This History or Fantasy? I’m Confused.

 

Some Fantasy draws parallels that are so close to historical reality that it’s scary, and fun.  Fun to try and pick up all of the allusions to real people, places, and customs, that is.

 

Tales of the King’s Blades – Dave Duncan

 

The Gilded Chain, Lord of the Fire Lands, and Sky of Swords

 

Can YOU find the Henry VIII parallels in this story?  Seriously, though, a very interesting take with just enough magic to keep things interesting and one of the most shocking uses of time travel/ history alteration that I’ve ever encountered.  He’s got a new book in the same series out called Paragon Lost that I haven’t read yet, but is probably excellent as well.

 

The Lions of Al-Rassan – Guy Gavriel Kay

 

A fantasy world mirroring Medieval Spain with its requisite Muslim, Christian, and Jewish-like factions. One of the more tragic books I’ve ever read.  Very little magic, but the story and the characters are magic in and of themselves.

 

Exile’s Children and Exile’s Challenge – Angus Wells

 

Ok, so there are fantasies where the world resembles a Native American Culture, and fantasies where worlds resemble a Renaissance European culture, but there are very few that have BOTH of these interacting with each other. These two books do, (and hey, there are only two!) and the culture clash is both fun and interesting.

 

 

4. Arthurian Fantasy

Modern Authors just can’t leave Arthur alone. He’s too much fun.

 

The Merlin Trilogy – Mary Stewart

 

The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment are the books in the trilogy, but the story is tied up in The Wicked Day, so read that one too.

 

The Arthurian Legend from Merlin’s point of view. Very well done.

 

The Once and Future King – TH White

 

The musical Camelot was loosely based on this book, but the actual text is so much more detailed.  White was trying to say quite a few things about society at the time he was writing, and the present and the past tend to collide in fascinating ways. 

 

5. Darn Near Mythic

 

These are books and or series that have a certain mythic, fairy tale feel to them.  Usually very lyrical, not heavy on logical explanation, but very beautiful in their own way.

 

Riddlemaster Trilogy – Patricia McKillip

 

The Riddlemaster of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind

One of the more difficult fantasy reads I’ve ever attempted, for some reason.  These require a bit of concentration and attention to figure out what is going on.  She doesn’t just come out and tell the reader. No, she makes it all symbolic and not literal.  I loved this series though.  The woman is a master of myth and language. So...

 

 

 

 

The Book of Atrix Wolfe – Patricia McKillip

 

Anything this woman wrote is probably fabulous, but this happens to be the one I’ve read.  A very poignant story about the interaction of the faerie and human worlds.

 

Thomas the Rhymer – Ellen Kushner

 

Based on the legend of a minstrel who caught the eye of the faerie queen and got taken to her kingdom.  Poignant (yes I know I just used that word) and very beautifully written.

 

6. Bite Me – Vampire Novels

 

Interview With the Vampire – Anne Rice

 

The best of all the series, which is understandable considering it was the first she wrote. The story is dark, and a bit psychologically unnerving, but I love it all the same.

 

The Vampire Lestat – Anne Rice

 

Covers some of the same territory as Interview, but Lestat’s first person voice is something not to be missed. He’s cocky, conceited, and utterly a joy to read.  I didn’t really like the next book, Queen of the Damned, and stopped reading after that.

 

Hotel Transylvania – Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

 

A vampire gentleman in pre-Revolution France.  And he’s not even evil!  A very luscious take on the vampire genre. There are more books in this series, but I’ve not read them.

 

Fevre Dream – George R.R. Martin

 

It’s like Huckleberry Finn and Vampiric legend colliding... Vampires on the Mississippi in the glory days of steam-powered riverboats. It works. I promise. One of the BEST vampire novels I’ve ever read. It’s out of print in the US, however. I got my copy in England, which is how I discovered it.

 

Guilty Pleasures – Laurel K. Hamilton

 

The first in the Anita Blake – Vampire Hunter series. Quick, fast read, but Anita is an great, competent, strong, snarky heroine.

 

 

 

 

7. Funny Fantasy

 

Not all fantasy is serious and reverent and dire. These series are still fun and well plotted, but their true defining feature is the way they either poke fun at the fantasy genre or give another meaning to the word ‘sarcasm.’

 

Blue Moon Series – Simon R. Green

 

Ok, that is not really the name of the series, but Mr. Green’s collection of books about the same characters doesn’t really HAVE a name, so I gave it one.  Here’s my suggested order of reading:

Blue Moon Rising, Hawk and Fisher: Haven of Lost Souls (also published as Swords of Haven), Hawk and Fisher: Fear and Loathing in Haven (also published as Guards of Haven. I’ll explain in a moment...), and finally, Beyond the Blue Moon.  The middle two books are actually collections of three novellas each about the same set of characters, and two different publishers have put them out over the years, each giving the collections a different name. Makes it damnably difficult to tell people reading order. Anyway, this series pokes fun at EVERY fantasy cliche out there. Hawk and Fisher are two of my favorite people, and... yeah. It’s just adventurous fun.  I discovered this series when I missed a flight and got stranded in an airport, so my fondness for it is perhaps more due to gratitude than merit, but the series is still worth a look.

 

The Book of Jhereg – Steven Brust

 

This is another one of those omnibus things... this book is actually the first three novels in a series... I think the individual novels are called Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla. I think.  The series centers around one Vlad Taltos, a magically talented assassin with a very snarky pet mini-dragon. Vlad’s first person voice is marvelous, and, at the beginning of each chapter, is an especially suitable funny quote.  My favorite still has to be “True heroics must be carefully planned and strenuously avoided.” True, that.

 

There are more books after the three I’ve mentioned here, but you’ll go find them yourself if you like the first three.

 

8. Other Series Which, While Not Being My Favorites, Are Still Good and May be Worth a Look

 

Dragonriders of Pern – Anne McCaffrey

 

Ok, ok, so I really did like Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders novels quite a bit. Especially the first couple of series.  They just tend to get... repetitive towards the end. Still, McCaffrey is HUGE in the world of fantasy, and the society she has set up on the planet of Pern is a believable one.  And there are cool dragons, of course.

Anything About Valdemar – Mercedes Lackey

 

Mercedes Lackey has written almost as much about Valdemar as Anne McCaffrey has written about Pern.  Maybe more.  She’s not the deepest writer ever I think of her as “shojo does fantasy”, but her books make good beach reading. Here’s the order I’d suggest reading her series in:

Heralds of Valdemar Trilogy, Mage Winds Trilogy, The Last Herald Mage Series, (my first exposure to Shonen-ai. I thought I was going to faint. But I didn’t. And now I’m a borderline fangirl. *sigh*) The Mage Storms Series, and Black Gryphon, White Gryphon, and Silver Gryphon. There’s more than that, but that’s all I’ve read.

 

Recluce Saga – L.E. Modesitt, Jr

 

A fantasy where the magic practically works like science.  The books in this series all stand alone, and if you read them in the order they’re written they jump around in the timeline quite a bit, but it really does make more sense that way because you get to see the world develop in the author’s mind. Here goes: The Magic of Recluse, The Towers of the Sunset, The Magic Engineer, The Order War, The Death of Chaos, Fall of Angels, The Chaos Balance, The White Order, and Colors of Chaos.   There is a new one, too, but I don’t remember what it’s called.

 

9. Two Men I can’t Stand Because They’re in Print and Even I Could Write Better

Or

Hey, Maybe I Just Don’t Like Guys Named Terry

 

Ok, it’s about to get personal... both of these guys are BIG writers in the field, wildly popular, but I really can’t stand them.

 

Shannara Series – Terry Brooks

 

The Sword of Shannara, Elfstones of Shannara, The Wishsong of Shannara, and *Insert Other Nouns of Your Choice here since I can’t remember more titles* of Shannara.

 

I was prepared to like this series. I really was. It’s one of the first fantasies I read after Eddings. It’s just... *sigh*  I don’t think that Terry Brooks could write OR characterize his way out of an empty room. If the door was open. And all of the walls fell down.  I find his dialogue to be wooden and his characters to be flat.  But maybe that’s just me.  Try him if you like, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

 

The Sword of Truth Series – Terry Goodkind

 

Wizards First Rule, Stone of Tears, Blood of the Fold, Temple of the Winds, Soul of the Fire, Faith of the Fallen, The Pillars of Creation, and Naked Empire.

 

The first book was good.  It had its faults, but I enjoyed it.  Things went downhill from there. Each of these books is over 700 pages, and in some of them, absolutely nothing happens. Except that Richard and Kahlan, the two main characters, confirm once again that they DO love each other.  Of course, some may complain that Robert Jordan has even LESS happening in some of his recent novels, but his world is so much more well set up than Goodkind’s it’s not even funny.  In RJ’s Wheel of Time, even when nothing’s happening, it’s interesting. In Goodkind, when nothing is happening you find yourself resisting the urge to play with carpet fuzz.

 

Read these if you like, and if you don’t mind the random sex, ludicrous violence in strange places, melodrama, and poorly thought out customs of fantasy peoples. (There is a tribe called the Mud People.  Yes, the Mud People.  They wear mud.  I kid you not.)

 

Wow. I feel better now...

 

In conclusion....

 

These are my opinions, and only my opinions.  If you hate a book I loved, don’t come after me.  If you loved a book I hated, definitely don’t come after me, because I don’t want to deal with the kinds of people who would find Brooks and Goodkind good reading. (Kidding! Kidding! I have lots of good friends who like these books and we manage to get along just fine!) 

 

Seriously, though... I put this list together to give an idea of what’s big in fantasy these days, and what I think to be some of the best.  I hope it’s of use to someone, somewhere, somehow, someday.