Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Filling In The (Fantasy) Gaps

I'm discovering lately that I seem to have missed out on the fantasy phase in my youth. (I was big on horror, sci-fi, and contemporary as a kid, like Stephen King, Christopher Pike.) There seems to be all these sort of common knowledge things for people who have read a lot of fantasy that I have no idea about and I don't like that. It's like I'm missing a whole layer of experience that could enrich my writing so I've decided I'm going to fix it. Here's what I've come up with so far:



The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
The Wrinkle In Time Quintet by Madeline L'Engle (Already read A Wrinkle In Time)
Terrier by Tamora Pierce
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix

I would love some high/alternate world fantasy recs! I've heard good things about Diana Wynne Jones, Shannon Hale, as well as Robin McKinley and Tamora Pierce's other books but they have so many that I have no idea which book to choose. I'm especially attracted to stories based in mythology or folklore, and I love anything with magic, but I'll read anything that's well-written! That includes Middle Grade.

Note: I've already read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Graceling, and Fire is in my TBR pile, I'm up to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the Narnia chronicles. So please, rec away!

8 comments:

Shannon O'Donnell said...

The Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage is wonderful and filled with magic. I also adore Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series.

Ken Lindsey said...

For mythology and folklore, you need to look at Tom Robbins. He has great female characters, and though his writing can be very thick and wordy, he is great at giving you mythology. For fantasy and especially urban fantasy, I recommend Neil Gaiman. He is amazing and also has a great folklore/mythological tilt to nearly all of his stories.

Anita Saxena said...

Have you read Christopher Paolini's Eragon? It's a 3 book series with one or two more on the way. Excellent writing. And Fire and Graceling, which I know are in your TBR pile, are amongst my favorites of all time.

Rebecca Christiansen said...

I recommend Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies. It's a little different as far as fantasy goes, but it's one of my favourite fantasy books of all time. It's comparable to Redwall. Animal fantasy about deer, with prophesies, magic, medieval Scotland, and Norse mythology. What more could you want?!

Punya said...

I agree with Shannon. I loved that series (or should I say love?)

Natalie C Parker said...

With the exception of the Abhorsen Trilogy (which I haven't read), your list is pretty much a list of my favorites. I would only add The Book of Three series (Prydain Chronicles) by Lloyd Alexander, which I read 10.3 billion times growing up and is MG.

I can't wait to talk to you about these.

Anonymous said...

It's newer, but the Books of Pellinor quartet is FABULOUS! Written (beautifully) by Australian poet, Alison Croggon, it invovles magic, a high fantasy journey, romance, everything you'd ever want.

Valerie Kemp said...

Lots of great suggestions. A few I haven't heard of. I can't wait to get started on these. Thanks everyone!