 |
The
Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.- $5.59US. |
|
The
Restaurant at the End of the Universe.- $5.59US. |
|
Life,
the Universe and Everything.- $5.59US. |
|
So
Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.- $4.79US. |
|
Mostly
Harmless.- $9.60US. 
Bellairs, John. Here is the one adult novel by the well-known
children's author. It's a story of wizards in conflict, bright and dark by turns,
hilarious, whimsical, with moments of intense gothic horror. Ursula LeGuin called it
"authentic fantasy by a writer who knows what wizardry is all about."
Unfortunately hard to find, but worth a search.
|
|
The
Face in the Frost.- This title is out of print, but Amazon.com may be able to
find you a used copy.
Bradbury, Ray. These two books may be Bradbury's best known. The
Martian Chronicles is a science fiction classic: grand in scope, humane, chilling,
heart-breaking, funny, immensely readable. Something Wicked is Bradbury as fantasist,
using the circus -- in this case Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show -- as the
vehicle for some of the most terrifying scenes ever written. Both are worth reading for
the language alone (consider a book that begins, "The seller of lightning rods
arrived just ahead of the storm.")
|
|
The
Martian Chronicles- $4.79US |
|
Something
Wicked This Way Comes- $4.40US
Brin, David. The Postman.-
$5.20US. A post-holocaust story about the rebirth of hope. Discovering the uniform and
mailbag of a long-dead postman sets one man, then whole communities, on the road back from
the brink of despair. A very human and ultimately uplifting book.
Dean, Pamela. One of the novels in the Fairy Tale Series by Tor
Books, this one retells the old Scottish tale of Tam Lin, in which a determined young
woman defies good advice, fatherly fiat and the power of the Faery Queen herself, to free
her lover from enchantment. The setting on a modern American campus makes it believable
without sacrificing any of the eerie atmosphere. (For comparison, also try to find Diana
Wynne Jones' compulsively readable Fire and
Hemlock,This title is out of print, but Amazon.com may be able to find you a
used copy. which has a modern English setting, or the fine poetic retelling by Jane Yolen.Tam Lin$10.46US.)
|
|
Tam
Lin.- $3.99US
Dickinson, PeterThe Flight
of Dragons.- $24.95US Hardcover. Reprint to be issued in February 1998.
Illustrated by Wayne Anderson. Dragon lore and luscious, grim, always entertaining
illustrations, a book to pique the imagination.
Donaldson, Stephen. The six books below make up the Chronicles of
Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Parts 1 and 2. This is a difficult series, because the
protagonist is a hard man to like, at first. Living with leprosy in modern America, he is
shunned and turns inward, until the leprosy becomes moral, a sickness of the soul.
Transported to an alternate world where simple people save his life, his consuming
self-hatred and refusal to believe in the possibility of goodness leads him to repay
kindness with outrage. From there, his progress toward redemption is long and terrible,
and is linked with the health of the land, which is under threat from Lord Foul, source of
all evil. This is an extended moral epic, in which Covenant is forced to accept
responsibility, ultimately, for everything. Events and characters are so varied, rich and
stunning in their power that the road to the satisfying conclusion doesn't seem long.
|
|
Lord
Foul's Bane- $5.59US |
|
The
Illearth War- $5.59US |
|
The
Power That Preserves- $5.59US |
|
The
Wounded Land- $5.59US |
|
The
One Tree- $5.59US |
|
White
Gold Wielder- $5.59US
Holdstock, Robert. Holdstock's Mythago Wood series grew from the
concept of the psychic links between a piece of primeval woodland and the collective human
consciousness. The characters are real, the action and suspense heart-thumping, the search
for the origins of myth haunts the imagination. Above all, the created world is seamless
and completely convincing. The first two books, Mythago Wood and Lavondyss, may be hard to
find, also The Bone Forest, a short prequel to the series. What's available:
|
|
Mythago
Wood.- This title is out of print, but Amazon.com may be able to find you a
used copy. |
|
Lavondyss.-
This title is out of print, but Amazon.com may be able to find you a used copy. |
|
The
Bone Forest.- This title is out of print, but Amazon.com may be able to find
you a used copy. |
|
The
Hollowing.- $3.99US. |
|
Gate
of Ivory, Gate of Horn.- $17.47US. Hardcover. (This one tells the story of
Christian, the brother who was the antagonist in the first book.)
Jordan, Robert. This fantasy series stands above most:
intelligently written, literate, full of lively, believable characters who develop and
grow. The cosmic battle between good and evil is played out on a world-wide stage that
includes a range of well-detailed races, including the formidable Aiel and the dreaded
Seanchan, and a deep history that gradually reveals itself. There may, in fact, be too
many characters and plot threads for some readers to follow. Luckily, the books are worth
re-reading while we wait for the 8th volume to come out.
|
|
The
Eye of the World (Wheel of Time 1)- $11.96US. |
|
The
Great Hunt (Wheel of Time 2)-$10.36US. |
|
The
Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time 3)- $5.59US. |
|
The
Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time 4)- $5.59US. |
|
The
Fires of Heaven (Wheel of Time 5)- $5.59US. |
|
Lord
of Chaos (Wheel of Time 6)- $6.39US. |
|
Crown
of Swords (Wheel of Time 7)- $6.39US.
Larkin, David, editor Faeries-
$17.49US Hardcover. Illustrated by Brian Froud and Alan Lee. Wonderful illustrations, full
of haunting detail and often delightful humour, are a good match for the text: a
compendium of faeries, brownies, gnomes, bogles and other such people, from the sublime to
the nightmarish.
Lewis, Clive Staples. Although these three books can be enjoyed
as pure science fiction, understanding them as religious metaphors makes them richer and
more rewarding.
|
|
Out
of the Silent Planet- $5.56US |
|
Perelandra-
$5.56US |
|
That
Hideous Strength- $5.56US
Lieber, Fritz. These three volumes include the six original Fafhrd
and Gray Mouser novels, which now seem to be out of print. Lieber's unlikely duo, the
giant barbarian Fafhrd and the Loki-like Mouser, inhabit a dangerous world of exotic
sorceresses, appalling cruelties, extravagant feats of derring-do, convoluted customs
(guilds for all trades, including thieves), rat people, and occasional startling brushes
with other worlds. Lieber is one of science fiction's unique voices.
|
|
Ill
met in Lankhmar.- $7.84US. |
|
Lean
Times in Lankhmar.- $15.39US. hardcover. |
|
Return
to Lankhmar.- $15.39US. hardcover.
McCaffrey, Anne. These three novels are a good introduction to
McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series, based on the concept of a bond between
intelligent and telepathic dragons and human colonists on the world of Pern. Political
machinations in a well-detailed feudal culture combine with the threat of a
cyclically-recurring world-destroying menace for a compelling read. But above all, the
dragons are wonderful -- completely natural creatures (there is no magic in these books)
yet endlessly fascinating.
|
|
Dragonflight.-
$5.59US. |
|
Dragonquest.-
$5.59US. |
|
The
White Dragon.- $5.59US.
McKillip, Patricia. McKillip has the gift of drawing you into her
world swiftly and keeping you there. Excellent fantasy story-telling with a touch of true
magic.
|
|
The
Riddlemaster of Hed.- $4.79US. |
|
Heir
of Sea and Fire.- $4.79US. |
|
Harpist
in the Wind.- $4.79US.
Norton, Andre. Norton has had many bad imitators, and some of the
later novels in the long-running Witch World series show signs of failing energy. But the
earliest novels, if you can find them, are still fast-moving, gripping and original,
infused with a sense of intense psychic menace, and peopled with strong male and female
heroes. Most recent additions to the canon are often collaborations, like The Magestone
(with Mary Schaub) and, for Witch World fans, are exciting new forays into other nooks and
crannies of this well-developed alternate world.
|
|
Witch
World.- This title is out of print, but Amazon.com may be able to find you a
used copy. |
|
The
Magestone.- $4.40US.
Peake, Mervyn. The Gormenghast Trilogy: Titus Groan, Gormenghast,
and Titus Alone. This trilogy is one of a handful of books that everyone should read.
Enjoy it for the splendid, erudite, sensuous language, for the magnificently (sometimes
monstrously) outlandish characters, for the intensity of the moral vision, for the
breath-taking story-telling. There is nothing else even remotely like it. Unaccountably,
it is not currently available, though it keeps getting reprinted. Don't give up.
|
|
The
Gormenghast Trilogy-If you would like to purchase this title, we recommend
that you occasionally check this link to Amazon.com to see if it's been reprinted.
Pullman, Philip. His Dark Materials series. Despite their billing,
these are not books for children, though a mature teen will enjoy them. Lyra Belaqua is an
unsquashable heroine, Will's quest is heartrending, many of the supporting characters (the
armoured bears, the elegant witches) fascinating, and the concept of having a personal
daemon as your constant companion is irresistible. Pullman never tells too much -- at
times the suspense is unbearable -- and leaves dozens of threads to be picked up in the
third volume. Including the question: will Lyra's father really try to make war on God?
The paperback edition of the first book is available, but these books are likely to stay
with you for a lifetime, so you might as well get them in hardcover. There is a unique
pleasure in reading an excellent book in a form that is also good to look at and
comfortable to hold, as this Knopf edition is.
|
|
The
Golden Compass.- $4.79US. paper. |
|
The
Golden Compass.- $14.00US. hardcover. |
|
The
Subtle Knife.- $14.00US. hardcover.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Written in 1816, when Mary Shelley
was 18, this has achieved immortality as a horror classic. By her own account, it was
inspired by a conversation between Shelley and Byron, followed by a nightmare. Though rife
with all the gothic trappings -- sublime settings, extravagant emotional states -- the
novel explores a profoundly modern theme: what happens when man abuses his powers through
science. This Monster, by the way, is an eloquent and crafty fiend, torn by moral
conflicts, very different from the dumb creature in countless B-movies.
|
|
Frankenstein-
$2.80US
Simak, Clifford.
|
|
City.-
This title is out of print, but Amazon.com may be able to find you a used copy. One of the
classics of science fiction, worth getting if you can. Simak's grand yet gentle view of
humanity places you mentally on a back porch in the country, with a dog at your feet, and
an infinite view of the stars overhead. In all Simak's books, no matter how entertaining
(world-transforming alien encounters, endearing down-home Wisconsin heroes) there is a
faint touch of melancholy, compounded of a sense of human frailty, of time passing, of
inevitable loss.
Stevermer, Carolyn.
|
|
A
College of Magics.- $3.99US. A sharp, literate writing style, a spirited
heroine, and a delightfully detailed parallel history. Much like our world, ca. 1906, only
with magic available as a tool of diplomacy and intrigue.
Stewart, Mary.
|
|
The
Merlin Trilogy.- $13.97US. Includes three books in one: The Crystal Cave, The
Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment. Arthurian legend has sparked hundreds of
retellings over the centuries; this is one of the better ones. Beautifully written, with
details that leap off the page, living characters, a pervasive tension, and always a
subtle whiff of enchantment. Wonderful story-telling. This collection does not include the
final book in the Series, The Wicked Day; but that one, which tells Mordred's story, lacks
Merlin, and is the poorer for it.
Strugatsky, Arkady and Boris.
|
|
Roadside
Picnic.- This title is out of print, but Amazon.com may be able to find you a
used copy. Translated from Russian, set (oddly enough) in Canada, this story of humanity's
brush with an alien visitation is infused with a surreal foreboding, a sense of the world
twisting out of our control -- all because some aliens left a few artefacts behind. A
story that lurks permanently in memory.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Silmarillion, the Hobbit, and the three
volumes of the Lord of the Rings make up the complete story of Middle Earth. The hardcover
editions of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, with illustrations by Alan Lee, are
worth every penny to any Tolkien fan: the illustrations are powerful and beautiful,
perfectly suited to the text. The Silmarillion is less accessible to younger readers, but
devotees will want to include it, for completeness. The BBC audio versions are the best
available.
|
|
The
Silmarillion- $12.76US |
|
The
Hobbit- $24.50US Hardcover, with illustrations by Alan Lee |
|
The
Hobbit- $16.80US BBC production: four boxed audio cassettes |
|
The
Lord of the Rings- $49US Hardcover, with illustrations by Alan Lee.
Three-volume set includes The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the
King |
|
The
Lord of the Rings- $53.96US BBC production: 13 boxed audio cassettes
A review of The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Readers tend to be either enchanted or baffled by Tolkien. Those who are baffled can't
understand why he's been held up as the standard for fantasy fiction for the last 30 years
-- ever since The Lord of the Rings crossed the Atlantic and became a cult phenomenon on
American campuses in the '60s. He's had numberless imitators, most of them unsuccessful.
But why so many imitators? There are many better-written books. And his work is badly
flawed, in some ways: there are definite elements of racism and sexism in the story. These
are not active prejudices, just the limitations built into the world view of most
Englishmen of his generation -- he was born in 1892, remember -- but they mean that any
young female reader who wants to imagine herself as a member of that immortal Fellowship
has to imagine herself as male.
So, why all the fuss? The answer is that Tolkien was the original, and the world that
he created is at once rich, complex, unified, and convincing. Beginning to read the Lord
of the Rings is less like opening a book than opening the door on another world, as real
as our own. You sense that Tolkien held this world in his mind -- all of it, from the
powerful creation myths to the authentic languages -- as we hold the world we know: not as
a carefully constructed fiction but as truth. To read Tolkien is to be carried away into
another place, and to feel a chill of loss when at last you accompany Sam home from the
Grey Havens and close the door on him.
As fantasy, the books fulfil the criteria: the magical and dangerous object, the quest,
the ultimate battle between good and evil. The best fantasy is, at bottom, the product of
an intense moral awareness, and Tolkien's devout Christianity provided him with such a
vision, though it does not emerge overtly in this story as it does in the fiction of his
friend C.S Lewis. Instead, his scholarly knowledge of northern European mythology gave
this world its mythic underpinnings. But though there are many recognizable elements from
established folklore -- elves, dwarves, trolls, goblins, wizards, dragons, rings of power
-- there are also sharply original characters: like the Ents, Tom Bombadil, and especially
Gollum.
The Hobbits, of course, are the story's heart, and you come to be inordinately fond of
them. Children (and the child in the adult reader) love them for being small, vulnerable,
ridiculous, yet indomitable. I suspect that most readers who really love The Lord of the
Rings identify themselves as Hobbits, once the spell has taken hold, not as any of the
more heroic characters.
In the end, it comes down to magic: the magic of storytelling, and its power to send
the mind travelling. Despite his limitations, Tolkien had that power, and The Lord of the
Rings will remain one of the great works of the imagination.
Willis, Connie.
|
|
The
Doomsday Book.- $5.20US. An uncompromising look at one of Europe's grimmer
eras -- the time of the Black Death -- seen through the eyes of a time-travelling
historian. Willis's superb writing, historical accuracy and sense of humanity illuminate
this dark story.
Wyndham, John. This gentlemanly writer produced a string of
science fiction novels, all of which are highly satisfying reading. Neatly and effectively
written, with subtly drawn, likeable characters (including resourceful females), and a
convincing matter-of-fact style, both of the books below are ultimately optimistic stories
about the survival of the human race following man-made holocausts.
|
|
The
Day of the Triffids- $4.79US |
|
The
Chrysalids- $3.16US
Zelazny, Roger. The five books below make up the first Amber
series. Far better than the later series, the earlier books tell a story of mythic power,
of brothers and sisters who are demi-gods, though in many ways all too human. The basic
concept is that Amber is the one real world, and all others, including our own, are its
shadows. At the other end of the reality spectrum are the Courts of Chaos. The entire
cosmos is an uneasy balance between these two extremes. From the first book, which begins
with the hero's recovery from centuries-long amnesia, through his search for the truth
about Amber's origins, to the final apocalyptic battle, this five-volume epic is almost
impossible to put down.
|
|
Nine
Princes in Amber- $4.79US |
|
The
Guns of Avalon- $4.79US |
|
The
Sign of the Unicorn- $4.79US |
|
The
Hand of Oberon- $4.79US |
|
The
Courts of Chaos- $3.99US
|