Must-Read List

[ladynox25]

The other day, my mom told me that my cousin Leslie has gotten into fantasy recently. And since my mom told Leslie that I read a lot of fantasy, Leslie asked my mom to ask me for a list of recommendations. As I was writing up the list, it became very interesting (to me) to see what I included, and what I left out. So I'm posting it here for your amusement, and if anyone can think of something I left out that should be included, let me know.

My Must-Read List for the Fantasy Reader:

Richard Adams, Watership Down
Piers Anthony+, The Incarnations of Immortality (series, 7 books)
J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass
Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising (series, 5 books), Seaward
David and Leigh Eddings+, The Belgariad
Neil Gaiman*, Stardust, Sandman (series, 10 books), American Gods
Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett, Good Omens
William Goldman, The Princess Bride
Barry Hughart, Bridge of Birds
Guy Gavriel Kay+, The Fionavar Tapestry (series, 3 books), Tigana, The Sarantine Mosaic (series, 2 books), The Lions of Al-Rassan
Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook's Hill, Farewell Rewards and Fairies, The Jungle Book I and II
Madeline L'Engle+, A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind at the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet
C. S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia (series, 7 books)
George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire (series, 7 books)
Anne McCaffrey+, The Dragonriders of Pern (series, 3 books)
Michael Moorcock+*, The Elric Cycle (series, 7 books)
Robert O'Brian, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Terry Prachett, Discworld (series, 26 books)
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter (series, 7 books)
Mary Stewart, The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hill, The Last Enchantment, The Wicked Day
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion
Kathryn Wesley, The 10th Kingdom
Jane Yolen*, The Books of Great Alta (series, 2 books)
Roger Zelazny, The Amber Chronicles, I and II, (series, 5 books each)
Marion Zimmer-Bradley*, The Mists of Avalon

Notes:

[1] This is fantasy only, so I deliberately omitted science fiction from the list, although I did include a couple of series that lie in the boundary area.
[2] I limited the list to books and series I have actually read (even if I haven't read all the books in the series, frex, Prachett's Discworld), except in the case of Sandman, because so many people have highly recommended it to me and it is on my own to-be-acquired list.
[3] I tried to include a judicious sampling of epic fantasy, light fantasy, classic fantasy, Arthurian fantasy, etc.
[4] For each series, I've indicated how many books are (or are planned) in the series.
[5] A "+" indicates that, if you enjoyed the listed books for an author, that there is more fantasy by that author to read.
[6] A "*" indicates a caveat, since my cousin is in her early teens, that books by this author may contain more mature content, themes, language, situations, or handling.
[7] If several books are listed in order, it is generally recommended that they be read in that order.

Comments

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be caught dead recommending Piers Anthony to anyone, even if I did enjoy him in my callow youth!

What did you use as a criterion for "mature content"? Like, why does Moorcock get it, while Martin (with, like, the blood and gore and incest and adults having sex with 13-year-olds, and that's just the first book!) doesn't? (Not criticising or anything, I don't think there's anything wrong with early-teens reading "mature" stuff, just curious.)

[hoya99.livejournal.com]

It was Turnberry who first suggested I read "On a Pale Horse." Had he not done so (and he lobbied me hard to try it), I would probably not have read any fantasy at all as I had never read any... even Tolkein. In turn, I would not have gone on to read any Robert Jordan nor would I have subsequently suggested Robert Jordan to Turnberry.

And we all know how THAT turned out. :)

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not saying that nothing good can ever come out of reading Piers Anthony. I'm just saying that I'm a big poser and I wouldn't want to admit to having been a fan. At least to anybody who wasn't in the same boat.

[texas-tiger.livejournal.com]

The Incarnations of Immortality are really the only books I really recommend by Anthony. I think they managed to retain enough real content and value to make them a good read.

[texas-tiger.livejournal.com]

Yes, a lot of these have mature content. I was trying to mark the ones that are *really* hard-nosed, in my opinion. For Moorcock, it's because Elric is more of an anti-hero. It's very hard to like him. And the idea of a sword that feeds on people's souls is rather more hard-nosed, IMHO, than dynastic struggles.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

The Kushiel's Dart series is pretty good (just finished it the other day) but might not be suitable for early teens - the heroine is a courtesan, and there's quite a bit of kinky sex involved.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

A couple more:

H.P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Silver Key, Through the Gates of the Silver Key - these are fantasy rather than horror.
Lord Dunsany, The King of Elfland's Daughter - pre-Tolkien fantasy, a strong influence on Lovecraft.
Tanith Lee, Travellers on the Road - essentially a horror story in a fantasy setting.
Kim Newman (writing as Jack Yeovil), Drachenfels - party of adventurers defeats the Evil Wizard, 25 years later one of them who has political ambitions hires a playwright to dramatise the story as a PR stunt. Best read after a lot of other fantasy.

I've not read them myself, but I've heard some good things about Stephen King's fantasy novels.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

And more:

Neil Gaiman: in addition to the 10 volumes of Sandman, there's also Sandman: Dream Hunters, done with Yoshitaka Amano, which works just fine as a stand-alone. (Unlike the other Sandman books, which are comics, this one's an illustrated novel.)

Other comics: Bill Willingham's Fables is very good (fairytale characters flee the land of stories and hide in New York).
Phil & Kaja Foglio's Girl Genius (http://studiofoglio.com/girlgenius.html) is more Mad Science than fantasy, but still likely to appeal to someone who likes fantasy, and it always raises a smile.

[larabeaton.livejournal.com]

I hear that Jordan guy is pretty good, too.

[texas-tiger.livejournal.com]

I had a wager with myself as to which DF here would make that comment. Congratulations, Oh Tri-Mammaried One. *grin*

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books, and, if you want to be a little politically disruptive, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

Speaking of the Sandman, do you own any of them yet?

Sandman

[texas-tiger.livejournal.com]

No, alas, I do not. On my list, though. *smile*

[kjn]

Charles de Lint: probably _Moonlight and Vines_ or _The Ivory and the Horn_
Emma Bull: _War for the Oaks_
Steven Brust: _Jhereg_, or go _The Phoenix Guards_ for a lighter theme
Lois Bujold: _Curse of Chalion_ and _Paladin of Souls_
Diane Duane: _So You Want to Be a Wizard?_
Barbara Hambly: _The Time of the Dark_ and (especially!) _Dragonsbane_
Diana Wynne Jones: _The Tough Guide to Fantasyland_
Katharine Kerr: _Daggerspell_
Jack Vance: _The Dying Earth_

If you want to warp her for life/be extraordinarily subversive:

Eric Flint: _The Philosophical Strangler_ and _Forward the Mage_
Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman: _The Fall of the Kings_
China Miéville: _Perdido Street Station_
Sean Stewart: _Clouds End_
Michael Swanwick: _The Iron Dragon's Daughter_

If you find her reading _Sheepfarmer's Daughter_, give her _Curse of Chalion_ as an antidote, immediately. Or _Small Gods_. Or preferably both.