Where should I start when reading fantasy?
As with science fiction, this is a tough question — for the same reason. Fantasy worlds can be entirely different than our own, eerily similar, or a mash-up of the radically different and the every day.
Fantasy can be humorous (Anthony’s Xanth series or Terry Pratchett‘s works), character-driven (Alan Dean Foster’s Flinx series), epic (Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings), a mashup with science fiction (Anne McCaffrey’s Crystal Singer), fairy tales, portal fantasies, and much more.
Read on for the list.
A few of my (mostly recent) favorites:
- Ilona Andrews, Clean Sweep
- Jack Campbell, The Dragons of Dorcastle
- Naomi Novik, Uprooted
- Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn
…and some classics:
- Raymond Feist, Magician: Apprentice
- William Goldman, The Princess Bride
- C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia
- Robin McKinley, The Blue Sword
- L.E. Modesitt, The Soprano Sorceress