Mythopoet's Master Fantasy Reading List

[Mythopoet]

For the past couple years I've been slowing working my way through a systematic reading of the fantasy genre. I think it's important as a writer to be knowledgeable about the genre I write in. My take on fantasy will be built up on a foundation of what I have read that has influenced me and so I want to make my foundation as solid as possible. So I have set out to better educate myself.

I've spent some time compiling a list of modern fantasy works. That is, no mythology, no fairy tales, none of the isolated incidents of fantasy-esque writing before the birth of the modern genre, beginning in the later 1800s. I've limited the number of books per author on the list and when dealing with an influential series I include only the first book. Because I prefer to write fantasy set in an imaginary world, I have focused mostly, but not entirely, on such imaginary world fantasy. (Can you imagine how long the list would be if it was representative of every sub-genre?) The books on the list should be important to the development of the fantasy genre either through their popularity with readers, their influence on other fantasy writers, or simply by being examples of good story telling that strengthen the genre in general.

I'm sure there are lots of books that should be on the list but aren't. It grew rather rapidly with the minimal research I put into it, and I don't want to be reading from the list for the rest of my life. Still, if there is an important work missing that you know of please suggest it. I'm always considering additions to the list.

Starting next week I'm going to begin posting detailed analysis of the works I've read, exploring how they affected the development of the genre, and keeping track of my continued reading progress on my blog (link in signature). I'm hoping that this will spur me on to keep working on the list. (I'm kind of stalled right now because I'm really dreading reading Titus Groan.)

Anyway, here's the list (asterisks next to books I've read, either before or after compiling the list):

*John Ruskin: The King of the Golden River, 1851

*Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women by George MacDonald (1858)

*The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris (1894)

The Well at the World's End by William Morris (1896)

The Wallet of Kai Lung by Ernest Bramah (1900)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1900)

*The Gods of Pegana by Lord Dunsany (1905)

The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson (1912)

*The Moon Pool by A. Merritt (1919)

*A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay (1920)

*The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison (1922)

*The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany (1924)

*Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees (1926)

War in Heaven by Charles Williams (1930)

Zothique stories by Clark Ashton Smith (1932-)

*Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard (1932-)

Jirel of Joiry stories by C.L. Moore (1934-)

The Island of the Mighty by Evangeline Walton (1936)

*The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)

*Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber (1939-)

*The Roaring Trumpet and The Mathematics of Magic by Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp (1940)

*The Sorcerer's Ship by Hannes Bok (1942)

*The Book of Ptath by A.E. van Vogt (1943)

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (1946)

The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt (1948)

The Dying Earth by Jack Vance (1950)

*The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950)

The Tritonian Ring by L. Sprague de Camp (1953)

The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson (1954)

*The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954-1955)

*The Once and Future King by T.H. White (1958)

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (1960) and The Moon of Gomrath (1963) by Alan Garner

*A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (1962)

Witch World by Andre Norton (1963)

*The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (1964)

*Passage to Dilfar (Dilvish, the Damned) by Roger Zelazny (1965)

*The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (1968)

*A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin (1968)

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey (Dragonriders of Pern Book 1, 1968)

The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs (1969)

Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant (1970)

Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz (1970)

*Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny (1970)

*Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock (1972)

Watership Down by Richard Adams (1972)

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip (1974)

The Sword of Shanara by Terry Brooks (1977)

*Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson (1977)

A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony (Xanth Book 1, 1977)

Beauty by Robin McKinley (1978)

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (1979)

*The Changing Land by Roger Zelazny (1981)

The Elfin Ship by James Blaylock (1982)

Magician (Riftwar Saga) by Raymond E. Feist (1982)

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings (The Belgariad Book 1, 1982)

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King (1982)

*The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers (1983)

*The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett (1983)

Web of light by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1983)

Alanna: The First Adventure (The Song of the Lioness) by Tamora Pierce (1983)

Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (1984)

The Black Company by Glen Cook (1984)

Legend by David Gemmell (1984)

Her Majesty's Wizard by Christopher Stasheff (1986)

*Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (1986)

The Time Master Trilogy by Louise Cooper (1986)

Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead (1987)

The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore (Icewind Dale Book 1, 1988)

Sheepfarmer's Daughter (The Deed of Paksenarrion) by Elizabeth Moon (1988)

*The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams (1988)

*The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (1990)

The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust (1991)

*The Magic of Recluce by L. E. Modesitt Jr (1991)

*Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind (1994)

*Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb (Farseer Trilogy book 1, 1995)

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (1995)

Sabriel by Garth Nix (1995)

*A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (1996)

*Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (1997)

Stardust by Neil Gaiman (1998)

The Sum of All Men by David Farland (1998)

*Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan Book of the Fallen, 1999)

*Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (1999)

*Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Harry Dresden Book 1, 2000)

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville (2000)

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (2001)

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2002)

*Eragon by Christopher Paolini (2002)

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (2002)

*Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (2003)

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud (2003)

Tales of the Otori books by Lian Hearn (2003)

The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe (2004)

*Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (2004)

*The Darkness that Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker (2004)

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson (2005)

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik (2005)

Priestess of the White by Trudi Caravan (2005)

*The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (2006)

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (2006)

*The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (2007)

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay (2007)

The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett (2008)

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks (2008)

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin (2010)

Hounded by Kevin Hearne (Iron Druid series) 2011

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (2011)

 

[Steerpike]

Titus Groan is great

And seeing these three all in a row warms my heart:


Zothique stories by Clark Ashton Smith (1932-)

*Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard (1932-)

Jirel of Joiry stories by C.L. Moore (1934-)

 

[Mythopoet]

Yeah, I've read some Clarke Ashton Smith and the first Jirel story already, but since they're only short stories I wanted to read more. I think I'm going to have to order the other Jirel stories as a used book. I can't seem to find them any other way.

 

[Steerpike]

Yeah, I've read some Clarke Ashton Smith and the first Jirel story already, but since they're only short stories I wanted to read more. I think I'm going to have to order the other Jirel stories as a used book. I can't seem to find them any other way.

Paizo, the company that publishes Pathfinder RPG, re-released all the Jirel stories a couple of years ago. I think you can still order from them, but it isn't in ebook form, sadly.

 

[Ghost]

For the past couple years I've been slowing working my way through a systematic reading of the fantasy genre. I think it's important as a writer to be knowledgeable about the genre I write in. My take on fantasy will be built up on a foundation of what I have read that has influenced me and so I want to make my foundation as solid as possible. So I have set out to better educate myself.

[...]

Starting next week I'm going to begin posting detailed analysis of the works I've read, exploring how they affected the development of the genre, and keeping track of my continued reading progress on my blog (link in signature).

This looks like a solid list. I've made a similar reading list for my "homemade MFA program." There is some overlap between our reading lists, although mine isn't as thorough since I've included other genres (horror, mythology, sci-fi, classics, and some literary). I intend to do literary responses rather than critical analyses since I'd be intimidated if I tried that. My focus is on what I think and feel about the book rather than the broader impact of the work.

I think this is a good idea, obviously. Reading dozens of works with a critical eye and studying how various novels succeed in their goals is illuminating. I also think it's a good idea to customize your reading list according to your goals as a writer. It's like a course of independent study.

 

[Mythopoet]

Hmmm... I guess I can't edit my post with the list. I just realized that H. P. Lovecraft is missing from it. Anyway, I've already read all of Lovecraft's stories and highly recommend both some Dream Cycle stories (The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath being my favorite) and Cthulhu Mythos stories (The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness especially) for a well rounded fantasy education. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading all of his stories, even the straight up horror ones like Herbert West- Reanimator. I have always hated horror and steered clear of it. But something about Lovecraft's style keeps me fascinated.

Ghost, it's not really my intent to read and analyze these stories in a critical way. I am a naturally analytical person, but if possible I would like to be analytical within the sphere of my creative brain while reading and learning from these books.