August 16th, 2006

Literary_Equine_02

Fantasy I Have Loved


I'm only posting stuff unfamiliar to most of you:

  1. Mythago Wood, by Robert Holdstock (Secular fantasy about modern-day England where a family comes into possession of a wood that you can walk around in less than a day, but takes a lifetime to walk through it. It is also the home of all archetypes.)

  2. Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath, by H. P. Lovecraft. (A beautiful story of a dreamer exploring the Dreamlands of Earth for a special sunlit city. It has its horrific moments.)

  3. The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and its sequel, The Moon of Gomrath, by Alan Garner. I cannot say enough good about Alan Garner. Also read Elidor. The Owl Service is a wonderful fantasy, but very difficult to understand as it is immersed in Welsh culture and literature, yet it has its rewards for the patient reader. The Weirdstone of Brisingamen has a scene in it so intense, it actually triggered in me a massive asthma attack.

  4. The Moon Pool, by A. Merritt (A turn of the century pulp fantasy with characters larger than life, a lost civilization, and a monster that will haunt your dreams.)

  5. Any of the short story collections by Clark Ashton Smith. Warning: it has horrific elements.

  6. The House on the Borderland, by William Hope Hodgson. (From 1908, a frightening story of a mystical house under siege from creatures that will give you nightmares.)

  7. Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories.

  8. The Dark Is Rising: a five-novel series from Susan Cooper.

  9. The Heavenly Horse From The Outermost West, by Mary Stanton (Watership Down told from the perspective of a herd of horses)

  10. The Book of the Dun Cow, by Walter Wangerin, Jr. (Animal Farm for Christians)