In the spirit of Davem "ask me tomorrow & I might come up with a different list..." And I have tried to stay with the "more easily seen as a fantasy" -stuff.
J.R.R. Tolkien:
Silmarillion
- That's just amazing what he came up with after a long study and years and years of creating. You know it and I don't need to explain further.
Iain M. Banks: The Culture novels (
Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, Use of Weapons, Against a Dark Background, Excession, Look to Windward)
- If this is not fantasy then what is? Even if Banks' world isn't quite as minutely constructed it's believable and fascinating in its own right. And just look at the characters! The newest,
Algebraist, even if not a Culture novel was a really enjoyable read as well!
Jonathan Swift:
Gulliver's Travels
- Not so much the lilliputs (or whatever they are in English, those little people) but fex. the island of the Horses... One of the first fantasy novels ever.
Voltaire's Mikromegas if fun too... Well, depending on what you count as one.
Robert Holdstock:
Mythago Wood and the two first sequels to it (
Lavondyss, The Hollowing)
- I lost count in one moment or another whether a novel or another still was to be counted in - and they were not so good any more. Also there has been time since I read them so I'm not sure how I would react to them now. But to myself around 20 they were really fascinating.
Dan Simmons:
Ilium
Sci-fi, Shakespeare, Proust and Greek myths collide. Sounds banal and stupid but isn't. Even if I strongly dislike the undercurrent of "prepare to fight" morality it's just an astonishing feat! I mean I really started looking for the maps of Mars while reading it just to find the places...
