This will clearly be controversial and individual, but South African blogger Steve Hayes (of Khana fame) has created his top 100 Fantasy Book list. The list clusters around certain authors, like Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Connolly, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King (and Peter Straub), Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. Le Guin, Suzanne Collins, as well as some one-time classics and authors I didn’t know, like Jasper Fforde and Phil Rickman. I have written before about whether we could come up with a “Canon of Fantasy Literature,” and this “My Favourites” list is a great way to approach it. It might even be intriguing to do the list in such a way as each author can only have one book or series on the list. It would, as metaphorical foxholes often do, focus the mind.
You can click through to Steve’s blogs, or follow him on Twitter, @hayesstw.
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About Brenton Dickieson
“A Pilgrim in Narnia” is a blog project in reading and talking about the work of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, the Inklings, L.M. Montgomery, and the worlds they created. As a "Faith, Fantasy, and Fiction" blog, we cover topics like children’s literature, myths and mythology, fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction, poetry, theology, cultural criticism, art and writing.
This blog includes my thoughts as I read through my favourite writings and reflect on my own life and culture. In this sense, I am a Pilgrim in Narnia--or Middle Earth, or Fairyland, or Avonlea. I am often peeking inside of wardrobes, looking for magic bricks in urban alleys, or rooting through yard sale boxes for old rings. If something here captures your imagination, leave a comment, “like” a post, share with your friends, or sign up to receive Narnian Pilgrim posts in your email box.
Brenton Dickieson (PhD, Chester) is a father, husband, friend, university lecturer, and freelance writer from Prince Edward Island, Canada. You can follow him:
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Jasper Fforde is a delight. I have read three of the Thursday Next series. She works in jurisfiction, hopping from one book to another – fixing things, starting with The Eyre Affair. The Big Over Easy is a detective story (Jack Spratt and Mary Mary) figuring out the mysterious death of Humpty Dumpty. Sorry, I have not read anything from the Dragonslayer series.
Brilliant. It’s on my list, which is admittedly pretty long.
I’m all over that list, especially because it includes Finn Family Moomintroll! Just awesome! 😀
Yes! That’s one of the one’s I’ve read, and, with respect to this list, some Moomintroll story is the first I – well, had read to me, for a treat, in grade school.
Ah, another Moomintroll fan! Moomin Valley is certainly a world I’d like to inhabit!