Thursday, July 16, 2009

Building a Comprehensive SF&F Collection

I'm giving a talk next month to an association of Texas librarians on how to build a good, comprehensive SF&F collection. I've given this talk before, restricting myself just to the science fiction genre, and am pretty confident with my list of works (both classic and contemporary) and what I have to say about it. Updating that speech with a few gems from the last year won't be hard. But this year, I'm giving two talks, one on science fiction and one just on fantasy.

So...

I'd really appreciate some suggestions on what fantasy books every library should have. Science fiction suggestions are also welcome, but it's the fantasy list where I'm looking for the most input. Obviously, Lord of the Rings, Wizard of Earthsea, etc..., but we need to get passed these to gems like Mythago Wood, etc... that the audience may or may not have heard of. Obviously, we can't fit everything in, and obviously they'll be subjective differences between one persons list and another, but what I want to produce is a good overview of fantasy fiction with enough of the signposts to pass muster and enough variety for a variety of tastes. I'm hoping for about 150 titles, and I do want a good representation of contemporary authors. I've got a lot of thoughts on this already, but would really appreciate input to help cover any blindspots I may have, as well as to stimulate a good discussion for all our benefits.

Thanks!

65 comments:

  1. Some of these are taken from a recent list I created:

    The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Blue Bear by Walter Moers

    Fool on the Hill by Matt Ruff

    Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer(I know this would be SF)

    The Myth Hunters by Christopher Golden

    The Orphan's Tales by Catherynne Valente

    Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin(Depends if Vamps go under Fantasy at Libs)

    Moonheart by Charles de Lint (I am half way through and I can see why it is an Urban Fantasy Classic)

    I also made another list of Steampunk recommendations you might find useful.

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  2. Lou, here´s (some of) my humble suggestions:

    Little, Big - John Crowley (a fundamental one)
    the Gormenghast trilogy - Mervyn Peake
    Kalpa Imperial - Angelica Gorodischer (part Fantasy, part Alternate History, totally stunning; and translated by Ursula K. LeGuin, no less)

    Hope that helps. I´m on a hurry now, but I´ll try and write a bigger list later.

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  3. Hey there. I think my suggestions might be a little obvious but here goes:

    A Wrinkle In Time
    Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
    Coraline
    American Gods
    Songs of Ice and Fire Saga (Incomplete but still good)
    His Dark Materials
    The Earthsea Cycle
    The Baroque Cycle (Fantasy? Perhaps.)
    The Last Unicorn
    The Princess Bride
    Redwall
    The Crystal Cave
    Watchmen (Graphic Novel)

    Some that are in other genres but I'd abscond for Fantasy:

    Ann Rice's Vampire series (Some better than others but still good)
    Stephen King's The Stand
    The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (may not be a fantasy but sure feels like one.)

    Superobvious:

    Harry Potter
    Lord of The Rings/The Hobbit
    Narnia Series

    Old Classic:

    Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
    Peter Pan
    Wizard of Oz
    A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
    A Christmas Carol

    Fairy Tales:

    Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales
    Hans Christian Andersen
    Gulliver's Travels

    Historic:

    Beowulf
    Macbeth
    A Midsummer Night's Dream
    Inferno (Dante's)

    Prehistoric:

    The Bible
    The illiad/The Odyssey

    Hope this helps. - Lon

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  4. Great suggestions both of you. Gormenghast - doh! Of course!
    Hatter - love the Steampunk list!

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  5. * Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang
    * Battle Royale - Koushun Takami (I think Haikasoru's coming out with a new translation?)
    * Ash - Mary Gentle
    * Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold
    * The Vorkosigan Series - Lois McMaster Bujold
    * A Plague of Angels - Sheri S. Tepper
    * The Dresden Files series - Jim Butcher
    * Nobody's Son - Sean Stewart
    * Elantris - Brandon Sanderson

    If Graphic Novels count:
    * Sandman
    * Fables
    * Y the Last Man
    * Umbrella Academy

    ---

    More later. It's late ehere @_@

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  6. Bull, Emma - War For the Oaks - [supernatural fantasy]
    Cooper, Susan - Dark Is Rising,The - [supernatural fantasy superhero]
    Feist, Raymond - Magician - [sorcery fantasy]
    Gemmell, David - Legend - [sorcery fantasy superhero]
    Mieville, China - Perdido Street Station - [sorcery fantasy]
    Moorcock, Michael - Elric of Melnibone etc. - [sorcery fantasy superhero]
    Newman, Kim - Anno Dracula - [scary horror superhero]
    Rice, Anne - Interview With the Vampire - [supernatural fantasy]
    Stoker, Bram - Dracula - [scary horror superhero]
    Brackett, Leigh - Sea-Kings Of Mars and Otherworldly Stories - [science fiction superhero]
    Howard, Robert E. - Complete Chronicles of Conan,The - [sorcery fantasy superhero]
    King, Stephen - Dark Tower The Gunslinger,The - [scary horror]
    King, Stephen - Nightmares and Dreamscapes - [scary horror]
    Lovecraft, H. P. - Necronomicon - [scary horror]

    Brust, Steven - Book of Jhereg,The - [sorcery fantasy]
    Moorcock, Michael - Stealer Of Souls,The - [sorcery fantasy superhero]
    Zelazny, Roger - Great Book of Amber,The - [sorcery fantasy]

    Barron, Laird - Imago Sequence and Other Stories,The - [scary horror]

    Greenberg, Martin H. and Robert Silverberg - Fantasy Hall Of Fame,The - [sorcery fantasy]
    Hartwell, David G. - Dark Descent,The - [scary horror]

    Poe, Edgar Allan - Gold-Bug and Other Tales,The - [scary horror]
    Smith, Clark Ashton - Emperor of Dreams,The - [scary horror]

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  7. ObilonKenobi, that's a great list. I'll probably omit fairy tales and works of classic literature like the Twain because the library will already have those in other sections (even if they are fantasy). And I have to decide whether to mix in YA or leave it for another time/talk (or one page of YA?).

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  8. For the female library users:

    Anything by Ann McCaffery & Mercedes Lackey - both have several series, & libraries probably have McCaffery's dragon series & Lackey's Valdemar series.

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  9. It’s been a while since I’ve read a lot of fantasy, and most of what I’m thinking of you would most likely have on your list or has already been listed above, but I have a couple of suggestions.

    Robert Asprin’s Myth series springs to mind if you want to include something with a comedic element into it to mix it up a bit. The series is something in the neighborhood of 14 books long, but I would add the first book at least to the list: Another Fine Myth.

    I have yet to read it, but Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy is a series I have only heard good things about.

    Pao sort of beat me to this point, but given your recent round of comic and graphic novel reviews at Tor.com, maybe you would want to add a third talk (sometime in the future) centered on sequential stories. I’ve been having a rather good time helping out my fiancĂ©—who is a librarian—build up her library’s graphic novel collection. Just a thought.

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  10. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at a talk like that. Any chance this or a previous iteration of this talk would be recorded. Even just audio would be spectacular. How do you go about a talk like this? I assume it's more than just giving a list of examples. I find myself with about 1,000 questions. I'd love to hear more.

    The new weird reading list is about all I have to add to the fantasy suggestions. I'd probably have been more help with the SF suggestions.

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  11. Again, thanks everyone. Between here and my facebook page, we've really got a good base to work from!

    Mentatjack - for the SF talk, I assumed a range of familiarity in the audience from active readers to never read at all. So I started out with a short definition of what is SF, and the four "jobs of science fiction" as I see them that make it unique and relevant. I then went by decade, starting (quickly) with Wells and Verne, and going through major periods, major movements and subgenres, up to the present.

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  12. Some Place to be Flying by de Lint (anything by Charles de Lint really)

    Tam Lin by Pamela Dean

    Snake Agent by Liz Williams

    Shadowbridge by Frost

    Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

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  13. Yeah, DeLint is definitely in there.

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  14. I'll think about this more, but the book that immediately leaps to mind is The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt. Published before the Lord of the Rings, and yet even more like modern fantasy than LotR is.

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  15. Not sure what you mean with "contemporary", but here are some suggestions:

    Jack Vance - Either "Dying Earth", "Lyonesse" or "Demon Princess"

    Stephen R. Donaldson - Chronicles of Thomas Covenant or "GAP"

    Fritz Leiber - Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

    Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind

    R. Scott Bakker - The Prince of Nothing

    Alan Dean Foster - Pip and Flinx or Spellsinger

    Robin Hobb - The Tawny Man Trilogy

    T. H. White - The Once and Future King

    Gene Wolfe - The Wizard Knight

    Guy Gavriel Kay - everything... ;)

    Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

    Terry Pratchett - Way too much to choose one novell.

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  16. Charles Stross - Atrocity Archives / Jennifer Morgue
    Lois Bujold - Chalion Series
    Robin McKinley - Blue Sword

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  17. More great suggestions. Contemporary means last decade or so as opposed to long dead folk.

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  18. Ha, I was going to post Mythago Wood and Lavondyss, by Robert Holdstock. I go back and back to read them.

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  19. This is looking like a great list.

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  20. I'd also add M. John Harrison's Viriconium stories and something by Tim Powers.

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  21. Here are some other ideas:

    Elizabeth Hand: Mortal Love

    William Morris: The Sundering Flood

    George MacDonald: Lilith

    Hope Mirlees: Lud-in-the-Mist

    Lois McMaster Bujold: The Curse of Chalion

    Terri Windling: The Wood Wife

    Jeffrey Ford's The Shadow Year (just won the Shirley Jackson Award)

    P.C. Hodgell: God Stalk

    R.A. MacAvoy: Tea with the Black Dragon

    Garth Nix: The Abhorsen Trilogy

    Jane Yolen: Briar Rose

    Kelly Link: Magic for Beginners

    Harlan Ellison: Shatterday

    Gene Wolfe: Peace (While perhaps not as essential and fantastic as the New Sun and Long Sun series, it is a book thatat merits inclusion for its intricacy and its take on reality and memory)

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  22. Echoing mentatjack, I'd love to see how you present these. Are slides/materials from previous talks available anywhere online?

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  23. Nope. I could make a quicktime presentation of the Powerpoint and upload it to YouTube but it wouldnt have sound.

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  24. Damn, I nearly forgot:

    Daniel Abramahs - Long Price Quartett
    (absolutly freaking awesome literature)

    David Anthony Durham - Acacia (Still only book 1 of 3, but it's REALLY good!)

    Ursula K. LeGuin - Lavinia

    Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski - He's actually really good and even I might not have given him a Gemmell award, he deserves more translations.

    South American writer Liliana Bodoc. I think she's not translated into english yet....

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  25. One must have: Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series - very complex,and dark. It might not be for everyone, and I've only made it up to book 5 (of 7, so far), but every one has been a completely involving read for me.

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  26. Good Omens - Prachett and Gaiman

    Repairman Jack

    Jorge Luis Borges

    Kid's fantasies: E. Nesbit, Hugh Lofting, Edgard Eager, L. Frank Baum, Joan Aiken, etc.

    Jack Vance

    Manley Wade Wellman

    Cartoons? Comic strips? Charles Addams, Gahan Wilson, Pogo

    word verification: menst -- why ration it?

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  27. Anything by Patricia McKillip, but particularly Winter Rose and Solstice Wood.

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  28. I'll add my voice in support of Guy Gavriel Kay. All his books are worthwhile, but I'd say Tigana is a must-have for any library's fantasy collection.

    And I don't think anyone's yet mentioned Ellen Kushner's Riverside books: Swordspoint, The Privilege of the Sword and The Fall of the Kings.

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  29. Okay, how bout recent works (last few years), anyone?

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  30. Here are some of my favorite series:

    Incarnations of Immortality series - Piers Anthony

    Sword of Truth series - Terry Goodkind

    Wheel of Time series - Robert Jordan

    Shadowrun series - various

    Forgotten Realms series - various

    Godwars series - Angus Wells

    Guardians of the Flame series - Joel Rosenberg

    Deryni series - Katherine Kurtz

    Lord of the Isles series - David Drake

    Belgariad series - David Eddings

    Dancing Gods series - Jack Chalker

    Recluce series - L.E. Modesitt

    Landover series - Terry Brooks

    Thieves World series - various

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  31. Last few years? Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books (Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith.) Awesome books.

    The Name of the Wind is a great debut -- remains to be seen if he can sustain the quality over time.

    And of course George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series.

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  32. Hi, Lou! Here via Joe Mallozzi's blog.

    My favorites in the fantasy world are definitely:

    Xanth series by Piers Anthony
    Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony (sci-fi, too!)
    Apprentice Adept series by Piers Anthony
    Dark Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop (and companion books)
    The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
    Wicked/Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
    The Lost Years of Merlin series by TA Barron
    The Arthurian Saga by Mary Stewart


    If you're interested in childrens fantasy, I highly recommend anything by Bruce Coville (again, has sci-fi, too) and Tamora Pierce novels.

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  33. Hi Lou -- here from Joe M's Blog

    My sci fi/fantasy list would include:

    Mark Ferrari The Book of Joby

    Jasper Fforde
    The Big Over Easy
    The Eyre Affair

    Michael Flynn Eifelheim

    Naomi Novik Temeraire Series

    Justina Robson Keeping it Real Series

    Patrick Rothfuss Name of the Wind

    Mary Doria Russell
    Children of God
    The Sparrow

    Brandon Sanderson Mistborn Series

    Mary Stewart Merlin Series

    Dan Simmons Hyperion Series

    John Scalzi

    Jonathan Stroud Bartimaeus Series

    Karen Traviss Wess'Har Series

    Connie Willis
    The Doomsday Book
    To Say Nothing of the Dog

    F. Paul Wilson Repairman Jack novels (or anything else)

    Gene Wolfe Book of the New Sun Series

    Robert Charles Wilson Spin

    David Weber Honor Harrington Series

    Scott Lynch Gentleman Bastards Series

    Haruki Murakami Kafka on the Shore

    Anything by Elizabeth Moon, especially The Speed of Dark

    George R. R. Martin Song of Ice & Fire Series

    Madeleine L'Engle Time Series

    David Gemmell's Troy Series

    Walter M. Miller Jr.
    A Canticle for Leibowitz

    Lois McMaster Bujold
    The Sharing Knife series
    Chalion Series

    Kage Baker The Company Series

    Tobias Buckell Ragamuffin Series

    Anything by Octavia Butler

    Susan Cooper Dark is Rising Series

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  34. Metropolitan by Walter John Williams, a true Urban Fantasy as the actual functioning magic is generated by city infrastructures and is treated as a utility.

    Fred Saberhagen's Dracula books, Dracula Tapes and the Holmes Dracula File.

    The Golden by Lucius Shepard

    And I'd include Brin's Practice Effect because of the way it portrays a world where the rules are, at a fundamental level, very different.

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  35. Paolini's dragon series.

    Janny Wurt's series Wars of Light & Shadow.

    Jennifer Roberson's series Karavans. (two out so far)

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  36. Easily one of my favorite contemp fantasy series is Jordan's Wheel of Time series (all written within about the last 15 years, I think).

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  37. Hey Lou,

    Some from my personal canon...

    Mark Helprin - A Winter's Tale
    Peter S Beagle - The Inkeeper's Song
    Ian R MacLeod - The Light Ages

    just about anything by Jonathan Carroll, Graham Joyce

    Marco @ Angry Robot

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  38. Hi there, Randy from Joe M's blog

    I'd have to say R.A, Salvatore's series, the Drizzt books or the Cleric quintet.

    There's also the Ed Greenwood Elminster set.

    Don't know if this counts as purely fantasy or not but Swan Song was a very powerful read for me.

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  39. I think this is a very comprehensive list! Thanks everyone.

    If I can figure out how, I'll make a YouTube of the slideshow. It won't have sound (or maybe it will) and upload it here in August.

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  40. Moorcock's Elric saga is a must-have, IMHO, since the character has has such a strong influence in pop culture, from music in the 70s, to RPGs, to 'Elricoids' popping up in recent times in such places as Fullmetal Alchemist and Hellboy II.

    However, one cannot include Elric without acknowledging Moorcock's inspiration for the character: Monsieur Zenith the Albino, by Anthony Skene (or any of the Sexton Blake stories in which he appears). Though more of a pulp fiction thriller, Zenith is the character that gave birth to Elric, and Elric to so many others.

    Moorcock has written his own Zenith stories in The Metatemporal Detective - a bit of steampunkery that blends Skene's pulp fiction with Moorcock's fantasy.

    Through these three (Monsieur Zenith the Albino, the Elric saga, and The Metatemporal Detective) you see the near-complete evolution of one of the greatest fantasy characters ever written.

    In my humble opinion, that is... ;)


    dasNdanger

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  41. I'll be keeping an eye on this as I'd love a copy to give to the person that buys the books at our library.

    Cheers, Chev

    p.s. Aren't you going to include Fast Forward? :-)

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  42. Yeah, I will include some Pyr titles, but I really will try and be restrained. So things like River of Gods, which is already being spoken about as part of the SF canon, and which is very much representative of the new, non-western global SF perspective, I can put in without any guilt or shame. I firmly believe it is a landmark in the history of the genre. I would have no problem recommending Joe Abercrombie as part of the new fantasy, in a list that would include Scott Lynch, Patrick Rothfus, Branden Sanderson, et al. So they'll get a page to themselves as "the new breed" or something.

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  43. I don't think these have been suggested yet:

    Clark Ashton Smith, Zothique and Hyperboria (story collections
    Lord Dunsany, The Charwoman's Shadow
    William Morris, The Well at World's End
    James Branch Cabell, Jurgen

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  44. Don't underestimate great books which were 'intended' for children. I would always include the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander - classics which very few have heard of except for disastrous (and not representative) Disney animation many years ago which should be bured with lots of toxic waste :)

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  45. I might have missed these, but I didn't see them offhand.

    His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman

    Weather Warden Series by Rachel Caine

    Loved them both!

    Linda Davis

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  46. Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds and it's sequels.

    And a big no to Robert Jordan!

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  47. Hi Lou - Just skipped over here from Joe M's blog to leave my two cents worth ... my nomination:

    "The Once and Future King" by T.H White - one of the best versions of the King Arthur tale (imho, of course!)

    Oops - I guess 1939 is not contemporary enough for the list (lol) so ....

    ANY of Jim Butcher's books (Dresdin Files or the Alera series)

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  48. Diane Duane - the Door into Fire series (sorcery fantasy), and her Young Wizards books (YA urban fantasy)

    George R. R. Martin - the Dragon Knight series

    Patricia Mckillip - The RiddleMaster of Hed

    David Weber - The Bazhell series (3 so far)

    Nick O'donohoe - The Crossroads trilogy

    Don Callander - The Pyromancer series

    My little contribution.

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  49. One book not mentioned already: Silverlock, by John Myers Myers

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  50. Hi Lou (AKA The Pulse!!)

    Been out of the loop for a couple of weeks, so just caught up on the list thing. Having skimmed through most of the suggestions, I think my library nominees are covered. Did anyone mention the excellent Kage Baker and the Garden of Iden?
    Also, and this may be totally out of left field, but as a kid I loved the Fighting Fantasy Series....(A. Jackson et al) These were kinda role playing books in which you dictate where "the hero" (ie you) take the narrative. Not technically a book and not technically a game....just a left of field suggestion. In trying to get my Console-addicted nephews interested in SF, it worked a treat.

    Best to you...and look forward to Mr M's Short story!!!!

    Shirt'n'Tie

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  51. Hi again Lou

    Meant to add also, "Small Minded Giants" by Oisin McGann.
    Has anybody mentioned The Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer?

    Best to you!

    Shirt'n'Tie

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  52. Try searching your local library's catalogue for something like books from the Necroscope series and you'll see a trend librarians need to figure out how to counter. They'll have lots of recent publications from a series, but haven't replaced the worn-out and lost copies from the foundation of the series. I just gave one example, but I've encountered this repeatedly.

    -DP

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  53. I don't think anyone's mentioned the DragonLance series by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman, Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, or The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger yet. For kids I would recommend the So You Want to be a Wizard? series by Diane Duane, Gray Magic (sometimes called Steel Magic) by Andre Norton, The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson, and the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer.

    I also want to second the recommendations for the Wheel of Time series, the Terry Pratchett books (my favorites are Equal Rites, Thud, and Mort), Good Omens, American Gods, The Once and Future King, Redwall, etc. Oh, and Brian Jacques (the Redwall author) also has another children's series. I'm not sure what the series is called, but the first book is called Castaways of the Flying Dutchman.

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  54. Oh, and I also wanted to add The House of the Scorpion, a children's science fiction novel by Nancy Farmer.

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  55. Here's my suggestions in terms of contemporary fantasy. Some have already been said, so consider them a x2 recommendation ;)

    Steph Swainston - The Year of Our War
    China Mieville - Perdido Street Station
    Jeff VanderMeer - City of Saints and Madmen
    KJ Bishop - The Etched City
    Neil Gaiman - American Gods
    R. Scott Bakker - The Darkness That Comes Before
    Steven Erikson - Gardens of the Moon

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  56. HI again Lou

    Has anyone mentioned Michael Scott's "The Alchemyst / Nicholas Flamel" Series. Book 3 out now "The Sorceress"..

    Best to you!

    Shirt'n'Tie

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  57. Hello Lou –
    I am also here via Joe M. Blog. Although I am not the biggest Fantasy reader here are my recommendations.

    The Chronicles of Narnia & Until We Had Faces by C.S. Lewis

    The First Law Series by Joe Abercrombie

    Night Angel Series by Brent Weeks

    Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

    Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan

    The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny

    Dragon Series by Donita K. Paul

    The Host by Stephanie Meyers.

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  58. Strange - I see no mention of C. J. Cherryh's Chronicles of Morgaine.

    Bizarre oversight, I'm sure.

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  59. I would also suggest the shared Universe covered by CJ Cherryh called Merovingen Nights. Also her Chanur series is also quite noteworthy. On a lighter note, I would suggest Glen Cook's Garrett detective series and on a darker note, the Black Company books. I would also suggest that Simon Green's Hawk and Fisher stories would also fit nicely into the fantasy genre.

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  60. In no particular order, Lou:

    TIGANA by Guy Gavriel Kay (actually, anything by Guy Kay but TIGANA is the ur-text of shades-of-grey modern fantasy)
    MYTHAGO WOOD by Robert Holdstock
    Pretty much any Eternal Champion book by Michael Moorcock but you'd go a long way to beat THE WARHOUND AND THE WORLD'S PAIN
    THE DARKNESS THAT COMES BEFORE by R. Scott Bakker
    A SHADOW IN SUMMER by Daniel Abraham
    Mike Carey's Felix Castor novels
    AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman
    Robert E. Howard's CONAN stories
    PERDIDO STREET STATION by China Mieville
    Anything by Tim Powers
    Anything by Terry Pratchett (but I favour WEIRD SISTERS)

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  61. Great list. And yes, Powers!!!

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  62. pretty much anything by Gene Wolf. He has a collection that came out recently, full of short stories that he himself apparently selected. if you haven't read anything by him, you should- his work usually defines 'literate' fantasy/sci-fi to me and most can be quite unconventional and challenging, in a good way. You'd like it, you big dork.
    This is Steven G from San Francisco, good to see you're doing well!

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  63. Steven!
    I've been trying to tack you down for years. None of your old emails work. Where are you? What are you doing? Get in touch with me!

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