00:00 Intro 04:11 The Chronicles of Amber (Roger Zelanzy) 05:05 The Bloody Chamber (Angela Carter) 05:45 The Complete Chronicles of Conan (Robert E. Howard) 07:03 The Dragon Waiting (John Ford) 07:44 The Books of Earthsea (Ursula Le Guin) 08:30 Elric of Milnebone books (Michael Moorcock) 09:16 Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (Fritz Leiber) 10:28 His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman) 12:00 Jirel of Joiry (C.L. Moore) 13:01 The King of Elfland's Daughter (Lord Dunsany) 14:40 The Last Unicorn (Peter S. Beagle) 15:12 The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch) 16:16 The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien) 17:27 Mabinogion Tetralogy (Evangeline Walton) 18:25 The Book of Merlyn (T.H. White) 20:25 The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley) 21:12 The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis) 22:36 The Neverending Story (Michael Ende) 23:30 The Once and Future King (T.H. White) 25:55 Silverlock (John Myers Myers) 26:42 A Voyage to Arcturus (David Lindsay) 28:00 The Well of the Unicorn (Fletcher Pratt) 29:05 The Worm Ouroboros (E.R. Eddison) 30:23 The Book of the New Sun (Gene Wolfe) 31:57 Viriconium (M. John Harrison)
Hope your 'Essentials' lists will become a new feature. Would love to see for thrillers, mysteries, and even (we ask so much) the crime fiction. Thanks, Steve!
Books listed in the video 1. The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny 2. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter 3. Conan stories by Robert E. Howard 4. The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford 5. Elric books by Michael Moorcock 6. Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber 7. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 8. The Once and Future King by T.H. White 9. The Book of Merlin by T.H. White 10. The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany 11. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle 12. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch 13. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman 14. Jirel of Joiry by C.L. Moore 15. The Mabinogion tetralogy by Evangeline Walton 16. The Mist of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley 17. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis 18. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende 19. The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White 20. Silverlock by John Myers Myers 21. The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison 22. The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt 23. Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay 24. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe 25. Viriconium by M. John Harrison
And for those who want to read them chronologically to see how the genre develops...(the date is the approximate end of a given series or when the last story was written/published). 1920 23. Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay 1922 21. The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison 1924 10. The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany 1936 3. Conan stories by Robert E. Howard 1938 19. The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White 1939 14. Jirel of Joiry by C.L. Moore 1948 22. The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt 1949 20. Silverlock by John Myers Myers 1955 7. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 1956 17. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis 1958 8. The Once and Future King by T.H. White 1958 9. The Book of Merlin by T.H. White 1968 11. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle 1974 15. The Mabinogion tetralogy by Evangeline Walton 1979 2. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter 1979 18. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende 1983 4. The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford 1983 16. The Mist of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley 1983 24. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe 1984 25. Viriconium by M. John Harrison 1988 6. Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber 1991 1. The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny 2000 13. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman 2006 12. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch ongoing 5. Elric books by Michael Moorcock
I really wish David Lindsay had written more. His book is amazingly good. This is is great, I wish Michael Moorcock's books were better known. The list is excellent, I couldn't think of one that should be left out.
I just read "A Wizard of Earthsea" this weekend and loved it. I'd not heard of the John M. Ford book. I've read most of these essentials, by the way. I especially love Conan, Elric, and Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.
Amazing video! And it’s nice to see Amber first on the list, because for me everything started with that book:) I have added some of the books to my TBR! Thank you.
Thank you for providing a great reading list for fantasy books. I hope you’ll do more of these for other genres. The books you mentioned served as a reminder to me of several books I’ve had on my tbr for years and not gotten to yet.
Fascinating list, Steve. I personally would have added Vance's Tales of the Dying Earth, Peake's Gormenghast, Cook's Black Company novels, Mieville's Perdido Street Station, John Crowley's Little, Big. Maybe even something strange as James Branch Cabell, pulp like A Princess of Mars, maybe Peter Pan or Alice in Wonderland.
Thanks, Steve. No one could do this better. I've read next to no fantasy (or presidental biography), but if anything will get me going, it's your videos. I've typed the full list below, for quick reference: the great book of amber (zelazny). the bloody chamber (carter). the complete chronicles of conan (howard). the dragon waiting (ford). the books of earthsea (le guin). elric of melnibone (moorcock). fafhrd and the grey mouser (leiber). his dark materials (pullman). jirel of joiry (moore). the king of elfland's daughter (dunsany). the last unicorn (beagle). the lies of locke lamora (lynch). the lord of the rings (tolkien). the mabinogion tetralogy (walton). the book of merlyn (white). the mists of avalon (bradley). the chronicles of narnia (lewis). the neverending story (ende). the once and future king (white). silverlock (myers). a voyage to arcturus (lindsay). the well of the unicorn (pratt). the worm ouroboros (eddison). the book of the new sun (wolfe). viriconium (harrison). Lastly, not so much to make a point as to kindly infuriate, I thought i'd chip in that Philip Pullman, and James Ellroy writes their manuscripts with ballpoint pens.
Clark Ashton Smith was the one that came up with the concept of a Dying Earth in his Zothique stories blurring the line between magic and science. I agree however with your choice of Gene Wolfe and John M. Harrison for this subgenre because Smith's stories sometimes didn't seem that developed and both of them are incredible
Hello, Steve. You have no idea how much we love when you do lists. Or maybe you do (slowly and steadily unsheathing a knife out from my back.) But in your old 50 SFF list you put Rothfuss in there. Would you choose him as essential if he finished the trilogy (let's pretend he's going to finish it, for the sake of argument.) Thank you.
Read: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien _(3x) (and I'd put the Silmarillion (1x) on here to - the Hobbit is a given (10x?)_ The Neverending Story by Michael Ende _(3x) - great look at wish fulfillment and the terrible hazards therein)_ His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman _(2x) (every book is transcendent - and Lyra the liar - hope the full "Book of Dust" will be also)_ The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle _(once)(Read it just this year and must return, it's so amazing)_ The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (at least 5x) - _(I always get something from these, don't think their too preachy most of the time.)_ Reading: Conan stories by Robert E. Howard _(Cimmerian September HO!)_ The Gentlemen Bastards by Scott Lynch _(just read book 1, hungry for more loyal trickster energy)_ Here and waiting for me: The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter _(the Company of Wolves is a trippy movie)_ The Once and Future King by T.H. White Mort D'Arthur _(Yeah we studied Arthur in HS, but I don't think we read the original work, maybe wee excerpts. I _suppose_ I'll start here and work back to Chrestien and Geoffry...and forward to the Wheel of Time)_ The Book of Merlin by T.H. White The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany _(Just found one with that Sweet Balantine cover - Yay!)_ Jirel of Joiry by C.L. Moore The Mist of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley _(I sort of have access since Mum loves them, don't know if I can break it to her about the author...But I wan't to get to it after the main Arthur)_ The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White Collecting: The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny Elric by Michael Moorcock _(actually have all the Elric, but I'm holding out for the big picture of the Champion Eternal...long ways to go)_ Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe Been looking for: The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay Not heard of it...fascinating: The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford The Mabinogion tetralogy by Evangeline Walton (heard of the original of course, but maybe this is the version I should start with, followed bt Lloyd Alexander) Silverlock by John Myers Myers The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt Viriconium by M. John Harrison
Is the fantasy genre necessarily restricted to tales of mystic kingdoms? Are Twilight Zone type stories that take place in modern times, such as stories by Charles Beaumont, Shirley Jackson, or Ray Bradbury set apart in some other genre without a name? Because that’s the type of “fantasy” I prefer.
I very much stuck to the more traditional characterization of fantasy in this video! Charles Beaumont, lots of Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson - I'm not sure their own genre has a name, but yes, they didn't even cross my mind for this kind of list -
A lot of new authors for me and some old favorites (Elric, The Mists of Avalon... )...currently my favorite writer in the genre is missing from your list, V E Schwab... but maybe she is too recent for inclusion....
Three things Steve says that drive me BONKERS🤪: 3) Scifi and Fantasy are basically same genre 2) Time travel forward is strictly the stuff of science fiction 1) Avengers #1 ,centered in THE SOUTHWEST, was a dumb, poorly written comic!
Hee - well, 3) They basically are, except for vocabulary! 2) It is! The future isn't a PLACE - it hasn't happened yet, and 3) I stand by my evisceration of Avengers #1!
Is the Sword of Truth series by Goodkind verboten? Back when they were new, I read the whole lot and have reread several times since then. I don't remember why he became looked down upon.
00:00 Intro
04:11 The Chronicles of Amber (Roger Zelanzy)
05:05 The Bloody Chamber (Angela Carter)
05:45 The Complete Chronicles of Conan (Robert E. Howard)
07:03 The Dragon Waiting (John Ford)
07:44 The Books of Earthsea (Ursula Le Guin)
08:30 Elric of Milnebone books (Michael Moorcock)
09:16 Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (Fritz Leiber)
10:28 His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman)
12:00 Jirel of Joiry (C.L. Moore)
13:01 The King of Elfland's Daughter (Lord Dunsany)
14:40 The Last Unicorn (Peter S. Beagle)
15:12 The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)
16:16 The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
17:27 Mabinogion Tetralogy (Evangeline Walton)
18:25 The Book of Merlyn (T.H. White)
20:25 The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
21:12 The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
22:36 The Neverending Story (Michael Ende)
23:30 The Once and Future King (T.H. White)
25:55 Silverlock (John Myers Myers)
26:42 A Voyage to Arcturus (David Lindsay)
28:00 The Well of the Unicorn (Fletcher Pratt)
29:05 The Worm Ouroboros (E.R. Eddison)
30:23 The Book of the New Sun (Gene Wolfe)
31:57 Viriconium (M. John Harrison)
Hope your 'Essentials' lists will become a new feature. Would love to see for thrillers, mysteries, and even (we ask so much) the crime fiction. Thanks, Steve!
Jeez, you had to go and add a bunch of fantasy books to my list!
Books listed in the video
1. The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
2. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
3. Conan stories by Robert E. Howard
4. The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford
5. Elric books by Michael Moorcock
6. Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber
7. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
8. The Once and Future King by T.H. White
9. The Book of Merlin by T.H. White
10. The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany
11. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
12. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
13. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
14. Jirel of Joiry by C.L. Moore
15. The Mabinogion tetralogy by Evangeline Walton
16. The Mist of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
17. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
18. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
19. The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White
20. Silverlock by John Myers Myers
21. The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison
22. The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt
23. Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
24. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
25. Viriconium by M. John Harrison
And for those who want to read them chronologically to see how the genre develops...(the date is the approximate end of a given series or when the last story was written/published).
1920 23. Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
1922 21. The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison
1924 10. The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany
1936 3. Conan stories by Robert E. Howard
1938 19. The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White
1939 14. Jirel of Joiry by C.L. Moore
1948 22. The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt
1949 20. Silverlock by John Myers Myers
1955 7. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
1956 17. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
1958 8. The Once and Future King by T.H. White
1958 9. The Book of Merlin by T.H. White
1968 11. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
1974 15. The Mabinogion tetralogy by Evangeline Walton
1979 2. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
1979 18. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
1983 4. The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford
1983 16. The Mist of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
1983 24. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
1984 25. Viriconium by M. John Harrison
1988 6. Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber
1991 1. The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
2000 13. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
2006 12. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
ongoing 5. Elric books by Michael Moorcock
I really wish David Lindsay had written more. His book is amazingly good. This is is great, I wish Michael Moorcock's books were better known. The list is excellent, I couldn't think of one that should be left out.
Great list of books, I was a little surprised not to see Glen Cook's Black Company or Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant at least mentioned.
Delightful! My take away from first three parts of Earthsea-cycle which I just read for the first time was: Get off the bloody boat already. 😂
The Lies of Locke Lamora is great! Glad to see it on the list.
Thanks for making this, Steve!
I just read "A Wizard of Earthsea" this weekend and loved it. I'd not heard of the John M. Ford book.
I've read most of these essentials, by the way. I especially love Conan, Elric, and Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.
Amazing video! And it’s nice to see Amber first on the list, because for me everything started with that book:) I have added some of the books to my TBR! Thank you.
Thank you for providing a great reading list for fantasy books. I hope you’ll do more of these for other genres. The books you mentioned served as a reminder to me of several books I’ve had on my tbr for years and not gotten to yet.
I don't know why, but I was almost sure that a Guy Gavriel Kay book would be on this list.
If the list extended to 100, "Tigana" would certainly have been on it!
Wonderful Steve! Thank you! I have a lot of catching up to do.
My favorite type of Steve video.
Great list and video. But I wished to see Gormenghast here.
Fascinating list, Steve. I personally would have added Vance's Tales of the Dying Earth, Peake's Gormenghast, Cook's Black Company novels, Mieville's Perdido Street Station, John Crowley's Little, Big. Maybe even something strange as James Branch Cabell, pulp like A Princess of Mars, maybe Peter Pan or Alice in Wonderland.
This type of video is always a treat!
“I’m not going to make an essentials list for horror.” …Why must you break my black little heart?
Yet more fuel for the TBR fire! Thanks Steve!
This was great - thanks so much! Gene Wolfe is the sole author in your list that I haven’t read yet.
Great choices Steve. There’s a couple there I need to seek out. I hadn’t heard of the David Lindsay book or the John M Ford book.
This was a great list of books! I've only read about a quarter of this list, so I have a lot to read! 😅
I love these videos of essential lists
Zelazny's Amber series. Thanks for bringing this one up SD! A series of books that doesn't get enough love on Booktube in my opinion.
Thanks, Steve.
No one could do this better. I've read next to no fantasy (or presidental biography), but if anything will get me going, it's your videos.
I've typed the full list below, for quick reference:
the great book of amber (zelazny). the bloody chamber (carter). the complete chronicles of conan (howard). the dragon waiting (ford). the books of earthsea (le guin). elric of melnibone (moorcock). fafhrd and the grey mouser (leiber). his dark materials (pullman). jirel of joiry (moore). the king of elfland's daughter (dunsany). the last unicorn (beagle). the lies of locke lamora (lynch). the lord of the rings (tolkien). the mabinogion tetralogy (walton). the book of merlyn (white). the mists of avalon (bradley). the chronicles of narnia (lewis). the neverending story (ende). the once and future king (white). silverlock (myers). a voyage to arcturus (lindsay). the well of the unicorn (pratt). the worm ouroboros (eddison). the book of the new sun (wolfe). viriconium (harrison).
Lastly,
not so much to make a point
as to kindly infuriate,
I thought i'd chip in
that Philip Pullman, and James Ellroy
writes their manuscripts with ballpoint pens.
Oh many thanks for the list - I should have thought to do that!
Clark Ashton Smith was the one that came up with the concept of a Dying Earth in his Zothique stories blurring the line between magic and science. I agree however with your choice of Gene Wolfe and John M. Harrison for this subgenre because Smith's stories sometimes didn't seem that developed and both of them are incredible
Hello, Steve. You have no idea how much we love when you do lists. Or maybe you do (slowly and steadily unsheathing a knife out from my back.) But in your old 50 SFF list you put Rothfuss in there. Would you choose him as essential if he finished the trilogy (let's pretend he's going to finish it, for the sake of argument.) Thank you.
Well, even if I got this NEW, DEFINITIVE list up to 50 entries, I very much doubt Rothfuss would be on it -
Have you read ""The Etched City" by K. J. Bishop? I think you would like it.
That Arcturus cover is not so bad. I kinda like it.
Great idea for a video Steve!
Read:
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien _(3x) (and I'd put the Silmarillion (1x) on here to - the Hobbit is a given (10x?)_
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende _(3x) - great look at wish fulfillment and the terrible hazards therein)_
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman _(2x) (every book is transcendent - and Lyra the liar - hope the full "Book of Dust" will be also)_
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle _(once)(Read it just this year and must return, it's so amazing)_
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (at least 5x) - _(I always get something from these, don't think their too preachy most of the time.)_
Reading:
Conan stories by Robert E. Howard _(Cimmerian September HO!)_
The Gentlemen Bastards by Scott Lynch _(just read book 1, hungry for more loyal trickster energy)_
Here and waiting for me:
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter _(the Company of Wolves is a trippy movie)_
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Mort D'Arthur _(Yeah we studied Arthur in HS, but I don't think we read the original work, maybe wee excerpts. I _suppose_ I'll start here and work back to Chrestien and Geoffry...and forward to the Wheel of Time)_
The Book of Merlin by T.H. White
The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany _(Just found one with that Sweet Balantine cover - Yay!)_
Jirel of Joiry by C.L. Moore
The Mist of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley _(I sort of have access since Mum loves them, don't know if I can break it to her about the author...But I wan't to get to it after the main Arthur)_
The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White
Collecting:
The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
Elric by Michael Moorcock _(actually have all the Elric, but I'm holding out for the big picture of the Champion Eternal...long ways to go)_
Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
Been looking for:
The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison
Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
Not heard of it...fascinating:
The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford
The Mabinogion tetralogy by Evangeline Walton (heard of the original of course, but maybe this is the version I should start with, followed bt Lloyd Alexander)
Silverlock by John Myers Myers
The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt
Viriconium by M. John Harrison
The Elric books are great.
Is the fantasy genre necessarily restricted to tales of mystic kingdoms? Are Twilight Zone type stories that take place in modern times, such as stories by Charles Beaumont, Shirley Jackson, or Ray Bradbury set apart in some other genre without a name? Because that’s the type of “fantasy” I prefer.
I very much stuck to the more traditional characterization of fantasy in this video! Charles Beaumont, lots of Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson - I'm not sure their own genre has a name, but yes, they didn't even cross my mind for this kind of list -
A lot of new authors for me and some old favorites (Elric, The Mists of Avalon... )...currently my favorite writer in the genre is missing from your list, V E Schwab... but maybe she is too recent for inclusion....
Steve, I am supposed to be working!!!!
Hah! Sorry!
Three things Steve says that drive me BONKERS🤪:
3) Scifi and Fantasy are basically same genre
2) Time travel forward is strictly the stuff of science fiction
1) Avengers #1 ,centered in THE SOUTHWEST, was a dumb, poorly written comic!
Hee - well, 3) They basically are, except for vocabulary! 2) It is! The future isn't a PLACE - it hasn't happened yet, and 3) I stand by my evisceration of Avengers #1!
Oh boy… you’re not gonna like my review of The Once and Future King. 😅
-T
I forgive you ahead of time! And I very much hope you don't close the door on future re-reads ...
Which is worse: a boring cover or a bad one?
Well, a boring cover is very much a kind of bad cover! But I'd probably say a bad cover is worse -
Is the Sword of Truth series by Goodkind verboten? Back when they were new, I read the whole lot and have reread several times since then. I don't remember why he became looked down upon.
Hello Steve. I don’t really read fantasy books. I prefer to read romance books.