The Fantasy Review’s list of 10 Classic Fantasy Books for Your Fall Reading List.
Spellsinger (Spellsinger, #1) by Alan Dean Foster
From the blurb:
Jonathan Thomas Meriweather is a typical college student, interested in girls, music, and an occasional taste of reefer. But when a journey through an interdimensional portal lands him in a world of talking animals and ominous sorcery, he finds he is on a very different trip indeed…
The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King, #1-4) by T.H. White
From the blurb:
Once upon a time, a young boy called “Wart” was tutored by a magician named Merlyn in preparation for a future he couldn’t possibly imagine. A future in which he would ally himself with the greatest knights, love a legendary queen and unite a country dedicated to chivalrous values. A future that would see him crowned and known for all time as Arthur, King of the Britons…
Night’s Master (Tales from the Flat Earth #1) by Tanith Lee
From the blurb:
Long time ago when the Earth was Flat, beautiful indifferent Gods lived in the airy Upperearth realm above, curious passionate demons lived in the exotic Underearth realm below, and mortals were relegated to exist in the middle. Azhrarn, Lord of the Demons and the Darkness, was the one who ruled the Night, and many mortal lives were changed because of his cruel whimsy…
The Riddle-Master of Hed (Riddle-Master, #1) by Patricia A. McKillip
From the blurb:
Long ago, the wizards had vanished from the world, and all knowledge was left hidden in riddles. Morgon, prince of the simple farmers of Hed, proved himself a master of such riddles when he staked his life to win a crown from the dead Lord of Aum.But now ancient, evil forces were threatening him…
The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #1) by Tad Williams
From the blurb:
A war fueled by the powers of dark sorcery is about to engulf the peaceful land of Osten Ard—for Prester John, the High King, lies dying. And with his death, the Storm King, the undead ruler of the elf-like Sithi, seizes the chance to regain his lost realm through a pact with the newly ascended king. Knowing the consequences of this bargain, the king’s younger brother joins with a small, scattered group of scholars, the League of the Scroll, to confront the true danger threatening Osten Ard…
God Stalk (Kencyrath, #1) by P.C. Hodgell
From the blurb:
Jame is a Kencyrath, the chosen people of the Three-Faced God, who fight the demonic being called Perimal Darkling. At the same time, she fights an internal battle for their honor because 3,000 years ago the leader of the Kencyrath betrayed his people to the Darkness for his own immortality…
The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry, #1) by Guy Gavriel Kay
From the blurb:
It begins with a chance meeting that introduces the five to a man who will change their lives: a mage who brings them to the first of all worlds, Fionavar.
In this land of gods and myth, each of them is forced to discover what they are and what they are willing to do, as Fionavar stands on the brink of a terrifying war against a dark, vengeful god…
Lord Foul’s Bane (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, #1) by Stephen R. Donaldson
From the blurb:
Thomas Covenant awakes in the Land a strange, beautiful world locked in constant conflict between good and evil.But Covenant, too, has been weak, angry, and alone in our world, he now holds powers beyond imagining and is greeted as a saviour. Can this man truly become the hero the Land requires?
Azure Bonds (Forgotten Realms: Finder’s Stone, #1) by Kate Novak
From the blurb:
Alias is an excellent warrior but she is in serious difficulties. One day she wakes up with blue, twisting and magical runes inscribed on her right arm, and with total amnesia about the circumstances that surround the tattoo. Ready to unveil the impenetrable mystery, Alias forms a group that integrates a series of heterogeneous characters…
A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1) by Ursula K. Le Guin
From the blurb:
Ged was the greatest sorcerer in Earthsea, but in his youth he was the reckless Sparrowhawk. In his hunger for power and knowledge, he tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world.
This is the tumultuous tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death’s threshold to restore the balance…
