Quote of the Moment

"What's Past Is Prologue." - William Shakespeare

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Classic Fantasy

For those of us who started reading fantasy when we were younger, we likely have fond memories of some of the novels we first read. In most cases, those novels are now considered classic fantasy.

I do think the definition of classic fantasy is different depending on who you talk to. It's hard to draw a a solid line between classic and modern, especially since time continues to pass and what was considered modern one day may be considered classic the next. The line moves, and sometimes age still doesn't make a novel classic, depending on the viewpoints of many people.

The class I am taking this semester involves reading and examining many classic fantasy texts. So, over the next few months, I will be focusing on classic fantasy on this blog. Hopefully you'll find things to reminisce about or classics that you never picked up before, but decide to finally do so.

Do you remember when you first started reading fantasy?

I think J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit was the first fantasy book I ever read (and I'll get to read it again for class!). And for me, the books that thoroughly pulled me into dark fantasy were Tanith Lee's Black Unicorn and Books of Paradys. I also have fond memories of Andre Norton's Witch World books.

What are your favorite fantasy classics?


NEXT UP: A look at William Morris's The Wood Beyond the World.

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