fantasy writers

Harry Potter, Tolkien, and the Roots of Fantasy

The media circus around the release of the last Harry Potter novel is finally beginning to die down, but that does little to disguise the fact that the fantasy genre is alive and well in the twenty-first century. Hundreds of millions were spent to bring Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Rowling’s Harry Potter series, C.S. Lewis’s Narnia and others to the big screen, and the gamble has paid off.

But where did the genre originate? Many have the mistaken idea that the fantasy genre began with Tolkien. Though Tolkien brought fantasy into the literary spotlight, fantasy itself has been around for far longer and indeed in some respects dates back to the very beginnings of literature.

The Epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s The Illiad and The Odyssey, while set in familiar realms, contain many of the aspects – heroes, warring gods, monsters, quest-related adventure – that has become part and parcel of modern fantasy. Much of the fodder for modern fantasy is taken from early literature, especially myths, legends, and religion.

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3 Fantasy Authors You Must Read

There are many fantasy writers these days and it’s often hard to find a great read, so I sorted through my collection to find 3 must read authors.

1 Anne McCaffrey
Anne McCaffrey is most famous for her “Dragonriders of Pern” series. These are set in medieval times in an Earth like colony who has learned to work alongside dragons. For this series she became the first woman to win a Hugo Award. She wrote many book series including “The Crystal Singer” series and “The Talent” series, but the series I suggest for all newcomers is “The Freedom” series that describes the struggle of refugees when the earth is invaded by aliens.

2 Ernest Gary Gygax
Gary Gygax is best known for his work as a co-founder of the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Whilst working on D&D he started writing fantasy novels including “The Sagard the Barbarian” series. He also worked on magazines before penning what I think is His must read novels: “The Gord the Rogue” series starting with “Saga of Old City” marketed as “The Greyhawk Adventures” series. A must read for adventure/fantasy lovers.

3 Raymond E Feist
The overwhelming majority of Feist’s works are part of “The Riftwar Cycle,” a fictional universe featuring the worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan. Magicians on one of the two planets are able to create “rifts” through the dimensions of space that connect their universes to others allowing them to invade other worlds. The novels and short stories of “The Riftwar Cycle” record the adventures of the people on the various worlds and this is where the best story comes from. “Magician” is the first in the series and for anybody who enjoys magic this is a must read, the explosive ending just can’t be missed.

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