15 fantasy books for those tired of reality

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

You will find magical artifacts, mythical creatures, fairy-tale worlds and brave heroes, and all this is impossible not to believe.

1. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Clive Lewis

Two brothers and two sisters go to the house of a friend of their parents. Lucy, the youngest of the Pevensies, hides in a closet while playing hide and seek. It turns out to be a portal to magical Narnia, where gnomes, talking animals, minotaurs and fauns live.

The White Witch seized power there, let the country get cold and forbade them to have fun. Four children are taken to help the inhabitants of the magical world and save it from the cruel ruler. The book opens the Chronicles of Narnia cycle.

2. "The Lord of the Rings" by John Tolkien

Bilbo Baggins, familiar to Tolkien's fans from The Hobbit, leaves his nephew with an unusual gift - a magic ring. Despite its magical properties, it does not at all solve the problems of the owner, but makes his life much more difficult. The ring subjugates anyone who comes into contact with it for too long. It also belongs to an evil magician. Now Frodo and his comrades will have to make a dangerous journey to destroy the artifact.

The Lord of the Rings is one of the most famous and beloved stories in the world. It consists of three parts: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. But most often they are printed in one volume, without breaking them up into separate books. It is believed that it was Tolkien who became the founding father of the fantasy genre.

3. "Wizard of Earthsea", Ursula Le Guin

"Earth Sea" is not only a series of books, but also the name of the country in which events are developing. The main character, the magician Ged, did not know about his abilities from birth. For a long time he considered himself an unhappy shepherd who had no family left. But a threat arose in front of his village, and, not understanding how, the boy repulsed it.

Ged realized that he had a gift, and in order to develop it, you need to study long and hard. Once in the school of magicians, the boy quickly realizes that it is not much different from the ordinary one. Here, too, there are bullies who sometimes turn out to be more terrible than monsters.

4. The Shooter, Stephen King

This is the first book from the "Dark Tower" cycle, in which the hero is looking for the source of the universe. Roland follows the mysterious dark wizard in the hope that he will lead him to the goal of this pilgrimage. On the way, there is a boy who got into the described world after death in his own. Together they continue their journey, becoming attached to each other and telling sad stories of their lives.

King filled the cycle with unusual details. For example, the first sentence of this book and the last sentence of the novel that ends the cycle are the same.

5. "The Color of Magic" by Terry Pratchett

The protagonist Twoflower arrives in Discworld as a tourist. Through it, the reader gets acquainted with the peculiarities of the city and its magical elements. But the character itself is not so simple. He is an adventurer, the owner of a magical chest filled with treasures, and by the middle of the book he also becomes a hijacker of a spaceship.

The Color of Magic, released in 1983, was the first novel in one of the largest Discworld series, with over 40 books. The latter was released in 2015, shortly after Pratchett's death. All of them belong to the genre of humorous fantasy.

6. "Lonely October Night" by Roger Zelazny

On the night when Halloween falls on a full moon, the line between our and the other worlds is blurred, and this does not bode well. The heroes are divided into two conventional teams. One is trying to prevent the gates that separate the universes from opening. The other, on the contrary, in every possible way contributes to their unlocking.

Zelazny dedicated his last novel to his favorite authors: Mary Shelley, Howard Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle. He collected the most famous fictional characters in one book and made them become participants in a mysterious game. Among them are werewolves, Dr. Frankenstein's monster and Count Dracula.

7. "The Last Wish", Andrzej Sapkowski

This is the first collection of stories from one of the most iconic fantasy cycles of our time, The Witcher. It is with him that the famous adventures of a monster slayer from Rivia named Geralt begin. He will have to save the enchanted princess, fight the horned spy of the elves and master the genie.

The described world is different from what many fans of the genre are used to. With Sapkowski, everything is much tougher and closer to the realities of medieval Europe. But the author also left the usual elements - elves, sorcerers and ghouls.

8. "Northern Lights", Philip Pullman

Pullman's fantasy intertwined magic and science into a single dense tangle. In the book "Northern Lights", the first novel from the series "Dark beginnings", you can find both a powerful witch and an armored polar bear. It turned out to be almost a fantasy cyberpunk.

Lonely girl Lira will have to find out where and why children from all over London disappear, save them and understand why her uncle is going to use magic dust. The plot of the novel may seem familiar to those who have seen its adaptation called The Golden Compass.

9. "Wolfhound", Maria Semyonova

The hero has no name, but only the nickname Wolfhound. Left without a family and being a slave, the boy dreamed of revenge on the murderers of his relatives. But at the house of a blood enemy, the hero discovered that his life had a new meaning - to save and protect those who are weaker.

The cruel and dark world created by Semyonova includes many states, peoples, outlandish natural phenomena and a parallel universe in which even the sky is not like ours. "Wolfhound" is the first book in the series of the same name.

10. Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Only a person who for the last few years lived on an uninhabited island without communication with the outside world could not hear about this book and the series "A Song of Ice and Fire". The film adaptation, of course, made its own contribution, but long before it, Martin's work was popular and recognized.

The main role in this was played by a well-thought-out universe and problems around which twisted storylines wind. Despite the presence of dragons and magical priestesses, Martin emphasized the believability of characters and situations. The characters are constantly faced with real moral dilemmas. Perhaps it is this similarity to our world that makes the books so interesting for readers.

11. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

The adventures of the most famous magician of our time began when the giant Hagrid said the words: "In short, Harry, you are a wizard, do you understand?" Until this moment, the 11-year-old orphan had no idea about the existence of magic. But the joy that he was about to break out of his aunt's house, where he was treated almost like a slave, and ended up in a new school, did not last long.

Harry will have to find out how his parents really died and come face to face with their killer, the most dangerous and evil magician in the world. The novel opens a series of seven books.

12. "Diamond sword, wooden sword", Nick Perumov

A wide variety of creatures live in the Meljin empire - people, gnomes, elves, magicians. But we are not talking about peaceful coexistence. Wizards secretly manipulate the ruler and spoil the life of small peoples, depriving them of their rights and freedoms.

Two magical artifacts - a diamond and a wooden sword - will change this injustice if they can be found. The main thing is that they fall into the right hands. The novel opens the Chronicle of the Breach cycle.

13. "Outsider" by Max Fry

"Stranger" - a collection of stories about the adventures of Sir Max in the mysterious country of Echo, opening a long cycle. It is on the pages of this book that the main character falls out of the familiar world and finds himself in a magical one.

From the very first day he will have hard times. Either an energy vampire starts a series of murders, then a mysterious creature settles in front of Max's house, which poisons the lives of its neighbors. Extraordinary abilities and craving for adventures make the hero stay in Exo for a long time.

14. Never, Neil Gaiman

The book had a difficult fate. It was originally a script for a low-budget series that audiences did not appreciate. But the writer was not taken aback and reworked the idea into a full-fledged novel, after which not only the work, but the author himself became incredibly popular.

The main character comes to the aid of an unknown girl who turns out to be a guest from another world. He learns that in addition to his usual London, there is the same city, only inhabited by magical creatures. This meeting turns Richard's life upside down, and the guy himself becomes invisible to everyone around him.

15. The Way of the Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Events take place on the planet Roshar, which is often attacked by violent storms, bringing chaos and destruction to the lives of its inhabitants. To protect themselves from the cataclysm, peoples need to unite and remember that they were once united. But so far it is very far from a friendly truce.

This is the first piece from the Stormlight Archive series. An incredibly large-scale idea of Sanderson in its complexity and elaboration of details can compete with the books of George Martin. In total, 10 parts will be released, while three are published, and the fourth is scheduled for release in 2020.