Fantasy Books

What are some of the genres of fantasy?

• Dark Fantasy - This tends to be a blending of the horror and the fantasy genres where the setting is typically very much like the traditional fantasy setting complete with castles wizards and dragons but the incidents that occur have the tone and feel of horror. Vampires often play a major role in dark fantasy.
• Epic Fantasy - Is an all encompassing sub genre that covers any work that has a fantasy setting and a protagonist that undertakes a quest of epic proportions
• Erotic Fantasy - takes all the trappings of fantasy worlds but adds the ingredient of explicit sexuality. This blending lends itself to unusual circumstances. Being fantasy there can exist all types of creatures, pseudo humans and the like.
• Heroic Fantasy - Centers on the quest and development of a hero as he or she conquest an imaginary land. This type of fantasy often places a strong emphasis on good versus evil and the protagonist of the story is often reluctant to take up the challenge.
• High Fantasy - This is a very broad genre that has come to cover a lot of different fiction but some of the traditional indicators of High Fantasy are the setting of a complete world for the story and the use of magic that follows very specific rules.
• Mythic Fantasy - Carefully follows the formula and setting of traditional myths.
• Romantic Fantasy - A blending between the genres of Romance and Fantasy. Typically the setting is one of fantasy but the occurences and focus of the story is on the various protagonists and antagonists and their romantic interactions.
• Swords and Sorcery - Tends to be described as full of swashbuckling action. It focuses heavily on the hand-to-hand combat and the sorcery part of it is usually assigned to the antagonist of the story. Typically the hero lives and dies by the sword and has to overcome the black magic of his foe.
  
  
  

Sons of the Oak (Runelords)

This is the fifth and final installment of this awesome series of fantasy books. It has a great major theme about how a man can absorb the powers and strengths from other people, and there is practically no limit to this, but there are prices to be paid. It makes for some interesting dilemmas. For instance, a man can give all his strength to his lord but this will leave him very very weak and it leaves the lord pledged to help him. The first book in the series is being made into a major motion picture. If you have been waiting for this book it is now available on amazon or if you have been looking for a new series to read then this is the one. You won't be disappointed.

This series of books have gotten a lot of acclaim and here are some quotes:

1. The Runelords: The Sum of All Men
2. Brotherhood of the Wolf (The Runelords Book 2)
3. Wizardborn (The Runelords Book 3)
4. The Lair of Bones (The Runelords Book 4)
5. Sons of the Oak (The Runelords Book 5) (Nov 2006)

Finding something to read

Because the genre of fantasy is so diverse it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of writers, books, series, stories, and magazines that are available to you. Here is a selection of some of the outstanding works in the various sub-genres.

If you would like to read a little bit more about selecting a work of fantasy we have a guide that goes more in depth and it is broken down into three sections:

The guide to fantasy - How to find something you like

• For Beginners to the genre
• For intermediate readers
• For the advanced reader

Epic Fantasy is full of multi-series books and these can be very engrossing because a world is completely built and you follow characters and often generations of characters through many adventures and challenges. But finding a good series can be a challenge. Here is the guide to the best series in the genre 268 Books

Recommended Reading

• Dark Fantasy - Anne Rice is considered to be the master contemporary author in this genre. Her series of vampire chronicles are considered a modern classic. The first novel in this series is Interview With the Vampire. For a classic work you may want to consider some of the books of HP Lovecraft. He is considered to have created this genre.
• Epic Fantasy - There are many good multi-book series that you could read. If you haven't already read The Lord of the Rings you may want to start with the Sword of Shannara. This book is generally credited with the revival of the fantasy book in modern times.The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant are an outstanding and very successful series of books that take the twist of a main character who is reluctant to embark upon the quest demanded of him. The Wheel of Time series is also a very successful and very comprehensive series. It currently consists of eleven books. For a more classic book you may want to look into The Once and Future King.
• Erotic Fantasy - takes all the trappings of fantasy worlds but adds the ingredient of explicit sexuality. This blending lends itself to unusual circumstances. Being fantasy there can exist all types of creatures, pseudo humans and the like.
• Heroic Fantasy - Centers on the quest and development of a hero as he or she conquest an imaginary land. This type of fantasy often places a strong emphasis on good versus evil and the protagonist of the story is often reluctant to take up the challenge.
• High Fantasy - This is a very broad genre that has come to cover a lot of different fiction but some of the traditional indicators of High Fantasy are the setting of a complete world for the story and the use of magic that follows very specific rules. A good example of this is Ursula K. LeGuins A Wizard of Earthsea or Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series
• Mythic Fantasy - Carefully follows the forumula and setting of traditional myths.
• Romantic Fantasy - A blending between the genres of Romance and Fantasy. Typically the setting is one of fantasy but the occurences and focus of the story is on the various protagonists and antagonists and their romantic interactions.
• Swords and Sorcery - Tends to be described as full of swashbuckling action. It focuses heavily on the hand-to-hand combat and the sorcery part of it is usually assigned to the antagonist of the story. Typically the hero lives and dies by the sword and has to overcome the black magic of his foe. Some good examples of this genre are The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Conan of Cimmeria, Book 1) by Robert Howard or Fritz Leiber's Ill Met in Lankhmar

• The Sword in the Stone