The world offantasybooks is absolutely inundated these days, with new authors and old constantly churning out all manner of new work. Yet with modern book marketing being so buzz-focused thanks to needing to remain relevant tothe mercurial cabal of BookTok influencers, sometimes modern fantasy releases can feel a bit formulaic, right down to the titles. And don’t get me started onhow painfully long fantasy books have gotten, as if page count was some kind of substitute for quality.
Fantasy books from more than a few decades ago, especially the ones that don’t fit either the BookTokromantasy nicheor the grim epic fantasy template inspired byA Song of Ice and Fire, often fall through the cracks or simply get dismissed as irrelevant to modern audiences – or even forgotten. Yet if you dig back past the turn of the century, or even the century before, you’ll find some fantastical adventures well worth a thorough read.
10Magic Kingdom For Sale–SOLD!
By Terry Brooks (1986)
Terry Brooks, acclaimed author of theShannaranovels, also had a far less renowned fantasy series.Magic Kingdom for Sale–SOLD!is the first book in a series of six about the fairy-tale-adjacent kingdom of Landover, a pocket dimension of whimsy ruled by Ben Holiday, a millionaire lawyer from Chicago who bought the kingship to Landover out of a catalog because he was bored. Landover turns out to be far more of a fixer-upper than he bargained for, not only because the magic is real, but also because the kingdom is on the verge of falling apart.
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Brooks’Shannaranovels have greatly eclipsed theLandoverseries over the years, especially in the wake ofA Song of Ice and Firedriving an increased demand for epic fantasy over comic fantasy, and the finalLandovernovel was released all the way back in 2015. Film rights forLandoverhave been kicked around since the first book was released, but the last real update about a film option was all the way back in 2012, meaning that the kingdom of Landover may well fade away into obscurity.
9The Once And Future King
By T. H. White (1958)
Originally published as four shorter novels between 1938 and 1940, then collected and slightly amended, T. H. White’sThe Once and Future Kingis loosely based onLe Morte d’Arthur, the 15th-century book by English scholar Sir Thomas Malory that serves today as the fundamental basis of the legends and myths surrounding King Arthur.Disney’s 1963 film The Sword in the Stonewas an adaptation of the first section of the book, which has the same name.
Walt Disney’s original plan had been to adaptThe Ill-Made Knight, the third part ofThe Once and Future King, which focuses not on King Arthur, but on Sir Lancelot and his forbidden tryst with Queen Guinevere.
Although it’s approaching a century in age and was written for the disillusioned of England in the wake of the Second World War, much ofThe Once and Future Kingstill holds up well to a modern eye. White’s prose, although heavily stylized and archaic, still flows with life. Unfortunately, as with many older fantasy novels, it has fallen off many folks' radar, and mostly lives on through its Disney adaptation (as well as the musicalCamelot, which was based offThe Once and Future King’s final two books).
8Swords And Deviltry
By Fritz Leiber (1970)
Fritz Leiber’s short story collectionSwords and Deviltryis the first volume in a seven-book saga about the fantasy land of Nehwon and its unlikely heroes, the barbarian swordsman Fafhrd and his companion, the golden-hearted cynic and rogue known as the Gray Mouser. Written both as a bit of a self-insert for Leiber and his friend and fellow author Harry Otto Fischer and as a response to stoic fantasy characters like Tarzan or Conan the Barbarian, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser wouldn’t be out of place carousing with dysfunctional adventurers from modern fantasy stories likeThe Legend of Vox Machina.
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Swords and Deviltryis a collection of four short stories that serve as a wonderful introduction to Fafhrd, the Gray Mouser, and their exploits as sellswords. Sadly, while these less-than-intrepid heroes have been referenced in everything fromDiscworldtoSkyrim, the books themselves have faded into the background, leaving only empty pop-culture references that fly over newer fans' heads.
7Grendel
By John Gardner (1971)
Few fantasy novels these days operate in a metatextual, philosophical space in the same way as John Gardner’sGrendel.This existential retelling of the classic epic poemBeowulfplaces the monster Grendel in the role of antihero, as he struggles with his tawdry existence, the bothersome doings of humanity, a nihilistic dragon, and an ever-growing sense of ennui.
Grendelhas spent much less time in the broader public eye than its source material…
A cult classic and favorite of literary academics,Grendelhas spent much less time in the broader public eye than its source material, which also hasn’t gotten much attention since the absolute CGI-ridden travesty that was Robert Zemeckis' 2007Beowulf. However, in early 2024 theJim Henson Company announced a live-actionGrendeladaptation, starring Jeff Bridges as the titular monster, which will hopefully follow well in the footsteps of other dark fantasy Henson productions such asThe Dark Crystal.
6Howl’s Moving Castle
By Diana Wynne Jones (1986)
Howl’s Moving Castleis one of the most beloved and successful films by acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki, yet by comparison, the novel of the same name that it was based on is almost unknown. Originally published in 1986, Diana Wynne Jones’Howl’s Moving Castleis a very different kind of story, even aside fromactually being the first book of a full trilogy.
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TheHowlbooks paint the titular wizard in a very different light from the Miyazaki film, at times more sympathetic and at times more confusing, especially as the books explore his connection to the real-world country of Wales, which was completely omitted from the Ghibli film. The book’s Witch of the Waste is also a very real and menacing antagonist, unlike the movie’s Witch, whose selfishness turns out to be at least as redeemable as Howl’s.
5The King In Yellow
By Robert W. Chambers (1895)
The King in Yellowhas reached a strange point of reference in the canon of fantasy literature, thanks in part to its dating from the end of the 19th century, and thanks also to it being referenced heavily enough by sometime cosmic horror author andlegendary racist H. P. Lovecraft.The King in Yellowis both a real-world collection of short stories linked by specific thematic devices, and also a play that the characters of the stories encounter in book form, which drives them mad as they read it.
Most people assume it’s as fictional as Lovecraft’s other favorite literary plot device, the fabledNecronomicon…
Despite its age,The King in Yellowis still a phenomenal and compelling read, and its influence can still be felt in modern media, not only in Lovecraft adaptations, but also as a plot point inthe first season ofTrue Detective. Yet even those references often gloss over the fact thatThe King in Yellowis a real book; most people assume it’s as fictional as Lovecraft’s other favorite literary plot device, the fabledNecronomiconof Abdul Alhazred.
4Nine Princes In Amber
By Roger Zelazney (1970)
Nine Princes in Amberis the first book in Roger Zelazney’sChronicles of Amberseries, the initial five-novel arc of which was published between 1970 and 1978, and the second five novels between 1985 and 1991. Yet while these books were generally considered a major and foundational part of the fantasy canon up until recently, they’ve been ignored, likely due to the film rights having been stuck in development hell since 1998.
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Nine Princes, as the first book in the series, serves as an introduction to Amber, the one true world among an infinity of parallel shadows, among which our Earth is an unremarkable blip. Corwin, the protagonist, begins the book struggling with amnesia as he pieces together his truth – that he is one of the nine princes of Amber, his father King Oberon has disappeared, and one of his brothers wants him dead.
3Who’s Afraid Of Beowulf?
By Tom Holt (1988)
Tom Holt is a popular British author of satirical fantasy, and the winner of several World Fantasy Awards in the mid-2010s. His earlier works, however, are generally unknown in mainstream fantasy circles, which is unfortunate, as Holt’s blend of modern satire and mythopoetic source material occasionally approaches the kind of wittiness a reader only expects from Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams.
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InWho’s Afraid of Beowulf?,an American archaeologist excavating an ancient Viking longship from a burial mound in Scotland discovers that the supposedly dead Vikings on board are, in fact, still alive. The Vikings, led by King Hrolf Earthstar, desperately need her help to defeat the nigh-immortal and evil sorcerer-king Eric, who in the modern day has taken on the guise of a tech company CEO. The book is clever and the action is occasionally slapstick – and it’s rather impressive that the book’s villain remains so topical after almost four decades.
2Night’s Master
By Tanith Lee (1978)
Tanith Lee’s first book in what would become the expansiveTales from the Flat Earthseries is a collection of three allegorical tales,much in the vein of the Arabic body of folklore commonly known asOne Thousand and One Nights.Night’s Mastertells three tales about Azhrarn, the Prince of Demons, as he repeatedly finds himself drawn to love humanity despite his demonic nature driving him to wickedness.
Night’s Masteris for the most part a product of its time, as are the rest of theTales from the Flat Earthbooks. Lee’s work is deeply profound and thoughtful, but is also frequently sensual, often exploring coming-of-age themes in unconventional ways and portraying queer characters in ways that were leaps and bounds ahead of other fantasy books from the ’70s. Tanith Lee sadly passed away in 2015, but several collections of her work have been published posthumously, and in 2024 she was issued the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Association’s greatest posthumous honor, the Infinity Award.
1The Iron Dragon’s Daughter
By Michael Swanwick (1993)
Michael Swanwick’sThe Iron Dragon’s Daughterwas written as an intentional revocation of the fantasy authors who, in Swanwick’s view, were writing bland and interchangeable riffs on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien. In response, Swanwick paints the picture of a very nontraditional fantasy world, where dragons are nihilistic machines, Faeries are painfully capitalist echoes of the real world, and his protagonist Jane becomes a serial killer in the process of trying to discover her destiny.
Swanwick’s book is a fascinating change of pace from more mainstream attempts at nihilism (most of which just end up feeling like mediocre rehashes ofA Game of Thrones).
WhileThe Iron Dragon’s Daughterwas nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, Locus Award, and World Fantasy Award for Best Novel the year it was released, and Swanwick went on to write two more books in the same world – 2008’sThe Dragons of Babeland 2019’sThe Iron Dragon’s Mother– the series has, perhaps thanks to its deeply theological perspective, fallen out of the general public eye. That’s unfortunate, because Swanwick’s book is a fascinating change of pace from more mainstream attempts at nihilism (most of which just end up feeling like mediocre rehashes ofA Game of Thrones).
