6 Different Must-Read Takes On Fantasy

by Lucy Tempest
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6 books
A small list of the different ways Fantasy as a genre can be done from classic, alternate history, affectionate parody, and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink.
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The King of Elfland's Daughter

Lord Dunsany, 2020
Before Tolkien, there was Lord Dunsany, who helped lay the building blocks of what would become modern fantasy. Though it is a more classic kind of novel, with scenes and tropes we now see as stereotypical, seeing where they all began, along with Dunsany’s descriptions the human Alveric’s adventure with the titular elf princess, are an experience to be had. Poetic, timeless and with a twist that is familiar but no less heartbreaking when it hits and reminds you to be careful what you wish for.

Titus Groan

Mervyn Peake, 2007
Though now considered a classic, Peake’s take slips closer into the ‘weird’ side of magical worlds, with social commentary and Dickensian humor set in Gormenghast, a rotting castle. If you liked the quirkier side of Rowling’s Wizarding World but wish it went more in-depth with its locations and characters, and had a more Gothic vibe to its setting, give this a shot.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Susanna Clarke, 2010
Set in an Early Modern England, Strange and Norrell follows the country’s only two magicians as the overlapping world of Faerie starts actively messing with them as the return of the prophesied Raven King looms near—and you’ll never guess who it is.

The Paper Magician

Charlie N. Holmberg, 2014
Like Strange & Norrell, this is set in an Early Modern England where magic is an acknowledged reality, but that’s where the similarities stop. A lighter tale, where magic is a skill tied to man-made materials such as paper, glass, alloys and plastic, our protagonist starts out reluctant to be bound to paper until she learns to appreciate her new field of expertise from her mentor—and falls for him throughout one of the most evocative and creative ways to get to know someone’s (detached) heart.

The Colour of Magic

Terry Pratchett, 1985
Though now outweighed by the later entries in the Discworld universe, this is what can best be described as an ‘affectionate parody’ of many fantasy and historical tropes. Both a fun and funny tale of a flat earth’s first-ever tourist and the shenanigans he, and the lousy wizard who acts as his guide, get up to. Not to mention, once you fall down after them into the witty world crafted by Prachett, you have your pick of forty more novels (not in any particular order or even subgenre) to pick from for your next adventure on the back of the Great A’Tuin.

Gideon the Ninth

Tamsyn Muir, 2019
Necromancy and court intrigue — IN SPAAAACE! Jokes aside, this Sci-Fi and Fantasy blend of a resurrected solar system that now operates on death-magic, and the importance of those who wield it, has been one of my favorite reading experiences in the last few years. Witty, dark and dangerous, with a creative murder mystery at the center of our protagonist’s reluctant adventure, it is for those who want to nurture their morbid sense of humor.