Fantasy Fiction

The "fantasy=escapism" equation is older than the genre as we know it. People in the old days boycotted the Theater, not just because it was a potential hotbed of wickedness, but because it was something other than Real Life and therefore odious to Sensible People. Some radical Christian sects have prohibited the reading of fiction on grounds that only the Bible has any literary value (....even though Jesus clearly told fictional stories).

In our day, fantasy as a fiction genre is more narrowly defined than simply "that which is not established fact." It encompasses stories of dragons, elves, dark and mysterious woods, magic (or majyck, or whatever the kids are calling it these days), unicorns, gnomes, etc. High fantasy usually takes place in a world or realm other than our own; low fantasy imports fantastic elements into the-world-as-we-know-it.

Certainly, there is plenty of fantasy fiction that can be defended on no grounds. The flood of worthless literary drivel with images of buxom maidens and swarthy sword-wielding savages with pointy ears on their paperback covers began sometime in the 1960s and has only increased as its putrid waters have swelled. But there's plenty of good fantasy, too, some of it among the best fiction ever written.

Because good fantasy, of course, has something to say about the human condition. Sometimes taking characters out of the humdrum of Earth-bound existence allows authors more artistic freedom to create the situations necessary to tell the narrative they have burning a hole in their imagination. Or sometimes they just make the story a bit more fun. Sometimes they make it darker, or scarier, or just plain more weird.

If you're J.R.R. Tolkien, the fantasy element plays a different role (mythmaking) than that of the story it frames (the sinfulness of sin and the cost of redemption). The point is, good fantasy isn't just about the fantastical. In most cases (Ursula K. LeGuin comes to mind), the unfamiliar is used to show how even it is ultimately familiar, and if we can see ourselves in the Edmund Pevensies and Gurney Hallecks we read about, the fantasy has done its job.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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100 Cupboards
by N. D. Wilson
from Random House
Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
100 Cupboards - Paperback Trilogy
by N. D. Wilson
from Random House Books for Young Readers
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$24.62
49th Mystic
Beyond the Circle #1
by Ted Dekker
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Acceptable Time
Wrinkle in Time Series #5
by Madeleine L'Engle
from Square Fish Publishing
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
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Adventures of Pinocchio
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Carlo Collodi, translated by M.A. Murray and illustrated by Fritz Kredel
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Adventures of Pinocchio
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Adventures of Pinocchio
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Adventures of Pinocchio
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Adventures of Pinocchio
Travel and Adventure Library for Young Folks
by Carlo Collodi, translated and adapted by Angelo Patri and illustrated by Mary Liddell
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The Knights' Tales Book 2
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by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 edition from Rand McNally
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
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by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Gwynedd M. Hudson
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All My Holy Mountain
The Binding of the Blade Book 5
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Allan Quatermain
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from SeaWolf Press
Adventure for 7th-12th grade
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Alloy of Law
Mistborn Chronicles Era Two: Wax & Wayne Book 1
by Brandon Sanderson
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Among the Shadows
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
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Andrew and the Firedrake
by Douglas Wilson
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Animal Stories
by Joel Chandler Harris, illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
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Animal Stories
by Edited by Walter de la Mare
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Annotated Peter Pan
by J. M. Barrie
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Annotated Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame
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Annotated Wizard of Oz
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Archives of Anthropos series
by John White
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Christian Fantasy for 5th-8th grade
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Arthur
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Arthur
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Ascendence Series
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Ashtown Burials Collection - Paperback
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Assassination of Brangwain Spurge
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At Home with Beatrix Potter
by Susan Denyer
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At the Back of the North Wind
Everyman's Library Children's Classics
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Arthur Hughes
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by George MacDonald, illustrated by Colleen Browning
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by George MacDonald, Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
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At the Back of the North Wind
by George MacDonald, Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
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Fairy Tale for 4th-Adult
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Austere Academy
Series of Unfortunate Events #5
by Lemony Snicket
from HarperCollins
Morbid Humor for 4th-8th grade
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Baaa
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
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Bad Beginning
Series of Unfortunate Events #1
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Ballad of Sir Dinadan
Squire's Tales Book 5
by Gerald Morris
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Bands of Mourning
Mistborn Chronicles Era Two: Wax & Wayne Book 3
by Brandon Sanderson
from Tor Fantasy
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
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$10.99
Bark of the Bog Owl
Wilderking #1
by Jonathan Rogers
2nd edition from Rabbit Room Press
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Bark of the Bog Owl
Wilderking #1
by Jonathan Rogers
20th Anniversary Edition from Rabbit Room Press
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$14.95
Battle for Skandia
Ranger's Apprentice #04
by John A. Flanagan
Reprint from Puffin Books
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$9.99
Battle for Skandia
Ranger's Apprentice #04
by John A. Flanagan
Reprint from Philomel Books
for 4th-8th grade
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$9.00 (2 in stock)
Battle of Hackham Heath
Ranger’s Apprentice: The Early Years Book 2
by John A. Flanagan
for 5th-8th grade
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$9.99
Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy Jackson & the Olympians #4
by Rick Riordan
from Hyperion/Madison Press
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$8.99
Beauty
by Robin McKinley
First Paperback Edition, 2018 from Greenwillow Books
Fantasy/Retold Fairy Tale for 5th-8th grade
$7.99
Bellmaker
Redwall #7
by Brian Jacques
from ACE Publishing
Fantasy for 4th-9th grade
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$9.99
Bellmaker
Redwall #7
by Brian Jacques
from Firebird Press
Fantasy for 4th-9th grade
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$10.99
Beowulf the Warrior
by Ian Serraillier
from Bethlehem Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 4th-8th grade
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$11.95
Between the Forest and the Hills
Bethlehem Books Adventure Library
by Ann Lawrence
from Bethlehem Books
Humorous Fantasy for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$12.95
Beyond the Summerland
The Binding of the Blade Book 1
by L. B. Graham
from P&R Publishing
Fantasy for 7th-10th grade
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Beyonders #1: A World Without Heroes
by Brandon Mull
from Aladdin Books
for 5th-8th grade
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Bilbo's Last Song
by J.R.R. Tolkien, Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-Adult
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Binding of the Blade Series
by L. B. Graham
from P&R Publishing
Fantasy for 7th-10th grade
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Black Cauldron
Prydain Chronicles #2
by Lloyd Alexander
from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Black Cauldron
Prydain Chronicles #2
by Lloyd Alexander
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Black Cauldron
Prydain Chronicles #2
by Lloyd Alexander
Revise Edition from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Honor Book
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Black Hearts in Battersea
Wolves Chronicles #2
by Joan Aiken
from HMH Books for Young Readers
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Black Hearts in Battersea
Wolves Chronicles #2
by Joan Aiken
from Dell Yearling
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$2.50 (1 in stock)
Black Horses for the King
by Anne McCaffrey
from Magic Carpey Books
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Black Horses for the King
by Anne McCaffrey
from Del Rey
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Blue Sword
by Robin McKinley
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Blue Sword
by Robin McKinley
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Bone #1: Out from Boneville
Bone #1
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1st edition from Scholastic Reference
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by Jeff Smith
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Bone #3
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