My Account Wish List Shopping Cart Log In
Store Location

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.
Did you find this review helpful?
Parent Categories
Subcategories
190 Items found Print
Filter
Active Filters: 11th grade (Ages 16-17), In-Stock Books & Materials
49th Mystic
Beyond the Circle #1
by Ted Dekker
from Revell Publishing
for 6th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by Geoffrey Brock, with an introduction by Umberto Eco and an afterword by Rebecca West
from New York Review of Books
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.90
Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi, translated by John Hooper & Anna Kraczyna
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$12.75
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Macmillan
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$12.74
Airborn
Airborn Trilogy #1
by Kenneth Oppel
from HarperCollins
for 5th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.19
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Macmillan Classics
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
from Macmillan
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.40 (1 in stock)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
by Lewis Carroll
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.35
Allan Quatermain
by H. Rider Haggard
from SeaWolf Press
Adventure for 7th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Alloy of Law
Mistborn Chronicles Era Two: Wax & Wayne Book 1
by Brandon Sanderson
from Tor Fantasy
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.34
At the Back of the North Wind
Everyman's Library Children's Classics
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Arthur Hughes
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fairy Tale for 4th-Adult
$17.00
At the Back of the North Wind
by George MacDonald, illustrated by Frank C. Pape
from Living Book Press
for 4th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.04
Atlantis Rising
by Robert Sullivan, drawings by Glenn Wolff
from Simon and Schuster
for 6th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Bands of Mourning
Mistborn Chronicles Era Two: Wax & Wayne Book 3
by Brandon Sanderson
from Tor Fantasy
Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.34
Beejum Book
by Alice O. Howell
Revised
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Bilbo's Last Song
by J.R.R. Tolkien, Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Book of Lost Tales 1
by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Mythology, Faërie for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.49
Book of Lost Tales 2
by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Mythology, Faërie for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.64
Book of the Dun Cow
by Walter Wangerin Jr.
from HarperCollins
for 8th grade-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.74
Boxen
by C. S. Lewis, Major Warren Hamilton Lewis
from HarperCollins
for 4th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$24.99
Children of Hurin
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 7th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$30.00
Children of Hurin
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger
from North-South Books
for 9th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$21.24
Christmas Carol: An Engaging Visual Journey
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Jill De Haan
from Tyndale House
for 9th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$14.44
Chronicles of Narnia Deluxe Hardcover
by C. S. Lewis
Deluxe Edition from HarperCollins
for 2nd-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$63.75
Complete Fairy Tales
Penguin Classics
by George MacDonald
from Penguin Classics
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.45
Complete Tales of Uncle Remus
by Joel Chandler Harris
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$33.99
Complete Tales of Uncle Remus
by Joel Chandler Harris, retold by Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
from Dial Press
Animal Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$50.00
Complete Tolkien Companion
by J.R.R. Tolkien & J.E.A. Tyler
3rd edition from St. Martin's Griffin
Lord of the Rings Reference for 8th-Adult
in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR)
$30.00
Conspiracy of Kings
by Megan Whalen Turner
Reprint from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.34
Coraline
by Neil Gaiman
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$16.14
Crying for a Vision
by Walter Wangerin Jr.
from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Cunning Little Vixen
by Rudolf Tesnohlidek
First Edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Dark Tower
by C. S. Lewis
Reissue from HarperOne
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Dracula
Puffin Classics
by Bram Stoker
from Puffin Books
for 10th-Adult
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.49
Dragon's Apprentice
by James A. Owen
from Simon Pulse
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.04
Dragons of Winter
by James A. Owen
from Simon Pulse
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.74
Dune Trilogy - Hardcover Boxed Set
by Frank Herbert
from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$127.50
Dune Trilogy - Paperback Trilogy Boxed Set
by Frank Herbert
from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$26.32
Earthsea Cycle
by Ursula K. Le Guin
from Graphia
for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$41.61
Elantris
by Brandon Sanderson
from Tor Fantasy
for 8th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$18.69
Enchantment
by Orson Scott Card
1st edition from Del Rey
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.45
Endless Knot
Song of Albion #3
by Stephen R. Lawhead
2nd edition from Thomas Nelson Publishers
Celtic Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00
Entwined
by Heather Dixon
from Greenwillow Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$13.59
Fall of Gondolin
by J.R.R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$35.00
Fall of Gondolin
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
from William Morrow & Company
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.14
Farthest Shore
Earthsea #3
by Ursula K. Le Guin
from Simon Pulse
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.34 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Farthest Shore
Earthsea #3
by Ursula K. Le Guin
from Simon Pulse
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.19
Farthest Shore
Earthsea #3
by Ursula K. Le Guin, illustrated by Gail Garraty
First Edition, 4th Printing from Atheneum
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings Trilogy #1
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.64
Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings #1: Deluxe Hardcover
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 8th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$40.00
Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings Trilogy #1
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 8th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
First Dragon
by James A. Owen
from Simon Pulse
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.89
George MacDonald
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Devotional Material for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
Glittering Plain
by William Morris
from Newcastle Publishing Co
for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Gray Wolf and Other Stories
by George MacDonald
2nd THUS from Eerdmans
for 7th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.45
Gulliver's Travels
Puffin Classics
by Jonathan Swift
from Puffin Books
Satire/Social Commentary for 9th-Adult
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.49
Harvey
by Mary Chase
from CreateSpace
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Harvey
by Mary Chase
from Dramatists Play Service
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Harvey
by Mary Chase
from Must Have Books
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.95
Here, There Be Dragons
by James A. Owen
from Simon Pulse
for 7th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.74
Hinds' Feet on High Places
by Hannah Hurnard
from Tyndale House
Allegorical and Moral Stories for 7th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.79
History of Middle Earth - Boxed Set
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
from Del Rey
for 9th-Adult
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$42.46
Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien
17th Printing from Ballantine Books
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Hobbit & Lord of the Rings - Mass-Market Boxed Set
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Mti from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 4th-12th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$30.57
Hobbit & Lord of the Rings - Softbound Boxed Set
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 4th-12th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$66.30
Hobbit (Annotated)
by J. R. R. Tolkien, Annotated by Douglas A. Anderson
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$35.00
Hobbit and Lord of the Rings - Deluxe Hardcover Collection
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Hobbit and Lord of the Rings - Deluxe Hardcover Collection
by J. R. R. Tolkien, illustrated by Alan Lee
from HarperCollins
Fantasy for 5th-12th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$136.00
Hobbit, The
by J.R.R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$34.00
Hobbit, The
by J.R.R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$34.00
Hobbit, The
by J.R.R. Tolkien, author and illustrator
from William Morrow & Company
for 5th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$75.00
If The South Had Won The Civil War
by MacKinlay Kantor
from Forge
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
In the Hall of the Dragon King
Dragon King #1
by Stephen R. Lawhead
Reprint from Thomas Nelson Publishers
Fantasy for 8th-12th Grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$16.14
Indigo King
by James A. Owen
from Simon Pulse
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.74
Inheritance Cycle - Hardcover set
by Christopher Paolini
from Random House
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
by Susanna Clarke
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
by Susanna Clarke
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
King of Attolia
by Megan Whalen Turner
Reprint from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$13.59
King Raven Trilogy
by Stephen Lawhead
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$48.42
King Solomon's Mines
by H. Rider Haggard
from Dover Publications
Adventure for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.95
King Solomon's Mines
by H. Rider Haggard
from SeaWolf Press
Adventure for 7th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Last Unicorn
by Peter S. Beagle
from ROC Science Fiction
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$14.45
Lays of Beleriand
by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Mythology, Faerie for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.49
Lilith
by George MacDonald
from Eerdmans
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.44
Little Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Joe Sutphin
from Moody Press
for 3rd-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$25.49
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Harvest House
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$11.99
Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
1st edition from Harcourt
for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Harvest House
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, translated by Richard Howard
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
$15.30
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Lord Foulgrin's Letters
by Randy Alcorn
from Multnomah Books
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lord of the Rings - Hardbound Boxed Set
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 8th-12th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$72.00
Lost in a Good Book
Thursday Next Book 2
by Jasper Fforde
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.00
Lost in a Good Book
Thursday Next Book 2
by Jasper Fforde
First American Edition from Viking Press
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Lost Metal
Mistborn Era Two: Wax & Wayne Book 4
by Brandon Sanderson
from Tor Fantasy
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.34
Lost Road and Other Writings
History of Middle-Earth Volume 5
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
2020 Del Rey Mass Market Edition from Del Rey
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.49
Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Jim Kay
Reprint from Candlewick Press
for 5th-Adult
2012 Carnegie Medal
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.99
Norse Mythology
by Neil Gaiman
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 8th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$13.56 $6.80 (1 in stock)
Oathbringer
Stormlight Archive #3
by Brandon Sanderson
from Tor Fantasy
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.99
12
Sign Up!

Shop

Support

Hours & Directions

Learn more about our store location and hours

Connect

503.655.1951

hello@exodusbooks.com

19146 Molalla Ave,
Oregon City, OR 97045