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 - Paperback Trilogy
by N. D. Wilson
from Random House Books for Young Readers
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Ace, the Very Important Pig
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Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel
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Adventures of Sir Balin the Ill-Fated
The Knights' Tales Book 4
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Airborn
Airborn Trilogy #1
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
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American Fairy Tales
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Dragon Chronicles #4
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Animal Stories: Fantasy for 2nd-5th grade
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Redwall #7
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Fantasy for 4th-9th grade
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Beowulf the Warrior
by Ian Serraillier
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Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 4th-8th grade
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Beyond the Edge of the Map (The Mapmaker Chronicles)
The Mapmaker Chronicles #4
by A. L. Tait
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BFG
by Roald Dahl
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Big Book of Animal Stories
by Thornton W. Burgess
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Billy Mink
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #33
by Thornton W. Burgess
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$4.00
Black Cauldron
Prydain Chronicles #2
by Lloyd Alexander
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
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Black Horses for the King
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Blue Cat of Castle Town
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Book of Three
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by Lloyd Alexander
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Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
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$8.99
Bookwanderers
Pages & Co. #01
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Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
1952 Carnegie Medal
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Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
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Borrowers Series #3
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Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
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Borrowers Series #3
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Borrowers Series #4
by Mary Norton
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Borrowers Series #5
by Mary Norton
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Boys of Blur
by N. D. Wilson
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Brave Ollie Possum
by Ethan Nicolle
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Bridge, The
Bracken Trilogy #1
by Jeri Massi
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Burgess Animal Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
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by Thornton W. Burgess
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Burning Bridge
Ranger's Apprentice #02
by John A. Flanagan
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Brotherband Chronicles #7
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Calling on Dragons
Enchanted Forest Chronicles #3
by Patricia C. Wrede
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Candy Shop War: Arcade Catastrophe
by Brandon Mull
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Candymakers
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Captive Kingdom
The Ascendance #4
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Castaways of the Flying Dutchman
by Brian Jacques
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Castaways of the Flying Dutchman
by Brian Jacques
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Castle Corona
by Sharon Creech
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Castle in the Air
Howl's Castle: 2 of 3
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Castle in the Attic
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Castle in the Attic
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Castle of Llyr
Prydain Chronicles #3
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Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
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Chameleon, A Boy, and A Quest
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Champion of the Titan Games
Dragonwatch #4
by Brandon Mull
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$9.99
Charlatan's Boy
by Jonathan Rogers
from WaterBrook Press
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Charlotte Sometimes
by Penelope Farmer
from Yearling
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Charlotte's Web - Full Color Edition
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
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$9.99
Chester Cricket's New Home
by George Selden
from Yearling
Animal Stories: Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
by Ian Fleming
from Random House Books for Young Readers
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
by Ian Fleming
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Christmas Doll
by Elvira Woodruff
from Scholastic Inc.
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$1.50 (1 in stock)
Chronicles of Narnia - Quality Softcover Boxed Set
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
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$90.93
Chronicles of Narnia - Quality Softcover Set
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
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Chronicles of Prydain - Boxed Set
by Lloyd Alexander
Box from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
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$44.95
Circus Mirandus
by Cassie Beasley
from Puffin Books
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Clockwork Twin
by Walter R. Brooks
from Overlook Press
for 4th-8th grade
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Comet in Moominland
Moomintrolls Book #1
by Tove Jansson
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 1st-7th grade
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$7.99
Coming Evil
by Vivian Vande Velde
from Sandpiper Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
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$13.95
Conch Bearer
by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
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Crown and Jewel
Bracken Trilogy #2
by Jeri Massi
from CreateSpace
Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.99
Danny the Champion of the World
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
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$8.99
Dark Lord's Demise
Archives of Anthropos #6
by John White
from InterVarsity Press
Christian Fantasy for
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Dealing with Dragons
Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1
by Patricia C. Wrede
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-6th grade
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$9.99
Diamond in the Window
by Jane Langton, illustrated by Erik Blegvad
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
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$13.95
Doctor Dolittle in the Moon
Doctor Dolittle #9
by Hugh Lofting
from Bottom of the Hill Publishing
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$12.99
Doctor Dolittle in the Moon
Doctor Dolittle #9
by Hugh Lofting
from Yearling
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Doctor Dolittle's Circus
Doctor Dolittle #4
by Hugh Lofting
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$12.99
Doctor Dolittle's Circus
Doctor Dolittle #4
by Hugh Lofting
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Doctor Dolittle's Garden
Doctor Dolittle #8
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Doctor Dolittle's Return
Doctor Dolittle #11
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Doll Bones
by Holly Black
Reprint from Margaret K. McElderry Books
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2014 Newbery Honor Book
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$8.99
Doll People Set Sail
Doll People Book 4
by Ann M. Martin & Laura Godwin, illustrated by Brett Helquist
Reprint from Hyperion/Madison Press
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Doomwyte
Redwall #20
by Brian Jacques
Reprint from Firebird Press
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$9.99
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
Wizard of Oz Book 4
by L. Frank Baum
from Dover Publications
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$9.95
Double Trouble in Bugland
by William Kozwinkle
from David R. Godine
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Dragon Rider
by Cornelia Funke
Deluxe from Chicken House
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Dragon Rider
by Cornelia Funke
from Scholastic Inc.
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Dragon Rider
by Cornelia Funke, translated by Anthea Bell
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Dragon Rider: Griffin's Feather
Dragon Rider #2
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