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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Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, Isaac Bashevis Singer
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Alice in Wonderland
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by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 edition from Rand McNally
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Windermere Series 4
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1938 printing from Rand McNally
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Bilbo's Last Song
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Blue Sword
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Book of Lost Tales 2
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Canterbury Tales
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Sterling Classics
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Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
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Christmas Carol
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Christmas Carol
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Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
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Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
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Fantasy for 6th-10th grade
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Cunning Little Vixen
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Doomwyte
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1st edition from Philomel Books
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Endless Knot
Song of Albion #3
by Stephen R. Lawhead
Reprint from Thomas Nelson Publishers
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Endless Knot
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Genie of Sutton Place
by George Selden
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Graveyard Book
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Gulliver's Travels
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by Jonathan Swift, illustrated by Scott McKowen
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Satire/Social Commentary for 9th-Adult
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Gypsy Rizka
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter Book 2
by J. K. Rowling
First American Edition from Arthur A. Levine Books
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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Illustrated from Arthur A. Levine Books
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter Book 4
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Harry Potter Book 5
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by J. K. Rowling; illustrated by Jim Kay
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Harry Potter Book 1
by J. K. Rowling
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High Rhulain
by Brian Jacques
1st edition from Philomel Books
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Hinds' Feet on High Places
by Hannah Hurnard
from Tyndale House
Allegorical and Moral Stories for 7th-Adult
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Hobbit
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from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
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$19.99
Hobbit (Annotated)
by J. R. R. Tolkien, Annotated by Douglas A. Anderson
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$35.00
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by J.R.R. Tolkien
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$40.00
Horse and His Boy
by C. S. Lewis
Reprint from HarperCollins
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Horse and His Boy
Chronicles of Narnia Book 5
by C. S. Lewis
from Macmillan
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
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Inheritance Cycle - Hardcover set
by Christopher Paolini
from Random House
for 8th-12th grade
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Invaders
by John A. Flanagan
1st edition from Philomel Books
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$10.00 (3 in stock)
Journey to the Center of the Earth
by Jules Verne
from Reader's Digest
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Jungle Book
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King Arthur
by Sidney Lanier
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King Arthur and His Knights
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Henry Frith, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
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Fairy Tales, Fables, & Legends for 7th-10th grade
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Kingdom Far and Clear
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Last Battle
by C. S. Lewis
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Last Battle
Chronicles of Narnia Book 7
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Legend of Luke
Redwall #12
by Brian Jacques
1st Us Edition from Philomel Books
Fantasy for 4th-9th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, translated by Richard Howard
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
$18.00
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Loamhedge
Redwall #16
by Brian Jacques
from Philomel Books
Fantasy for 4th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Long Patrol
Redwall #10
by Brian Jacques
from Philomel Books
Fantasy for 4th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Lord Brocktree
by Brian Jacques
1st Us Edition from Philomel Books
for 4th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
12