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Each year new titles burst onto the fantasy scene. While no list can ever be complete, here are a few noteworthy titles of 1999-2000.
New and Notable Books:
Black Wine by Candas Jane Dorsey
Brightly Burning by Mercedes Lackey
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt
Dragonshadow by Barbara Hambly
Dragons of a Fallen Sun, Vol. 1 by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman
Earthquake Weather by Tim Powers
The Fifth Elephant : A Novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett
Forests of the Heart by Charles De Lint
The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny
The Green Rider by Kristen Britain
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Heart Fire by Orson Scott Card
King Kelson's Bride by Katherine Kurtz
The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
Mortalis by R. A. Salvatore
The Physiognomy by Jeffrey Ford
Prophecy : Child of Earth by Elizabeth Haydon
Prospero's Children by Jan Siegel
Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Silent Blade by R. A. Salvatore
Silver Wolf, Black Falcon by Dennis L. McKiernan
Soul of Fire by Terry Goodkind
The Soulforge by Margaret Weis
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
Temple of the Winds by Terry Goodkind
The Tower at Stony Wood by Patricia A. McKillip
The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara : Ilse Witch (Book 1) by Terry Brooks
Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells
Wit'Ch War : Book Three of the Banned and the Banished by James Clemens
A Wizard Scorned by Patricia White
Like other genres of fiction, fantasy is divided into subgenres for easy classification. Many books will fall into more than one subgenre:
SWORD AND SORCERY
· set in alternate pastoral or nonindustrialized world
· magic
· heroic deeds
· hero usually starts off as an ordinary who is caught up in a chain of events
· characters usually inhabit a world created for them
· often trilogies or series.
· quests a dominant theme.
First King of Shannara (1996) by Terry Brooks:
When he was exiled from the Druid enclave at Paranor, Bremen wandered the world, honing his magic. In his journeys, he discovers that the renegade archmage Brona, a Druid who has been corrupted into the essence of evil, is still alive and gathering his forces for another attack. Even the combined forces of all the races may not be enough to stop him. Bremen had continued to study magic after the First War of the Races, in spite of its repudiation by the other Druids. So, when hoards of Trolls invade the Four Lands, Bremen, Kinson Ravenloft and their small company must find a means of defeating them and their evil leader, Brona. Bremen gathers the few with the skills to resist and goes to battle, but they need a weapon--a weapon that will become the Sword of Shannara. (480 pages)
SAGA, MYTH, AND LEGEND
· many are sword and sorcery set against a backdrop made familiar because of its basis in a myth, legend, or saga
· broken into 5 categories: Arthurian Legend, Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest, Ancient Civilizations (like Atlantis), Celtic, and Africa and the Middle East
Arthurian Legend:The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to the Once and Future King (1977) T.H. White
Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest:Lady of the Forest (1992) Jennifer Roberson
Suitors assail Marion after her father's death. As her attraction for Robert of Locksley grows, Marion eschews her father's deathbed wish and William deLacey's advances by citing her status as ward of the captive king, Richard the Lionhearted. When Will Scarlet kidnaps Marion, Little John and Robert rush to her rescue. Robert rebels against Prince John's authority in loyalty to King Richard.
FAIRY TALES
· retelling of fairy tales and folktales, often with a new twist. This is a growing trend.
· sometimes new stories, but with a familiar fairy tale feel
· subdivided into The Familiar, Originals, and Fairy Tale Short Stories
The Familiar:Beauty (1991) Sheri S. Tepper
This allegorical tale is a plea to save "Beauty" in all its forms. Using "Sleeping Beauty" for a base, the Beauty of the title is the half-fairy daughter of the Duke of Westfaire who is under a curse. Arranging for her half-sister, Beloved, to sleep instead of her, she escapes only to be captured by a film crew from the 21st century.She discovers that all life except for man has been destroyed. She goes back to the 20th century to learn her fairy powers. Her uncaring mother in Faerie harasses Beauty further, and her traveling adventures enable her to see the world as it has changed through the centuries, enraging her with the environmental abuse, violence and narrow-mindedness she witnesses.
HUMOROUS
· humor plays a big role in fantasy
· often include in-jokes
· appeal to "the well read"
Demons Don't Dream (1993) one of Xanth series by Piers Anthony
The first players to try a new computer fantasy game allowing entry to Xanth, Kim and Dug compete to achieve their most cherished desire while utilizing a chosen and possibly traitorous companion. The pair help several other inhabitants find what they want most, while saving the magic in Xanth.
WORLD OF FAERIE
· not a large subgenre
· has had a large influence
· a world where dwells a strange and mysterious race with magical powers
· plots often conflict between elves and humans
Tam Lin (1991) Pamela Dean
In Scottish legend, Faery Queen kidnapped Tam Lin. This legend is replayed in the 20th century on a Minnesota college campus for student Janet Carter, who attempts to balance her academic and social life. This can be difficult when living on a campus with a resident ghost and dating a Classics major. Just as in the legend, Janet's true love will have to be rescued.
A BESTIARY
· animals play a big role in fantasy (some kind of nonhuman creature is very common in fantasy)
· fantasy with animals ranges from fables where humans play no role to books where the emphasis is on the relationship between humans and animals
· magic having to do with animals is common (flying horses, talking cats, etc.)
· subdivided into anthologies, unicorns, dragons, and uncommon common animals
Unicorn: The Unicorn Sonata (1996) Peter S. Beagle
Joey Rivera is a misfit at her junior high, but a born musician. To satisfy her need for music, she works afternoons at Papas Music, and gets lessons in return. Joey is stunned when a strange boy, who calls himself Indigo, comes into the shop and plays the most beautiful music she has ever heard on a weird horn. She is even more shocked when he offers to sell it--but only for gold. Joey can't ignore the mystery, and she begins to hear the haunting music everywhere. When she follows it one day, she crosses the border into Shei'rah, the land of the unicorns. The unicorns are suffering from a strange and terrible illness, which is causing them to become blind, but Joey is determined that there must be a cure. (160 pages) One example here that many may be familiar with is Richard Adams' Watership Down.
Dragon: Elvenblood (1995) one of Halfblood chronicles
Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey
Fleeing unacceptable fates at the hands of their father, Rena and her brother find their way to the Iron People, who are protected from magic by their ubiquitous iron jewelry. When Shana attempts to establish trade and allies for her new colony of wizards and dragons, her exploration also leads to the Iron People, who imprison her with the same iron jewelry that protects them. Among the Iron People, both Rena and Shana find unexpected help for their problems. Second volume in the series.
CONTEMPORARY
· readily recognizable setting
· sometimes stories set in our world are called "low fantasy" or "realistic fantasy."
· some like the recognizable settings, others say it distracts from the escape offered by fantasy.
· subdivided into urban fantasy, the human condition, and magic realism
Urban fantasy:
· drugs, racism, gangs, other scourges of modern life
· cyberpunk genre
· magic and technology share a place in gritty, dangerous cities
· the Borderlands series (Terri Windling) is a well-known series of this ilk
Memory and Dream (1994) Charles de Lint and Brian Froud
Izzy studies under the master painter, Rushkin, despite his abusive, moody nature, learning his ability to create animated doppelgangers of some paintings' subjects, including characters from Katharine's stories. Despite premonitions and direct warnings, Izzy continues her affiliation with Rushkin as her career advances, little suspecting the dark future resulting from her actions.
Human condition
· struggles and victories of being human
Magic realism:
· features an ordinary workaday setting with magic and mythology as an integral part
· more spirituality than urban fantasy and less emphasis on urban problems
The Wood Wife (1996) Terri Windling
When Maggie travels to Tucson to claim the inheritance from her murdered mentor, Fox and others help her discover the magic of the desert and its guardians as Maggie investigates her inner self and events surrounding her mentor's desert drowning.
ALTERNATE AND PARALLEL WORLDS
· other fully developed worlds
· either our own transformed by a difference in history or one that can be traveled to from our world
Alternate history:
· due to a divergence someplace in time, the worlds are different than the one we know
· often claimed by science fiction, but many titles fit into fantasy
The Two Georges (1996) Richard Dreyfuss and Harry Turtledove
In this alternate history, George Washington and George III strike a famous deal which avoids the American Revolution and keeps the colonies a part of an intact British Empire. This glorious achievement is commemorated by Gainsborough in the painting The Two Georges, which is embarking on a tour of the colonies on the eve of a royal visit. Colonel Thomas Bushnell of the Royal American Mounted Police is assigned to the painting's security and is the man with a mission when the painting is stolen. (384 pages)
Parallel worlds:
· feature characters who travel from one world to another
· conflict often a result of being a stranger in a strange land
The Wounded Land (1980) Stephen R. Donaldson
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