Reading Fantasy – What books should you start with?

So, are you looking to get into fantasy, or at least do a little exploration of this massive genre? In the video below, I go over some books that I think are a great place to start. I tried to curate the list to include titles that are diverse in terms of setting and style, so if one doesn’t appeal to you another might, and I did my best to talk about titles that are accessible for a wide audience and don’t require you to already have a large amount of experience in the genre to understand. This list, for example, would exclude The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever because it requires familiarity with the genre (since it is designed to contrast with the tropes of fantasy) as well as a great amount of word knowledge, in addition to characters and a setting that puts most people off anyway.

Included in this list are: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock, The Gunslinger by Stephen King, Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, Black Company by Glen Cook, Books of Amber by Robert Zelazny, Stormfront by Jim Butcher, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, and Harry Potter, by Joan Rowling. Not mentioned, but recommended is Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.

If you are interested in taking a chance on my books, you can check out my Historical Fantasy Samurai novel, Muramasa: Blood Drinker, or read my fantasy/fairy tale novella Garamesh and the Farmer (also available as an audiobook!). Both are available on Amazon.

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