Favorite book no one has ever heard of

I want to know what everyone's secret little gem of a fantasy novel is. Something that you have read and loved, but think it is very underrated. I am going to say A Scholar of Magics by Caroline Stevermer. It is a sequel to A College of Magics but I think it is a lot better book overall.

Ooh, I was going to get A Scholar of Magics from the bookstore, but I decided against it, as I haven't read A College of Magics yet- but I have big plans :-)

My favorite underappreciated fantasy author is Teresa Edgerton. I love her Goblin Moon and Gnome's Engine. It's fun alternate history type fantasy that I found thoroughly enjoyable.

My favorite so far that no one else has read is Pedestrian Wolves by James L. Grant. It's modern fantasy tinged with a little horror (psycho-ethereal, not gory), set in a New Orleans with a mind of its own.

The Rose Sea by Stirling and Holly Lisle.

Well, there's this book about a ring, by some British guy with a bunch of initials...

All kidding aside, I really liked the Evangeline Walton retelling of the Mabinogion.

Chronicles of the Kencyrath by P.C. Hodgell. I found this collection in a used book store several years ago. She's otherwise unheard of in southern hemisphere. I assumed she'd stopped writing or wasn't published any more.

One of my LibraryThing 'happy moments' was discovering here that other books by her existed and that there's a new book out.

ryn-books: I agree! I first picked up God Stalk back in the 80s and didn't find Dark of the Moon until years later. I thought P.C. Hodgell had stopped writing and I'm so excited to find more books.

A couple of New Zealand ones, well known here but not elsewhere:

Under the Mountain by Maurice Gee - a children's book with enough subtley for adults too, although it's slightly more science fictional than his other kids fantasies which are alternate world books.

and

Beak of the Moon by Philip Temple which is sort of a Watership Down about kea, kea being New Zealand's alpine parrots, that live where it snows and occasionally kill sheep to eat, as well as being truely obstreporous, curious clowns that cause all sorts of trouble at skifields and car parks.

Morigu: The Dead

and

Morigu: The Desecration

by Marc C. Perry

I'd have to go with The Phoenix and the Mirror by Avram Davidson, although there are a number of Davidson works that would qualify.

Oh, and Veniss Underground, by Jeff Vandermeer. Not sure how obscure it is, but it's incredibly good.

I thought of another, although it might be considered more sci-fi than fantasy. The Glass Harmonica by Louise Marley

So far, the most unheard of are (based unscientifically on the number of people who own):

Beak of the Moon
Book of the Moon only heard of by Aquila.

Pedestrian Wolves, Morigu: the Dead and Morigu: the Desecration with 3 each.

Under the Mountain, Chronicles of Kencyrath at 8.

Rose Sea at 10.

Also, it looks like the threshold for being "something that no one has every heard of" is about 100 LibraryThing owners.

Neat!

I loved College of Magics particularly the surprise ending/twist. I got bored with the sequel Scholar of Magics, I made it through Sorcery and Cecelia, or, The enchanted chocolate pot though I found it a bit tedious.

I love C. Dale Brittain's works, starting with A Bad Spell in Yurt. It's mostly funny, but with well-thought out religion and moral undertones (particularly the relationship between the priest and the wizard, who defy all expectations and get along well). If anyone is a fan of the series, be sure to get Is This Apocalypse Necessary? which was done by a different publisher, but ties up her loose ends.

For the Hodgell fans, any opinions yet of To Ride a Rathorn? I'll probably pick it up next year at a con.

The Ambermere trilogy by J. Calvin Pierce is a favorite of mine that I don't hear much about. (The Door to Ambermere, The Sorceress of Ambermere, and The Wizard of Ambermere.

Also the trilogy by Carol Dennis: Dragon's Pawn, Dragon's Knight and Dragon's Queen.

The Dragon Keeper Chronicles by Donita K. Paul. Dragonspell, Dragonquest, and Dragonknight. Dragonfire is due out next spring. They are absolutely wonderful! If you liked Christopher Paolini's The Inheritance, you will probably like The Dragon Keeper Chronicles.

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (Ostatnie Życzenie) - a fantasy author from Poland now available in english. I own a Portuguese edition: O Último Desejo

I just finished To Ride A Rathorn by P. C. Hodgell and really enjoyed it.

Great question. I just read The Imagicators by Brad Marshland. It’s a fantastic book that just came out. Besides being a wonderfully written, clever story, it has strong themes of taking personal responsibility. The young people in it learn to take control of their own lives and care for a world torn apart by bickering grownups.

I was going to say The Imagicators too. I like that it’s all about using the power of imagination to change the world.

The best "unheard of" I've read is maybe infinity concerto by greg bear. Of the ones I own the least read is the gnole by Alan Aldridge which comes up at 12 others. Its a pretty good read but not brilliant, Bear's work is much better.

I'm not sure how well-know Dia Calhoun's books are, but they are very good. Exciting stories, sympathetic characters, well-realized world.

Firegold, White Midnight (prequel)
Aria of the Sea, and sequel Phoenix Dance.

A great fantasy book I never hear about (maybe this group will prove me wrong) is Black Wine by Candas Jane Dorsey.

Another one would be the book The Etched City which I enjoyed.

Are these too well-knowm?

Traci Harding is a fabulous Australian author, that doesn't seem to be very popular on LT, or rather, there is only a couple of other people with her books listed, especially her Ancient Trilogy series which includes The Ancient Future, An Echo in Time and Masters of Reality. I first read them ten years ago, and have read them many times since. A great series!!!

If I'm the third person to mention The Imagicators, does it still qualify as a book no one has heard of? I got it for a nephew and niece and already they're clamoring for the sequel.

The Mirror of her Dreams and A Man Rides Through by Stephen R. Donaldson are excellent books no seems ot have heard of. It seems everyone read the Chronicals of Thomas Covenant (which in my opionin are much weaker books) and then stopped reading Donaldson. Sigh.

Message 27: greendragongirl - I LOVE those two books! I wish he had written more in that world. I read them when I was in middle school, had the greatest difficulty finding them in paperback (before the days of my own credit card and Amazon) and pounced on them when I did.

I really enjoyed A String In The Harp by Nancy Bond =) It got me interested in reading about Taliesin!

I also am a fan of the Evangeline Walton, Mabinogion series

However a similarily obscure set of books that I rather enjoyed more was Gillian Bradshaw's Hawk of May, Kingdom of Summer, In Winter's Shadow. I definitely went on a big Arthurian and Mabinogion kick way back when - and these were less well known books of that ilk that I remember well and fondly.

mjfmjfmjf, I have all the books you mention in your post, but haven't read any of them! The Mabinogion Tetralogy especially looks yummy, as I know so little about Welsh folklore. but ... huge!

And I haven't started Bradshaw's books, but they're waiting for me. Patiently!

The Venetian's wife and The Griffin and Sabine Trilogy by Nick Bantock

Immortal Unicorn, an anthology of short(ish) stories edited by Peter S. Beagle

Nobody I talk to in real life has ever heard of Young Wizards by Diane Duane, although lots of people I talk to online have, but they're some of my favorite books (well, 3 or 4 of them fit into that catagory).

I don't know why Diane Duane's Young Wizards series should be obscure. I like them very much. Maybe if you mention them by the individual titles? So you want to be a wizard, etc. I forget the rest. I have an omnibus version of the first three in the series.

My favourite "unknown" is Bridge of Birds and its two sequels, The story of the stone and Eight skilled Gentlemen by Barry Hughart. Always amazes me how many people have never heard of them. The first is the best, but the other two are also very good.

I loved Bridge of Birds - it was the defining book of my early working years. I bought it just before I started working in a part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics that was full of young graduates from all over the country.

Someone sitting nearby my desk brought their copy in one day and I quizzed them about how they were enjoying it, and recommended it to another freind in the branch and loaned them my copy.

Within 3 months there were about six copies in circulation as the people that borrowed it usually went out and purchased their own copy then loaned it on.

As a bit of a history stickler I found the temporal distortions in the next two hard to swallow. (if you carefully read some of the background information about the empire between Bridge of Birds and Story of the Stone you will deduce that more than 100 years have elapsed, and then by Eight Skilled Gentlemen we appear to have progressed from the Tang to the Ming Dynasty (approx 700 years at the minimum). They are still good stories but the joins are easier to pick. All of them are a stringing together of many isolated Chinese stories, but in the first one they all tie up together. The next two are more of a series of nearly unrelated events.

Loved that first book to death.

cheers

Maybe 20 years ago, book was recommended to me by a computer geeky sort of really brilliant fellow whose first name was "Dwight". I only mentioned that just in case he's here on LT. He was one of those truly gifted folks who you notice sparks flashing in his eyes when he talks. Anyhow, he recommended a paperback to me called The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe. I borrowed a copy from my local Library and thought it was actually quite good. I've gone on to other things now, but whenever I'm in a bookstore, I look for it. It's been a semi-active quest -- no high in the priority list, but there will be a short celebration when I happen upon a copy.

Tardis - of course I mention DD's Young Wizards series by the separate titles. For years I didn't know there was a series title (of course, for a long time there wasn't, also) - a couple of friends (who I introduced the books to) and I referred to them as "the wizardry books".

Like I said, more people online have heard of them, but I assume that's because I mention the name in book-related communities. They're not really all that well known, for all they've been coming out for 20+ years.

When I was a child, all of the books I really connected with had male lead characters. It seemed like boys were out fighting dragons and flying spaceships, while girls were having boy troubles and getting rescued. So I was thrilled when I got Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan. It was the first book I ever read with a female character I could relate to, and I reread it until it fell apart. Then I taped it back together and reread it till I lost pages. I found another copy a few years ago, and it's just as good as I remember.

Sorry, bluesalamanders (nice image - I like salamanders :)) - I never know from the limited info available here how much people have said.

I don't know the age range of the people you were mentioning the Young Wizards books to, but I know lots of adults who won't read "juvenile" fiction (silly people - they miss a lot of good stuff by it) so that could be why they haven't heard of the series.

tardis - (thanks :) No biggie, I wasn't insulted or anything, and it is true, I didn't make it clear in my first post. I've mentioned it to all ages of people, young and not-so-young, over a course of 10 years, and very very few have heard of it. It could just be the area I'm in, I guess - maybe mid-Michigan isn't much for YA fantasy :)

The Hungry Cloud by Tom Ingram. It's an old children's/young adult fantasy about two children going up against a Witch who has taken over their kingdom. It's a very chilling book and so obscure it took me ages to track down a new copy.

Yes The Hungry Cloud was excelent the artwork something I normally do not notice was as well.

Another book I enjoyed was Riverboy In which a boy spends his time playing with a reflection of himself along a river that is not theremost of the time.

World Without End by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy. One of the best books about Atlantis EVER.

chani #24 wrote:
A great fantasy book I never hear about (maybe this group will prove me wrong) is Black Wine by Candas Jane Dorsey.

I have not only heard of Black Wine, I have also read it. I really liked it.

Some less well known books/Authors that I have enjoyed:

Elizabeth Willey has a series that is unfinished. the books are A Sorcerer and a Gentleman, The Well-Favored Man, The Price of Blood and Honor

Ricardo Pinto has a series called The Stone Dance of the Chameleons , which he is still working on. The first is The Chosen the second is The Standing Dead and the 3rd is still IP.

Lars Walker and his story of christianity coming to Norway (?), there are fantasy elements in it, because the old gods put up a fight. The Year of the Warrior. It is a Baen title with a barbarian on the cover, and I thought I was in for a typical hack and slash - but because of the historical element, I took a chance. Very much more, very good.

Freda Warrington and The Court of the Midnight King about an alternate story for Richard III. I imported it from the UK, not sure if its published in the US or not.

Sean McMullen who is well known for SF, also has a very cool fantasy trilogy called the Moonworlds Saga . The first book is The Voyage of the Shadowmoon, then The voidfarer and the last book Glass Dragons

Tamara Siler Jones has a medieval fantasy police procedural series. The first is Ghosts in the Snow, then Threads of Malice and the Valley of the Soul

Elizabeth Knox has written several good books Vintner's Luck, Black Oxen and Daylight.

Jennifer Stevenson has written the wonderful Trash, Sex, Magic

Liz Williams is writing a series set in the future where cities are franchised, and they are Asian. She has a a detective whose job is to be a liaison between the city and hell (Chinese version). The first book in the series is called Snake Agent.

Marie Jakober wrote a medieval fantasy set in Germany and dealing with the fight between the spirits of nature and the church. It is called The Black Chalice. The author is Canadian and there was a beautiful book published there, so don't hold the drippy US cover against it.

Keith Hartman has a couple of wonderful books set in a loopy future that is divided between competing social interests. The books are Gumshoe Gorilla and The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse.

Mary Gentle has a wonderful historical fantasy 1610: Sundial in a Grave

Ellen Kushner has several wonderful books set in a medieval university town which has the underclass and the nobility striving and scuffling. Swordspoint, The Fall of the Kings, the Privilege of the Sword

A duplicate post which I have removed. Not sure if it was my system on LT gremlins.

a mention here also for for The dragon waiting

I keep getting thrown by people mentioning New Zealand authors, whom it seems odd for me to consider little known. Under the Mountain was not only the first novel I recall reading, but also the first novel two of my best friends ever read.

But my absolute favourite children's fantasy book is Tajore Arkle, of which I have only ever seen one copy, in our public library, and despite it being recent when I first fell in love with it, I have never been able to get hold of. I am very sad I was not brave enough to actually ask anyone in a bookshop to order it for me, back when I might actually have been able to get a copy.

>#46

Kitsuchi, it appears that you can order it off her website. She mentions ordering it here: http://www.jackiefrench.com/buybooks.html, and it's probably still valid as she updated her blog in December of this year.

One book that doesn't get enough praise is A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller Jr. Not as obscure as some listed here I know, but considering the lasting power and insight of this visionary masterpiece it should be one of the most popular sci-fi/fantasy (i use the term loosely) works of all.

Gustav Meyrink's The Golem is another cracker that hardly anybody seems to have read. I've reviewed both of these books on the site if anyone's interested.

Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein

Patricia A. McKillip is one of my favourite fantasy authors. Some of her books are, sadly, out of print. But I just found out that two of my favourites: The Sorceress and the Cygnet and its sequel The Cygnet and the Firebird will soon be re-issued together.

Her writing is lyrical and her book covers are usually very, very beautiful. Here's a site where you can check them out:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/patricia-a-mckillip/

I'd support the shout for several of those above.

One that seems to have so far escaped mention (and be well under the 100 LT-ers limit too) is the Malazan series by Steven Erikson. I know there's one I'm missing from the series, but Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains and Midnight Tides in some order after the first are the books. Amazon picks up The Bonehunters, Reaper's and Night of Knives (as a spin off) and an eighth book due in hardcover in 2008.

I'll add my own series in to this list:
Wizard's Bane
Villenspell: City of wizards
Wizards and Wanderers

Home page with art and other information is here:

http://sojourn.omnitech.net

My two favourite fantasy authors are Isobelle Carmody and Juliet Marillier.
Isobelle has written some of the most original fantasy I've ever read. Her books are, brilliant - they're the still ongoing Obernewtyn Chronicles and Legensong series.
Juliet Marillier's style is like historical-type fantasy?
I absolutely adore her Sevenwaters trilogy starting with Daughter of the Forest which is loosely based on the Seven Swans Anderson fairytale, and set in Ireland.

I agree with you about Juliet Marillier. Her books are beautiful. I don't think she's terribly obscure, though. Maybe I'm just assuming that because I own her books! :)

I couldn't agree more regarding Bridge of Birds and its sequels. Sublimely perfect. I've tried in vain to find something similar but to no avail. Which is the whole point I suppose. I have been digging through Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio and other works that retell Chinese or Japanese folk tales wherein you can often find the seed of the idea that finds germination in Hughart's stories.

Getting back to the topic, I would choose Lud-in-the-Mist. Not for everyone, especially those who demand fantasy with some degree of heroics and a faster pace. The narrative disguises itself, chameleon-like, as a farce, a murder mystery, a horror story, constantly changing tone from chapter to chapter.

I though Daughter of the Forest was based on The Children of Lir?

If you liked Bridge of birds you might try the Kai Lung books by Ernest Bramah

SimonW11: Thank you for the suggestion of the Ernest Bramah series. I have been poking around for them online as I haven't been able to find any copies in local used stores. I'm surprised that there is no Dover edition of The Wallet of Kai Lung.

#53 I love the Six Swans fairy tale, so thank you for posting about Sevenwaters.

I'm really finding this thread useful. I'm making a list of books to hunt down. The Sevenwaters books are on it!

#57 Project Gutenberg has a copy if it is in public domain for your homeland (and if you don't mind reading electronically).
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1076

I have never heard anyone mention these books before. They are more of the YA fantasy, but then again, so is most of the stuff I read. Check out The Guardians of the Flame by Joel Rosenberg. I really enjoyed these stories.

More Shapes Than One by Fred Chappell

One of my favorite's is The Black Company by Glen Cook. His Dread Empire series is also excellent (and the first three books in that series are now back in print in an omnibus edition).

>60 zannybuck: I think read those books in high school. If they are the ones I'm thinking of I liked them a lot. They were very D&Dish from what I remember.

Yeah they were demonlover. The whole premise is a group of D&D players are transported into their game by their dungeon master. I also read them in high school and have not heard about them since. Anyways, I thought they were pretty good.

>#64

I read those, too. I remember really liking them, but I was embarrassed by the covers. *Blush*

I'm glad so many people liked Bridge of Birds. I have that one on my list of books to read for a TBR Challenge I'm in for 2007. I also have read the first two books in the Malazan series by Steven Erikson, but the third (massive) one is sitting on my shelf for another day. The books are very good, but for me they start (and by "start," I mean the first 250 pages) very slowly for me, and I get confused. And then the second half gets pretty amazing :-)

I will have to be the lone voice of dissent on Juliet Marillier and her Sevenwaters Trilogy. Admittedly, I only read Daughter of the Forest, but I didn't like it at all. I tend not to like females in literature (I know- that probably speaks volumes about me), and I found Sorcha to be very "Mary Sue"-ish. She was *too* perfect and good and everything. As was the hero of the story. They both just annoyed me, especially towards the end. Actually, everyone in that book annoyed me :-P So needless to say, I didn't continue with the trilogy.

But then, I also don't like Tigana much, of all Guy Gavriel Kay's works, so I think my tastes are off ;-)

#66 - Everyone's entitled to their own taste, or so I think...
But it would be interesting to hear why you didn't like Tigana, as I thought it managed to balance all those clichés fantasy's so well stocked with?

I guess the main reason is the one I mentioned above- I really didn't like many of the females in the novel at all (especially Dianora). Or Alessan. Also, I thought that the way Kay tried to set everyone up into couples at the end was annoying as the girl who jumped into the river (I don't remember her name) really got on my nerves, too. Haha- so I guess it was more the characters than the story itself that annoyed me. Or maybe it's that I personally find Tigana, when compared to The Lions of Al-Rassan and A Song for Arbonne, to be Kay's weakest novel.

re: 66 (aarti)

I kind of agree with you about Steven Erikson's books. It feels to me like he takes the first bit slowly, then things really kick off.

The way I see it though, the first bit of each book sets up the reader, particularly in the first one (I was a expecting it in the subsequent ones) with a set of fantasy clichés - the bright new officer in charge of the hoary old veteran company, the gambler and so on. Then, just as you're wondering if he's going to do anything new, he kicks off into perverting and undermining them all, wonderfully.

Of course tastes differ, but I love it, even though it still seems he's a minority taste. The books keep on getting better and better btw, so it is worth the back ache to pick up the 3rd, 4th and 5th of them. :) (I think the 6th is due in HB soon.)

Well I tend to like female fantasy authors best. Not sure why that is but my bookselves have the proof of it.
Some of the authors that I like and are I think, not so well known or underrated are the following:

Anne Bishop people are probalby familiar with her Black Jewels Trilogy which I absolutley love! But she has a new duology out about Ephemera which is great. It starts with Sebastian and will be followed up with Bella Donna which is forthcoming in either feb/mar 2007. I really liked Sebastian and am eagerly awaiting Bella Donna.

There are many Mercedes Lackey fans out there but I tend to like her lesser known series. My favorite being the Dragon Jousters Series with the first being Joust then Alta, Aerie and Sanctuary so far. I love Dragon's and this is a whole series all about them and these are "good" dragons vs. malicious coniving ones. Although it should be noted that in this series the dragons are more intelligent animal rather then shape-shifting talking dragons.

Catherine Asaro's Aronsdale/Shapemagic Trilogy is great as well.
1. The Charmed Sphere
2. The Misted Cliffs
3. The Dawn Star
And I hear that she will be writing a second trilogy based in the same world dealing with how the events of the first trilogy have change the world and the effects that has on the people.

Gail Dayton's Rose books are good too. I really enjoy her strong female lead characters and the complex social structures and world that she creates.
1. The Compass Rose
2. The Barbed Rose
There is a third coming but I'm not sure if there will be more after that.

Jennifer Fallon's The Hythrun Chronicles: Demon Child Trilogy is good to. Although the first book is a bit slow in the begining and could be a little tighter.
1. Medalon
2. Treason Keep
3. Harshini
She has more books set in this world but I haven't read them.

I just found Keri Arthur who I gather is well known in her native Australia. I just got the first book in her Riley Jensen Series; Full Moon Rising and really loved it. It's a bit more on the romance side but still really good with a strong female character who attractes danger and reminds me a bit of Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan of books such as Dead Witch Walking (Another fav.)

And last but not least is Talyn: a novel of Korre I had never read anything by Holly Lisle before and it took a little bit for me to get in to this novel as I like to be dropped right into action and this started a bit slow for my tastes. But once I got into it, I really enjoyed this story.

I recently read and enjoyed The Hidden Queen and Changer of Days by Alma Alexander.

Re: post 69

Lewispike, I definitely plan to continue with the series :-) But it's very heavy reading and I will be taking a break before starting the third one. Which means I will probably forget everything that happened leading up to it!

Green Rider by Kristen Britain. The book originally came out in 1998, with the sequel First Rider's Call appearing in 2003. Happily, the third book is due out sometime in 2007.

Green Rider was the only non-guidebook I took on a three-week trip to non-English speaking countries. Seven years later, it is still a favorite.

This book is a must for adventure or quest fantasy fans who enjoy a strong, believable female protagonist. Karigan, the primary character, is a young woman likely in her late teens. She is leaving school to go back home when she encounters a King's Messenger (or Rider), and agrees to deliver a message to the King. Darn it, the pesky kingdom seems to be in need of saving, and she really just wants to go home...

Noel-Anne Brennan wrote The Sword of the Land and The Blood of the Land both of which are really really good, with a strong smart female lead.

Mary Caraker is the author of Seven Worlds which is a collection of seven stories centered around a lady who teaches English, or the galactic standard, to aliens across the universe. It's a really good book that I found at a big used bookstore half an hour north of me.

My mom and I staked out local bookstores for years waiting for the sequel to Green Rider to come out.

I love both the Evangeline Walton Mabinogi retellings and Gillian Bradshaw's Arthurian trilogy; in fact, the Walton books intrigued me so much that they started me on an academic journey in Celtic mythology to the point where I created my own Bachelor degree program some 25 years ago! Really, all I wanted to do was read all of these marvelous mythological stories and receive credit for doing so....

My favourite obscure fantasy novel is The Dark Twin by Marion Campbell. It's a somewhat Jungian take on an imagined prehistoric society in which the tribe is ruled by two Kings, one light and one dark. It's also a retelling of the Tristan and Ysolde legend.

Another favourite is The Book of Paradox by Louise Cooper; this is a novel told in the form of a Tarot reading, quite mystical and strange.

Then there's Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant - I must say that it's been so long since I read it that I don't really remember it anymore, except that I remember finding it magical and wonderful.

The previously mentioned quartet by Evangeline Walton based on the Four Branches of the Mabinogion, the Welsh mythological cycle, is also brilliant.

I could go on for days, but best stop at these four!

Oh, I love Evangeline Walton's Mabinogion series! Her language is so beautiful, it reminds me of LeGuin's but is more lyrical. My favorite of that series is definitely The Island of the The Mighty, but the other three are a treat to read.

As for Joy Chant, the only problem there is that she stopped writing! Actually, my unquestioned favorite of her books, and a favorite fantasy book of mine, is The Grey Mane of Morning, which takes place in the same world as does Red Moon and Black Mountain, but a long time earlier (and is much better written, more her own than a Tolkien rip-off; don't get me wrong, parts of "Red Moon" were brilliant, but I couldn't stand the Princess Inserinna or whatever her name was. And has anyone read Chant's When Voiha Wakes? It's a very unusual and thoughtfully written book; the best treatment of a matriarchal society I've seen in fantasy, quiet and credible and fascinating.

I'm glad to hear that people like Evangeline Walton's Mabinogion tetralogy! I have all four of those books in one very intimidating volume, but I've heard nothing but good things about the series! One day ... hopefully soon!

Yes, Vavin, the Walton books are lovely, aren't they? Very evocative - so much so that I was a little disappointed when I read the actual Mabinogi (in translation) because it had much less detail than her retellings!

I really need to go back and re-read the Joy Chant book I mentioned, as I honestly don't remember it enough even to remember the Princess Whoever character. In my defense, I will note that it's at least 30 years since I read the novel, though! I've heard of When Voiha Wakes but have never seen it - is it still in print, do you know?

I think I can hold the reigns for disliking trilogies and such. Guy Gavriel Kay is one I can not handle. Even it is a trilogy, I want to be able to pick up any of the books in the series and understand it. Harry Potter, I can do that with. Piers Anthony's Xanth series, I can do that. Mercedes Lackey I can for the most part. I think it was Kevin J Anderson's series that I also can not do this with.

I can't remember the author because I read it a few years ago, but it was a book called Spirit Fox. There are only a few books I can recall that made me seriously cry at the end, and that was one of them. The story and characters just hit home for me, and the treatment of religion was very different from most fantasy books. I really enjoyed it, it struck me as more true to life somehow.

It's funny people should mention the Mabinogi, I'm hopefully going to take a college course just on that text. I know the original tales often are a lot less detailed than the retellings, but that's because ancient fairytales tended to be a lot shorter, and not in the format of a novels. You can't really compare modern novels to them, you have to take them as a different kind of genre.

# 27 greendragongirl

I absolutely love those books, and I completely agree with you that the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant were far weaker. Hurrah, you're the first person I've ever 'met' who has agreed with me!

Anything by James Branch Cabell. Particularly the 18 or so volumes of The Biography of the Life of Manuel, including his best-known work Jurgen.

The Wood Wife by Terri Windling is my favorite book that nobody's ever heard of.

#84 regimit:
I've heard of it! I've read it two or three times. Great book, isn't it? It's true that people don't usually mention it. (In fact, you're the first person I've come across to do that.)

I also loved The Wood Wife. I also really enjoyed The Ancient One by T. A. Barron.

87 Jeephpy

I loved The Ancient One when I was a kid :)

One of my all time faves would have to be THe Neverending Story By Michael Ende, whose other book Momo was also very good. More recently another German writer, Cornelia Funke, took my imagination by storm with her Inkheart series, and this book plus one of her previous works THe THief Lord (a childrens urban adventure) have been translated to the big screen.
Even more recently and in a slightly different area of the fantasy genre, I have been caught up in the adventures/misadventures of Harry Dresden, modern day Chicago Magician in The Dresden Files, by Jim butcher, I think this series is often classified in the Urban fantasy world.

I've just realized i did not read the topic properly and rambled on about books pepel have probably heard of. However here is a few perhaps only New zealanders may have heard of.
Maurice Gee's Halfman of O Series,
THe Halfmen of O
THe story of Susan and Nick Ferris, cousins who are violently introduced to the World of O, when Susan is abducted by a seemingly crazy drunk, drugged and dragged throught to this other world, nick of course follows to try to save her. Susan is the hero of the book however. It is a world of oppressed people ruled by the Halfmen, but not al os what it seems.

The Priests of Ferris
The follows on where Halfmen left off, with Nick and Susan returning to O and times have changed , indeed many years have past, and their previous antics are remembered by Priests who woship them in a twisted fashion.

THe Motherstone
THis is the Last of the series, The cousin return to O to face more challenges

I can't rememmber much more they were by facve books as a teen, whouls have been madce into movies or TV, but Perhaps is well were not as special effect would have been rubbish then...

Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazney

Book of Three Dragons

The Fate of The Prince of Dyved both by Kenneth Morris

Ah, yes that's one of my favorites too! I just re-read it recently. I need to check out some of Sherryl Jordan's other books.

I'm sure it's been heard of, but: Brandon Sanderson's Elantris

I found a copy of The Return of the Goddess: A Divine Comedy by Elizabeth Cunningham in the early 1990's on a sidewalk table from a bookstore in NYC that was going out of business. Never heard of Elizabeth Cunningham, but bought the book, read it...one of the best books I ever read!

I've just joined this group as I was really pleased to see this discussion - I'm looking for books I haven't read and there were quite a few here. It's really frustrating how many books get published in either the UK or the US (or wherever) and not elsewhere. I just found an imported Andre Norton the other day which I was really pleased with because I've loved her books for years (Cat's Eye was published here in the UK, maybe in the late 60s) but have managed to find very few. Now the Internet makes it easy to buy 2nd hand books from other countries the main problem is finding what's out there. I've just discovered Patricia McKillip's Hed trilogy which I loved. Now I've got lots more to look for. Hours of searching lie ahead!

Genuinecat, Look for the Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy series, as well as the Ballentine (sp?) Adult Fantasy Series, one great book after another.

If you like the mythology of the British Isles check out, Lady Gregory's, Gods and Hero's as well as Cuhulain of Muitheme and don't miss Kenneth Morris's, Fate of the Princes of Dyved and The Book of Three Dragons (recently published by Cold Stream Press I believe, with the never before included ending).

Thanks, I'll look out for those. I used to read a lot of folklore, so I've read Lady Gregory, and the Ballentine (hang on, I'll check):

It's Ballantine (thank you Wikipedia) - I've got a couple of them, but it's a really good list. Back to ABE, I guess.

I'd never heard of the other series so I looked them up too - goodness, that's some serious stuff!

While looking up the Ballantine series I found a Neil Gaiman interview where he recommends them (though it's spelt wrong) - it's quite an interesting interview, talks about some of his sources, I'm going to go back and read it properly. Here's the link, in case anyone is interested: http://web.mit.edu/m-I-t/science_fiction/transcripts/gaiman_gardner.html It's pretty old, though, and full of typos, but he does talk about Neverwhere, which I am really fond of, both the series and the book. The series has only just come out on DVD in the UK!

I'm so glad to see that others have read The Wood Wife. And thanks for The Ancient One recommendation - I haven't read Barron before and am looking forward to it!

Finally, someone mentioned Fallon! If you liked the Demon Child trilogy, you must read the Hythrun Chronicles (Wolfblade, Warrior, and Warlord) that's set in the same world. It's even better.
Her Second Sons trilogy is good, though not as good as the others.

The Spectrum Chronicles by Thomas Locke, Light Weaver, Dream Voyager, Path Finder, and Heart Chaser

These are actually a YA scifi/fantasy series and often sold as Christian Inspiration, but I've never had a problem enjoying them just as straight fantasy (like the Chronicles of Narnia).

Unfortunately, they may be out of print, I know I had trouble getting my copies and that was several years ago. But I'm sure there are used bookstores out there that carry them or the library! Anyway, I've always loved them ;-p

Two authors I haven't heard people mention are Zenna Henderson, whose books about The People can be annoyingly preachy at times, but are nicely told in between, and Eric Rucker Eddison. His The Worm Ouroboros is an old favorite, and the Zimiamvian bookshave lots of fun moments, although they can be tough sledding at times.

aarti, I agree that several of the characters in Tigana are not particularly likeable, including Alessan himself. I don't know how much GGK intends us to like them. I also find Crispin to be horribly arrogant, but I seem to be in the minority on that one. Glad to see others have read Kay and thought about him a little. Most of the time when I mention him folks say "Who?"

I'm in the middle of re-reading John Myers Myers, Silverlock, a all time classic, but little known. His, The Harp and the Blade and The Moons Fire Eating Daughter are also classics.

#99> I've only read the Second Sons by Fallon...those other ones before those are really better? I may have to snag a copy or two, then. : )

I've got one that is realio trulio rare: The Return of Kavin by David Mason -- can't get much more obscure than a sequel to a sword and sorcery that wasn't a hit at all (and unfortunately, Mason died, ending what could have been a good career). Very Fafhrd and Grey Mouser-ish, but vivid characters that I remember to this day....

I want to put in a plug for The Secret Country by Pamela Dean, and its two sequels The Hidden Land and The Whim of the Dragon. I guess you could call them YA since the main characters are children/teens, but I think they have pretty broad appeal. The books used to be hard to find, but were recently re-released in new editions.

#70: supershineygirl:

I'm reading Sebastian right now––I'm about halfway through, and I already love it. :) I'll have to keep an eye out for Belladonna.

Hmmm most of my favorites have been heard of... But if we count the under 100 owners as "lesser known" I'll toss out To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts as an awesome book that I just finished.

Hans Bemmann's The Stone and The Flute is one of my all time faves & only 73 LibraryThing'ers own it...

I'd be interested to know how many people have read books mentioned here but dont own them. I wonder if the number of owners really does reflect how well known a book is, some well known books may be hard to get a copy of, although I guess they couldnt become too well know if they were too hard to find. *ponders*

I am very enchanted with all things Nina Kiriki Hoffman, her latest book Spirits that Walk in Shadow is great, and hasn't been registered a lot on librarything. But I think that may be partly because it is relatively new, and only out in hardcover. There are 40 lt'er with it, whereas A Fistful of Sky is owned by 140+ lt'er.
If you like The Wood Wife - I do - these books will probably also appeal.
But I wouldn't consider any of those 'books noone ever heard of'. Except of course if you only read straight fantasy.
Most that I know who read urban fantasy worship Terry Windling both as an editor and as a writer.
Martha Wells is a fantasy writer I've rarely heard mentioned by others, but whose books I automatically buy. Noone seems to know Wheel of the Infinite and City of Bones.

109: I know Martha Wells, and have both the books you mentioned... and a copy of the original hardcover version of Element of Fire, The (what an awful touchstone!) ^^

One of the rarest fantasy books I have is probably Songspinners, with a whole 16 LT users owning it, but since I haven't read it yet I can't call it a favourite.

Treachery and Treason comes in at 19 LT users. ^^; But also not a favourite, though I have read it.

(Obviously I'm editing this as I go through my library ^^; )

Heather Gladney is quite rare, too! Though I heard of her through a rec, so she doesn't count as "no one ever heard of."

The dollmage is only owned by 10 people on LT, which is a shame, as it's a lovely little book.

Jane Yolen's The Hundredth Dove, The Girl Who Cried Flowers, The Moon Ribbon and Neptune Rising: Songs and Tales are all quite rare, but I think that is largely because they are OOP and a bit expensive to buy used now. Her The Dragon's Boy doesn't have that excuse, though.

And my original choice for this thread, The Rose Sea is indeed pretty rare, too.

Aaaaand that should be it, no more edits. :)

I love the book of atrix wolfe, which nobody seems to know.

The Sten series is really good. Great military sci-fi with character development.

# 110 - Original hardcover Element of Fire, the! I am so envious. I got the new edition that was selfpublished through lulu.com, and is comforting myself that this edition has be reedited, and is MUCH better:-)

# 111 - I've read The Book of Atrix Wolfe, but Patricia McKillip has never been my big thing. I like the books of hers I've read, I just never got the craze. I think her writing is a bit too lyric(?) to catch me completely.

I love this thread. So much fodder for new purchases. And it is fun what different authors/ books seem obscure for different people.
Fx. I wouldn't mention anything by Judith Tarr here, because she isn't obscure at all in my worldview, yet several of her (excellent) books are owned by fewer than 50 LT'ers.

Pamela Belle is a romance writer (I think) but she worte The Silver City which may not be a groundbreaking work, but it is a nice little fantasy that I reread on occasion. Nice and cosy.
Paul Park's trilogy Starbridge Trilogy starting with Soldiers of Paradise reminds me strongly of Gene Wolfes New Sun series. The first volume is great - haven't gotten the rest yet:-)

I've really thought about getting the reprint of Element of Fire, the, but I find it hard to justify buying a book I already own when there's hundreds of others I don't own yet and want to!

For my money, Paul Witcover is one of the most underappreciated fantasy authors out there. Waking Beauty is pretty darn good. Only 23 copies on LT.

Betrayal by Fiona McIntosh 46 copies on LT. Pretty good, complex gods involved in the life of mortals, with the downside that they can fix any problem so its a bit of a deau et machina at times.

The Museum at Purgatory is one of Nick Bantock's lesser known work's but I think it's one of his best narratives.

Hobberdy Dick by Katharine Mary Briggs is an amazing children's book, a classic of the genre that I can't believe no one's heard of.

Also Little Sister and its sequel The Heavenward Path by Kara Dalkey are YA Japanese historical fantasy which I love beyond all reason, and wish wish wish were popular enough to be continued.

Amazing how many books I've loved - and still have - are on this list.

Both titles by Joy Chant - fabulous! A great crime there are only two.

Evangiline Walton's Mabinogion - yes!

A Man Rides Through and Mirror of Her Dreams by Stephen Donaldson in my opinion are his best works, bar none.

The Woodwife by Terri Windling really captures the spooky pirit of the Arizona desert.

I've also loved everything by Theresa Edgerton

Has anyone loved the books by Robin Hobb's earlier byline - Megan Lindholm - those books were all great. She did a fantasy about a satyr set in Alaska that I've not heard anyone talk about.

Anything, also, by Roberta Meluch

One pair of books not mentioned here - Teot's War and Blood storm by Heather Gladney.

People who like Guy Kay and in particular Sailing to Sarantium - here's another book you might enjoy - a historical, but it's about a gifted sculptor, and has incredibly well realized and complex characters with exceptionally orchestrated passions - The Heaven Tree by Edith Pargeter

I could go on - so many fine works!

I'm surprised how few people own the Abaloc books of Jane Louise Curry. The Daybreakers, Beneath the Hill, Over the Sea's Edge and especially The Watchers and The Birdstones are haunting and compelling stories of magical time travel and visions and relics of earlier times, people with well-developed characters. The Sleepers is a great stand-alone story of the discovery of Arthur and his Knights in modern times. I think these deserve to be better known.

An author I never see mentioned is Shirley Rousseau Murphy. Her Dragonbards books are children's or YA, but I absolutely loved them.

Most of my knowledge of books (and fantasy) comes from the sadly limited extent of the local library and Barnes and Noble, so this is a great thread for me!

118: I mentioned Heather Gladney in my post, just not the specific books. ;)

And I love Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through, too! ^^

Waking the Moon by Elizabeth Hand is my favorite that no one has ever heard of, with second place going to Marie Jakober's Black Chalice

#115 - you can add one to the count of ppl with Fiona McIntosh's Betrayal, I do own the trilogy, I just havnt put all my books on here yet (I’m trying to save myself some typing, so waiting to receive a cuecat I ordered on ebay)… In fact I just finished re-reading the Trilogy (Betrayal, revenge & destiny) last night & its one of my faves, there are a few Aussie authors on my faves list who are still fairly unknown on LT.

I've got what seems to be a particularly rare book in Magician (wonky touchstone) by Allan Baillie as I’m the only one on here who has it, but I havn’t read it yet so can’t really comment on it, I’ll have to put it in my “to read” pile…

At a quick skim through, no-one seems to have mentioned Sheri Tepper's The Marianne Trilogy. This is my favourite contemporary fantasy, and I've reviewed it on my blog, here: http://sciencefictionfantasy.blogspot.com/2007/07/review-marianne-trilogy-by-she...

I see I've been beaten to Sheri Tepper, but I really enjoy the True Game series (three trilogies), which can be very hard to come by.

And there is an SF series with fantasy elements (a telepathic tree!, magical powers!, clan-based society, a dragon in one short story) that I really enjoy, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Partners in Necessity is the real start of the series (3-book omnibus), though there are both prequels and sequels.

#77 / Vavin, yes, I've read When Voiha wakes. I agree with your write-up.

#112 amberwitch, I've read Soldiers of Paradise and was amazed at the world-building, and liked/had sympathy for several of the characters. I'm keeping it for when I can work myself up to a re-read.

one of my recent favourites that nobody seems to have is 'Quixote' a modern retelling of Don Quixote with a fantasy twist by Bryan J. L. Glass

I'd like to mention, if I may, the first book of the Zeke Mayhill series. It's a children's fantasy series, a lot along the lines of Harry Potter. The first book is Ezekiel Mayhill and the Crystal of God. I loved it and I can't wait for the second book to come out. I bought my copy from lulu.com, but Amazon has also picked it up. I think we're going to have another winner here.

The story is also about an orphaned, eleven year old boy who discovers magic. He has some great adventures while learning it, too.

# 127 selkins
That was exactly what I like about Soldiers of Paradise. It is dense - and a bit hard to get into - but after the first 20 or so pages, the world is just so fascinating, and the characters so odd, yet interesting and, well, somehow identifiable, if that is a word:-)

Dragonspell by Donita K. Paul
a VERY good book, and finally a clean fantasy for once! There are 3 more in the series so far: Dragonquest, Dragonknight, and Dragonfire. Dragonlight is in the making!

>109 amberwitch: Yes! A new Binders book by Nina Kiriki Hoffman! I like a lot of hers, but The Thread that Binds the Bones is the absolute best and I'm always looking for more in that series.

My obscure book is Pauline Alama's The Eye of Night - absolutely magnificent quest story, with very realistic characters (no shiny hero/ines here!) and I cried throughout the last three chapters as things unraveled and reformed...27 copies on LT, and I've never heard of her. I found the book in some book sale and finally got around to reading it. As far as I've been able to find, it's the only book she wrote.

A lot of books I know mentioned here, including some I'd forgotten about - Teot's War, for one - and a lot I've never heard of. Lots to look for now!

That would be Mickey Zucker Reichert and Jennifer Wingert.

Wow...what an awesome thread. When I saw the topic to this one, my first thought was that I wouldn't come across anything new here, but I was surprised. This is practically my new reading list! Thanks for all the cool tips.

Tanith Lee is a writer that I love, and who writes gorgeous books, but I don't often find them around. I started by reading her fairy tale renditions, White As Snow and Red as Blood: Or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer.

This is a biggie, cos I just joined the group and went back to the beginning of the posts. Books posted here that I have read and enjoyed:

A Scholar of Magics by Caroline Stevermer
Chronicles of the Kencyrath by P.C. Hodgell. and Blood and Ivory - short stories - Seekers Mask 4th book and the latest book To Ride a Rathorn - all excellent!

Being a Kiwi I have also read Under the Mountain by Maurice Gee and Beak of the Moon by Philip Temple

The Glass Harmonica by Louise Marley - loved everything I have read by her The Marquisade and Child Goddess

Gillian Bradshaw's Hawk of May, Kingdom of Summer, In Winter's Shadow - I have this as a Trilogy Down the Long Wind I think its called

Bridge of Birds and Story of the Stone - sadly never found the 3rd one

Ellen Kushner has several wonderful books set in a medieval university town which has the underclass and the nobility striving and scuffling. Swordspoint, The Fall of the Kings, the Privilege of the Sword - Priviledge is the best but you have to have read Swordspoint to really get it

The Hidden Queen and Changer of Days by Alma Alexander - these are huge faves of mine, many rereads of these - but hugely underrated I think

Green Rider by Kristen Britain - read years ago and enjoyed

Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant - i actually have a copy of this and two copies of Grey Mane of Morning which is far superior

The Wood Wife by Terri Windling - I have this, read years ago, and found it a little ...strange. Should read again

Got everything that Jennifer Fallon has written, I really like her - also Trudi Canavan is another Aussie author I like

The Secret Country series by Pamela Dean

Wheel of the Infinite and City of Bones - read everything of hers except Element of Fire (just orded from Lulu thanks to this list) Didnt like Wheel, LOVED City of Bones

Songspinners and Moths to a Flame and something else about a child by Sarah Ash - her writing is interesting, a bit fey

Betrayal by Fiona McIntosh - read that trilogy, and the Myrren one and the two Odalisque books as well

The books that I like that are all my Angus Wells, Down the Bright Stream by BB only has 11 listings, Elizabeth Chadwidk writes quite authentic historical fantasy - usually based on real people/events, Naomi Kritzer - her Freedom series, MK Wren Phoenix Legacy House of the Wolf - futuristic SF where Australia is the only country left in the world but we have colonised planets :)

Kristine Kathryn Rusch Recovery Artist series is also one I highly recommend, a combination of CSI and SF based on the moon

Wow! Haven't read that in years, but man, was it a good intro to some really sweet legendary material. Have you by any chance read Stephen R. Lawhead's Taliesin? Just read the first book in the series - they get real bad, real quick (a lot of other readers agree with me on that one) - but Taliesin is awesome.

I really liked The Mirror of her Dreams and A Man Rides Through as well! I didn't think anyone else had ever heard of them!

Also, read the Wood wife, a long time ago, and seem to remember that I enjoyed it.

The Light Maze by Joan North is very eerie and mystical, with travel into another realm where the main character's father disappeared years earlier.

Illusion by Paula Volsky I've never met anyone in person who has read it.
#136 Love Green Rider.

Top Dog by Jerry Jay Carroll. About a rich and powerful man in our world being transported to another realm as a dog by the forces of God or the Devil. I only recently noticed Carroll has other books and will hopefully soon be adding them to my collection.

Also of note:
Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward which is a little more well known by the LTers.
Dragons Can Only Rust by Cymri. This one is actually a combination of sci-fi/fantasy and is written in a style that seems geared for a younger audience. It seems only 12 or so own this book here at LT.

Wow - I'm shocked at all these books I've never even heard of - now if only the book stores would start shelving good books;)

Any ways, wanted to mention Deepwater Dreams by Sydney J. Van Scyoc as one of my all time favorite unknowns!

I LOVE BOOKS! Peace -me

A new less well know book that I really enjoyed is Covenants: Borderlands. Also, Adventures of the rat family ; a fairy tale by Jules Verne is really good.

#141 I was reminded of a fantasy-type novel I read and really enjoyed back in the early 70s called The Disappearance by Philip Wylie. I just checked, and only 59 LTers have it in their libraries; it is 52,000th+ in popularity. I don't know if that qualifies it as being a favorite that no one has heard of or not, but I don't think I've seen it mentioned on any fantasy thread (though I may have missed it or forgotten that I'd seen mention of it).

I would recommend the unfortunately titled Jizz by John Hart. The title refers to the birding term GISS (General Impression of Size & Shape), which is pronounced jizz, but it means if you try to google the book title, you are going to get listings of adult sites. The book was published in 1992. It is nominally science fiction, as it is set in the near future, 2012, but it reads more like fantasy and there are no scientific explanations for some of the magical items in the book.

Amazon.co.uk has a description of it:
It is 2012 in the European city-state of Brighton. The race is on to discover a device to further human understanding and thus capture the fabulous DeWit Bequest. Enter the Existometer and its designer, the freelance scholar Hayden Sabanack, and his assistant Sophie - she of the ungovernable urges.

I picked up the book because it was free at a used book sale, had a charming cover and subtitle, and had a cover quote by Terry Pratchett. It was a charming read, and the style and plot reminded me of P.G. Wodehouse. The book is out of print and the Amazon.com review is one of the strangest and most incoherent things I have ever seen, but it’s definitely worth finding a copy. Only 4 of us have the book on librarything, so it is definitely a hidden treasure.

Wheel of Dreams by Salinda Tyson
The Jaguar Princess by Clare Bell

Only 19 people on LT have Wheel of Dreams

I noticed someone above (far above) mentioned Isobelle Carmody and Juliet Marillier. I've read Marillier's Daughter of the Forest and the first two books in Carmody's Obernewtyn and Gateway series (the way I have the titles worded in my catalogue makes it look like I'm the only who has those, but there's more). Excellent books.
One of my personal favorite books is Swords for Hire by Will Allen, and I have yet to find anyone who's heard of it.

My first fantasy, and totally unobtainable for many years, the little white horse by Elizabeth Goudge.

A favorite no one has mentioned yet:
The Labyrinth Gate by Alis A. Rasmussen

and like some of you, I am a big Hodgell fan--God Stalk blew me away when I first found it, and I've been delighted that she's been producing more books.

Rhonda

The Little White Horse!!! I *loved* that story. Thanks for reminding me :)

If you like Hodgell, you MUST read To Ride a Rathorn - it almost has a happy ending LOL

Thanks, bluerose. I have To Ride a Rathorn--Hodgell is an author I buy in hardback--indeed it's been hard to find her in any other format! Did you ever read Goudge's other juvenile fantasy, Linnets and Valerians? I can never decide which I like better, although I didn't find the latter until adulthood.

Hey ronincats, no I hadnt read Linnets and Valerians, tho if its the same Elizabeth Gouge I have read some of her grownup books (there was a series about a family whose name eludes me right now)

Linnets and Valerians is nice - so is Green Dolphin Country (I think that was the book - I have several Goudges but I haven't read them all). But Little White Horse is wonderful. I didn't know it was hard to find - I never let go of my copy after I got it and read it!

Labyrinth Gate is fun, but I really love The Interior Life (and constantly get the two of them mixed up mentally, though they're really not very similar). 57 LTers have The Interior Life - does that count?

The Little White Horse was in my parochial school library in middle school, a very old copy. When they closed the library and sold off all the books about 10 years later, my mom got it for me. Until they started reprinting it in paperback about 10 years ago, I didn't see it anywhere. I have almost all of Goudge's work--most of the rest are adult novels--Green Dolphin Street is probably one of my least favorites of hers, unfortunately.

Hadn't added any of my Goudge's yet to LibraryThing, so did so for at least these two books. My old copy of TLWH is the 1947 first edition in US copy, and L&V was the 1972 edition, when I discovered it. I bought the 2001 editions of both for reading copies to preserve my older ones. I'll try to add my other Goudge books soon.

I enjoyed Chronicles of Scar by Ron Sarti.

The one no-one seems to have heard of for me is Trudi Canavan's Age Of The Five Priestess of the White, Last of the Wilds and Voice of the Gods aswell as her Black Magician Trilogy Magician's Guild, The, Novice, The and High Lord, The.

If anyone can recommend other similar style books then please leave a comment on my profile or here as i'm having trouble finding similar books :(

Just read the Black Magican Trilogy.I realy liked it.
I also looking for similar books too:)

Before coming to LT I don't think I've met many who have read John Myers Myers' Silverlock - great read.

-- John

How about Excalibur by Sanders Anne Laubenthal? It's been years since I read it, but I recall it with great affection.

(117) saturnine13, I have read Hobberdy Dick and would love to get my hands on a copy! I believe it was also Briggs who wrote Kate Crackernuts, which is based on one of my favorite folk tales.

I would just like to second Ms. Wurtz's recommendation of Edith Pargeter's Heaven Tree trilogy. Ms. Pargeter is better known as Ellis Peters, the author of the Brother Cadfael mystery series, which I also recommend.

Lisa Goldstein: Dark Cities Underground; Walking the Labyrinth; Tourists. and more..Creates something of the waking dream state that McKillip is so adept at, but usually in askew modern settings. Very gently weird.

I really like the Young Wizards series. Just as much depth as Harry Potter - maybe more - and very well written. She also has a wonderful imagination - I was particularly impressed in Deep Wizardry with her portrayal of what it would be like to be a whale, and with the shark - obviously something that is primarily a predator is going to have a very different "morality" and system of values than ours. Very scary, but oddly compelling, though I certainly wouldn't want to run across him in a dark ocean.

I like one of Anne McCaffrey's lesser-known series: "The Freedom Saga"

Freedom's Landing
Freedom's Ransom
Freedom's Challenge

> 162, Anne McCaffrey is great. I've actually never read any of the Pern books (though I do own some and will get to them someday...) but I loved the Talent Series:
To Ride Pegasus
Pegasus in Flight
Pegasus in Space
The Rowan
Damia
Damia's Children
Lyons Pride
The Tower and the Hive
Though when I read these the first time in my early teens I started with the Rowan and then later came back to the first three. Which is fine, since there is a huge time jump in between Pegasus in Space and The Rowan, probably because she wrote the first two, then The Rowan and the following books, then years later backtracked and filled in some of the timeline with Pegasus in Space. Anyway, they're all great books.

Oh, and I like her Acorna books as well, though they feel just a little formulaic later in the series - but not enough to detract from the enjoyment.

Going back to the original post, if you enjoyed A college of magics, you might like some of the following books:

the steerswoman's road by rosemary kirstein
lady in gil by rebecca bradley
those who hunt the night by barbara hambly
death of the necromancer by martha wells
a business of ferrets by beth hilgartner

They all have really intelligent lead characters and/or strong female characters.

# 140- I loved Illusion! I haven't even thought of it for years but now I want to go back and read it again. I also second everyone who mentioned Joy Chant- I remember happening accross When Voiha Wakes in a used bookstore and doing a little dance of joy.

A favorite of mine that barely squeaks in under 100 is Fitzpatrick's War, by Theodore Judson. Steampunky Distopia with airships? Not quite right... anyway, it was good.

The Griffon and the Minor Canon by Frank R. Stockton is a favorite from childhood, though I haven't read it in ages.

This is a wonderful thread! Most of these books will never show up in the bookstore here (yes, that was singular... only one English language bookstore) because all we get here in the land of the rising sun is the latest bestseller. But when I go home for summer I'm taking this list with me to the bookstores there!

The Song in the Silence, by Elizabeth Kerner. I have read through 4 or 5 copies of it.

Peter Dickinson's Merlin Dreams. Not exactly a novel, nor an anthology of short stories; rather a set of linked Arthurian based tales connected by the dreamer, Merlin.

Definitely got to put in a vote for Joy Chant and Red Moon and Black Mountain. I read that book off my father's bookshelf when I was very young and fell in love with it...and have never seen another copy since! I did find Grey Mane of Morning at a used bookstore...because I scour every used bookstore I find for Joy Chant books, ha!

I second Janny's vote at #118 for any of Megan Lindholm's early works. The satyr story is called Cloven Hooves. I also liked The Wizard of the Pigeons.

I also want to add The Changeover by Margaret Mahy, and The Prince of Morning Bells by Nancy Kress.

I liked Illusion by Paula Volsky. I liked The Grand Ellipse even better. I reread that one every few years. It's like Around the World in Eighty Days, only with some really fun characters and a bit of magic.

I really love Janny Wurts War of Light and Shadows series, starting with Curse of the Mistwraith. She is not super obscure but is hard to get a hold of in the US. I had to order her last book through Amazon UK since she lost her US publisher. Beautiful writing and the story is really starting to move again in the lasest installment.

Blood Angel by Justine Musk

Companion's of the Night by Vivian Velde

Dragon's Bait by Vivian Velde

Ivy Cole and the Moon by Gina Farago

River by Skyla Dawn Cameron

Spirits and Spells by Bruce Coville

I am obsessed with all of P. C. Hodgell's work. I wish I could find more authors like her, but I think the closest would have to be Tolkien. To have her own unique universe with it's own unique rules, georaphy, deities, and history without coming off as cheesy- it's amazing. To Ride A Rathorn is wonderful, of course, and it does answer some questions, but the way it ends leaves me starving for more.

# 27 & 82

I agree with you both - I always delve into those two books whenever I'm feeling down. I don't know why but it always makes me feel good when I've finished. I love these far more than the Chronicles. But I do still love them too.

# 140, I really liked Illusion, AND I've met somebody who has read it in real life (OK, I made my husband read it). I think it definitely deserves to be better known.

I'm a newbie still working on adding all my books, but I had to share my thoughts on "unsung" books that deserve more recognition. I've enjoyed a lot of the suggested books, especially one of my all-time favorites, Red Moon and Black Mountain, but my first choice has to be A Lost Tale by Dale Estey. It's one of my handful of comfort books that I re-read whenever there's a dry spell of good new fantasy, and I'd give it 6 stars if I could. It's not just a book about magic, it's a magical book!

It's set on the Isle of Manx in WWII and the premise is similar to Lammas Night by Katherine Kurtz (not to be confused with In Celebration of Lammas Night, short stories by Mercedes Lackey & friends). The people of the island, who are guardians of ancient magic, must do their part to help defeat Hitler's evil. The focus is local and the time frame is short, but the depth of the story is fantastic. Each chapter reveals another layer of the hidden magic's secrets and builds in intensity to a crisis point both for the individual characters and for the survival of the whole world. And each character is a fully developed realistic individual that you get to know and like (no stock heroes and villians here) and all their story lines turns out to be essential to the overall plot (no loose ends or illogic either). Even the most unlikeable character has a believable rationale and an important part to play. Another plus is that there's a great sense of mystery and danger without a lot of violence or blood and gore.

I'm being purposely vague on details so I won't spoil the joy of discovery. Reading it for the first gives some of the same feeling as the first time you read The Lord of the Rings chapter "The Shadow of the Past" and realize that Gandalf isn't just a harmless magician and Bilbo's ring isn't just a magic toy, and the story shifts and deepens so you have to re-evaluate everything you thought you knew.

Each time I finish it, the magic feels more real than the real world, and the only bad part is that I'm always left wanting more. The story is over too soon and apparently it's the only book Dale Estey ever wrote. I wish it wasn't.

# 175, based on your description, I've just ordered it used from Amazon. It has two other books by Estey, one a thriller written at the same time, and another fantasy which has been reprinted fairly receintly.

The Man Who was Magic is one of those books when I see copies in used bookstores I pick up and give as gifts to friends.

Adam, his dog Mopsy and the other characters are just fun to read about and Gallico has a deft hand with them.

P. C. Hodgell is another author I've enjoyed. I remember her from as a guest author at a convention in the 80s and searched for more of her work only to find she didn't have much at that time. I love going back through her books and short stories and hope for more.

Pilgrimage the first book of the People and Starship and Haiku are two I have adored which somehow I always knew no one else knew, if you know what I mean.

anneanni, you're absolutely right, I've never heard of that book but I just want to say it's wonderful to read such an animated and passionate recommendation!

I just scanned the list and I don't think these have been mentioned, they're in the Prince of Nothing trilogy by R. Scott Bakker:
The Darkness That Comes Before
The Warrior-Prophet
The Thousandfold Thought

I read these because they were on a recommended reading list (after I read the first three Malazan books by Steven Erikson) and I proceeded to fall in love with them. They have elements that I've yet to come across in any other fantasy books and the usage of philosophy in the books was spectacular.

They are some of my favorite books of all time and I recommend them to anyone looking for something different to read in the Fantasy genre. They aren't a light read, however, so I recommend reading them at home where it's quiet. You lose a lot (in terms of plot AND the feeling of the books) if you're distracted.

... I can't believe how many books this list has added to my "Must-Read" list.

Deerskin by Robin McKinley

Godstalk by P. C. Hodgell

Bright and Shining Tiger by Claudia Edwards

The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox is one that isn't likely to get knocked off my 'must-have' shelves any time soon. I'm very grateful a friend of mine recommended it to me. I think the New Zealanders here might have heard of it, but as I haven't seen it mentioned yet...

Most of the books I can think of are originally Dutch and untranslated, so not particularly useful to most other people, I think. Minnie by Annie M.G. Schmidt is one, but I'm fairly certain that it needs nostalgia (or a small child who likes cats to read it to) to make it work, sadly.

De tuinen van Dorr is another and typing the title in I just realised that it might be translated (The touchstone reads 'The Gardens of Dorr'). If it is that would make squee. It's a children's book, but it's one of the better Dutch ones out there, in my opinion.

Yes, The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox is well-known in New Zealand. It's currently being made into a movie. I also really like her Dreamhunter and Dreamquake books. Published as Young Adult, but would appeal to any fantasy reader.

Not from NZ, but I have 3 of Elizabeth Knox's books

Daylight
Black Oxen
The Vintner's Luck

I enjoy her writing.

One of the best novels I have read in a long time is Mimus, by Lili Thal. I've had trouble really getting into books lately but this one made it easy.
Then there's a series by Nancy Springer that's out of print that I really liked. I don't know the name of it, but includes the books The White Hart, The Silver Sun, and The Sable Moon. I picked these up on a whim and ended up being really surprised at how much I enjoyed them.

The Dream Merchant by Isabel Hoving - its translated from Dutch I think and is a bit like Clive Barker's kids books- its full of dreamy menace

Also the Dragon's Heirs Trilogy by Courtway Jones
are EXCELLENT King Arthur books, particularly if you like celtic/old English mythology - its full of Druids and Picts and the characters are really captivating. I enjoyed them much more than Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy

I don't think Wizard's Brew by Chris Fox has been mentioned. I'm not sure where/how I got it but it is really funny and random. Its about a daft wizard who summons a Shape-Shifting Thing instead of fish to eat. This thing then wakes up its shape shifting demon "friends" who try to take over Camelot and the surrounding world. Not only is the story line crazy with commando rabbits, exploding dragons, cauliflowers and drunk dwarfs but the author has added footnotes to "explain" things, making absolutely no sense at times

e.g. footnote: Physicists have been slow to realise that quantum uncertainty is due to particles not doing what they are told... But there are the so-called "Hard Particles", such as croutons (which rose to the top of the prmordial matter soup in the early days of the universe), futons (which sank to the bottom) ands mekons (big green particles that beat up defenceless quarks when noone is looking).

If you can find a copy I really recommend it for a good laugh.

Well, i don't think there are to many people here reading norwegian, but anyway. The last nightwarior - Den siste Nattkriger av - by Olav Havnes is an amazing book. It is low on fantasy but a realy well writen triology.

and i haven't seen Elizabeth Moons Deeds of Paksenarion here, that might be because people take it for grantet that everybody has read her, but if not than it's a must!

Moonwise for a surreal, beautiful read.

It's pretty hard read at first, because of the writing style, but once you slog through a chapter or two and get into the flow of it, the stream of consciousness metaphor prose-as-poetry really works.

At least it does for me!

Beautiful and unique.

...but always hard for me to get into again at first, the first chapter or two even on re-reading is always difficult.

---

Nice to see Gillian Bradshaw's Down the Long Wind series get a mention. IMO one of the best Arthurian retellings I've ever read... and I've read a lot of em! XD

Richard Adams' Shardik. It's been my favorite book since I first read it in middle school, and now it's my most-read book by a long shot. (Only 8 reads, but I've rarely read a book more than twice.)

Candara's Gift (Accounts of Candara) - Jasper Cooper.
In the Net of Dreams - Wm. Mark Simmons
Sherman Oak and the Magic Potato - S. William Shaw
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

andddd

the shifting heart

I remember absolutely loving the Spellsinger books by Alan Dean Foster way back when. Even borrowed my dad's Jimmy Hendrix album for a while because of the story LOL!

I also loved Song of Sorcery and The Unicorn Creed by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.

I should really think about re-reading these and seeing if I still have the same taste I had in high school.

Rima the Jungle Girl author????

That would be Robert Kangher

Although he's a little Tolkienesque I must admit to liking Denis L. McKiernan's works. Also, in the realm of comedic fantasy is Another Day, Another Dungeon by Greg Costikyan. A book I find that not many people have heard of.

195> The only Dennis L. McKiernan I have read was his "Once Upon..." series and I thought they were TERRIBLE. What is his other stuff like? I don't mind "Tolkienesque" but cliche and bad dialogue and stupid plots really put me off.

I am absolutely amazed that The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword by Robin Mckinley haven't been mentioned, I can read both of them again and again and never tire of them. The characters are well written, there is a lot of humour in them and I fell in love with the world........am I alone in really liking these two books and putting them right up there for fantastic fantasy??

#197 -- I'm guessing those books haven't been mentioned in this thread because this is for books you love that no one else seems to have heard of, and just about everyone who reads fantasy voraciously has heard of McKinley!

#198 -- guess I'm a bit late in coming into the whole fantasy thing. I'm not so much a voracious fantasy reader, having only recently discovered it as a genre rather than just 'fairytale' books that I happen to stumble across........so I don't know how popular or not books are.........other than the obvious 'Harry Potter' and 'Lord of the Rings'. No one that I have ever spoken to has heard of McKinley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#197 -- Well, while I certainly won't say that everyone who reads fantasy has read McKinley, she IS a fairly classic YA fantasy author with a wide readership. (And a brand-new book just out!) If you've just started reading fantasy and talking to others about it, I'm sure you'll soon run into more people who've read her books.

#198

Thanks, I'm still putting out feelers on this whole thing and trying to work out what I do and don't like in the worlds of fantasy!!

For me, it's the Ivory trilogy by Doris Egan - Guilt-edged Ivory, Two-bit heroes and The gate of Ivory. I wish that there were more in the series, as it doesn't feel finished at all.
And for everyone outside New Zealand that likes Elizabeth Knox, try her Dreamhunter duet, which has just republished Dreamhunter and Dreamquake as The invisible road.

Lunacat, though I've been reading fantasy (and pretty much nothing but fantasy) my whole life, it wasn't until I was somewhere in my late teens/early twenties that I first heard of McKinley. I'm helped by the fact that I'm not a native speaker, so a lot of the English language fantasy classics (like McKinley, Wrede, Jones*, etc) have just passed me by completely. So you're definitely not alone!

* Yep, they're all children's/YA writers, but they're all I can think of off the top of my head right now.

Raising_a_reader, they republished the duology in one volume? I'll have to keep my eye out for it, then! (Or maybe I should just save up for a trip to New Zealand bookstores. ^-~)

I've also another book which I discovered recently and which hasn't been out that long, I think: Territory by Emma Bull, which is western fantasy. Very subtly done magic and with a cast I bow to.

I've just finished spirits that walk in shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, a sweet-natured light fantasy set on campus. Not many people seem to have listed it yet.

Puddleshark, have you read any of the earlier Chapel Hollow books? The Thread that Binds the Bones is a great read, and sets up the character that we follow in Spirits.

#205 - No, Kiriki Hoffman's a new author to me - and she has earlier works! Wonderful! I'm off to track down the thread that binds the bones. Thanks.

raising_a_reader

Im in NZ but never heard of Elizabeth Knox but picked up Invisible road a couple of months ago and LOVED it!

The Man Who Was Magic is a definite love of mine and a book that doesn't seem to be well recognised. Was possibly one of my first experiences with fantasy and it remains BRILLIANT!!

The book I love that I think is terribly underrated is Winter on the Plain of Ghosts by Eileen Kernaghan. It is set in the Indus Valley (I can't remember how long ago, but long--before the religions we know of from that region today). The culture and religion as presented are rich and fascinating, the story is good, the writing is GREAT. One of my favourites.

Hmmm. I can't get the touchstone to work for this book, so I will give the url:
http://www.librarything.com/work/403289/book/37730943

Oh, yeah, I love The Man Who Was Magic. All of Gallico's books are worth reading, but that one in particular is excellent. The mutual bewilderment...

I enjoyed Winter on the Plain of Ghosts: A Novel of Mohenjo-daro too. The touchstone didn't work because someone had combined most of Kernaghan's books together. I also had another book listed in my library. I think they are all in the right groups now.

How about Ending an Ending by Danny Birt? I note that there are only ten copies listed in LibraryThing. It's one of my 'top shelf' books, and although I've only just finished reading it for the first time, it is definately going to be a re-read book many times over. I can't wait for the next book in the series either.

edited to correct toughstones (sic on purpose) many thanks for the heads up. And again!

Wrong touchstone, TheOneTree - had me very confused 'cause that's definitely not a fantasy novel! Ending an Ending sounds great, I think I'll look it up in the bookstore.

Oh! Totem Tales by W.S. Phillips! I betcha no one has heard of that.
Course, that's not really fair. I found it through a random jaunt at a used book store in a town of 300 people and the book was only put out in two editions, one in 1896 and one in 1905, but still great book with fantastic drawings.
...I must get back to that book store...

# 213
Many thanks for the heads up. Only took three goes, if you include the original attempt to get it straight.
*sigh*

McKiernan has a number of books - never read his "Once Upon " series myself yet. However, his Silver Call Duology, Voyage of the Fox Rider and Dragonstone are quite good I thought.

I don't think R.A. Macavoy gets enough love. The Grey Horse, Tea With the Black Dragon, and Trio for Lute are still some of my favorites.

One of my favorites has always been Hannah's Garden by Midori Snyder. It has some of the best writing I've ever come across, both lyrical and down-to-earth at the same time. I've never met a person who's heard of it though.

215> Touchstones are fun....

Oh, thanks for sorting out the Kernaghan mixup, FicusFan. I wondered what was going on but hadn't investigated.

He is a popular author but since joining the site just recently I have not seen any mention of this particular series he does. I am talking about Jim Butcher and his Codex Alera Series. I see plenty about the Dresden Files but nothing about Codex Alera. Perhaps I just missed it but either way I love that series.

There is some discussion of the Alera Series in the Jim Butcher group.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/jimbutcherfans

Hmmm....
Anything unique, really.

There's a new YA book that looks kind of interesting. The author is only 17, which is sweet.

http://www.crenandthewarofsevendays.com

Robert Holdstock wrote a trio of books about the forest mythago, beginning with Mythago Wood. I remember these books fondly.

The Imagicators by Brad Marshland. The sequel The Imagicators and the Wind Between the Worlds just came out and is equally excellent.

I couldn't agree more. I LOVE that book.

Plenty of good stuff to choose from here. I would like to recommend a book I wrote myself, called The Moses Probe. It is the story of two workaholic lovers who finally find the time to get together when they find themselves hurling towards Protos, the planet at the center of the universe. I hope you like it. Ted Magnuson http://www.tedmagnuson.com

In Serein. It is a free dark fantasy triology. You can read it at:
http://inserein.com/in-serein-book1-index.htm
In this case the meaning of the topic can be taken quite literal, since I am the only one who added it to his libary ; )
http://www.librarything.com/work/book/39258339

I read Dream Finder by Roger Taylor some time back and enjoyed it. Haven't read the Hawklan series on which it is based, though.

The Wayfarer Redemption by Sara Douglass.

I really enjoyed the YA/equestrian fantasy Silverhorse and it's sequel 'Midnight'. At the moment I seem to be the only person in the world to own a copy of 'Midnight'. Now that I've had a bit of a gloat, I feel the books derserve a wider readership...

My way of trying to see if I had favorites was to look at the list and saw that there were 40 books I have already listed, which left many more for me to check. Then for my recommending to the site, I dumped out all my library into a excel spreadsheet and stripped everything not Fantasy and not five stars so then I could see what came up as new touchstones.

Then I distilled out the popular series and tried to only give out what are more obscure books

The Misenchanted Sword: A Legend of Ethshar (Legends of Ethshar)
Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen (Ace SF, F-342)
Daughter of the Empire
The Doomfarers of Coramonde
Dragon and the George
The Outlaw of Torn
The Ruins of Ambrai (Exiles, Vol. 1)
Five Hundred Years After(Phoenix Guards)
The Unwilling Warlord
With A Single Spell
The Phoenix Guards
Once a Hero
Her Majesty's Wizard
Lord Valentine's Castle (Majipoor Cycle)
The Lightbearer
The Mad Throne
Great King's War
Luck Of Relian Kru

The Power and the Prophet: (#3) (Pelmen the Powershaper, Book 3)
Wizard in Waiting: (#2)
The Dragonbone Chair(Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn)
Dragon Waiting: A Masque of History

Fall into Darkness
The Mistress of the Empire (Empire Trilogy, Bk. 3)
Wizenbeak
Prophet of Lamath (Pelman)
M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link (Myth)
Dragon and the George
Lest Darkness' Fall
Liavek
Thieves' World

Well - Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen and its sequel Great Kings War aren't fantasy, they're SF. The world he's dumped into via parallel world transporter is low tech but has not a trace of magic in it. I agree, however, that Lord Kalvan is a great book (Great Kings War is good, but not as good).

Outlaw of Torn, similarly, isn't really fantasy - alternate history, without a sniff of magic (aside from persuasive powers - charisma or something like it). But also a great book.

I love the Ethshar books too (those are definitely fantasy). And the Dragon and the George, and its sequels (there are 4-5 at least in the series). Some of the others I know - but I'll have to check out the ones I don't (I obviously like your taste!).

Under Plum Lake by Lionel Davidson? I reread this many times in high school, but very few other people have heard of it - only 38 lter's have it. It is a juvenile, maybe that's why?

I remember this book (Mirror). It was really good, and yes, no one semms to remember it.

Shadows in the Watchgate by Mike Jeffries
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany
Litle,Big by Jonh Crowley
Beyond the Golden Stair by Hannes Bok and
The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt

Wow! This page is great! It'll keep me going for months, checking these out!

My current favorite is a new book that just came out called Stone Voice Rising. It's the first in a new series and I can wait for the next one!

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. Old but charming.

Haven't read Princess and the Goblin but have read the Princess and Curdie. Who could forget Lina and the Fire of Roses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes, The Princess and Curdie is the sequel and really good, too. Lina is wonderful, and helps make up for not seeing the Princess until a long ways in, and the king in the fire of roses is an amazing scene.

Are these books still in print, one wonders, and if not, why not!!!!!!!!!!

Amazon.com has the two Princess and . . . books:

http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Goblin-Puffin-Classics/dp/0140367462/ref=sr_1_1?i...

http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Curdie-George-MacDonald/dp/1604594551/ref=sr_1_2?...

Both are in the public domain and are available at gutenberg.org.

http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/m#a127

Thanks muchly jnwelch and trollsdotter - by the way has anyone read The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray and what did they think of it

I read through the listing & was surprised..
I hope that I can count a trilogy as one listing

The Culai Heritage by Michael Scott,

'Magicians Law'
'Demons Law'
'Deaths Law'

I have the separate books, but now that he is becoming more popular, seems I can't afford to purchase the trilogy in one volume

Idlewild and Everfree by Nick Sagan! Those are the first and third of his trilogy. I LOVE these books, and no one has ever read them. It's this crazy matrix-in-a-matrix kind of sci fi thing. Mixed with biotech and gamer-ish stuff.. Love love love them.

Also, Singer of Souls by Adam Stemple. I got completely engrossed. Even though the ending was a complete WTF.

OH! And Judith Tarr's White Mare's Daughter! I haven't thought about that book in a long long time. Maybe it'll be my next reread. And, given that, then Manda Scott's Dreaming the Eagle. Sigh, happy times.

@ #247....you know there is a sequel to Singer of Souls, right? It's called Steward of Song and somewhat addresses the WTFness of the ending of the first book...

Whoa! I had no idea there was a sequel. I'll.. definitely have to look into that one, then..

Glad it was a legitimate WTF ending, though, and not just me. Thanks!

has anyone read the Child Queen By Nancy Mckenizie.

I loved that novel. Didn;t really like the second one though.

The Gods in Winter by Patricia Miles. I think I've pimped this book on this site before, but it's a really charming yet subtle story about a family who moves to a big house in the country and the greek gods who infiltrate their lives. It should be a classic ;)

Harp of Imach Thyssel by Patricia C Wrede

>252 sandyg210: But such a sad one, Sandy. My favorite of Wrede's Lyra books is The Raven Ring, which no one has ever heard of either. Have you read it?

Dragons in our Midst series and Oracles of Fire series.

I haven't read The Raven Ring. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

" South of Grand Khev, Black River crawls like a sluggish stream of pitch from the southernmost of the mountains. And somewhere, beyond Black River, dwelt Yaohim the Lord of Shadows. The master magician."

In spite of several annoying, even clutzy writing habits, the late Lin Carter (1930-1988) did pen some very enjoyable, highly readable fantasy works. Any quest to seize the warded grimoire of a dead but still powerful sorcerer is bound to have its excitements along the way, and Carter's Kellory the Warlock, set against the chaotic background of the invading Thungoda Hordes, mostly lives up to its promise.

Certainly anyone desirous of adding a little something extra such as Yaohim's The Book of Shadows to their LibraryThing shelves should read Carter's tale to see just what they're likely to be up against.....

‘Aurélien Arkadiusz’

I loved the Door Within Series. The spiritual side of the books was inspiring, and even if you don't believe in that, its a wonderful read.

>253 ronincats: I loved the Raven Ring it's my favorite of the Lyra series. Karvonen (spelling?) was such an amusing character and Eleret was a more believable female warrior than a lot of others I've read. It's an undeservedly obscure book, I've never run across anyone who's read it before.

Well, if quantity cataloged is any indication of popularity, Raven Ring and Caught in Crystal are the two most popular of the Lyra series with over 300 copies cataloged. They are also my favorites of the series. I'm hoping that since The Seven Towers (not a Lyra novel, but also a favorite of mine) was recently reissued, more of Wrede's backlist will come out again.

Another less popular series that I love is the Hollow Kingdom trilogy by Claire Dunkle: The Hollow Kingdom, Close Kin and In the Coils of the Snake.

I second (third? fourth? fifth?) the motion for Red Moon, Black Mountain by Joy Chant, and also liked her Arthurian book The High King though I suppose it's not a fantasy; and also for the Evangeline Walton Mabinogion books.

I know Rosemary Sutcliff isn't strictly fantasy, though many of hers are Arthurian and have touches of magical elements, but the one I want to point out is The Mark of the Horse Lord which far transcends the juvi category she's sometimes relegated to-- a sharply written tale of 1st century Pictland, one of her very best.

And yes for James Branch Cabell too. His style may seem a bit stuffy by modern standards but once you get used to it you'll find it's beautifully balanced and very witty. Aside from the famous Jurgen, I would recommend at least The High Place and The Cream of the Jest.

And I know Tolkien is an odd candidate for unknown fantasy writer, but I wanted to put in a word for The Fall of Gondolin in volume two of The Book of Lost Tales. Great stuff!

(Oh, and another vote for Bridge of Birds too!

The Stone and the Flute is terribly overlooked, but most probably because it's a German import in NA and copies are hard to come by. It's very gratifying to read its reviews on Amazon, where a disproportionate number of people cite it as their favourite book.

More easily found is Stephen R. Donaldson's Mordant's Need duology, beginning with The Mirror of Her Dreams. It's too frequently overlooked in favour of his Covenant books, but I think it's the best thing he's ever done.

I'd also point to Michael Scott Rohan, who wrote a beautiful, almost mythological trilogy beginning with The Anvil of Ice that I've only just discovered the followup trilogy for.

Cecrow - I loved Mordant's Need too. Much less intense than Covenant. Geraden is such a sweetie though it was his brother Artagel I had the hots for!

Lud-In-The-Mist by Hope Mirrlees. I love that book so much. It's not completely unheard of, but it's quite the underrated fantasy masterpiece, in my opinion.

I found A String in the Harp in a second hand bookstore and also loved it. Those shabby little finds can be fabulous. (Or not!)

Chani, I'd be interested to know what you liked about Black Wine. I've seen it but know nothing about it.

The book that comes immediately to mind for me in this category of unknown favourites (great question, by the way!) is Eileen Kernaghan's Winter on the Plain of Ghosts. For that matter, Eileen's writing generally is nowhere near as well known as it deserves to be. She writes historically based speculative fiction, mostly fantasy, often connected to spiritual themes. Winter on the Plain of Ghosts is one of the few books set in the Indu Valley before the rise of religions like Hinduism, and she has developed an intriguing culture and story for that setting. Eileen's characters are generally thoughtful and motivated, and there is magic of many kinds in her books. I like the vivid beauty of her writing and also the variety of the themes she chooses.

All of this causes me to suggest to myself that I get busy and list more of her books on my LibraryThing catalogue. I've pretty much read them all.

Ha! At least I'm consistent! I was looking for other comments on this work and discovered that I already recommended Winter on the Plain of Ghosts last year!

264> I haven't read Black Wine but I enjoyed A paradigm of Earth by the same author.

I enjoyed Black Wine. It was a bit odd, and had some parts that might upset people, but still interesting.

The Assassins of Tamurin by S.D. Tower. It was a really good book!

A book I've read only recently but that impressed the hell out of me - Lifelode by Jo Walton. It's charming and moving, an utter delight to read and quite unlike any other fantasy novel I know. I'd love to write a review on it, but am afraid I wouldn't do it justice.

I'm also a big fan of Donaldson's Mordant's Need, though I prefer his sci-fi GAP Cycle. (Covenant comes in a distant third, maybe even fourth to the Axbrewder mysteries.)

217Tigercrane.

I'll second Tea With the Black Dragon. I didn't remember the author, and haven't read the other books (yet).

ok, forgive me if i repeat things. I did read through the entire thread before posting.

The Truth about Unicorns by Bonnie Jones Reynolds may be hard to come. I am delighted to say that it is not entirely clear whether this is fantasy or not. Set in America around the time of the depression, this book may or may not involve unicorns.

Several people have mentioned a World without end that I have not yet read. I would strongly recommend Sean Russell's World Without End. It and its companion Sea Without a Shore, and a prequel duology are, in my opinion, his strongest works. Russell said somewhere that he started by imagining what might have happened if Charles Darwin's voyage had discovered evidence of magic rather than evolution and then rewrote and rewrote. Set in the fantasy equivalent of England around the time of the early industrial revolution. It is also the time of the disappearance of the mages. There is unaccountably cloudy evidence that there were mages in the reasonably recent historic past, but they have more or less vanished. One of my favourite "short" fantasy series.

Speaking of Seans, I would also recommend the books of Sean Stewart, who tends to write fantasy novels that are one-offs. I am not certain if it is obscure enough, but I hear little mention of Clouds End.

>261 Cecrow:, to add one more: Jennifer Roberson did a great job with her Cheysuli Chronicles (starting with Shapechangers!) and I'm surprised they haven't been more lasting: a multi-generation epic originally spanning eight volumes, now collected in two omnibuses.

Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds doesn't get nearly enough attention outside of LT (at least, that's where I discovered it.)

Monk's Magic by Alexander de Comeau

Written in the late 1920s but has dated well. A 'fellowship' quest tale with sorcery, romance, etc., a sympathetic hero and a strong resourceful heroine. Would have been a good entry in Lin Carter's Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, but as far as I know it's yet to be reprinted.

Hey Guys, I added a few of the books you lot talk about to my wish list, trying to read more and more books due to working in a library now. My daughter and many of the students I work with at university like the book "The Whale Kingdom Quest" by Ming Wei, I think it is best suited to the age group 12-30, it is about sea-life fighting for the right to control the oceans, in a world in which humans no longer remain, and sea-levels have risen and flooded all the land masses. The fantasy in the book is the magical gemstones used to power up a weapon, at the end of the story.

The book World Without End (original 2007; edition 2012) by Ken Follett is interesting, I have read it.

I loved At the Back of the North Wind, an oldie by George Macdonald.

>272 Cecrow: Absolutely!

>274 Claire5555: and >275 Claire5555:

Touchstones for you:

The Whale Kingdom Quest
World Without End

It's a web serial not a book but Worm by Wildbow. A dark gritty superhero tale featuring a tragic heroine with an odd superpower.

https://parahumans.wordpress.com/

I think there's been some confusion about "World Without End".

World Without End by Sean Russel is a fantasy novel I agree has been neglected.
World Without End by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy, even more so.

But ... World Without End by Ken Follett is the sequel to Pillars of the Earth, which is on Oprah's bookclub list. If that's not high-profile I don't know what is! (and it's also historical fiction, not fantasy)

There's also a Star Trek novel by Joe Haldeman with this title. My advice to publishers? No more books by this title, please! It's terribly non-descriptive and generic anyway.

So the situation you're describing is: "World Without End Without End"

Just about! Do a search here on Librarything and you'll find there's at least twenty distinct works. That title is completely worn out.

And then there is "Worlds Without End." I stopped counting after a half dozen.

With the quotes, that title has 68 unique works.

Just finished and much enjoyed the 1858 short story The Diamond Lens by Fitz James O'Brien, about a young man whose passion for microscopy leads him to murder and tragedy. By some accounts O'Brien was the most important fantasy writer between Poe and Lovecraft.

Gosh, this thread has been running a few years!

I love Susan Dexter's books, but she seems to have stopped writing. Sadly, I only have the first book The Ring of Allaire of her first trilogy, 'The Winter King's War'. It's one of the very first books I bought for myself when I was still in school and buying out of my pocket money and decided to collect my favourites for myself. Other books I still borrowed from the library.

These are the covers of the UK editions, published by Fontana.

>287 humouress: It seems that like many authors she has turned to self-publishing- a revised version of the trilogy you mention and a handful of other backlist works are available, as well as a self-published new entry in one of the series in that world, The Wandering Duke. It seems like the most recent thing she put out was an ebook edition of Wizard's Shadow from last year, though.

Thanks sandstone.

Tis the season, so I must (once again, if you've caught me in other groups) share Noni the Christmas Reindeer. ♥

>288 sandstone78: Thanks so much! I have gone and bought the revised trilogy for my Kindle (I still have the original paperbacks) and The Wandering Duke as well, now that I have the info.

>292 sandstone78: You're welcome! :) I would be curious to hear if there's much difference between the old version and the revised version!

I have a list (sorely in need of updates) of other books that have been made available on Kindle through self-publishing or a small press too here (I've left out authors that seem to be in ebooks from their original publisher), so you may find something else you've been looking for too!

>292 sandstone78: There is a small but important difference at the end of the third book. I skimmed that book, after reading the last two chapters of the original to compare, and didn't find much else. I did not pull down the first two, and it's been several years since I last reread the trilogy, so nothing stood out. The general lines, as expected, were similar to the original.

Thanks for the list. I have so many of those!! But I was never able to find the two sequels to The Boy from the Burren by Shiela Gilluly--I will check those out.

ETA Bought both of them for my Kindle! Ammy is going to love you SO much.

I just realized I haven't made a proper entry in this thread! I'm going to go with Tanith Lee's Biting the Sun, the omnibus of her FourBEE books.

>293 ronincats: Interesting! Would you recommend the old or the new version for a first read? :)

I believe the sequels to The Boy from the Burren were only ever published in the UK before this ebook edition! Book View Café and Open Road Media's science fiction and fantasy offerings are absolute gold mines of good old books, I haven't even cataloged a fraction in my list- they're well worth a browse! Gollancz' SF Gateway is as well, but they tend more towards pulp SF and Golden Age SF, which aren't really my things (also they don't have US rights for a lot of their titles, including all of Tanith Lee's backlist, boo).

>292 sandstone78:: Wow, great resource! I have a list of "authors to watch for" when I make occasional rounds of the local used bookstores, and it's been so great the last several years to see how many of those authors have become available again via ebook. I love having that path for supporting the author directly with my purchase.

I'll second the Marie Jakober recommendation somewhere above.

There's a number of books, like The Mirror of Her Dreams by best-selling authors and or Hugo (etc) nominees mentioned above that I also enjoy, but I'm not really sure that they are obscure.

Here's a plug for Child of a Rainless Year by Jane Lindskold, a stand-alone set in New Mexico.

I have"Child of a Rainless Year" on my TBR pile! Must dig it out.

I enjoyed it so much, I gave it to my mother in law too!

My favorite is probably The Tredana Trilogy by Joyce Ballou Gregorian, especially the first book.

Honorary mention to Suzette Hayden Elgin's Ozark Trilogy.

The Color of Distance by Amy Thomson ought to be discovered by more, especially if you want a first contact novel with a female protagonist.

I'll also put a shout out for Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin. Perhaps this is better known than I think ...

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami is an excellent Japanese novel. It's regularly displayed and recommended at Foyle's in London, but seems little known and little read in the USA.

300: The Color of Distance is an absolutely beautiful book, maybe even my favorite of all the sci fi I've read. It actually has TWO female leads, and quite a few interesting supporting characters besides. The fact that more people don't know about it is a grievous shame.

I was on a LT stroll of sorts and stumbled across the Pelbar Cycle by Paul O. Williams, beginning with The Breaking of Northwall. Looks like a 1980s series, judging from the cover art. This is all new to me, doesn't have a lot of people with copies but averages some strong ratings, reviews look good. Anyone familiar with it who can comment?

Nodens Books, an imprint run by fantasy editor/Tolkien scholar Douglas A. Anderson is about to reprint the neglected 1931 fantasy classic Monk's Magic by Alexander de Comeau.

http://www.nodensbooks.com/2017/05/nodens-books-revival.html?utm_source=feedburn...

https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2016/cur1603.htm

The Changeover by Margaret Mahy.

The main character, 14 year old Laura, is psychically sensitive, and gets premonitions when something bad will happen. She also has a feeling that a boy in her school is a witch, and must seek his help when something bad of an occult nature happens to her brother.

It was published in 1984, and I got it from the library right around that time so I was probably about 13 or so. I have been looking for this book for years; I remembered two scenes from it but not enough details to track it down. Serendipity recently brought it back into my world, and I am delighted to have located this book after years of searching, and also delighted with how good it is. It has found a place in my permanent library so I can't lose it again :)

It was really surprisingly wonderful. It is YA but geared more for high school aged kids, so I probably didn't appreciate at the time just how well written it is.

Adventures of a Brownie may be targeted too young for a lot of folks, but I loved it, with the mischievous, unpredictable and sometime mean-spirited brownie.

>306 Darth-Heather: Margaret Mahy's YA books are awesome. The changeover is a lot of people's favourite, although I slightly prefer The catalogue of the universe and Memory.

>308 Sakerfalcon: I'm definitely going to add your recommendations to my wishlist. I just loved her writing style. Thanks!

Has anyone else read Harp of Burma?  I love that book.

>311 justjukka:, not to doubt your recommendation, but our topic is looking for examples from the fantasy genre. ;)

>312 Cecrow: True... I've just been organizing for a move and came across that one, so it leapt to mind. ^^;

'Goblin Moon' by Teresa Edgerton. I read it upon it's publication in 1991 while I was laid up with a severely broken leg - stuck in bed for 2+ weeks. It's set in a world much like Regency or early Victorian England but, of course, there are goblins. Some goblins are obviously goblins and others look like humans except they'll have an obvious monstrous appendage (a hand and forearm, for example). There is magic and intrigue aplenty. Very underrated! I had to seek it out 5-6 years ago, and enjoyed it then as much as I did when I was 14.

>314 PanoplyofWar: I saw this one has recently been rereleased for Kindle too, along with a revised version of the sequel!

>314 PanoplyofWar: I read Goblin Moon recently, on a recommendation, and enjoyed it as well! The sequel went immediately onto my TBR.

My only gripe was that the opening sequence (with the discovery on the river) captured my imagination like *whoa*, and I felt like the pay-off for that discovery wasn't as cool as the opening scene had me hoping for. But everything else in the book was great... I love a good "fantasy of manners", and this hit those buttons quite well.

touchstone Goblin Moon

Unmentioned so far, two books from the 1940s I loved as a kid- "The little grey men" and "down the bright stream" by "BB" who is really Denys Watkins-Pitchford, an illustrator. The books are fantasy about 4 gnomes who live by a stream, 3 of them go on an adventure to try and find their brother Cloudberry.

I picked up a copy of The Little Grey Men from a used book shop, but I've never cracked it open yet. Might have to dig it out.

>318 C4RO:, >319 2wonderY:, sounds pretty amazing, actually.

A book I was a tad surprised when I added it here that it seemed to have relatively few holders : Masters of Solitude by Marvin Kaye and Parke Godwin.

Originally read in translation from Opta / CLA (Club du Livre d'Anticipation) which also allowed me to discover a fair number of classics and (for the time) well-esteemed contemporaries.

Not world-shattering but memorable enough that when Amazon made for easier access to english language books, especially english language second-hand books, I went looking for the original and found there was a sequel as well (Wintermind).

I've just re-read Kingmaker's Sword, the first in the Rune Blade Trilogy by Ann Marston, which I've had for a while. I thought someone jogged my memory about it on this thread, but I can't find the touchstone in the list at the top.

>321 Jarandel: Masters of Solitude is an old favorite of mine too, though I tend to think of it as SF.

>322 humouress: I've met Ann Marston a few times. We have several friends in common. Also, the SF community in this area is pretty tight. She and Barbara Galler-Smith came over to get tomato plants from my surplus a couple of years ago. However, I haven't read her books. I should do that.

>324 tardis: Sadly, I only bought the first book and when I tried to order the other two, my bookshop said it was unable to get them. But I believe they're available on Kindle; must check.

I just sorted my books tagged fantasy by number of members and I have one no one else has, so posting it here, because aspects of the story stayed with me, and maybe someone else from down under has read it but doesn't have it in their collection?

It's Shadows by David Grigg an Australian YA fantasy about teenagers trying to fight off shadows that are consuming their city. Was set in the present (published in the 70s).

I've checked for combinations, I really seem to be the only person who has it.

ETA: Some googling shows me it was actually a sequel, which explains why the start was kind of confusing. There are the copies of the first book Halfway House on Librarything.

Most of my fantasy books are pretty popular, although I have one fantasy that only has about 200 members who own it - The Hike: a Novel, by Drew Magary who writes for Deadspin of all things. It's not high literature, but a very enjoyable read nonetheless. The author also recently suffered a very frightening medical incident (a subdural hematoma) which he wrote about here: https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/the-night-the-lights-went-out-1834298070

For the really obscure stuff I also have a smattering of Fantasy I seem to be the only or one of the few LT holder of, presumably because they were digital-only or digital+POD releases by obscure authors and sank without a splash, despite some probably deserving better as I did rate them 4* and above, listing the 4.5 and 5* here :

Deep in the Arnaks by Charles Serabian
Waves crash and seas split by Chad Huskins
Dark Cargo by Andrew Rice
Dragontamer's Daughters by Kenton Kilgore
The Dragon Beshrewed by M.M. Stauffer
Puppet Parade by Zeinab Alayan

The Féerie pour les ténèbres trilogy by Jérôme Noirez *was* released in trade paperback by a reputable genre press, but a fairly small one and only in the original French afaik
Chien du Heaume & Mordre le Bouclier by Justine Niogret (same as above, except it might have also seen a MMPB release ? No translation either afaik)

Speaking of digital, I recently discovered Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard and the two sequels. I also really enjoyed the loosely related novel The Hands of the Emperor by her.

>328 Jarandel:, >329 merrystar:, adding a review to those book pages would go a long way to raising their profile and helping spread interest. I know, I've looked into some books like these but wanted the words of prior readers before I take the chance, and if I come up with nothing that sounds reliably positive then I move on (and I definitely do not rely on Amazon reviews, far too easy for the friends/family bandwagon to chime in).

>330 Cecrow: a good point - I am also sometimes frustrated that interesting-looking books have no reviews here. I will try to add something.