Top 10 Epic / High fantasy books

J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece. The Lord of the Rings is the best known as most enjoyed fantasy book of all time. If you have never read this, or The Hobbit before, then you are in for a real treat!

The Lord of the Rings (3 Book Box set) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 1500
Publication date: 1991-11-27
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

RRP: £20.00
Lowest new price: £11.26
Lowest used price: £10.00

For those who have not read Tolkien's epic fantasy, or for those looking to replace a worn and battered copy, this three-volume The Lord of the Rings box set is a great place to start. Comprising the three novels that make up the Lord of the Rings sequence--The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King--the whole set is presented in matching matt black packaging with embossed runes and coloured rings. Of course, beneath the fancy covers lies a great epic story of good versus evil, perhaps one of the greatest stories ever told. Attractively presented--and at a great price--there really is no excuse not to have this in your collection. So go on, give it a try; once you've entered Tolkien's fantastic imagination, you'll find it hard to leave. --Jonathan Weir
Amazon.co.uk Review

The Earthsea Quartet brings together Ursula Le Guin’s four legendary Earthsea sagas for the first time in a single volume.

The Earthsea Quartet: "A Wizard Of Earthsea"; "The Tombs of Atuan"; "The Farthest Shore"; "Tehanu" (Puffin Books) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Ursula Le Guin
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 704
Publication date: 1993-06-24
Publisher: Puffin

RRP: £10.99
Lowest new price: £4.67
Lowest used price: £3.29

The Liveship Traders series continues with the second book, The Mad Ship. Althea Vestrit continues her quest to reclaim her rightful inheritance, the liveship Vivacia. The Vivacia has been seized by pirates led by the enigmatic Kennit, a man who believes that destiny leads him to become King of the Pirate Isles. The Vestrit family are nearing financial ruin which leads them closer to the mysterious Rain Wild Traders who own the ship. Amidst these events the mad ship, Paragon is once again launched despite the history of death and despair that surrounds him.

The Mad Ship (Liveship Traders) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Robin Hobb
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Number of pages: 901
Publication date: 2000-03-06
Publisher: Voyager

RRP: £8.99
Lowest new price: £3.28
Lowest used price: £1.97

High heroic fantasy has rarely paid enough attention to ships and sailors, the lifeblood, after all, of trade and survival in a non-technological world. In her Liveship Traders series, Robin Hobb more than makes up for this with a sequence in which economic survival is the principal objective of the merchant family, the Vestrits, who provide most of her viewpoint characters. The Mad Ship takes up their adventures where Ship of Magic left off, with young would-be priest Wintrow the captive of the pirate Kennit and bonded to the living figurehead of the family ship Vivacia; and his sister Malta caught up in the affairs of the changeling traders of the Rain Wild. Their aunt Althea, who feels she should have had command of Vivacia, is off having adventures as a sailor, and the mysterious Amber is trying to heal and repair the shattered mad hulk Paragon, who killed his crew and lies abandoned in the sand dunes. All this and war and conspiracy too--Hobb gives us a rich portrait of a world and a family in turmoil and raises some interesting questions about what it is to be used and make use of. --Roz Kaveney
Amazon.co.uk Review

This second series of Eärwa, titled The Aspect Emperor, continues twenty years after The Prince of Nothing series ends. The Three Seas are on the march under the leadership of Anasûrimbor Khellus. Khellus has spent these last twenty years conquering the various nations and forming the largest force he can to assault Golgotterath, the home of the No-god and his Consult, before they can gain full strength and begin their own assault on The Three Seas. A lot has changed in these years. Khellus and Esmenet have become Emperor and Empress and now rule the Three Seas completely since his half-brother Maithanet is the Shriah of the Thousand Temples, the dominant religion of the Tusk.

The Judging Eye (Aspect-Emperor) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: R.Scott Bakker
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 448
Publication date: 2009-01-15
Publisher: Orbit

RRP: £12.99
Lowest new price: £4.50
Lowest used price: £4.49

Alice in Wonderland was Lewis Carroll’s first novel and its fantasy plot, humorous rhymes and brilliant use of nonsense was revolutionary. Nineteenth-century children’s writing usually served moral or educational purpose, but Alice was written firmly and purely for the amusement of children. Critical response was lukewarm, but the book was still a great success, and remains a hugely influential classic of children’s literature.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: AND Through the Looking Glass (Penguin Classics) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Lewis Carroll
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 400
Publication date: 2003-03-27
Publisher: Penguin Classics

RRP: £6.99
Lowest new price: £2.82
Lowest used price: £2.42

Through the Looking-Glass was published in 1971, and is the famous sequel to Alice in Wonderland. Like the first Alice book, Looking-Glass is a brilliantly plotted, wonderfully inventive nonsense story, full of humour, riddles and rhymes. The two books were revolutionary: while most children’s novels had been written to educate and instruct, Carroll’s two book were produced firmly to amuse.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: AND Through the Looking Glass (Penguin Classics) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Lewis Carroll
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 400
Publication date: 2003-03-27
Publisher: Penguin Classics

RRP: £6.99
Lowest new price: £2.82
Lowest used price: £2.42

In an Italian village, Geppetto, an old woodcarver, receives a piece of wood which looks perfect for his next project, a puppet. But when he sets to work something magical happens – the piece of wood begins to talk. When Geppetto is finished, the puppet turns out to be cheeky, naughty, and can walk, run and eat with as hearty an appetite as any young boy.

Maurice Sendak’s children’s picture book has become an acknowledged classic. A winner of the Caldecott Medal for the Most Distinguished Picture Book of the Year in 1964, Where the Wild Things Are is a timeless masterpiece that can be enjoyed equally by children and grown-ups.

At the end of Royal Assassin Fitz had taken poison and died. Although we were sure that this was not the end for him, we eagerly anticipated how Robin Hobb might bring him back to life for the final installment of the trilogy. She did not disappoint.

Assassin's Quest (The Farseer Trilogy - Book 3) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Robin Hobb
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 848
Publication date: 1998-03-16
Publisher: Voyager

RRP: £8.99
Lowest new price: £0.70
Lowest used price: £0.21

The great modern classic and prelude to The Lord of the Rings. Also known as There and back again, this tale was written for Tolkien's own children and has become one of the most loved children's fantasy's books of all time.

The Hobbit (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 400
Publication date: 1993-03-19
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

RRP: £6.99
Lowest new price: £2.02
Lowest used price: £0.01

Poor Bilbo Baggins! An unassuming and rather plump hobbit (as most of these small, furry- footed people tend to be ), Baggins finds himself unwittingly drawn into adventure by a wizard named Gandalf and 13 dwarves bound for the Lonely Mountain, where a dragon named Smaug hordes a stolen treasure. Before he knows what is happening, Baggins finds himself on the road to danger. Wizards, dwarves and dragons may seem the stuff of children's fairy tales, but The Hobbit is in a class of its own--light-hearted enough for younger readers, yet with a dark edge guaranteed to intrigue an older audience. In the best tradition of the archetypal hero's quest, Bilbo Baggins sets out on his fateful journey a callow, untested soul and returns--tempered by hardship, danger and loss--a better man--er, hobbit.

This book is the predecessor to Tolkien's masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, and though that trilogy can be thoroughly enjoyed without first reading The Hobbit, much that happens in the later novels is foreshadowed here. A word of caution, however: as Bilbo discovers early on, travel and adventure are addictive things; embark on this journey to the Lonely Mountain with Tolkien's reluctant hero, and you might not be able to stop there. And the road taken to the distant mountains of Mordor in the ensuing trilogy is an even more perilous one.
Amazon.co.uk Review

Book View Cafe is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet's possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to their readers. The Book View Cafe is a place where you can find free, original fiction plus the authors' best and out-of-print work for a fee. Fantasy Book Review spoke to Book View Cafe member, science fiction author and memoirist Chris Dolley in February 2010.

Lewis Carroll, the elusive author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, has been the subject of enduring fascination for the past hundred years. The destruction of many major documents about his personal life by his descendants has only magnified the mystery. Jenny Woolf's biography, published to coincide with the release of the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland film, lays waste to the myths and suspicions that have obscured Carroll's reputation by placing him firmly in the context of his own time.