Before


Having received a beautiful edition of A Wizard of Earthsea for Christmas, and reread it once more with as much delight as ever, I have decided to extend my blogging about children's fantasy from this century (Magic Fiction Since Potter. LINK BELOW) with occasional posts here about my favourites from the twentieth century.

These books will already be well known to many. But there may now be new generations less familiar with them. The fact that they are from a previous century most certainly does not mean they are no longer worth reading. They are just as accessible, relevant and enjoyable as ever. In fact they are some of the greatest children's books ever written. If my entries here encourage even a few of today's young readers to seek out these wonderful reads (or adults to point them in the right direction) then I will consider the enterprise worthwhile. Perhaps you will find a few less familiar titles too; I think they will prove well worth the effort of seeking out.

Below I have tried to list my gems from this period. My intention is to read each again myself over coming weeks and months and then to record my thoughts about each one separately. I may well remember a few more too as I go along.

Monday 28 December 2015

Magic Fiction Before Potter

 
 

 

Of course, children's fantasy from the second half of the twentieth century was essentially launched by two staggering and seminal creations, Tolkein's Middle Earth and C S Lewis's Narnia (the latter never a personal favourite, but undeniably influential). Here are, in my view, some of the finest works which followed on their heels, but in no way stood in their shadows. They were, and remain, great books in their own right. All are hugely enjoyable reads too.

In some instances I have picked out a single book or sequence to represent a writer of several great fantasies.

 

The towering greats:

Elidor, The Owl Service, Alan Garner

The Dark is Rising Sequence, Susan Cooper

The Earthsea Trilogy, Tehanu, Ursuka K Le Guin (there are also other amazing follow-ups, but they came much later)

The Chronicles of Prydian, Lloyd Alexander

The Dalemark Quartet, Diane Wynn Jones

The Song of Wirrun Trilogy, Patricia Wrightson

 

Other wonderful, and often influential books, well worth seeking out:

The Prince in Waiting Trilogy, John Christopeher

The Whispering Knights, Penelope Lively

The Young Wizard Sequence, Diana Duane

The Changes Trilogy, Peter Dickinson

The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley

Red Moon and Black Mountain, Joy Chant

The Hounds of the Morrigan, Pat O'Shea

Marianne Dreams, Catherine Storr

Fintan's Tower, Catherine Fisher

The Redwall Series, Brian Jaques

Beadbonny Ash, Winifred Finlay

The Wind On Fire Trilogy, William Nicholson

Charlotte Sometimes, Penelope Farmer

The Snow Spider Trilogy, Jenny Nimmo

Boy in Darkness, Mervyn Peake

The Ghost Drum, Ghost Song, Ghost Dance, Susan Price

The Troy Game, a Jean Morris

 

(I am sure this list will grow as I remember and dig out other books from my reading past.)

 

At the turn of the century two other massively influential children's fantasy creation emerged, one of great literary merit, the other of (deservedly) unprecedented popularity. They were of course Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials triology and J K Rowling's Harry Potter sequence. It is my quest to seek out the best of what has followed in the footsteps of these two giants that is the subject of my companion blog Magic Fiction Since Potter.

 

 

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