Recommended Fantasy

Richard Adams Watership Down	A masterpiece of animal
Isabel Allende The House of the Spirits	Allende's first novel, The House of the Spirits, (1985), “is a family chronicle set against the turmoil of political and economic change in Latin America. It was well received by critics, who saw resemblances in the book to the magic realist technique (a blending of the real and the supernatural)” (Encarta).	Public Library
Peter Beagle Folk of the Air	“All is not as it seems at the local West Coast medieval times reenactment club… People dressing up as witches are suddenly casting spells and summoning really bad things from elsewhere… What's a slacker to do? Well, if you're Joe Farrell, you find an old girlfriend, cook a lot of really good food, and generally find yourself in the middle of Really Big Things” (PeterBeagle.com). Hippies and Nature Spirits battle evil.	Availability Unknown
The Last Unicorn	This is another popular work of Peter Beagle.	Availability Unknown
James P. Blaylock ¹ The Digging Leviathan	“Southern California -- sunny days, blue skies, neighbors on flying bicycles ... ghostly submarines ... mermen off the Catalina coast ... and a vast underground sea stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Inland Empire where Chinese junks ply an illicit trade and enormous creatures from ages past still survive. It is a place of wonder ... and dark conspiracies. A place rife with adventure - if one knows where to look for it. Two such seekers are the teenagers Jim Hastings and his friend, Giles Peach. Giles was born with a wonderful set of gills along his neck and insatiable appetite for reading. Drawing inspiration from the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Giles is determined to build a Digging Leviathan. Will he reach the center of the earth? or destroy it in the process?” (Amazon.com).	Availability Unknown
Jorge Luis Borges ⁴ Fictions (Ficciones) Labyrinths Book of Imaginary Beings The Aleph and Other Stories Extraordinary Tales	A master of the short story, Borges is known for his short stories such as “The Garden of Forking Paths” and “The Library of Babylon”. Students are encouraged to read short stories in addition to the novel required for this course. “In his writing Borges created a fantastic, totally subjective, and deeply metaphysical world. His work is demanding and difficult to comprehend because Borges created his own symbolism; it is, however, greatly admired by other writers and scholars… one of the foremost figures in Latin American and world literature” (Encarta).	Availability Unknown
Marion Zimmer Bradley The Mists of Avalon	A modern-day retelling of the tale of King Arthur	School Library
Emma Bull War for the Oaks	A rock and roll guitarist in Minneapolis quits the band and becomes involved in a supernatural war (Amazon.com).	On order
James Branch Cabell ⁵ The Eagle's Shadow	The Eagle's Shadow is “the first volume of the 18-volume series entitled The Biography of Manuel. The series relates the fantasies of a swineherd, Manuel, who becomes a nobleman in Poictesme, an imaginary medieval land. Two of the best-known books of the series are The Cream of the Jest (1917) and Jurgen, a Comedy of Justice” (Encarta).	Availability Unknown
Italo Calvino The Nonexistent Knight & The Cloven Viscount	After his first novel, he “turned to techniques of a genre that became known as magic realism, characteristic of his allegorical novels… These and the later works [Cosmicomics, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, and Mr. Palomar] demonstrate Calvino's unique blend of fantasy, scientific curiosity, and metaphysical speculation” (Encarta).	Availability Unknown
Peter Carey The Big Bazoohley	The Big Bazoohley (1995), a novel of fantasy for children. Not an acceptable choice for this course.	Availability Unknown
Jonathan Carroll Land of Laughs Marriage of Sticks A Wooden Sea		Availability Unknown
Lewis Carroll		This should be available in most libraries.
Alice in Wonderland	Alice chases a talking rabbit down its rabbit-hole and has surrealistic adventures. Its sequel Through the Looking-Glass is often incorporated into film versions. Not an acceptable choice for this course.	This should be available in most libraries.
Susanna Clark Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell	Set in an alternate history of England, early 1800’s, where there are only two sorcerers left, and one has just made a terrible mistake. Magic always has the unexpected results along with the expected.	Availability Unknown
Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising ⁴ Newberry Silver Medallist [Macmillan?]	“On Midwinter's Eve, the night before his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton, seventh son of a seventh son, finds his world suddenly become ominous: Animals are afraid of him; the radio gives out raucous shrieks in his presence; and the weather turns unnaturally cold and wild. Even a neighbour's birthday gift… Early on his birthday morning, Will awakes to find himself centuries back in time and discovers that he is actually the last of the 'Old Ones', a mystical company whose mission has always been to keep the forces of the Dark at bay” (thelostland). The sequels should be read in order. The Grey King, a Newberry Gold Medallist, is the best of the sequels.	School Library and in our English room
John Crowley	“…a beautiful writer, and his novels have played with the very definitions of fantasy” (Bulger).
Little, Big ^{1, 2} [Bantam]	“Little, Big is the epic story of the Drinkwater and Barnable family and their relationship with a mostly unseen world of Faery. In their unique country house (apparently somewhere north of New York City) they are "Protected"—though strange and terrible things may still happen. In "the City", even though Faery may still be close at hand, young Auberon Barnable finds unexpected dangers. Nonetheless the story is largely quiet and slow-moving” (Wikipedia).	In English Room
Aegypt ¹	This is another popular work by John Crowley, with sequels Love & Sleep ¹and Daemonomania ¹.	Availability Unknown
Charles De Lint	Clearly one of the most popular contemporary fantasy writers, most of his books are set in the imaginary American city of Newford. “Newford: where magic lights dark streets, where myths walk in modern shapes, where humans and older beings must work to keep the whole world turning” (twbooks). Other popular works of Charles de Lint include Greenmantle, Wild Wood, Dreaming Place, A Place to Be Flying, and Moonheart.	Availability of mentioned books is unknown.
Yarrow	“Cat Midhir is an author with a secret: she bases her novels on tales told to her by Elves and Gnomes she visits in an Otherworld she accesses whenever she dreams. One problem: she has suddenly stopped dreaming (and therefore stopped writing). An ancient being, Lysistratus, is a vampire-type creature who feeds on the dreams and souls of others in order to gain sustenance, pleasure, and immortality... Cat, who has always been a shy recluse who favors her dream-friends over reality, is forced to find friends and allies who will help her” (Amazon.com).	In English Room
The Onion Girl	“At the centre of the entwined lives of all the Newford tales stands a young artist named Jilly Coppercorn, whose paintings capture the hidden beings that dwell in Newford’s shadows. With her tangled hair, her paint-splattered jeans, a smile perpetually on her lips… Behind the painter’s fey charm there’s a dark secret, and a past she’s laboured to forget. That past is coming to claim her now, threatening all she loves” (twbooks).	Availability Unknown
Paul di Filippo ³ Cities	Di Filippo is mostly known for his shorter works, such as those collected in Cities. Students are encouraged to read short stories in addition to the novel required for this course.	Availability Unknown
Lord Dunsany ⁵	An earlier writer of mostly short stories, before Tolkien or C.S. Lewis.	Availability Unknown
Neil Gaiman Stardust Alex Award (Am. Library Assoc.) [Avon]	Told in a simplistic manner like a child’s fairytale, Dunstan Thorn sets off from the mysterious town of Wall, England, to find his heart’s desire.	In English room
Neverwhere	Another popular work by Neil Gaiman	Availability Unknown
American Gods ¹ [Harper-Torch]	Foul language and graphic sexual deviancy mar this otherwise captivating story of a man released from prison only to romp across America engaged in a battle between modern and ancient gods. “One New York Times bestseller worth reading” (Bulger). Wikipedia also recommended it. Not an acceptable choice for this class	Availability Unknown
Jane Gaskell ³ The Serpent	“The journey to Atlantis begins with Cija's being freed from the tower in which she spent her childhood. Raised thinking that males no longer existed, and that women had evolved beyond them and hatched from eggs, Cija is rudely thrust into the real world with the task of seducing and killing the first man she has ever seen. This is great fantasy by, for, and about an unusual woman” (Amazon.com).	Availability Unknown
Kenneth Grahame Wind in the Willows ⁴	Usually a stay-at-home, Mr. Mole feels the spring in his blood and sets out, meeting the one who will become his best friend and introduce him to a wondrous world. A children’s book written for adults.	This should be available in most libraries.
Mary Gentle ³ A Secret History: The Book of Ash	In a typical fantasy milieu, the mud and blood of a military camp in 15th-century Europe… In unflinching prose, Gentle describes the child's treatment in a men's camp, then the teenager's hard lessons in the art and craft of war, and finally the young woman's rise to command a mercenary army. Ash, it seems, is not only strong and fast but has the advantage of hearing a voice that instructs her on troop deployment. To the well-versed SF reader, the voice begins to sound suspiciously like a tactical computer. Just as the reader gets ready to reassign the book to time travel SF, Gentle inserts… hints that perhaps the novel belongs in the alternate history category.	Availability Unknown
Terry Goodkind Wizard’s First Rule ⁴ New York Times Best Seller [Tor]	Intellectuals sometimes love to hate some successful writers, and here is a fine example. Although the plotting may be trite – Goodkind remains solidly in the sub-genre of sword and sorcery - it is fun, fast-paced, and easy-to-read, which makes its impressive thickness somewhat less daunting. Some readers may find the captivity scenes toward the end of this novel to be brutal and gross.	In English Room
Stefan Grabinski ³	Although sometimes included in fantasy lists, this Polish writer is more appropriately classified as horror – indeed, he is sometimes called the Polish Poe.	Not an acceptable choice for this course
M. John Harrison ¹ Signs of Life	“Harrison is a British writer who transgresses conventional genre boundaries… Mick "China" Rose, an unassuming fellow who runs a shady and lucrative medical-transport-and-waste-disposal business. Along with his partner, Choe, and his lover, Isobel, China drives souped-up vehicles at ferocious speeds through a dreamlike world where dystopian fantasies of biomedical wrongdoings blend with the subtly shifted reality of Harrison's Britain. Choe is a self-destructive child-man who thrashes from an unattainable idyllic past to an unstructured future full of gangsters and rancid waste dumps. Isobel values beauty and longs for physical transformation. As their destinies unfold, the story is not quite horrific, but it's superbly written and chilling, the kind of novel that will haunt you for days” (Amazon.com). A short novel” (Amazon.com).	Availability Unknown
Things that Never Happen	M. John Harrison is probably more known for his short stories, such as this collection, which “take place in what would appear to be a post-apocalyptic far future (what in other fantasy novels would be taken for magic can be seen here to be advanced technologies from lost civilizations)“ (Bulger). Students are encouraged to read short stories in addition to the novel required for this course.	Availability Unknown
Mark Helprin Winter's Tale ¹	In New York City, a story taking place over several years.	Availability Unknown
Robert Holdstock Mythago Wood ¹ World Fantasy Award	“Steven Huxley who, at the beginning of the book, is living in France just after the end of the war…keeps contact with his brother Christian who is still living at their old parental home in Oak Lodge, which is situated on the edge of Ryhope Forest in England. At length he returns home to live with his brother. He has changed almost beyond recognition and acts strangely... [The Forest] is primal untouched old forest never penetrated by modern man… Themes of myth, earth, wood, timelessness and time travel, occult, humans becoming animals and vice versa, love and hate, hope and despair are all intertwined in a most intricate and perplexing manner… the book has the power to communicate a unique and unsettling feeling… it is a gripping read” (Amazon.com).	In English Room
Celtika ¹	Another popular work.	Availability Unknown
Barry Hughart Bridge of Birds ¹	“He supposedly gave up [writing] due to lack of interest in his Master Li series, and these books are so indescribably delightful that if true this constitutes a major collective crime on the part of American readership… all set in his "ancient China that never was," and by turns exhilarating, hilarious, violent and wondrous“ (Bulger).	In English Room
Brian Jacques Redwall [Avon]	A masterpiece of the animal-character genre.	In English Room
Franz Kafka The Trial Amerika	Kafka’s reputation in literature is worldwide. The short story “The Hunger Artist” and the longer story “The Metamorphosis” provide inspiration for generations of fantasy writers. In “The Metamorphosis”, a young man turns into a cockroach overnight. “He is considered one of the most significant figures in modern world literature; the term Kafkaesque has, in fact, come to be applied commonly to grotesque, anxiety-producing social conditions or their treatment in literature… In literary technique, his work has the qualities both of expressionism and of surrealism. Kafka's lucid style, blending reality with fantasy and tinged with ironic humor, contributes to the nightmarish, claustrophobic effect of his work” (Encarta).	Availability Unknown Students are encouraged to read short stories in addition to the novel required for this course
Ursula K. LeGuin	LeGuin has won the National Book Award, a Newberry Medal, two Hugo Awards, and three Nebula Awards. She has also written a series of science fiction novels based on the Odin myths of Scandinavia.
A Wizard of Earthsea ⁴	LeGuin is considered one of the masterpieces of traditional fantasy. A young boy on a backwater island shows magical abilities and is sent to the school for wizards. Some readers may find the style of writing makes the book seem slow, even though there is action. The third book in the series, The Farthest Shore, won the National Book Award.	In English room and in School Library
The Tombs of Atuan ⁴ Newberry Medal Book	The Tombs of Atuantells the story of a young girl on a strange island. Although advertised as a sequel to A Wizard of Earthsea, readers unfamiliar to that book can understand and enjoy this novel without it. The novel is slower-paced but deep and interesting; moderately harder reading.	In English room and in School Library
The Wind’s Twelve Quarters ⁴ [Bantam]	A collection of short stories, some of which are science fiction. Students are encouraged to read short stories in addition to the novel required for this course.	Available in the English Room and in School Library
C.S. Lewis The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ^4,5	Written for children, but if you missed out they are a wonderful read as adults, when you’re looking for something lighter. An alternative to starting with The Lion, which was the first written, consider starting with The Magician’s Nephew, which is the first in chronological order.	Not an acceptable choice for this course
David Lindsay ³ Haunted Woman	Local legend said that long ago spirits or elves or something took the third floor of her new house away, and that the original owner was never seen again. But sometimes, a visitor will say, "I saw the missing floor, but when I retraced my steps, it was gone again.” She bought the house anyway, and what she found up those stairs…	In English Room
Jane Lindskold Changer	“Wild, strange, and unpredictable, he is known as the Changer: the ultimate vagabond who slips in and out of myths and cultures, refusing to be pinned down to any one origin just as he refuses to be tricked into any one shape--or name. Yet when a quest for vengeance forces him to shed animal form and seek out King Arthur, the Changer discovers that the darkest of dangers threaten the timeless realm. For Arthur's sworn enemies have risen once more to topple the king and spread chaos among humankind. The Changer himself will be the enemy's unwitting accomplice, unless he somehow stops the dreaded forces and diabolical powers threatening to destroy Arthur's kingdom--and all humanity” (Amazon.com).	Availability Unknown
H.P.Lovecraft ⁴ The Outsider and Others Haunter of the Dark and Other Tales	Lovecraft is sometimes described as a fantasy writer, but is actually more of a horror writer. Not an acceptable choice for this course “His tales tell of ghoul changelings, psychic possession, unspeakable evil, and mythical worlds in which time and space are dislocated, as in his Cthulhu Mythos stories. His work had considerable influence on fantasy and science fiction writers, and a cult developed. The stories were collected in several posthumous volumes” (Encarta).	Availability Unknown
George MacDonald	An early fantasy writer, C.S. Lewis considered him an important inspiration.
Phantastes [Eerdmans]	A young man in Victorian England enters a strange world that is both dark and beautiful. The novel contains the wonderful short story “Cosmo and the Magic Mirror” in Chapter XIII, which can be read independently of the novel as a whole.	Availability Unknown
The Princess and the Goblin		Availability Unknown
García Márquez Nobel Prize for literature	Márquez was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. We will be reading his short story, “An Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”.
One Hundred Years of Solitude	“One Hundred Years of Solitude, 1970), the epic story of a Colombian family, which shows the stylistic influence of American novelist William Faulkner” (Encarta).	Public Library
Of Love and Other Demons	“Of Love and Other Demons, 1995) is the story of a girl who is believed to be possessed by demons” (Encarta).	Availability Unknown
Juliet Marillier Daughter of the Forest [Tor]	As the natives in ancient Ireland battle against the invading Anglo-Saxons, the daughter of one warlord helps a captive prince. This novel is moderately easy-to-read. Some readers may find it less fast-paced, at least in the beginning.	Available in the English Room
George R.R. Martin ⁴ A Song of Ice and Fire	A Song of Ice and Fire “is set in a fictitious world reminiscent of Europe in the Middle Ages, except for the fact that in this world, seasons can last decades. …the plot is recounted from the perspectives of more than ten main characters… fierce power struggles between several aristocratic families… But all of them ignore the oncoming winter and the dangers it brings about” (Wikipedia).	Availability Unknown
George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle Windhaven [Spectra]	Windhaven is the name of an ocean world. Its waters are filled with dangerous sea-creatures, so the small inhabited islands can only communicate with each other through gliders. Maris wants to be a flyer more than anything to be one. Easy-reading, moderately paced.	In English Room
China Mieville The Scar ^1,4 British Fantasy Award Finalist for Hugo Award, Philip K. Dick Award, Arthur C. Clark Award, and World Fantasy Award [Del Rey]	The Scar is a bizarre, dark vision of an alternative world; it occasionally crosses the border into gothic. The main character is kidnapped and brought to a city made of boats chained together. This book is not for the timid or light reader; some readers may be offended by foul language or occasional gross description, but the barrier to most readers is that it is just too imaginative. This, however, is precisely what will appeal to those that like it.	In English Room
Hope Mirlees ⁵	Lud-in-the-Mist and The King of Elfland’s Daughter have been recommended.	Availability Unknown
Michael Moorcock Elric of Melniboné	“Moorcock's most popular works by far have been the Elric novels, starring the character Elric of Melnibone. Moorcock wrote the first Elric stories as a deliberate reversal of the cliches common in Tolkien-inspired fantasy… Where a conventional fantasy hero rescues fair maidens from evil villains, fights against evil wizards, and saves his home country from invaders, Elric slays his true love, is himself a wizard in league with the demon lord Arioch, and leads invaders to lay waste to Melniboné” (Wikipedia).	Availability Unknown
Mervyn Peake Titus Groan¹	Titus Groanis the first of three Gormenghast novels held in high regard in Britain; darker than Tolkien, has been said to have a Dickens influence. He “was a contemporary of Tolkien, and in England his "Gormenghast" novels… are supposedly held in as high regard as "The Lord of the Rings" (Bulger).	In English Room
Timothy Powers	Powers is described as a writer with “relentless imagination.” His other popular works include The Anubis Gates, Declare, Dinner at Deviant’s Palace, and The Stress of Her Regard	Availability Unknown
Last Call ¹	The Fisher-king, the Tarot, and the Casino… “his syncretic imagination is awe-inspiring, but his stories tend to flag a bit toward their ends. Nevertheless, as perhaps the best of the modern "urban fantasists," he deserves mention. The sequence of 'Last Call', 'Expiration Date' and 'Earthquake Weather' is relentlessly inventive" (Bulger).	Availability Unknown
Phillip Pullman The Golden Compass ⁴	Pullman is fairly fast-paced and moderately easy-to-read. It takes place on an alternate world or parallel universe similar to Earth, but with several very important differences. Some readers find the author’s anti-religious attitude bordering on bigotry.	In Library
J. K. Rawlings Harry Potter series	Of course	Not an acceptable choice for this course
Juan Perez Rulfo Pedro Páramo	“Rulfo's reputation is based on just two works: a novel, Pedro Páramo…and a collection of short stories [The Burning Plain]. Rulfo's work reflects the dry Mexican landscape in its frugal use of language, and at all times the reader is aware of a sense of violence and death… The novel Pedro Páramo is notable for its use of magic realism and for the startling situations that the reader encounters” (Encarta).	Availability Unknown
Bruno Schulz ³ Street of Crocodiles	Short stories - Students are encouraged to read short stories in addition to the novel required for this course.	Availability Unknown
Clark Ashton Smith ³ The Red World of Polaris		Availability Unknown
Michael Swanwick The Iron Dragon’s Daughter^1,3	This is a solid genre novel. “Michael Swanwick is one author who will always do what you least expect in his novels; 'The Iron Dragon's Daughter' is simultaneously a great tale and a commentary on all of the fantasy tropes that came before it” (Bulger).	Availability Unknown
J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit ⁴ The Lord of the Rings ⁴	His reputation makes description unnecessary:everyone is either imitating him or rebelling against him.	Not acceptable choices for this course
The Silmarillion ⁴	A daunting, thick work that spans not just centuries, but ages. The work varies from something like the Old Testament in the beginning to accounts of myths or history through the bulk. It’s a wonderful idea to read it with Unfinished Tales in the other hand. Students who have already read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are encouraged to explore these tales, but it is not acceptable as a selection for the novel required for this course.	Availability Unknown
Jeff VanderMeer ³ Veniss Underground	“It is sci-fi that reads like fantasy, and it brims over with grotesque imagery that one might expect to find in a horror work… Vandermeer's treatment of "living art" is spectacular, especially when he goes completely over the top and depicts a wholly bioengineered world of Bosch-like deformity… There are some other beautifully horrific parts, such as a visit to a very unsanitary organ bank. Vandermeer seems to excel at creating bizarre settings. The plot is quite gripping as well, [and the novel can be read] in around four hours” (Amazon.com).	Availability Unknown
Paula Volsky Illusion⁴	Illusion is an easy-reading, mostly fast-paced novel of a spoiled aristocratic girl as she experiences a revolution on an alien world. Some infrequent description of violence toward the end of the novel may seem gross to some readers.	In English Room
Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn aka Dragonbone Chair	There are some complaints of a slow start, but generally recommended in the genre of sword and sorcery.	Availability Unknown
Terry Windling The Wood Wife [Tor] Mythopoeic Award for Best Novel	“Journalist and ex-poet Maggie Black has inherited the estate of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Davis Cooper, with whom she corresponded for years, but never met [and who] drowned in the Arizona desert, the victim of a mysterious murder… she moves to Cooper's desert home, seeking to unravel the secrets of Cooper and his late lover, the mad painter Anna Naverra. But these, Maggie will discover, are not the desert's only mysteries. Ancient powers are stirring--enigmatic and dangerous spirits that would use humans for their own purposes” (Amazon.com).	Availability Unknown
GeneWolfe ^{1, 3, 4, 5}	On the border between fantasy and science fiction;	Availability Unknown
The Shadow and the Claw (The first part of this book was previously published as The Shadow of the Torturer.)	“This is the first-person narrative of Severian, a lowly apprentice torturer blessed and cursed with a photographic memory, whose travels lead him through the marvels of far-future Urth, and who--as revealed near the beginning--eventually becomes his land's sole ruler or Autarch. On the surface it's a colorful story with all the classic ingredients: growing up, adventure, sex, betrayal, murder, exile, battle, monsters, and mysteries to be solved” (Amazon.com).	Availability Unknown
Urth of the New Sun.	Also popular	Availability Unknown
Chris Wooding ³ The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray Silver Award of the Nestle Smarties Prize Nominated for the Carnegie Medal	In Wooding's alternative, Victorian London, a new plague is underway: an infestation of demonic creatures known as wych-kin. Thaniel Fox, a 17-year-old wych-hunter… spends his time reducing wych-kin populations with methods that combine magic, superstition, and good old-fashioned gun slinging. After stumbling upon an obviously traumatized young woman on one of his expeditions, he swiftly discovers that she has escaped from the clutches of a powerful cult called the Fraternity. The connections between Alaizabel's plight, rising numbers of wych-kin, and the Fraternity's plans are revealed by tantalizing degrees… This is dark fare, often graphically violent (a Jack-the-Ripper-type serial killer plays a role), but not gratuitously so… philosophical underpinnings suggesting an imagination heavily steeped in Tolkien and Pullman.	In English Room

Recommended by:

¹ Michael Bulger

² Wikipedia

³ China Mieville

⁴ Lance J. Greenlee

⁵ Neil Gaiman

Not Recommended

Frank Baum –occasionally the movie is far better than the book – this is an example. Be satisfied with the movie and leave this disappointing hack alone.

Terry Brooks - a cheap knock-off of Tolkien – why not just read the original?

Steven R. Donaldson – yuck! Did this guy have any plan before he started?

Ian Irvine – stay away; stay far, far away.

Possibilities to Explore

Carey, Peter	“His first published work, a collection of short stories, The Fat Man in History (1974), was immediately well received and established him as one of Australia's major contemporary writers and literary innovators. The series of novels which followed confirmed this reputation and consolidated his style of mixing realism and fantasy in a manner that has been compared to the work of writers such as American novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez, and Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges… Carey's works also include War Crimes (1979), a second collection of short stories…” (Encarta).	Availability Unknown
Bliss	after a near-fatal heart, Harry Joy, an advertising executive, thinks he has died and in now in Hell. A witty satire of our world.	Availability Unknown
Illywhacker	Illywhacker (1985), a work of epic scope about a 139-year-old conman (Encarta).	Availability Unknown
The Unusual Life of Tristam Smith	The Unusual Life of Tristam Smith (1994), the story of a boy's search for his father's identity at the same time that he struggles to come to terms with a physical birth defect. (Encarta).	Availability Unknown
The Tax Inspector	The Tax Inspector (1991), about the unusual investigation of the Catchprice family and their dubious company, Catchprice Motors, by an eight-month-pregnant tax inspector (Encarta).	Availability Unknown

Juvenile

Moorchild Eloise McGraw (Margaret McElderry/Simon & Schuster) 1997 Honor Book	Moorchild Moql becomes the changeling Saaski, half-human, half-Folk, an outcast in both worlds. The readers is drawn into the lives of the moorfolk who fear Saaski; of Tam, who tries to understand her; and of Saaski's parents, who try to defend her from superstitious villagers.
The Blue Sword Robin McKinley (Greenwillow) 1983 Honor Book	Harry Crewe is an orphan girl who comes to live in Damar, the desert country shared by the Homelanders and the secretive, magical Hillfolk. Her life is quiet and ordinary-until the night she is kidnapped by Corlath, the Hillfolk King, who takes her deep into the desert. She does not know the Hillfolk language; she does not know why she has been chosen. But Corlath does. Harry is to be trained in the arts of war until she is a match for any of his men.
A Ring of Endless Light Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar) 1981 Honor Book	Vicky Austin is filled with strong feelings as she stands near Commander Rodney's grave while her grandfather, who himself is dying of cancer, recites the funeral service. Watching his condition deteriorate as the summer passes on beautiful Seven Bay Island is almost more than Vicky can bear. To complicate things, she finds herself the center of attention for three very different boys: Leo is an old friend wanting comfort and longing for romance; Zachary, whose attempted suicide...
Carey, Peter The Big Bazoohley	The Big Bazoohley (1995), a novel of fantasy for children. (Encarta).	Not an acceptable choice for this course.