an intro. to literary science fiction and fantasy
Explore the best literary science fiction and fantasy books with our curated intro list. Discover classic and modern masterpieces that blend rich storytelling with deep themes.
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The Worm Ouroboros
by E. R. Eddison
"The greatest and most convincing writer of 'invented worlds' that I have read." J. R. R. Tolkien. Written in the best traditions of Homeric epics, Eddison's masterpiece recounts compelling tales of warriors and witches. "
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Figures of Earth
by James Branch Cabell
A tale of the imaginary land of Poictesme, where chivalry and gallantry live on.
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Jurgen
by James Branch Cabell
One of the most-talked-about works of the 1920s, this compelling fantasy recounts the odyssey of a middle-aged pawnbroker who regains his youth for a year of amorous adventures. Jurgen's allegorical journey leads through a supernatural dreamscape to romances with Guenevere and The Lady of the Lake and confrontations with God and the Devil. This edition of Cabell's witty and irreverent landmark of modern fiction contains the full text of the revised and definitive version of 1926, together with 13 striking full-page illustrations by Frank Papé.
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The High Place
by James Branch Cabell
"In the sulphurous The High Place, the amoral hero Florian enters the sleeping-beauty story and (unlike Jurgen with Helen) does not draw back at the sight of excessive beauty. Complications ensue: Beauty is realistically diminished during pregnancy, the first-born child is forfeit to Satan under the pact that guaranteed Florain's success, and an irascible saint is eager to call down holy fire on transgressors. Florian treads close to damnation and is saved only when Satan and the angel Michael conspire to let recent events become, again, a dream: he has a rare second chance and learns better." -- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
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The Silver Stallion
by James Branch Cabell
A humorous historical novel, set in a fictional French province during the Middle Ages. The novel describes the power struggles between the various rulers of the province.
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The Jack Vance Treasury
by Jack Vance
A massive (over 230,000 words) gathering of fiction by the master of science-fantasy.
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Norstrilla
by Cordwainer Smith
This is a volume in the NESFA's Choice series. The objective of this series is to publish the classic works of neglected sf authors, and to keep these works in print.
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Melting Worlds
by Dorian Pratt
In the distant future, a drug smuggler disappears after meeting with a vicious dealer, and his lover, Jess Ichikawa, a young, emotionally unstable swordswoman, sets out to find him. Accompanied by her sole friend, a singing, genetically modified toad, she finds herself in the middle of a brutal, complex struggle between interstellar criminal gangs that takes her from one strange world to another and brings her into conflict with various deadly mobsters and deviants. Drawing on story-telling conventions from India, Melting Worlds is an absurd, poetic, grotesque, and unclassifiable tale enlivened with wild, impossible action, byzantine plots, ornate descriptions, outlandish technologies, introspective moments, bizarre occurrences, and philosophical allusions. Also available for a discounted price at Dorian Pratt's store on Lulu.
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The King of Elfland's Daughter
by Lord Dunsany
“No amount of mere description can convey more than a fraction of Lord Dunsany's pervasive charm.”—H.P. Lovecraft With an introduction by Neil Gaiman The poetic style and sweeping grandeur of The King of Elfland's Daughter has made it one of the most beloved fantasy novels of our time, a masterpiece that influenced some of the greatest contemporary fantasists. The heartbreaking story of a marriage between a mortal man and an elf princess is a masterful tapestry of the fairy tale following the “happily ever after.” Praise for The King of Elfland's Daughter “We find that he has but tranfigured with beauty the common sights of the world.”—William Butler Yeats “I shall indeed be happy if this volume contributes to the rediscovery of one of the greatest writers of this century.”—Arthur C. Clarke “Del Rey is to be thanked for bringing these works back into print. No one can understand modern fantasy without understanding its roots, and Lord Dunsany's work is immediately significant as well as enjoyable even today.”—Katharine Kerr “A fantasy novel in a class with the Tolkien books.”—L. Sprague de Camp
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The Thurb Revolution
by Alexei Panshin
"Yagoots? That's what Pickles and Daisy Smetana, formerly the Toast of the Empire, now the keepers of half an inn on a sleepy (but picturesque) vacation planet, wondered: What can you do with Yagoots? Our hero, Anthony Villiers, sometimes Viscount Charteris and peripatetic player of a most dangerous game, thought he knew. But then, how far can you trust the instincts of a man, however charming, who insists on traveling with a large, furry alien who rides a red tricycle? Someone who unveils suggestive imagery even in the innocent tales of the sainted Mrs. Waldo Wintergood herself? Even if talking pink clouds with illusions of deity do confide in him, how can you be quite sure of a man so sought after for purposes ranging from pornography to hero-worship to ... murder? (THURB)"--Back cover
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The DNA Cowboys Trilogy
by Mick Farren
"Written practically non-stop in 1975 and 1976, The DNA Cowboys Trilogy offers fantastic adventures into the unknown and unexpected. With influences that range from Star Trek to Kung Fu and from the Marquis de Sade to Sam Peckinpah, Farren has created a bizarre universe populated with pre-teen dictators, huge twin-brained domestic lizards and growing biocomputers tended by martial arts-practising monks. Farren let his imagination run wild and the results are awesome. Expect fanciful weapons, medieval jails, public hangings, Albert Speer architecture, gunfights, stiletto heels and femmes fatales in tight clothing, orgies, orgasms, and undefined monsters called Disruptors that suck up all life and logic."--BOOK JACKET. Book jacket.
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The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition (The Annotated Books)
by Lewis Carroll
Presents an annotated version of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass," including recently discovered John Tenniel illustrations and newly added Martin Gardner annotations.
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Elric of Melnibone
by Michael Moorcock
Melniboné: No longer the mighty empire that once dominated the world but a waning kingdom, dependent on trade from the human nations which have begun the challenge her power. On his ruby Throne sits the albino Elric - sorcerer and warrior. A melancholy philosopher at odds with his destiny. As fleets of marauders probe the defences of the Dragon Isle, Elric faces treachery within his own court - from Yyrkoon, the cruel and ambitious cousin who dreams of usurping him.
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The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
by Robert E. Howard
Conan is one of the greatest fictional heroes ever created– a swordsman who cuts a swath across the lands of the Hyborian Age, facing powerful sorcerers, deadly creatures, and ruthless armies of thieves and reavers. “Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities . . . there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. . . . Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand . . . to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.” In a meteoric career that spanned a mere twelve years before his tragic suicide, Robert E. Howard single-handedly invented the genre that came to be called sword and sorcery. Collected in this volume, profusely illustrated by artist Mark Schultz, are Howard’s first thirteen Conan stories, appearing in their original versions–in some cases for the first time in more than seventy years–and in the order Howard wrote them. Along with classics of dark fantasy like “The Tower of the Elephant” and swashbuckling adventure like “Queen of the Black Coast,” The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian contains a wealth of material never before published in the United States, including the first submitted draft of Conan’s debut, “Phoenix on the Sword,” Howard’s synopses for “The Scarlet Citadel” and “Black Colossus,” and a map of Conan’s world drawn by the author himself. Here are timeless tales featuring Conan the raw and dangerous youth, Conan the daring thief, Conan the swashbuckling pirate, and Conan the commander of armies. Here, too, is an unparalleled glimpse into the mind of a genius whose bold storytelling style has been imitated by many, yet equaled by none.