1988 THE LIVES OF
CHRISTOPHER CHANT
BY DIANA WYNNE JONES
The Chrestomanci holds a
unique position: blessed
with nine lives and powerful
magic, he is tasked with the
responsibility of overseeing
parallel worlds. But young
Christopher, destined to become
the Chrestomanci in later years,
doesn’t know that yet. First, he
becomes a pawn in the illicit
smuggling plots of his nefarious
uncle, befriends a mysterious
child goddess and—eventually—
discovers his own formidable
powers as an enchanter.1990 THE EYE
OF THE WORLD
BY ROBERT JORDAN
Jordan takes the reader to an
enormous world full of magic,
monsters, wars, politics,
history and danger. While the
setup is banal (unassuming
farm boy is the chosen one
of prophecy), this epic tale
succeeds on how it subverts
expectations: the hero is
prophesied to kill everyone
around him; magic is an
exceptionally political pursuit;
and the history of every culture
described in the book is put to
good use.Cooper was at Oxford when both
Lewis and Tolkien taught there,
and her work has been described
as a bridge between their era
and the YA fantasy epics of more
recent decades.
1973 THE PRINCESS BRIDE
BY WILLIAM GOLDMAN
Buttercup, the most beautiful
woman in the world, is betrothed
to a malicious monarch. But she
finds a savior in her long-lost
love Wesley, who teams with
giant Fezzik and Inigo Montoya,
a swordsman bent on avenging
his father’s death, for an epic
showdown with the prince.
Goldman presents himself
in the narration as an author
excising the “boring bits” from
a (made-up) old fairy tale, and
pauses at the end of each
chapter to analyze the fantasy
genre and reminisce about his
own father telling him fantastical
bedtime stories.
1975 TUCK EVERLASTING
BY NATALIE BABBITT
Young Winnie Foster comes to
know a family, the Tucks, who
were granted the seemingly
enviable but actually burdensome
miracle of immortality when
they unknowingly drank from a
magical spring on her family’s
property. Saddled with a secret
she must help to conceal as
outsiders seek to profit off of
the powerful elixir, Winnie learns
that it is the fact of life’s ending
that gives meaning to all that
comes before.
1978 A SWIFTLY
TILTING PLANET
BY MADELEINE L’ENGLE
In the third book in L’Engle’s
Time Quintet series, child genius
Charles Wallace is now well into
his teen years, and his older
sister, Meg, so often his protector
and companion, is beginning
a family of her own. But when
an imminent threat of nuclear
war arises, Charles Wallace is
once again thrust into a winding
journey through time to save the
planet and everyone on it.
1979 THE BLOODY CHAMBER
BY ANGELA CARTER
Much of the European fairy-tale
canon is either obviously or
ambiguously misogynistic. Carter
addressed this issue when she
published her collection of short
stories that reimagine many
of these texts from a feminist
perspective. Whereas the
traditional forms tend to portray
female characters as objects
whose sexuality is passive and
unspoken—a thing to be won
by a prince, but always
repressed—Carter’s stories
insist on an active and visceral
feminine sexuality.1982 THE BFG
BY ROALD DAHL
After an orphan named Sophie
is snatched from her bed by
a mysterious 24-ft.-tall figure
who refers to himself as the
BFG, or Big Friendly Giant, the
pair form an unlikely friendship.
But when Sophie learns that
the large-eared, sensitive and
silly-speaking BFG is the lone
vegetarian among his child-eating
brethren, she determines to put a
stop to their murderous ways.1983 ALANNA: THE FIRST
ADVENTURE
BY TAMORA PIERCE
We first meet Alanna of Trebond
as she’s preparing to disguise
herself as a boy and take her
twin brother’s place as a knight
in training. In many ways ahead
of its time, Pierce’s fantastical YA
story, part of a series, doesn’t shy
away from addressing issues of
feminism, diversity, gender and
sexuality, and class politics.1986 HOWL’S
MOVING CASTLE
BY DIANA WYNNE JONES
Rather than fight the curse
that gives her the appearance
(and the aches and pains) of
an old woman, 18-year-old
Sophie chooses to protect her
sisters from the predations of a
notorious lady-killing wizard bybecoming his housekeeper. But
not all is as it seems in the wizard
Howl’s castle. Doors open into
parallel worlds, the hearth fire
has an attitude, and Howl spends
several hours a day primping
in the bathroom, letting his
apprentice do all the work.1986 REDWALL
BY BRIAN JACQUES
When the peaceful woodland
creatures who make their home
in a red sandstone abbey at the
edge of Mossflower Woods find
themselves besieged by a rat
army, the brave mouse Matthias
seeks out the sword that can
save the day.1987 SWORDSPOINT
BY ELLEN KUSHNER
Though there are many duels
fought with swords in the world
of Riverside, the clashes simply
spoken out loud are what define
Kushner’s cult-favorite novel.
Swordspoint is a defining work
in the fantasy of manners
subgenre, which forgoes a
kingdom in need of saving or
a world to protect and instead
underlines the quieter dilemmas
characters face. In this instance,
the story follows the journey of
a swordsman and his tormented
love for a scholar named Alec.‘Don’t think
of fantasy
as mere
entertainment ...
but as a way to
train for reality.’
N.K. JEMISIN,
panelist