The Best Fantasy Books of the 1960's

A Wizard Of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle) Start here

by Guin, Ursula K. Le

Today, Ursula K. Le Guin’s magic system may not sound exceptional. Like many, it uses the knowledge of true names to control elements, creatures, and even humans. Consider, however, that this book was published in 196...

The Last Unicorn (The Last Unicorn) Start here

by Beagle, Peter S.

The short sequel to The Last Unicorn and is the quest of a young girl who seeks to make her village safe from a mean griffon.

Told from the perspective of the unicorn herself, this novel is as much satire as it is fairytale. The journey begins when she overhears a conversation insinuating that the unicorns are probably gone out of the world,...

Stormbringer (Elric)

by Moorcock, Michael

Elric is the ill-fated albino prince of a fading race who bears the sword Stormbringer in his journeys through the Young Kingdoms of man.This is the last book of the Elric Saga, in which Elric will finally learn his fate...

The Chronicles Of Prydain (The Chronicles Of Prydain)

by Alexander, Lloyd

Alexander's Wales-inspired epic fantasy offers little in the way of originality when compared to the novels of today. It's a simple tale of Taran, a pig farmer who has always wanted more, and gets more than he's barg...

The Dark Is Rising (The Dark Is Rising)

by Cooper, Susan

Harry Potter did the English magician story very well, but it also overshadowed some incredible books with similar settings. Will is a chosen one of sorts, one of the few that can battle the powers. His mentor is an old,...

A Wrinkle In Time

by L'engle, Madeleine

Meg seems to have a perfectly normal life. The normality ends quite suddenly when her littlest brother, Charles, meets Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. Suddenly, Meg's normal life is anything but as she is whisked...

Where The Wild Things Are

by Sendak, Maurice

This book is about a boy named Max who puts on a wolf costume and feels like making some trouble. He breaks some rules and is sent to bed without supper. That night his imagination runs wild. He goes on a journey in the...

Witch World (Witch World) Start here

by Lackey, Andre Norton And Mercedes

Simon Tregarth is a man on the run from various shadowy ruffians, people he associated with because he was wrongly convicted of working the black market while in the military. Willing to try anything, he ends up passing...

The Weirdstone Of Brisingamen (Tales Of Alderley) Start here

by Garner, Alan

While vacationing with their Mother's ancient nurse in Wales, young Colin and Susan come to learn of the Legend of Alderley, a story of mystery and magic. Obviously, at first it's simply an enjoyable story, an integral p...

The Jewel In The Skull

by Moorcock, Michael

This book is set amongst the fighting in an alternate Europe where the evil mages of the Empire of Grand Britain are overrunning Europe. Dorian Hawkmoon, the Duke of Koln, faces orthnicopter flying machines, men in beast...

The Goblin Tower

by Camp, L. Sprague De

Xylar's kings have a tough life. Every five years the current king is beheaded and any audience member who catches the head reluctantly becomes the next king. After King Jorian is rescued by the magician Karadur, he prom...

Pern Series

by Mccaffrey, Anne

This series explores the relationship between dragons and their riders in detail.

Dragonriders of Pern is the dragon rider series against which all dragon fantasies should be measured. McCaffrey weaves a believable, spellbinding tale of a world of men and dragons battling against an uncaring enemy and...

Elidor

by Garner, Alan

Four children who are exploring a ruined church accidently travel to another world, the mysterious realm of Elidor. In Elidor, they become the keepers of the four treasures and are sent back to earth to protect these tre...

James And The Giant Peach

by Dahl, Roald

James and the Giant Peach is about a little boy named James, whose parents died, and now lives with his wicked aunts. One day, someone suspicious gives him a bag of green things to make something spectacular, but James a...

The Winter Of Enchantment

by Clayton, Victoria

When Sebastian, a boy in Victorian England, sees an unhappy young girl in an antique mirror, he feels compelled to purchase it and free her from captivity. Melissa was kidnapped long ago by a wicked Enchanter who swore t...

One Hundred Years Of Solitude

by Marquez, Gabriel Garcia

An influential and Nobel Prize winning novel that sees time as nonlinear. Magical, lyrical, Garcia Marquez is one of the literary giants of Magical Realism.

One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of a town, Macondo, and the special family that lives there. Weird things seem to happen in Macondo; sleeping disorders, eerie scientists, dangerous soldiers and strange murd...

The Serpent

by Gaskell, Jane

It is the first of a series following the travels of a naive girl-child goddess set in a harsh land. In the ancient forgotten world of prehistory, a girl is born. For the last seventeen years the Dictatress, her mother,...

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket) Start here

by Dahl, Roald

Charlie is a poor yet happy child who lives with his mother, father and four old grandparents in a one-room bungalow on the outskirts of town. He is the kind of boy who dreams of a better life not for himself but rather...

Steel Magic

by Lackey, Andre Norton And Mercedes

Steel Magic, also known as Gray Magic is the first fantasy novel in the Magic Sequence, a series for older children. It is based loosely on the legends of King Arthur and Roland. The story revolves around three siblings,...

The Mouse And The Motorcycle

by Cleary, Beverly

This is a rollicking little tale about the friendship between a mouse who lives in a dilapidated hotel and a boy who stays there over a long weekend. The mouse learns to ride the boy's shiny red toy motorcycle, which thr...

The Phantom Tollbooth

by Juster, Norton

A children's book about a boy who is really bored and finds himself playing with a magic tollbooth where he discovers that learning is fun.

Tollbooth tells the story of Milo, a boy who is pretty much bored of everything around him. One day he gets a mysterious package that turns out to be a toy tollbooth. With nothing else to do, he decides to assemble the g...