Reviews for Narnia explored

The average rating for Narnia explored based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-04-05 00:00:00 Michael Davalos Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels, 1946-1987: Introduces many lesser-known fantasy works Originally posted at Fantasy Literature Following on the success of Science Fiction: 100 Best Novels, An English-Language Selection, 1949-1984, it made sense that David Pringle would tackle the wide-ranging and ill-defined field of fantasy with Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels, An English-Language Selection, 1946-1987. It's actually an amazing effort, since Pringle would have had to read extensively in both genres for almost 4 decades, and I think it's quite unusual for someone to do that for both genres. Moreover, though the borders of SF are defined differently by each person you ask, this is even more so for the fantasy genre, which can include horror, epic fantasy, hallucinatory trips, magic realism, contemporary fantasy, and things that don't fit any convenient categories. It's almost impossible to narrow this down to a mere 100 works, so I'm sure people would disagree with many of his choices, but that's the fun of "Best of" lists. David Pringle did not shy from the task, and produced a fascinating and wide-ranging list. I dare anyone to claim to have read 75% of these books, let alone all. There are so many unfamiliar books and authors that dedicated fantasy fans will immediately feel a desire to fill in all the gaps and take up the challenge. It's another task that may take a lifetime, but I have discovered and enjoyed many lesser-known writers here that I would never have known about otherwise. There are so many writers that you might not have heard of or didn't consider part of the genre. I can't imagine even our most widely-read fantasy fans have read more than two-thirds of this list. And there could be no consensus on which books are the best - it's all a matter of taste, but what incredible variety. Each entry is two pages long - they are written succinctly and give the all-important historical and literary context for each book, along with a basic outline of the plot. Occasionally he will include some spoilers in the last few paragraphs, so be careful! But his reviews are surprisingly entertaining to read. He is also very honest is describing what type of books they are, so you can immediately eliminate books that don't fit your taste. I really took away a better understanding of the history and development of the genre, something that informs my reviews today. It's amazing how broadly and deeply he's read in the genre. For many years I used this book and Science Fiction: 100 Best Novels as guides to track down the more obscure titles in various used bookstores. I managed to get quite a few of them, but even 30 years later I've only read around 27 to my chagrin. I consider it a point of pride to read as many as I can before this mortal coil expires. Here is the list in chronological order - how many of them have you read already? I've put an asterisk next to those I've read. 1. Titus Groan* by Mervyn Peake 2. The Book of Ptath by A. E. van Vogt 3. The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt 4. Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson 5. Seven Days in New Crete by Robert Graves 6. Silverlock* by John Myers Myers 7. The Castle of Iron by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt 8. Conan the Conqueror by Robert E. Howard 9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe* by C. S. Lewis 10. Gormenghast* by Mervyn Peake 11. The Dying Earth* by Jack Vance 12. The Sound of His Horn by Sarban 13. Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber 14. The Sinful Ones by Fritz Leiber 15. The Broken Sword* by Poul Anderson 16. The Lord of the Rings* by J. R. R. Tolkien 17. Pincher Martin by William Golding 18. The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson 19. Dandelion Wine* by Ray Bradbury 20. The Once and Future King* by T. H. White 21. The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag by Robert A. Heinlein 22. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 23. Titus Alone* by Mervyn Peake 24. A Fine and Private Place* by Peter S. Beagle 25. Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson 26. The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything by John D. MacDonald 27. Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein 28. Witch World by Andre Norton 29. The Magus by John Fowles 30. Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock 31. The Crying of Lot 49* by Thomas Pynchon 32. Day of the Minotaur by Thomas Burnett Swann 33. The Eyes of the Overworld* by Jack Vance 34. The Owl Service by Alan Garner 35. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin 36. The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien 37. Gog by Andrew Sinclair 38. The Last Unicorn* by Peter S. Beagle 39. A Wizard of Earthsea* by Ursula K. Le Guin 40. The Swords of Lankhmar* by Fritz Leiber 41. Black Easter by James Blish 42. The Green Man by Kingsley Amis 43. The Phoenix and the Mirror by Avram Davidson 44. A Feast Unknown by Philip José Farmer 45. Fourth Mansions by R. A. Lafferty 46. Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant 47. Time and Again* by Jack Finney 48. Grendel by John Gardner 49. Briefing for a Descent into Hell by Doris Lessing 50. Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny 51. Watership Down* by Richard Adams 52. The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman by Angela Carter 53. Sweet Dreams by Michael Frayn 54. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip 55. Salem's Lot by Stephen King 56. The Great Victorian Collection by Brian Moore 57. Grimus by Salman Rushdie 58. Peace* by Gene Wolfe 59. The Malacia Tapestry by Brian Aldiss 60. The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson 61. Hotel de Dream by Emma Tennant 62. The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter 63. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever* by Stephen R. Donaldson 64. The Shining by Stephen King 65. Fata Morgana by William Kotzwinkle 66. Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Leiber 67. Gloriana, or, The Unfulfill'd Queen by Michael Moorcock 68. The Unlimited Dream Company by J. G. Ballard 69. Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein 70. The Land of Laughs* by Jonathan Carroll 71. The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas 72. A Storm of Wings* by M. John Harrison 73. White Light by Rudy Rucker 74. Ariosto by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro 75. Cities of the Red Night by William S. Burroughs 76. Little, Big by John Crowley 77. Lanark: A Life in Four Books by Alasdair Gray 78. The War Hound and the World's Pain by Michael Moorcock 79. Nifft the Lean* by Michael Shea 80. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin 81. Soul Eater by K. W. Jeter 82. Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy 83. Cold Heaven by Brian Moore 84. The Anubis Gates* by Tim Powers 85. Who Made Stevie Crye? by Michael Bishop 86. The Digging Leviathan by James P. Blaylock 87. Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter 88. The Businessman: A Tale of Terror by Thomas M. Disch 89. Mythago Wood* by Robert Holdstock 90. The Glamour by Christopher Priest 91. The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike 92. Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd 93. The Dream Years by Lisa Goldstein 94. The Summer Tree* by Guy Gavriel Kay 95. The Bridge* by Iain Banks 96. The Hungry Moon by Ramsey Campbell 97. Replay* by Ken Grimwood 98. The Unconquered Country by Geoff Ryman 99. The Day of Creation by J. G. Ballard 100. Ægypt by John Crowley

Review # 2 was written on 2012-07-03 00:00:00 Dale Diede The quality of his selections is top notch, and after flipping through these 100 entries, I must admit that my 'wish list' fattened up a few more pounds. David Pringle has done wonders writing about the classics of genre fiction, some well-known, others nearly forgotten, and here he keeps his analysis minimal, giving the reader brief synopses and brief rhetoric to what makes the novels so important in modern fantasy. However, there's one thing that gnawed on me was his willingness to drop spoilers, not minute ones, but conclusive ones that may spoil the read entirely. I don't know if he was assuming most readers of this book would have already read his selections, but it was a bit grating. For me, these type of 'best of' books are great for discovering gems, not revisiting them. Anyhow, it's all about his diverse scope of entries. Ramsey Campbell's 'The Hungry Moon' alongside Tolkein and Poul Anderson, rubbing shoulders with Michael Shea's 'Nifft the Lean' and Ken Grimwood's 'Replay', this is a near-must for bookworms, and thankfully one that rises above the stereotypical fairyland tales and sword & sandal epics. Truly shows how the genre label of 'fantasy' has an incredibly wide scope. So close to a 4-star read.