Classic Fantasy Pre 1980s

[GOLLUM]

**Sorry if a classic Fantasy masterworks/authors thread has already been posted, couldn't see one!**

Hi all!

I've noticed a few threads on classic SF and SF Hall Of Fame etc.. but I haven't yet seen one specifically on classic fantasy series/authors.

If you could PLEASE maybe not flood this thread at this early stage with detailed info on some of the classic fantasy authors of past eras but maybe just make suggestions by way of the author's name at this time!

I'm talking here of older sereis from 30's, 40' 50's etc.. up to say the late '70's as well as possibly from previous centuries.

I'm by no means an expert on these but I have read several I suppose what you could label as Fantasy Masterworks from earlier eras.

The idea I had was to say feature a specific author each week from the "old days" that a lot of newer readers may not be aware of or read yet in order to perhaps spark people's interests in investigating them further.

Just an idea, what do you all think of this as a concept?

I look forward to your responses.

Bye for now, will log back in tommorow.

 

[Tsujigiri]

I know I'm stating the obvious here but:

J.R.R.Tolkien

E.R.R. Eddison

Michael Moorcock


They'd be my top three.

 

[a|one]

Read Tolkien and reading Moorecock, but who is Eddison and how would you describe his works?

 

[Tsujigiri]

Similar to Tolkien, one of the formative authors of Fantasy.

You can read him online here:The Worm Oroboros

Not really my cup of tea anymore, but I did enjoy reading The Worm Oroboros when I was twelve.

There's another thread about him drifting around on here somewhere.

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

John Wyndam comes to mind - not your typical swords & sorcery stuff but fantasy none the less

also maybe Thomas Mallory & Victor Hugo qualify as well

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Mervyn Peake
Lord Dunsany
Hope Mirrlees
Fletcher Pratt

And there are many excellent fantasy writers published before 1980 whose work continues on into the 21st century.

 

[GOLLUM]

Hi all and thanks for the feedback so far. I noticed after posting this that there was a thread on Great Fantasy Authors, which I have read with much interest but not specifically on fantasy writers pre 1980’s per se.

The idea of this thread is really to provide an Expose on 1 writer from this list each week in the hope to both inform those readers unaware of the specified author as well as for those having opinions of the featured authors to provide feedback here and to hopefully encourage reading by others not familiar with the specific author where that proves practical.

I’m really focusing more on fantasy authors who came to prominence pre 1980 but more to the point probably mid 1970’s and prior. To this end I have not included some authors who come to prominence in the late ‘70s in the fantasy genre or those already listed in the Authors forum, as this would duplicate efforts. I may do something briefly on these only, as forums already exist for them. Some of these authors who certainly made a splash in fantasy specifically in the late 70s and/or already listed on the Authors forum include Stephen Donaldson, Jack Vance, Roger Zelazny, Dianna Wynn Jones, Gene Wolfe, Robert Silverberg (Majipoor novels) etc..

I also have tried to avoid authors more famous for the “fantastic” or horror/supernatural genres, although this is often difficult to discern from other “fantasy” so please be patient with me on this score. I include writers like HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe in this classification.

Also several authors listed here may cover both the fantasy and SCI-FI genres, so I’ve tried to stick with either fantasy authors specifically or authors who have written major works in the fantasy genre including some children's fantasy.

I’m certainly not an authority on all of the “fantasy” writers listed but have some knowledge of them and their major works and in most cases have read at least some of their work

If you could peruse this list and provide any feedback in addition to any major fantasy authors you feel I have left out that fit the above criteria please let me know.

*NB Please do not concern yourselves at this stage with authors you have not heard of on this list, as all will be revealed over time.

I have also added the date of birth and death for authors so you get an idea of which era they come from.

I look forward to your replies.

CLASSIC FANTASY AUTHOR LIST​

​

Tove Janson (1914-2001) J.R.R.Tolkien (1892-1973)

E.R.R. Eddison (1882-1945) Michael Moorcock (1939-current)

Sir Thomas Mallory (1420-1471) Mervyn Peake (1911-1968)

Lord Dunsany (1878-1957) Robert E. Howard (1906-1936)

Fletcher Pratt (1897-1956) with L. Sprague De Camp (1907-2000)

Brothers Grimm* Wilhelm Carl Grimm (1786-1859) and Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm (1785-1863)

Ursula K. LeGuin (1929-current) Andre Norton (1912-Mar 17 2005)

Anne McCaffrey (1926-current) George MacDonald (1824-1905)

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) Fritz Leiber (1910-1992)

James Branch Cabell (1879-1958) Poul Anderson (1926-2001)

John Gardiner (1933-1982) Hans Christian Anderson (1805-1875)

M. John Harrison (1945-current) Hope Mirrlees (1887-1978)

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)

T. H. White (1906-1964) L. Frank Baum (1856-1919)

James Barrie (1860-1937) Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932)

Carlo Collodi (1826-1890) Salma Lagelof (1858-1940)

Richard Adams (1920-current) Roald Dahl (1916-1990)

Katherine Kurtz (1944-current) Madeleine L’Engle (1918-current)

Mary Stewart (1916-current)

 

[Amber]

I think that this thread is a great idea. I'll definitly try and think up some more people to add onto the list. Are we allowed baby fantasy writers like Tamora Pierce (just as an example)?

 

[GOLLUM]

I think that this thread is a great idea. I'll definitly try and think up some more people to add onto the list. Are we allowed baby fantasy writers like Tamora Pierce (just as an example)?

Amber,

Thanks for the positive feedback!

Having writers that publish for a teenage audience is not an issue with me. In fact some of the authors listed had books for this age bracket.

However, I'm focusing more on writers who came to prominence pre 1980s and Tamora's first published Alanna book came out in the early '80s. On this crietria she wouldn't belong in this thread.

BUT BUT.. I've been thinking about this and I think it would be good to have a seperate thread that focuses on writers for SCI FI and fantasy that write for a young adult audience, pre 1980s, post 1980s whatever. I haven't seen anything specific like this so I'll post a new thread and maybe you can get the ball rolling with some suggestions.

Bye for now.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

There really are threads where we've discussed this stuff, and it makes me skull split to keep reiterating things I've said before, but I will say that I think leaving HP Lovecraft, CLark Ashton Smith, Poe or Lord Dunsany out doesn't sit well with me. The horrific is just an aspect of the fantastic, after all.

Some of my favourite stuff in the fantasy genre is by the older writers - Leiber, Vance, Moorcock, old Robert E Howard. Like Tsujigiri I really enjoyed Eddison at one point too, thogh I don't know how much I'd trip on his stuff now. It's be great if this endeavour would encourage some people to try out these great old stories.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I absolutely agree that H.P Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith should be included. Also Algernon Blackwood, Fitz-James O'Brien, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. If a work has supernatural elements, it's fantasy. If you start dividing things off because they also fit into some other classification as well, where does it end?

George MacDonald (an important influence on Tolkien). Andrew Lang (unlike the Grimms, he actually wrote fairy tales of his own). Charles Dickens (disqualify the ghost stories, and you still have "The Magic Fishbone"). Charles Williams. Peter S. Beagle. Sylvia Townsend Warner. Frank Stockton. William Morris. Kenneth Morris.

 

[GOLLUM]

I absolutely agree that H.P Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith should be included. Also Algernon Blackwood, Fitz-James O'Brien, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. If a work has supernatural elements, it's fantasy. If you start dividing things off because they also fit into some other classification as well, where does it end?

George MacDonald (an important influence on Tolkien). Andrew Lang (unlike the Grimms, he actually wrote fairy tales of his own). Charles Dickens (disqualify the ghost stories, and you still have "The Magic Fishbone"). Charles Williams. Peter S. Beagle. Sylvia Townsend Warner. Frank Stockton. William Morris. Kenneth Morris.

Thanks go to Knivesout (sorry for the Skull splitting!) and Kelpie for their constructive feedback. I'll include some of these authors you mention as I agree 100% they're obviuosly important pioneers in the area of speculative fiction!!

Yeh.. my intentions were of the best kind here and really an attempt to genreate interest in some of the pioneers of the genre for those who may not be aware of them.

All the best everyone and thanks for the helpful feedback!

 

[Heather]

Ray Bradbury

Although he did publish some books in the 80s, I think his most popular novels were published in the 50s and 60s.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

So who and when the first classic fantasy author of the week, Gollum? (Not wishing to see this whole conversation sink into obscurity beneath a sea of newer threads.)

 

[GOLLUM]

Sorry Kelpie

I got a bit bogged down with work lately plus found myself exploring all the other labyrinthine wonders of this fantastic fantasy forum!

I hadn't forgotten this thread you'll be glad to know and while I'm still erect and breathing I'll ensure author summaries are posted at regular intervals.

To this end I also decided that I'll post 2 authors/week on average depending upon the body of work they've produced and how much I know about them. Otherwise I may be here till Christmas..

I'll be posting 2 authors this week and one will be Hans Christain Anderson to correspond with the recent 200th anniversary celebrations since his death. The bicentennary period began on 2 April 2005. The other author I haven't decided upon just yet but I will.

Expect these posts to appear within the next couple of days.

All the best.

 

[GOLLUM]

Having problems with my ISP

Posting first author set tommorow.

 

[Amber]

Looking mucho forward to it ^^

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

ISP's are like that. If they're not mucking up your email, they're interfering with your ability to post things online.

I'd say that I was looking forward to your first author profile(s) too, but I don't want to put any pressure on you ...

 

[Alia]

Love the list Gollum! You sure did go through a lot of work! I recognized some of the authors, but there are a lot I didn't. Although, I don't have an author to add to your list, I have a recommendation if you don't mind one of those. A list of authors couldn't be complete without adding a book or two that they wrote. I know your an extremely busy guy with work, internet surfing, reading and other various activities that if you don't mind I could help with it. Let me know.
Again AWESOME job!!!

 

[GOLLUM]

Alia,

When I do the summaries on each author like the one I'm about to post on Hans Christain Andersen it will include references to their books, stories etc..

Bye for now.