Drawing on medieval legend and age-old fantasy tropes, William Morris' Water of the Wondrous Isles combines the best of both of these genres and updates them with an interesting thematic twist: the heroic figure who leads the quest is a plucky, spirited young girl. Fans of classic fantasy will relish this... read more »
One of the first great works of nineteenth-century fantasy fiction, Phantastes inspired many of the great Christian and fantasy authors of the twentieth century. A fairy tale for adults, it is the captivating story of a wealthy young man who takes an unplanned journey into a fantastic nether world. Led by an... read more »
This is the Longman edition in which some passages were replaced with prose summaries by Winifred Turner and Helen Scott. Son of King Sigmund, young Sigurd is taught the ways of kings by the ancient, mysterious Regin -- who then sets him upon the seemingly impossible task: to steal the divine armor guarded by the... read more »
An instant best-seller and hailed as a comic sensation in the satirical spirit of Gulliver's Travels and Tom Jones. The Baron's fantastically exaggerated accounts of war adventures and hunting experiences make this one of the most entertaining books of all time. His astounding feats include riding cannonballs... read more »
If you like your epic fantasy tales wrapped up in a dreamy layer of intricate, lyrical language, you'll love William Morris' engrossing novel The Hollow Land. Fans of Tolkien will relish the feeling of losing themselves in the pages of this richly imagined story. read more »
Five hundred miles beneath the surface of the Earth lies another world - a world of eternal day and endless horizons, in which dinosaurs still roam and cavemen hunt and terrors forgotten in the outer world still survive. Lieutenant von Horst, member of an exploring expedition, was left behind in this lost land of... read more »
In the fourth and final book in the She sequence, the beautiful and immortal Ayesha tells her tale of power, wisdom, love, and deception, in her own words. Arabian by birth, Ayesha's natural beauty was the cause in her father's kingdom of many wars and conflicts between jealous princes and suitors, leading to a... read more »
The Slithering Shadow (also known as Xuthal of the Dusk) is one of the original short stories starring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in the Weird Tales magazine. It is set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age and concerns... read more »
Wealthy young John Kenton receives a mysterious inscribed block of stone from an archaeological dig in Mesopotamia. It proves to encase the carved image of an ancient ship with some strange features, which proves to the counterpart of a real one in another dimension, to which the earthly counterpart is magically... read more »
Cruel slave traders had invaded the jungle of Tarzan of the Apes. Now they were headed toward a fabled empire of riches which no outsider had ever seen, intent on looting. And toward the same legendary land was stumbling the lost James Blake, an American whom Tarzan had vowed to rescue. Following their spoors, the... read more »
Llano of Gathol is a collection of four novellas written in the Martian series of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Llano, the daughter of Gahan of Gothol, is the perfect damsel in distress. The first story, The Ancient Dead (originally The City of Mummies) followed by The Black Pirates of Barsoom, Escape on Mars and finally... read more »
One of the great books of world literature--an unforgettable tale of jealousy, unrequited love, greed, and vengeance. Based on Viking Age poems and composed in thirteenth-century Iceland, The Saga of the Volsungs combines mythology, legend, and sheer human drama in telling of the heroic deeds of Sigurd the dragon... read more »
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... read more »
Tarzan finds himself in a strange country of stone-age savages and knee-high warriors who ride miniature African deer as though they were horses. But the Minunians are not so small that they cannot take the Ape Man captive, and put him to work in their underground quarries. read more »
Once more Quatermain takes the hallucinogenic drug and gets to see a previous incarnation of himself--a life he lived thousands of years ago, when he was Wi, a tribal leader during the last great ice age. read more »
The Wood Beyond the World is a splendid tale, told in a romantic style and written in a pseudo-archaic English. The plot is full of tension, and the descriptions of the Wood, the characters, and the rustic scenery are all exquisitely painted. Morris was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, and... read more »
The Phoenix on the Sword begins with a middle-aged Conan of Cimmeria attempting to govern the turbulent kingdom of Aquilonia. Conan has recently seized the bloody crown of Aquilonia from King Numedides whom he strangled upon his throne; however, things have not gone well, as Conan is more suited to swinging a... read more »
John Carter, mighty Warlord of Mars, rides to new and terrifying adventures. Captured by deadly warriors mounted on huge birds he is taken to the ill-omened city of Morbus. There he meets Ras Thavas, evil genius and master surgeon. A man who has succeeded in his nightmare wish of creating life in his own beings... read more »
Credited with inspiring such fantasy luminaries as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, William Morris' The Well at the World's End follows the travels of a prince, Ralph of Upmeads, who undertakes a journey to find the magical well of the title. Along the way, our hero encounters adventure, travails, and romance. A... read more »
A Voyage to Arcturus is a novel by the Scottish writer David Lindsay. It combines fantasy, philosophy, and science fiction in an exploration of the nature of good and evil and their relationship with existence. It has been described by the critic and philosopher Colin Wilson as the 'greatest novel of the twentieth... read more »
Not only does any tale which crosshatches between this world and Faerie owe a founder's debt to Lord Dunsany, but the secondary world created by J.R.R. Tolkien--from which almost all fantasy lands have devolved--also took shape and flower from Dunsany's example. The Book of Wonder is Dunsany at his peak of his... read more »
An amazing weird mystery story, packed with thrills, danger and startling events. Edmond Hamilton. For most people, this name conjures visions of two-fisted space opera -- pure pulp science fiction. And Hamilton -- known as the author of the Captain Future series -- was indeed one of the foremost writers of pulp... read more »
The Metal Monster follows a group of botanists who discover the seemingly reanimated Darius III of Persia and legions of soldiers. The group is saved by a mysterious woman, Norhala. Seemingly magical, Norhala inhabits a hidden city and controls strange metal automatons capable of joining together and forming... read more »
Tarzan had been betrayed. Drugged and helpless, he was delivered into the hands of the dreadful priests of Opar, last bastion of ancient Atlantis. La, High Priestess of the Flaming God, had saved him once again, driven by her hopeless love for the ape-man. But now she was betrayed and threatened by her people. To... read more »
The most famous by far of all twentieth-century political allegories, Animal Farm is the account of a group of barnyard animals who revolt against their vicious human master, only to submit to a tyranny erected by their own kind, can fairly be said to have become a universal drama. Orwell is one of the very few... read more »
John Carter reprises his role of hero as he vows to bring an end to the Assassins Guild. He ventures in disguise to the city of Zodanga in a fierce attempt to overthrow Ur Jan, the leader of the Assassins. His adventures embroil him in the rivalry of two competing scientist-inventors, and eventually leads him to the... read more »
In the perfect bedtime reading, a mischievous imp called Puck delights two precocious youngsters with 10 magical fables about the hidden histories of Old England. Written especially for Kipling's own children, each enchanting myth is followed by a selection of the master storyteller's spirited poetry. read more »
One of the most gripping fantasies ever written, The Moon Pool embodies all the romanticism and poetic nostalgia characteristic of A. Merritt's writings. Set on the island of Ponape, full of ruins from ancient civilizations, the novel chronicles the adventures of a party of explorers who discover a previously... read more »
The Hour of the Dragon, also known as Conan the Conqueror, is a fantasy novel written by Robert E. Howard featuring his seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian. It was the last Conan story published before Howard's suicide although not the last to be written. The plot is a loosely based melange of motifs... read more »
Before there was Indiana Jones there was Allan Quartermain: the original explorer, treasure hunter, and adventurer. The Quartermain books have captivated readers for more than a century, spawning more than a dozen movies and a host of imitators. Here is the story of Allan's first true love, Marie Marais. Famed... read more »