I came across Diana Waggoner’s The Hills of Faraway published in 1978 simply by chance. Yes, the book stops with fantasy works from 1975 so the book is dated. But, if you’re interested in J. R. R. Tolkien, George MacDonald, William Morris, Ursula Le Guin, Patricia McKillip, Fletcher Pratt, Thorne Smith, E. R. Eddison, Roald Dahl, A. Merritt, and dozens of other fantasy writers from 1858 to 1975, this is the reference book for you.
Waggoner spends 100 pages or so defining various types of fantasy fiction and discusses the sources of what we consider Modern Fantasy. Then she presents lists of various Fantasy books and stories organized by type. Waggoner also provides a sampling of classic Fantasy illustrations!
If you’re a fan of Fantasy works from the period Waggoner analyzes, The Hills of Fantasy provides plenty of insights and information about the Fantasy types and the authors who wrote them. It’s a fun book to browse and discover new facts. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Preface and Acknowledgements — v
Theory of fantasy — 3
Some trends in fantasy — 28
- Mythopoetic fantasy — 31
- Heroic fantasy and adventure fantasy — 36
- Ironic fantasy — 49
- Comic fantasy — 51
- Nostalgic fantasy and sentimental fantasy — 56
- Horror fantasy — 60
APPENDIX A: A timeline of fantasy, 1858-1975 — 65
APPENDIX B: Some fantasy award-winners –68
APPENDIX C: Fantasy illustration — 70
APPENDIX D: Subgenres of fantasy — 94
Sources — 119
A bibliographic guide to fantasy — 125
Index of Names and Terms — 303
Index of Titles — 314
Somehow I missed this one. Morris, Eddison, Thorne Smith, and Merritt were still visible at newsstands and bookstores, thanks to paperback reprints (mostly by Ballantine, often as part of Lin Carter’s classic fantasy line). Not so much now. Tolkien was already dominant. 1977 would bring Terry Brooks, followed by Jordan, Sanderson, Martin. and the rest.
Fred, I know Lin Carter takes a lot of abuse, but his Ballantine Adult Fantasy series introduced me (and plenty of other readers) to classic Fantasy. THE HILLS OF FARAWAY was a terrific resource for readers of Fantasy who wanted more information about the genre.
A guide to fantasy that stops at 1975 would cover pretty much anything I’d be interested in. The immediate decades after were marked by far too many Tolkien knock-offs and what passes for fantasy these days is aimed too squarely at the hyperventilating TikTok set for my taste.
This looks like a good read and for the record, I too will readily defend Lin Carter.
Byron, I never understood the animosity towards Lin Carter. Sure, he wasn’t the greatest writer but he loved Fantasy and did a lot to promote it. I read his books and enjoyed them.
It didn’t’ help his cause that he fiddled with some of the texts in the classics program, apparently.
Todd, I did not know about the “fiddling.”
Many people feel Carter was simply a fanboy copyist. That maybe true in part, but he also had a lot to offer to the genre. His main problems were that he spread hinself too thin and that many of his books came from lower-tier publishers. It may be time for a serious reexamination of his work.
Jerry, well said! Lin Carter wrote a lot of Fantasy and some of it is sub-par, but his enthusiasm for the genre and his projects promoting it tips the scales in his favor.
I bought a ton of these type books in the late ’70s and ’80s yet I never even heard of this one, or I would probably have b ought it at the time. Now, not so much.
Jeff, for the time period she covers, Diana Waggoner’s book is first-rate!
I heard of this one back when, but never saw it. Clute, Langford, et al.’s ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASY and not a few others, I was able to obtain…
Todd, I hadn’t heard of THE HILLS OF FARAWAY nor read any reviews of it when it was first published. I stumbled upon it by chance.