Hello, folks!
I have this obesssion soft spot, see. Though in recent years, it has faded, in chatting with a friend today it has resurfaced.
So I will devote a page on my site at some future point, to this topic.
I have an obsession soft spot for fantasy novels wherein people from our Earth end up in a fantasy world.
This friend is writing a book where this is her main plot. We chatted a bit about language issues, which is her big sticking point right now. She would like to deal with the language issue, but most of the books I've read just handwave over the issue, as it's not important that the protagonist(s) speak a different language.
So, to satisfy my craving, I now want a good, long list of fantasy (though I suppose some sf can be in there too) wherein the protagonist(s) head into an alternate world.
The ones I know of are listed below. If you know of others, please leave them in the comment area.
The Mirror of Her Dreams & A Man Rides Through (Mordant's Need Duology), by Stephen R. Donaldson
Lord Foul's Bane, The Illearth War, The Power That Preserves (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever), by Stephen R. Donaldson
The Wounded Land, The One Tree, White Gold Wielder (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever), by Stephen R. Donaldson
Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber), by Roger Zelazny. (the other books are not mentioned, because the first was the only one that dealt with that issue)
The Time of the Dark, The Walls of Air, The Armies of Daylight (the Darwath Trilogy), by Barbara Hambly
The Bronze of Eddarta (The Gandalara Cycle I), by Randall Garrett and Vicki Ann Heydron (first book also only mentioned. I wasn't able to finish it, so I don't know if the rest of the series deals with it)
The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, The Darkest Road (the Fionavar Tapestry), by Guy Gavriel Kay
I know there's others, add them in!
EDITED TO ADD - 09/24/03: I have removed any and all comments unrelated to the topic. If anyone here posts asking again for help for a specific novel (the name of which I am not putting in here!), I will summarily delete it. If you persist, I will sign your email address up for any and all spam lists I can find. STOP ASKING ME TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK FOR YOU!
Comments (8)
The first World of Tiers book by Philip Jose Farmer (much like Amber... VERY much like Amber, iin fact.)
The second and third of the His Dark Materials books by Pulman (not the first, which is all in the fantasy setting)
Kinda, Sorta Harry Potter...
Moreso The Thief of Always (children's book) and several of the horror titles (I can't recall the names just now... the huge, thick books that scared off most of the fans of his short stories) by Clive Barker. I think maybe Imagica, but I may be scrambling titles.
Joel Rosenburg's "players exchanged with their characters in the RPG world" series, the name of which escapes me right now. Ahh, right! Guardians of the Flame (that's the collective title, I think).
The Complete Enchanter stories, the authors of which I have forgotten. Features a character popping from world to world based on mathematical formulae.
Harry Turtledove did a series where a Roman Legion (and one Gaulic war-chief) were teleported to a fantasy setting. He also wrote several books in the setting without the romans. The latter are called the Videsos Cycle, I forget what he called the ones with the Legion.
John Carter of Mars (civil war veteran transported to Mars and takes over) et al by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Several of the Oz books (only a couple lack any characters from the real world, and at least half feature one or more newcomers) by Baum then Thompson, then several others.
Number of the Beast by Heinlein (NOT his best work, by a long shot, but it does have characters hopping into the Oz books briefly).
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis (one is peopled almost entierly with "locals", all the others feature 2 or more "real world" characters).
Those are just the ones that come to mind as I sit here... more would jump out if I wandered the library back home.
Posted by Jack | October 1, 2002 11:35 AM
Posted on October 1, 2002 11:35
also by Barb Hambly with the required plot: Darkmage, The Silent Tower, The Silicon Mage
Posted by fritz | October 1, 2002 1:26 PM
Posted on October 1, 2002 13:26
The first Witch World novel by Andre Norton.
Lewis Carroll's Alice books.
Madeleine L'Engle's books do this in a number of cases, and are definitely fantasy. A Wrinkle in Time and Many Waters come to mind.
Posted by *** Dave | October 1, 2002 2:51 PM
Posted on October 1, 2002 14:51
The Dancing Gods books by Jack L. Chalker. In this world, a couple of folks from our world cross over into a "funny fantasy" world where everything is run by a series of Rules that are akin to those "The hero will always find a parking space in front of the building he's pulling up to." movie rules.
I believe there are 4 books in the series, some of which are now collected in trade paperback.
Posted by Alex | October 1, 2002 4:44 PM
Posted on October 1, 2002 16:44
Joyce Ballou Gregorian's trilogy - The Broken Citadel, Castledown, and The Great Wheel.
The Magelord series by Tom Martin.
Caverns of Socrates by Dennis McKiernan (D&D type crossover with a twist)
John deChancie's Castle Perilous
And how could we forget The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Peter Pan! (Go Lost Boys!)
Posted by Jenn | October 1, 2002 10:51 PM
Posted on October 1, 2002 22:51
LOOK folks. I don't do your homework for you. GET A CLUE and stop asking for me to do it for you!!
Posted by Julia | September 16, 2003 1:12 PM
Posted on September 16, 2003 13:12
Wow. I've been looking all over the internet for a similar list. I too have an extreme soft spot for this style of book. A few I've found that haven't been mentioned yet:
The Barbed Coil by J.V. Jones
Eccentric Circles by Rebecca Lickiss
The Shadow Gate by Margaret Ball
The Jewel of Equilibrant by Steven Frankos
The Power of Rellard by Carolyn F. Logan
Elidor by Alan Garner
The Wiz Biz by Rick Cook
Dragonsword by Gael Baudino
I haven't read all of them yet, so I can't vouch for their quality (Barbed Coil, however, is excellent), but I just have to pick up any books that fit the bill when I run across them. Hope that this helps!
Posted by worldsapart | September 28, 2003 4:13 PM
Posted on September 28, 2003 16:13
There are the rather awful Christopher Stashefff novels, starting with Her Majesty's Wizard, as well as the series by Terry Brooks, the first of which is named Magic Kingdom: For Sale-Sold!.
This is my favorite sub-genre, but, sadly, it contains very few books.
Posted by Chas Warren | November 17, 2003 2:19 AM
Posted on November 17, 2003 02:19