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Hi.

Welcome to This Awful/Awesome Life! My name is Frances Joyce. I am the publisher and editor of this magazine. We'll be exploring different topics each month to inform, entertain and inspire you. Meet new authors, sharpen your brain and pick up a few tips on life, love, entertaining and business. Enjoy and please share!

April 2024 Reading Recommendations for Adults - Fantasy Authors by Fran Joyce

Adults love fantasy, and what’s not to love? A book or a movie can transport us to another reality with magic and dragons; brave warriors and mythical creatures; unlikely heroes and dastardly villains; castles and enchanted forests.

It’s the fairy tales we loved as children on steroids, and sometimes with an R rating – sometimes not. Who didn’t read The Hobbit in middle school?

Fantasies are larger than life and for those of us who love reading, we usually get at least three books in a series. We get to experience new worlds with mythical creatures and epic battles between good and evil without leaving the comfort of our chairs. Let me remind you, the book is aways better than the movie or the mini-series because it explains many of the details a screen adaptation must assume you already know.

This month, instead of recommending specific books, I’m recommending fantasy authors and their series if applicable. Apologies if you don’t see your favorite fantasy author or book. Enjoy!

Peter Beagle  - The Last Unicorn

Lord Dunsany (Edward Plunkett) The King of Elfland’s Daughter

Neil Gaiman Beowulf, American Gods, Marvel 1602, The Graveyard Book, Coraline,

J.R. Hilliard – The Warminster Series

Robin HobbThe Farseer, Royal Assassin, Assassin’s Apprentice

Ursula K. Le Guin - The Left-Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, The Wizard of Earthsea

C.S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia

George MacDonald – Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women, The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and the Curdie

Thomas Malory – Le Morte D’Arthur

George R.R. Martin A Song of Ice and Fire, Fevre Dream, The Armageddon Rag, A Game of Thrones, A Dance with Dragons

Anne McCaffrey The Weyr Search, Dragonflight

William Morris The Well at the World’s End

E. Nesbit Five Children and It

J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion

Edmund Spenser The Faerie Queen

 

Streaming Fantasy by Fran Joyce

April 2024 Reading Recommendations for Kids and Young Adults by Fran Joyce