1. The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe
(First published in 1950, 36,300 words)
For me, TLWW was the pinnacle. Well, it was one of two books that I read over and over. (See #2 below). I could not get enough of every single element of the C.S. Lewis classic. From the incredible portal wardrobe to the terrifying Snow Queen to the majestic Aslan, as a child, it had every facet to make it the ultimate fantasy story. And it comes in at a remarkably short 36,000 words! In my adult life I learned of Lewis’ skepticism about Darwinism and how his staunch religious beliefs are still labelled evangelical by many. And he probably would have been ostracised by today’s social media crusaders. That doesn’t bother me though, and the scene where Aslan rises from the dead still brings me out in goosebumps.
Buy The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe HERE…
2. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
(First published in 1964, 30,600 words)
Next on the list is this memorable Roald Dahl children’s novel. Or probably novella is more accurate as this is even shorter than TLWW. Thanks to the late, great Gene Wilder et al, I’m still able to visualise the characters and setting whenever I pick up this book. (Including the rather disturbing Umpa-Lumpas). The 1971 movie was actually a box office flop at first and Dahl himself hated it whereas the 2005 Johnny Depp version was a big Hollywood hit. As far as the book was concerned, it sold 10,000 copies in the week of release and has now surpassed a million copies. Oh, and the original title that Dahl penned was Charlie’s Chocolate Boy. Stop that sniggering in the corner!!
Buy Charlie & the Chocolate Factory HERE…
3. A Wizard of Earthsea
(First published in 1968, 56,500 words)
The only U.S. author to make the list is Californian-born Ursula K.Le Guin. I remember getting this book from my mum and dad one Christmas and having no idea who Le Guin was. I think I was actually disappointed at first, as all I’d been reading was Dahl and Lewis up till that point. But after becoming engrossed by the story of Ged, a young mage born on the island of Gont, I was hooked. Ged joins a school of wizardry where he gets into a scuffle or two with another student (sound familiar?). But it really is a classic and hugely inspirational for generations of fantasy and sci-fi authors. The book itself is centred around Ged releasing a shadow creature and his journey to free himself from the monster. If you haven’t delved into the Earthsea series. Do it!
Buy A Wizard of Earthsea HERE…
4. The Fellowship of the Ring
(First published in 1968, 177,200 words)
Yes, you read it right! 177,000 words? That really puts it into perspective, doesn’t it? Almost five times longer than TLWW. If you like fantasy novels but haven’t read any of the Lord of the Rings books yet, then you should probably take a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror. That said, as a novice fantasy reader at 10 years old, I remember trying time and time again to immerse myself into the books but it wasn’t until my mid-teens that the series really grabbed me. Peter Jackson did an incredible job of bringing the characters to the big screen and he was well and truly vindicated for the use of massive budgets as the LOTR trilogy grossed over a billion dollars worldwide. A great deal of that was down to a stellar cast living and breathing their roles. It is reported that Viggo Mortensen even went as far as learning Elvish to become the most authentic Aragorn he could possibly be. It definitely worked.
Buy The Fellowship of the Ring HERE…
5. Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone
(First published in 1997, 76,900 words)
Now, just to quash one of those urban myths, the name change from ‘philosopher’ to ‘sorcerer’ for the U.S. market was not, contrary to some folks’s belief, due to the supposed ignorance of our American cousins. In fact, apparently, a poll of British children between 9 and 14 four years ago would likely have revealed a similar familiarity with the term ‘philosopher’s stone.’ And that was Rowling’s original intended audience. So the main reason is more likely as simple as sorcerer sounds much more exciting than philosopher. In any case, it really didn’t matter, unless you’ve been living in one of Asimov’s Caves of Steel, (see what I did there!) you’ll know all about J.K. Rowling’s eponymous hero, Harry Potter. First published in 1997, Daniel Radcliffe helped immortalise the character in the movies and the rest is fantastical history.
Buy Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone HERE…
If any (or all) of the above books whisk you back to long childhood summer days, evoke nostalgic memories you’d forgotten or maybe you just love them, then be sure to check out my new series The Portal Garden.
Grab the free prequel novella (book 0) from this website or get book one and follow William’s epic journey in the wondrous land of Syan…