prequel to LOTR. 'Nuff said. It has the best opening line since "In the beginning..."

Very good writing, though they use the word "witch" and stuff. Read it with your kids or parents to make sure the kids understand it's fantasy and not real.

McKinley is a master writer, with "Beauty", "Deerskin", this one, and it's prequel below. I loved it so much that my first completed story had a magical blue sword.

two words: Christian. Dragons. Pretty good stuff. Character development, original ideas, good versus evil. However, the books are each very long, have more characters than Lord of the Rings, and very complicated overall and individual plots. While not the cream of the crop of fantasy in general (is right under the cream), it certainly is very original in having Christian dragons.

Thoughtful, if slightly odd, set of books. She was a universalist Christian, though, so if you're extremely offended by Buddha and Christ being in the same sentence, don't read it.

sequel to the sequel of Wrinkle/Time, is lovely in message and content.

Not merely a fantasy novel, but one with Christian truths hiding just below the surface.