 | The Hobbit: 70th Anniversary Edition by J.R.R. Tolkien
Buy new: $15.75 / Used from: $15.00 Tolkien is the undisputed King of fantasy (though he has some very very important influences that are mostly forgotten) and The Hobbit serves as a perfect introduction to his corpus. Enjoyed by children and adults alike, Bilbo's journey to the Lonely Mountain and back again (with much in between!) cannot be praised highly enough.
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 | The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Buy new: $46.80 / Used from: $27.99 An expensive buy, but worth it. You should have read these as a child (preferably while Mom was reading them out loud) but if you missed that opportunity, fix it now. Comparing the movies to them is useless - the journey of the Fellowship cannot be enjoyed properly except through the written word.
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 | The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
Buy new: $10.08 / Used from: $0.01 Tolkien regarded this as his most important work but it was published posthumously. His son edited it and released it so we could enjoy Tolkien's mythology. Tolkien WRITES myth! It is a challenging read, but well worth it.
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 | Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth by Christopher Tolkien
Buy new: $17.16 / Used from: $12.50 This volume (again edited and published by Christopher Tolkien) is largely backstory and explanation of The Lord of the Rings, with diversions into other legends of Middle-Earth. Reading "The Battle of the Fords of Isen", treated with a few sentences in The Two Towers alone is worth the cost of this book.
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 | The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Buy new: $15.83 / Used from: $0.19 The Chronicles of Narnia are a set of classical fantasy works. Once you enter the world of Narnia you will be forever transformed. Read them as a little child (or have them read to you), read them as an adult, and read them in old age.
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 | Space Trilogy 3 Book Set Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra & That Hideous Strength C.S. Lewis by C.S. Lewis
Buy used from: $42.00 Calling this trilogy "fantasy" may be stretching it a little bit (to my mind it bears more resemblance to science fiction) but it is just too good to keep off this list.
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 | Lilith by George MacDonald
Buy new: $8.64 / Used from: $2.04 George Macdonald is one of the earliest authors of the fantasy genre. He inspired Lewis (indeed, the latter credited Macdonald with "baptizing my imagination") in addition to all later classical fantasy authors. But his work is his and his alone. He is a writer of myth in addition to fantasy, and Lilith is a great introduction to his adult work.
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 | Phantastes by George MacDonald
Buy new: $8.64 / Used from: $3.58 Phantastes and Lilith are, I believe, Macdonald's finest adult fantastic works. They are radically different but share the telling of new myth - Christian myth - between them.
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 | The Complete Fairy Tales (Penguin Classics) by George Macdonald
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $5.97 Macdonald's shorter fairy tales are excellent, and you could hardly ask for a better price!
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 | The Princess and the Goblin (Charming Classics) by George Macdonald
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $0.06 "Sometimes you must believe without seeing". This is an incredible children's book. I read it as an adult and I still enjoy it. It is childlike, not childish! Highly recommended.
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 | The Princess and Curdie (Puffin Classics) by George Macdonald
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $3.03 The Princess and Curdie is an alarmingly beautiful sequel to The Princess and the Goblin. If the first book belonged to Irene, than the second most definitely is Curdie's through and through.
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 | The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain Book 1) by Lloyd Alexander
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $2.00 Lloyd Alexander manages to write shortly after Tolkien without creating a knockoff of The Lord of the Rings. Seldom has the transformation of a hero been more enjoyable. The books are geared mostly towards adolescents, but are enjoyable for most ages.
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 | The Black Cauldron (The Chronicles of Prydain) by Lloyd Alexander
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $2.80 Book II of the Prydain Chronicles.
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 | The Castle of Llyr (The Chronicles of Prydain) by Lloyd Alexander
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $2.72 Book III of the Prydain Chronicles.
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 | Taran Wanderer (The Chronicles of Prydain) by Lloyd Alexander
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $2.45 Book IV of the Prydain Chronicles.
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 | The High King (The Chronicles of Prydain) by Lloyd Alexander
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $3.00 Book V of the Prydain Chronicles. The quintilogy is ended, and magnificently so!
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 | Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance: Dragonlance Chronicles) by Margaret Weis
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 Some may object -and loudly- against the putting Weis and Hickman on this list, which so far has been dominated by the truly Greats of fantasy. Perhaps I am unjustified, for in no way have these books been around long enough to determine their classic potency. I think they just barely make the list for a few reasons: (cont'd in Bk.II)
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 | Dragons of Winter Night (Dragonlance: Dragonlance Chronicles) by Margaret Weis
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 They are well written without being unduly explicit, Tolkien derivatives, or gruesomely violent. Tolkien elements they have, but Qualinost is to Lothlorian as apples are to oranges; Hickman's elves owe their genesis to D&D far more than Tolkien.
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 | Dragons of Spring Dawning (Dragonlance Chronicles, Book 3)
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 Also, Weis & Hickman are great storytellers. The tale moves rapidly, the humorous is not overwhelming or terribly stupid, and the study of character and character development is very good. No other writer has managed to pull off dragons so well and so broadly, not even Tolkien, though his language is far superior.
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 | Legends Gift Set: Time of the Twins, War of the Twins, and Test of the Twins (Dragonlance: Legends Trilogy) by Margaret Weis
Buy used from: $20.00 I loved this trilogy, especially the first book. It continues the study of Raistlin and his lust for power. Compelling and exciting, though without the broader appeal of Tolkien.
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