books are and have always been windows that have taken me into the lives and worlds that are described within the pages. not a few times have i found myself too immersed in the stories that i read that i completely forget the present and exist inside for that moment. my mind adds sound, atmosphere and little details that are otherwise not given by the author.
maybe its this reason that my genre of choice has always been fantasy. i remember way back when my mom used to read to me bulfinch's mythology, the iconic lord of the ring series in high school and discovering the creatures of narnia in college during the 90s. of course, the more recent world of hogwarts and harry potter is joy cut short much too soon.
what i love about these worlds are the realism behind them. yes, realism. i would always equate a great fantasy when the worlds and those that inhabit them are much too real to be considered as make believe. for sure, this is the main reason that most of these titles have been made and are continued to be made into movies.
the fantasy/scifi genre for fiction is a myriad collection of these universes and alternate realities that are each fantastic in their own rights. and in each of them are characters and ideas that are both different and mirrors of our own. from the dragons of anne mccaffrey's dragon of pern series to the gay herald mage character of mercedes lackey, to the rodents of redwall of brian jacques; however unbelievable, they take us in because somewhere there are emotions, situations and places that remind us of our mundane world.
i love all these worlds. in fact, there is not one among them where id say no to an invitation to visit again. but of all these, these are the top 5 that i would gladly live in.
*i wont even consider middle earth of J.R.R. Tolkien, Narnia, Hogwarts and the rest of the more popular ones since i'd think that with the movies and the hooplah about them, they'd be too over crowded with humans to be exciting for my taste, hehehe
THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS by CASSANDRA CLARE
several months ago, i chanced upon a boxed set collection of three books while lounging at powerbooks in megamall. not familiar with the author, i bought a copy of the first book; City of Bones since I was intrigued by the tattooed torso in the cover. a week after, i had all three in the series.
The Mortal Instruments series is an urban fantasy set in modern day US. It tells the story of the Shadowhunters, a band of special individuals gifted with extraordinary gifts. The story talks about angels, nephilims, demons and all there rest of the creatures from the pages of fairy tales. In fact, it even had a rat that became a vampire.
Jace Wayland and Clary Fray has completely taken me in that I cant even wait for the fourth book out in April of this year. And watch out, a movie with Alex Pettyfer and Lily Collins is in the works!
The Mortal Instruments titles are The City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass. City of Fallen Angels is the 4th book. A prequel series The Infernal Devices whose Book 1, The Clockwork Angel came out late last year is almost as good.
THE SECRETS of the IMMORTAL NICOLAS FLAMEL by MICHAEL SCOTT
fresh from my find of the mortal instruments and having to wait for the next book in the series, i browsed the titles on the bookshelves, choosing books based on instinct and on how i feel about the book cover (yes, especially for the genre, book covers matter a lot) and found The Alchemyst, the first volume in this work that totally blew me off.
initially set in san francisco, the story chronicles the chaos that happens to a set of twins when they discovered that they are not who they thought themselves to be. in company of nicolas flamel (yes, the very same nicolas flamel mentioned in the novels by jk rowling and apparently is a real person from history), a wizard, sophie and josh newman soon discovers and gets to meet and encounter entities only real in stories from greek, roman, egyptian and any number of mythologies.
the story is fast paced and is full of action and movement. in fact, to those more inclined to the more action-packed genre of fiction; the writing style feels much like da vinci code by dan brown.
like the previous series, these books: alchemyst, magician, sorceress, necromancer and the forthcoming titles were also optioned to be made into movies.
THE WHEEL OF TIME by ROBERT JORDAN
i don't only buy books from the major bookstores. in fact, my person is a constant fixture in any number of booksale or books for less branch all over the metro. my new favorite is bookayukay in quezon city where i just found some missing titles to complete some of my series collections early today.
during one of these visits, another cover got my attention. the eye of the world, book 1 of the 14 volumes in the wheel of time series. honestly, while reading this i totally felt i was back in middle earth but with little differences in the feel like going from one city to another in the same province.
although the action sequence or the plot development is repetitive in each of the books, i was never the less taken into the heart of rand al thor and his being the dragon reborn.
it took me three months to finally have a copy of the first eleven books and the prequel book in the series. book 13 and 14, written by another writer after the demise of robert jordan is to be out soon.
THE RIFTWAR SAGA & THE SONS OF KRONDOR by RAYMOND E. FEIST
another epic fantasy series that i totally dug out of the mountain of thrift books are the titles within the rift war saga and the succeeding series, the sons of krondor.
i was able to read this series a very long time ago when i had a friend who would loan me his books during the times i could ill afford to rent one. now, i have almost all the titles with the exception of the newer ones that i plan to buy as soon i can finish the other books that i have recently purchased.
the riftwar saga takes place in two worlds both very much like our own if not of the existence of magic and the creatures that were "invented" for this world. and while as all epic fantasies are alike in the broad scope of almost-nomadic main characters go, this one surprises the readers with each title in the series.
pug, the driving character in the first two books, magician:apprentice and magician:master is a common and recurring character in all the books including those just newly published.
a graphic novel of this work is out as well.
SANDMAN by NEIL GAIMAN
now this next series are not even books.
a collection of graphic novels with art done by selected artists, this 11 volume work chronicles stories and life glimpses of the mythological being sandman. the lord of dream, as he is called presents tales and wonders as only neil gaiman can deliver. nuff said.
there are a lot more authors, series and books out there. in fact, i dont consider my choices here as my permanent choices. works by ursula le guin, eragon and the inheritance series by paolini, the percy jackson books by rick riodan, pittacus lore's i am number four and the lorien legacy series etc. are great works that have found permanent spaces in my own private library. and my choices might not be yours but let me share this with you, there are two keys to the realm of the fantastic; good authors and good imagination. can you enter?
