Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

This is the same as the stand alone sci-fi list. Only I'm grabbing stand alone fantasy (particularly epic heroic fantasy).

I tried to think of fantasy novels that were truly "one-of-a-kind", those that didn't even have sequels. That turned out to be difficult, and a surprising number turned out to be comedies. (Of course, those with living authors can only be thought of as sequel-free so far. And come to think of it, even that doesn't seem to be safe anymore.)

The Princess Bride - Classic humorous novel that sends up the fantasy genre.

The Dragon and the George

Watership Down - rascally rabbits

The Last Unicorn - light fairytale with serious purpose.

Lord of Light - Gods of technology (Arguably science fiction)

The Lathe of Heaven - Reality is fungible.

Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods - Gaiman imagines one fantastic alternate universe after another.

Warbreaker, Elantris - Sanderson's Sword and sorcery.

PS. Do you want to consider alternate history (such as Steampunk) to be fantasy?

G33z3r wrote: "I tried to think of fantasy novels that were truly "one-of-a-kind", those that didn't even have sequels. That turned out to be difficult, and a surprising number turned out to be comedies. (Of cour..."

The Dragon and the George is actually the first book in a series.

Kevin wrote: "The Dragon and the George is actually the first book in a series...."

Huh, so it is. Well, it was a true stand-alone for 15 years, anyway. I guess I got used to thinking of it that way. :) I never even noticed Dickson wrote sequels. Were they any good?

G33z3r wrote: "PS. Do you want to consider alternate history (such as Steampunk) to be fantasy?"

Well it depends. I consider a lot of steampunk to be science fiction but there is a lot of steampunk that can be fantasy...

Here are a few for the list:

Ombria in Shadow

Elantris

The Book of Lost Things

The Misenchanted Sword (Technically part of the Ethshar series, but each book is actually stand-alone, the only relationship being the world in which they take place.)

The Misenchanted Sword (Technically part of the Ethshar series, but each book is actually stand-alone, the only relationship being the world in which they take place.)

This is precisely the kind of thing I'm looking for if people do put down books in series. I'm looking for books that can be read alone without continuing on!

Here are some I thought of off hand.
Silverlock by John Myers Myers
The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison

Roadmarks, A Night in the Lonesome October, Jack of Shadows, Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny (The last 2, like LoL, are mixed SF/Fantasy.)

To Ride Hell’s Chasm, Sorcerer's Legacy, The Master of Whitestorm by Janny Wurts
Claus: Legend of the Fat Man by Tony Bertauski
The Broken Sword & Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson
Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin

I'll nominate Patricia McKillip's FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD.

I checked Wiki to be sure it had no bred no sequels. Here's some Wiki-accolades:

'The Forgotten Beasts of Eld has been reviewed by Locus as "a mythical kingdom fantasy with a marvelous heroine, satisfying strange beasts and chilling sorcery". Publishers Weekly said "this magical moonlight fantasy has dignity and romance, heartstopping suspense, adventure, richness of concept and language." Lester del Rey praised the novel as "a true fairy tale in its telling and its development," citing the "marvelous subtlety" of McKillip's storytelling and her "inevitable but unexpected" resolution of the story.[2]'

One more, just released yesterday. Not a true stand-alone, but the author has intended it to function as a stand-alone because of the span of time between book 3 of the original series and this one. Also, it's a totally different style than the rest of the series since it is in first-person and the rest of the series is in narrative form.

The Forever Knight by John Marco.

Jonathan wrote: "The Misenchanted Sword (Technically part of the Ethshar series, but each book is actually stand-alone, the only relationship being the world in which they take place.)

This is precisely the kind o..."

That's what I love about this series in general. I can pick one up whenever and not have to catch up on what happened previously.

I thought The Drawing of the Dark was a very good book.

Jonathan wrote: "This is precisely the kind of thing I'm looking for if people do put down books in series. I'm looking for books that can be read alone without continuing on!"

We didn't come up with nearly as many stand-alone, sequel-less fantasy books as we did science fiction. So I thought I'd mention a few excellent fantasy novels that stand alone even though they eventually became part of the series:

The Hobbit - enough said.

Kushiel's Dart - introduces an imaginative alternate European Middle Ages was a touch of magic (and a good deal of sex, since the heroine is a high-class courtesan.) Began what became a trilogy and has since collected so many further books I've lost count.

The Color of Magic - really any book in the Discworld series will be equally funny and absurd, and it's not like there's a running plot.

Daughter of the Forest - a retelling of a classic fairytale of the swans. I didn't enjoy the subsequent novels nearly as much.

The Dragon and the George - humorous novel from the Dragon's point of view.

Daughter Bright Moon - priestess of an alternate world. There is a sequel, but I don't recommend it.

Some other stand alone fantasy novels I have liked a great deal are

McKinley's The Blue Sword, (which is completely a stand-alone, even though The Hero and the Crown happens in the same universe), and

Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted.

One of my choices would be the Scott Westerfeld book
'The Risen Empire' Make sure it's the copy that's 704pages long as that's the full length book.

I loved Robin McKinley's books named above. I'd also nominate her books Sunshine,
Beauty, and
Spindle's End.

Others:
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, by Susanna Clarke
The Changeling Sea, McKillip
Winter Rose, McKillip
Alphabet of Thorn, McKillip
Tam Lin, Pamela Dean

my best fantasy list:

The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings (3 books, but i think of them as one)

robert e howard's "Conan" stories (howard's only, not the stuff others wrote...they are all stand alone type stuff)

robert e howards "Kull" stories

any of the "Red Sonja" comics (Marvel Comics)

Guy Gavriel Kay has some wonderful stand-alone fantasies: Tigana, A Song for Arbonne, and The Lions of al-Rassan. The first two definitely have clear fantasy elements; the last, although probably my favorite of the bunch, is so light on the fantasy that it's almost historical fiction.

Peter S Beagle - The Last Unicorn - although a novelette sequel was eventually written I think this pretty much counts as stand alone

Mervyn Peake - His Gormenghast books are superb but his stand alone Mr Pye is also very interesting



I have not read it but Gene Wolfe's Wizard and Knight sounds very good and is stand alone

Another great stand-alone by Janny Wurts: The Master of White Storm

City of Bones and The Wheel of the Infinite, both by Martha Wells

Little, Big if you like literaric prose and light fantasy and if you're not depending on much story.

A pair of award-winning stand-alone fantasy novels from Vonda N. McIntyre:


Dreamsnake
A gentle women, member of an ancient sect who heal using, among other things, pet snakes to improvise curative injections, wanders a sparsely populated wasteland performing healing for villagers she meets. (Hugo & Nebula Award.)

The Moon and the Sun
Set in the royal court of Louis XIV (the Sun King), a woman tries to reconcile her talents with both society and the church. Oh, yes, there's also a sea monster whose cause she champions. (Nebula Award.)

There are some writers who write books that are pretty much always stand alone and they are perhaps a little less well known as a result. They include:

Christopher Priest: The Prestige etc.
Jonathan Carroll: The Land of Laughs etc.
Graham Joyce: The Silent Land etc.
Liz Jensen: The Uninvited could be seen as horror, sf or fantasy really, not read others by her but think they also skirt the edges of different genres often including fantasy

Some other individual examples include:

neil Gaiman Coroline, The Graveyard Book and The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Poul Anderson The Broken Sword and Three Hearts and Three Lions

Ken Grimwood's Replay

I have not read any of his work but I hear good things about Sean Stewart who also seems to write mainly stand alone works.

Martha Wells' Death of the Necromancer, technically has other work set in the same world but they do not seem to me to be sequels or anything so I see it as stand alone.

Dreaming the Serpent spear-Manda Scott
Apart of a series but awesome!

Sorceress- Bridget Wood
A twisted fantasy novel that I thoroughly enjoyed!!

Jessie wrote: "Dreaming the Serpent spear-Manda Scott
Apart of a series but awesome!..."

Hey, Jessie, Dreaming the Serpent Spear is listed as the 4th book of the Boudica series. (Ignoring the fact that it isn't a standalone book,) If I wanted to read it, would I need to read the first three in the series in order to appreciate its awesomeness?

The War of Flowers by Tad Williams

I very much enjoyed reading Sharps by K.J. Parker over the Thanksgiving break, a satisfying, meaty stand-alone, with details and background history that would do a trilogy proud. The book opens with the recruitment (mostly by extortion) of the Scherian national fencing team, to be sent across the border on a "goodwill tour" of neighboring Permia -- either in hopes of facilitating the peace negotiations or as a suicide mission to spark the conflict anew.

And that brings to mind another outstanding, fencing-themed stand-alone fantasy, Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint.

Mark Helprin's A Winter's Tale. Odd and compelling book. Not your usual swords-and-elves fantasy, but set in old and modernish New York. Fantastic writer. Knows his way around a word.

The Golem and the Jinni debut novel from Helen Wecker. Set in 1900 NYC, tells a complicated relationship between two supernatural critters from different mythoi.

Faerie Tale by Raymond E Feist

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Brian Daley's "The Doomfarers of Coramonde"

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber. Which is really not epic fantasy, but is still great
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees
The Charwoman's Shadow by Lord Dunsany
The Bell at Sealey Head by Patricia A. McKillip
In The Forests of Serre by Patricia A. McKillip
The Dragon Hoard by Tanith Lee

V.W. wrote: "Brian Daley's "The Doomfarers of Coramonde"

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..."

Good book but it does have a book 2:

Seconding the mention of Tigana. I recently finished it and immediately ordered more books by Guy Gavriel Kay, which is the highest praise I can give an author. If you like epic fantasy you'll probably love Tigana.

On a totally different note, if you like YA fantasy, I also really enjoyed Sharon Shinn's Summers at Castle Auburn, a lovely coming-of-age fantasy.

Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente
Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
The Engine's Child by Holly Phillips
A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar

The Redemption of Althalusby David Eddings is a geat stand along high fantasy. I have to admit that it is ne if my favourite books of Eddings.

G33z3r wrote: "Kevin wrote: "The Dragon and the George is actually the first book in a series...."

Huh, so it is. Well, it was a true stand-alone for 15 years, anyway. I guess I got used to thinking of it that ..."

I know what you mean, G33z3r. There was such a huge gap between the first book (which I read when it was new) and the second it might as well be a stand alone title. I know I've read the sequels (found by accident when I was browsing the library), but I can't tell you anything about them except that I didn't like them as much. How much of that is because they weren't as good or because I was no longer the same person I was when I read the first book, I cannot say. I still remember liking The Dragon and the George for being fresh and original and I could tell you generally what the tale was about. I remember nothing at all about the later ones.

My own list: (Be warned, most of these are children's books.)

Sabella -- Tanith Lee
The Princess Bride -- William Goldman
The Last Unicorn -- Peter S. Beagle
The Wild Swans and Other Tales -- Hans Christian Anderson
Shadow Castle -- Marian Cockrell
The Wind in the Willows -- Kenneth Grahame
Jonathan Livingston Seagull -- Richard Bach

I want to add these because they are extraordinary, though there are two volumes in the set so it technically is not a stand-alone. It remains one of my all-time favorite tales. They were first published in the late 1800s and were gifted to me when I was a small child. (Note--George MacDonald was one of Tolkien's influences.)

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
The Princess and Curdie - Illustrated by George MacDonald

Maybe another good topic would be long running series or rather, 'series that ran too long'. I agree with Sharon about The Dragon and the George. I can think of several other series that should be read as stand alone novels or changed too much over their course.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (probably more paranormal, but I found it in the Fantasy section when I purchased it)

The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Eye of the Hunter by Dennis L. McKiernan

Seaward by Susan Cooper

To my knowledge, all of these are completely stand-alone. I much prefer a one-time story to a series that should have ended, but has not yet. Probably why I'm hesitant to continue the Anita Blake series after my husband got me the first book - I understand it's gone waaaay different since.

There are some really good books already listed here - Guy Gavriel Kay, Neal Stephenson, Robin McKinley and more.

I'll add in pretty much all of Neil Gaiman - Stardust, Neverwhere, American Gods, and Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett).

Among Others by Jo Walton

Oops, I now see someone mentioned Gaiman already.

Came back to add Illusion by Paula Volsky and Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Nalo Hopkinson's Sister Mine is a stand-alone urban fantasy. Her Brown Girl in the Ring is set in the future, but I think the supernatural elements tie it closely to fantasy.

Michele wrote: "Came back to add Illusion by Paula Volsky and Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold."

There are three Chalion books by Bujold, although I think the ties between them are loose enough that maybe you could call them all stand-alone.

Yeah, the Chalion books are not only in the same setting, but the first two have definite links in plot and character.

But you don't have read them in any order, or more than one. So, stand alone.

I agree that The Hallowed Hunt could be read first or last, though. It's set centuries before the other two, but 1 & 2 are set chronologically. I don't think the second Chalion book Paladin of Souls would have nearly the impact if read first due to Ilsa's(?) amazing change.

Blackdog by K.V. Johansen is a stand-alone.
Even though she enters the world again with a two-parter...

A comment in the current "What are you reading" topic reminded me of this topic, so I thought I'd add some recent others...

Uprooted,
The Goblin Emperor,
All the Birds in the Sky,
The Regional Office Is Under Attack!

stand-alone fantasy novels that have sequels you don't have to read...

City of Stairs,
The Rook,
The Lies of Locke Lamora