Iâve read most of these, at probably about the same time period. And Iâve been constantly reminded by kidâs fantasy films of Susan Cooperâs books, but had completely forgotten her name since reading them as a child. Thank you. I know some smalls who are gonna get literatured now! 
Yeah, although Susan Cooper probably wasnât the first to do it, she is definitely a pre-cursor of the modern âurban fantasyâ genre where epic magic battles between good and evil arenât occurring in a far off magical land or in the distant past but in the modern ârealâ world.
Iâll add my voice here about Susan Cooper. I adored those books as a child.
(Those other books are pretty good too!)
â⌠The Dark is Rising: the best YA fantasy series ever âŚâ
There are probably other claimants to the title â perhaps Le Guinâs âEarthseaâ? But itâs certainly among the strongest contenders.
âOver Sea, Under Stoneâ, incidentally, is in some ways an outlier in the series, not only because of the âSwallows and Amazonsâ-style âfamily adventureâ model, but because it doesnât feature Will Stanton, the protagonist of the other books. Itâs more like a standalone than part of the series, in some respects.
I would have picked some of the also-rans for my list. The book of The Warriors was OK, but nowhere near as exciting as the movie.
One correction - the first book in Susan Cooperâs Dark Is Rising series isnât Over Sea, Under Stone, itâs The Dark Is Rising.
Wow! Love the Philip K. Dick and Frank Herbert covers. Really brilliant.
Nope. Over Sea, Under Stone predates The Dark is Rising by nearly 10 years.
There were no Westerns from 1965 that could make the cut?
Also Samuel R. Delanyâs The Ballad of Beta-2 and Zelaznyâs This Immortal â two excellent SF books of the proto-ânew waveâ.
No Modesty Blaise? The first novel is from 1965, and Modesty from that one, if she met the rather lacklustre Bond from Man with the Golden Gun, would have dazzled him with a sardonic smile, judo-chopped him into the dirt, and pinched his family jewels, easy.
It looks like that your recommend books are in the early days, I prefer the modern books. But Susan Cooperâs YA fantasy adventure Over Sea, Under Stone, I also like a lot!
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
