YA Fantasy

I'm working on an article about the wealth of good fantasy reading that comes from the YA shelves. You can debate about the merits of Harry Potter and Eragon, but it's hard to deny that books in that vein are increasingly popular.

Of course, there are older titles that have broad appeal, and--who knows why--they get shelved in the YA section.

So, what I want to know from you all: What are some of the YA fantasy titles getting acclaim (warranted or not) and are proving popular, even today?

Ones I can think of off the top of my head, and I'm sure there're tons more:
The Chronicles of Narnia
His Dark Materials
Redwall
Harry Potter
The Inheritance Trilogy (Eragon, etc.)
Holly Black's Modern Faerie Tales
Stephenie Meyer's books
Tamora Pierce's books
Artemis Fowl
Pendragon
The Time Quartet
The Wizard of Oz

</i>Diana Wynne Jones's Chrestomanci series (or, really, any of her work)
Diane Duane's Young Wizards series
The Gammage Cup and The Whisper of Glocken by Carol Kendall (maybe not as well known/popular)

I guess I'm not the only one who gets embarrassed being a 24-year-old wandering around the YA section of a bookstore for fantasy novels :)

Well there's a couple of famous ones by some bloke called J.R.R. Tolkein that continue to get acclaim and remain popular.

The one that, whether it's getting acclaim and popularity or not, that I'd always push people towards: The Dark is Rising. Certainly for young adults.

There are others I remember reading with pleasure, but they seem to have vanished for popular attention, Weirdstone of Brisingamen and Red Moon, Black Mountain would be good examples of them I guess.

A really good book that also counts as YA is The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud. It has often been refered to as the best post-Potter YA book to come out.

There are actually a whole bunch of YA books being turned into movies in the near future. Including Samarkand which is coming out in 09, some other YA books coming out as movies are His Dark Material, Harry Potter, Narnia, Stardust and The Hobbit to name a few.

Jane Yolen the pit dragon trilogy and the Devil's Arithmetic.

Ursula K Le Guin has written a few, including the recent pair of Gifts and Voices which both are good.
Also the Moomin books by Tove Jansson is good. Wheter to call them fantasy, or YA, one could argue but I have enjoyed them both as a kid in the 60's and now as an grown up. Especially Pappan och havet (or Moominpappa at sea as I think its called in translation) but they are all good.

*touchstones are playing it up, I'll return later and try to fix them...*

I don't know how popular these actually are, but I love them and I know a lot of other people who do:

Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, which is both old and new, considering the first book came out around 20 years ago and the most recent came out - last year, I think?

Robin McKinley's books

John Bellairs' books are very timeless... I'm not sure if they are popular, but I do believe they are well reviewed, and a couple of the books have been adapted for TV.

Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom and Seventh Tower series seem to be quite popular too, and I think the Old Kingdom/Abhorsen trilogy is generally classified as YA.

I think there's a lot of basis for a good article about this. As a writer, I got a little bit fed up with mainstream fantasy in the late 90's and early 2000s. It seemed to me that adult fantasy just wasn't working as hard as YA fantasy to produce impressive settings and original stories. Dark Materials, Garth Nix, and the rest were really showing us up.

I think we've caught up, but it was something of a wake-up call, for me at least.

I would add in Patricia C. Wrede. I also loved The Phantom Tollbooth growing up. Another new author I've found is Herbie Brennan. I'm sure there are lots more! They're all pretty great :-)

I would add the Bartimaeus trilogy as one of the best post-Harry Potter fantasy series written.

I would like to add the Icemark Chronicles by Stuart Hill. There are only two books out so far, Cry of the Icemark and Blade of Fire. I have found them to be very good reads. Also, another title that falls under YA Fantasy that is just fantastic is the Abarat books by Clive barker. I am a big fan of YA fantasy and have read a lot lately. I have to agree with The Bartimaeus Trilogy as well, very clever writing by Stroud.

I haven't seen anyone mention Cornelia Funke yet. I just finished Inkspell which didn't grab me the way Inkheart did but was still enjoyable. I plan to seek out more of her work

>13 elfchild: I listened to the audio book of Cornelia Funke's Dragon Rider story which was really good, if you're interested in other titles by her.

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes and Scott Westerfeld are fantastic YA fantasy writers. I recently read City of Bones by Cassandra Claire which I enjoyed as well.

I love to read (and write) YA fantasy. I think it all started out back in elementary school reading The Chronicles of Narnia, The Dark is Rising series, The Wrinkle in Time books and the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander.

I can't believe I forgot The Dark is Rising! Loved it, should probably read the rest of the series.

I just picked up The Amulet of Samarkind from BookMooch and am looking forward to starting it.

I don't know if Abarat counts as YA or not, but that series is also awesome - looking forward to the release of the third book there. Same with Eragon, though I still have to read Eldest.

The Lemony Snicket books probably qualify as well from what I've heard - haven't read them yet, but I just mooched the first book to try it out. (As if I weren't hooked on enough series already!)

A Wrinkle in Time et al by Madeleine L'Engle

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. About a teen werewolf named Vivian who falls for a human boy.

Tithe by Holly Black (I really liked this one, there's a sequel to this book but I forget the title). About a teen girl who thinks she's human but she's actually a changeling. Dark, with a slight romance element.

The sort of sequel to Tithe is Valiant but Ironside which is coming out in May is supposed to directly involve Kaye and Roiben. I have to say I was rather alarmed at the book description on Amazon.

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins and the other Underland Chronicles are really good YA fantasy. They are definitely YA, however; they are very well written and fun quick reads.

The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, and Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett. I read all of those one after another and enjoyed them a lot. They're pretty quick reads.

#18
The book description for Ironside?

When Kaye gets a little tipsy and declares her love for Roiben he sends her away on an impossible quest. I'm such a romantic I always hate the thought that the characters you want to see together, don't stay together.

I was so bad today. I saw Ironside at Borders and skipped to the end to see what happens (couldn't afford to buy the book right now). Something I never, never do but in this case I couldn't help myself! I won't say anything more about it though.

demonlover,
Oh geez, I'm the same way!argh. I do that too, I'll skip to the end of the book to see what happens and if the ending is bad I skip the book. So will you read the book?

Well, there's definitely The Chronicles of Prydain series (The Black Cauldron, The Book of Three, Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King) by Lloyd Alexander.

I think that Mercedes Lackey's Arrows of the Queen Trilogy (Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, and Arrow's Fall) would fall into this category, too.

>23 booklover79: Yes, I totally plan to buy the book (when I can) and read it. It looks very good from the parts I read :-)

New Zealand writers Margaret Mahy and Maurice Gee have both written excellent YA fantasy. They're books that got me into reading fantasy later on.
My favourite Mahy was The Changeover. I also loved The Halfmen of O by Gee.

Everybody's already mentioned my favorites. I'd definitely second (or third) The Dark is Rising sequence and Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest series, and Diane Duane's stuff.

And I just bought the first of Garth Nix's Abhorsen series, and Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials. I can't wait to finish the Christopher Moore book I'm reading so I can read those!

Can't think of titles, just now, but Jenny Nimmo is another name I look out for.
I also liked a book by Edith Patou - I think its the only one so far, but it seemed to have a whole new way of looking that intrigued me - North Child? rahter more out tof the box than some

Coincidentally I just finished reading all the Artemis Fowl books and reviewed them as a series on my blog.

Enthusiastic second for the mentions of Lloyd Alexander and Madeleine L'Engle. Maybe I missed it, but has nobody mentioned the Earthsea books? And Mary Stewart's Arthur series (The Hollow Hills, etc.) are excellent.

I third L'engle and second Earthsea. I've been wondering ever since I read the first Artemis Fowl book why people liked it so much. It just didn't seem very good to me.

Bruce Coville's Magic Shop series, starting with Jennifer Murdley's Toad. And I'll second the Phantom Tollbooth.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Tamora Pierce yet. She's one of the main YA fantasy authors and is known for her strong female characters in a typically male-dominated genre. I first read the Song of the Lioness quartet which was a great sereies. I started The Immortals but it didn't grab me as much. Protector of the Small is pretty good though.

Going back to the discussion of Holly Black's Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale, I really loved the book! I finally gave in and picked up a copy at the book store last week. I think I have to say I enjoyed it even more than Tithe or Valiant.

Kind of a side note is my 7 year old is almost done indepedently reading his first chapter book. A fantasy called Ferno the Fire Dragon from the Beast Quest series. I keep telling him how proud I am of him! I've also picked him up the next book in the series.

I'm amazed at how much YA material is finding a place in my collection. For fantasy, I really enjoyed the The Darkangel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce. It has a vampire element but has a nice fantasy/quest feel too.

Oh, and right when I clicked the 'Submit' button I thought of The Seer and The Sword by Victoria Hanley.

Nobody's read C. Dale Brittain's Yurt series? I just found them and am enjoying them very much.

>2 jaimelesmaths: I'm not embarrassed to be in the YA section - they put good books in there!

I think all my favorites have been listed, but I go there to see if Tamora Pierce, Diana Wynne Jones, or Patricia Wrede have any new books out. If not, I scan the rest of the shelves. Same thing in the library (well, not looking for new books, usually).

I'm really surprised at some of the things that are considered YA, though! I think Mercedes Lackey put a semi-explicit sex scene into Fairy Godmother just to keep it from being classified YA. It really startled my 14-year-old nephew to come across it after I lent him the book - I hadn't registered it (I read romances...) and the rest of the book was fine.

The Belgariad by Eddings (and most of his other books) I first read prolly at 13 or 14.

And of course the early Pern books, and Crystal Singer and Ship who Sings by Anne McCaffrey at the same age.

Many of the Discworld books could be YA

The Attolia series by Megan Whalen Turner, starting with The Thief are my favourites. The writing is quite spare and simple, but the character of Eugenides is just so devious!

Beth Hilgartner's A business of ferrets is another YA fantasy with great characters.

c j Cherryh's The goblin Mirror (possibly her only venture into YA territory?) is also good, if you can find a copy.

The Ranger's Apprentice is right up there with Harry Potter at my school. All of the kids are loving it, not to mention me..:)

The Borderlands series (Nevernever, Life on the Border, Finder, etc. by Terri Windling, Will Shetterly and Emma Bull to name a few) is a good introduction to a bunch of great authors.

Nina Kiriki Hoffman's written some more in the realistic fantasy vein including The Thread that Binds the Bones and A Fistful of Sky that are worth adding.

Piers Anthony's Xanth series, as well, I think.

I second lots of ones from this list.

Also, but not mentioned, Bruce Coville's Into the Land of the Unicorns and Song of the Wanderer - and my new YA favorites James A. Owen's Here, there be dragons and Search for the Red Dragon - absolutely fabulous.

Have to Coraline and Stardust by Neil Gaiman, both excellent reads. Just recently read The Wee Free Men, can't wait to read the others. Pratchett's The amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is another that comes to mind. Just love the YA fantasy, can't seem to get enough. Laters

MaryJanice Davidson & Anthony Alongi have the Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace and its two sequels (so far). Very good for young girls. There's also the House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast starting with Marked, then Betrayed, then Chosen, and Untamed comes out soon.

And of course - if it even needed mentioning - there's the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer

Blue Bloods by Melissa De la Cruz, Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampire series, Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, Faerie Path by Frewin Jones, oh, and an older series by Jane Yolen called the Pit Dragon series, starting with Dragon's Blood, Heart's Blood, and A Sending of Dragons.

And the Mercedes Lackey trilogy Owlflight, Owlsight, and Owlknight.

The Green Knowe series by L.M. Boston; I don't know if they are still (or again) available and perhaps they might be better classified as children's rather than YA literature, but they are well worth seeking out, especially the first, The Children of Green Knowe, and the fourth, A Stranger at Green Knowe.

Most of my favourites have been mentioned, but there are a couple I feel I should add

D J MacHale's Pendragon series is quite popular in the states with Young Adults.

And Trudi Canavan's Black Magician Trilogy is worth a mention - I personally class it as a more Adult Fantasy, but I have seen it put in Young Adult as well.

The Looking Glass Wars is a very different look at Alice and Wonderland and has been popular at my branch of the library.

A great series I don't think anyone mentioned is The Gideon the Cutpurse series, most recently republished as "The Time Travelers" and its sequel "The Time Thief." A little sci-fi in there too for good measure. I thought these were great reads!!

What is a YA shelf?

dragonsign

>50 dragonsign:: A "YA shelf" would consist of materials suitable for young adults, as opposed to those intended specifically for adults or for younger children. (A lot of fantasy crosses over, but usually YA titles are written with younger protagonists that teens can identify with.)

I'm not sure they're garnering acclaim yet, but few recent titles I thought were fun: Skulduggery Pleasant, Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat (more middle school end of spectrum), Dread Locks, GoblinQuest and it's sequels, and Anne Ursu's Cronus Chronicles.

A second (3rd?0 on the Dragonriders of Pern and the Harper Hallseries by Anne McCaffrey. After the success of Eragon, I keep waiting to see a Dragonsong preview. What about Andre Norton's Witchworld and Forerunner books?

Alrighty, tried to edit for spelling, and got a duplicate post.

I just started reading the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane, and I'm enjoying it so far. The first book (all I've read thus far) was very entertaining. It wasn't at all what I expected it to be though.

don't know if these would be any help at this point, but here's some of my favorite series:

Lord of the Rings -J.R.R. Tolkien
The Faerie Wars series -Herbie Brennan
Charlie Bone series -Jenny Nimmo
the Gemma Doyle trilogy -Libba Bray
Donna Jo Napoli's versions of fairytales

2 series that are fantasy but have animals as main characters:
Warriors -Erin Hunter
Gaurdians of Ga'Hoole -Kathryn Lasky

oh I almost forgot

T.A. Barron's series, like The great Tree of Avolon I think? and His Merlin series

Y/A animal fantasy:
Solo's Journey - Joy Smith Aiken
Silverwing, Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel

Clare Bell
author, y/a Ratha series Ratha's Creature and sequels.

John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series, and the urban fantasies by Emma Bull, including Finder and War for the Oaks, get my vote. I also just finished a very good new one, Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan.
Starts with The Lightning Thief
Sea of Monsters
Titan's Curse
Battle of Labyrinth

And there is another one coming out soon.
:

my sister read those and loved them-i'll have to tell her there will be a new one

My apologies if i missed it but how about Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead? Its kind of like Stephenie Meyer's vampire books but not as well written. In fact I just finished the first one and found a good story burried in teen girls vengence and desire to destroy each other socially, but I do work at a book store and see quite a few of this series sold.

*Sorry i just thought of another book. Again I am not sure if it was mentioned above but how about Garth Nix and Sabriel along with the books that follow. I really enjoyed those.

The Lost Years of Merlin by T A Barron is a little older, so less talked about, but excellent. Didn't see Ken Oppel's Airborn and Skybreaker and new StarClimber yet. Can't believe it took so long for someone to mention Dragonriders of Pern by McCaffrey. It's one of my favorites, along with The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper. Looks like these comments pretty much cover the great ones.

So far I've enjoyed most of the winners of the Mythopoeic Award: http://www.mythsoc.org/awards/winners/ some of which have already made this thread.

I especially like the Hollow Kingdom Trilogy:
The Hollow Kingdom, Close Kin, and In the Coils of the Snake by Clare Dunkle.

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope is a great book. Fantasy and history mixed up with a wonderful heroine and compelling plot. And the writing is lovely.

Most of the ones I'd have suggested have already been named, but there's also the Magic Kingdom of Landover books by Terry Brooks. Magic Kingdom for Sale was the first real fantasy book I read aside from Redwall, back when I was a kid. (ooh, while searching to make sure I wrote the title properly, I stumbled across a 2010 release date for a film version of it listed at IMDB. woot.)

Also, in my teens was when I first read Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy, although I'd think it a slightly older read. Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crime series too, I'd recommend, especially The Fourth Bear.

>63 atimco: There's also her The Sherwood Ring (nothing to do with Robin Hood); it's a Revolutionary War/recent past (modern at the time of writing) ghost story. Also a wonderful heroine - I love her books.

Isobelle Carmody and Brian Caswell have both written a number of excellent YA books including IC's Obernewtyn Chronicles and Scatterlings; and BC's Merryll of the Stones, A Cage of Butterflies and Dreamslip

Alan Garner's Weirdstone of Brisingamen & Elidor were fab reads when I was younger. I loved Ursula K. Le Guin too Earthsea Quartet is amazing. How about Patricia A. McKillip's Riddlemaster of Hed series was great too. Patricia C Wrede books are great too. Isobelle Carmody's Obernewtyn series I started years ago and only recently realised she has continued to write more in the series. Susan Price also wrote some great fantasy books but can not remember what they were called, will go and look!

65: Yes, I love that one too. I didn't mention it here because it was more history than fantasy — though of course, ghosts showing up to tour the past is rather fantastical :-P

Isobelle Carmody has written another series besides the Obernewtyn series- the Gateway Trilogy. I have read the first two books and they were pretty good. first is Night gate, the second is Winter door.

I really liked the series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes...the Kieshara volumes 1-5 I think? It starts with Hawksong.

The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner...great reads...

I'm particularly fond of Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence and it was one of several influences on my own novel The Magic Lands. But I'd like to also mention one of her lesser known books Seaward. It's a really imaginative, compelling fantasy and I strongly recommend it.

I just read The Dark is Rising, finishing it on the 4th. I have a different perspective of it in comparison to other YA genre fiction. I remember one book when I was a young adult that was written for the genre The Phantom Tollbooth still in print and I picked it up for my nephew last year.

Roald Dahl Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator are memories I have of either a preteen or earlier teenager reading what are clearly fantasies.

A lot of Mercedes Lackey novels are kinda YA. Not sure if they are marketed as YA though. I know I read them when I was younger. Espically Arrows of the Queen and the other two in that series. Her Joust would also fit, I think.

Well most people have already mentioned the majority of the fantasy books i own but i thought i would mention The Mallorean quintet by David Eddings which follows on after the Belgariad. Also no one has mentioned Alison Croggon's books of Pellinor which are pretty good there's four books starting with The Naming (or the Gift if you're British).

I didn't see Sharon Shinn or Juliet Marillier mentioned. Both are excellent!

I love Juliet Marillier-Her Daughter of the Forest series is amazing! Sharon Shinn is a really good author as well

Marillier's Sevenwaters trilogy is very good, but after that she just repeats herself and repeats herself. Her villains are all the same, and her leading female characters are also pretty much clones of each other. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Sevenwaters and have read it several times — but her following books are all the same story, again and again.

Naomi Novik's dragon series based around the Napoleonic wars is excellent. The first book is called His Majesty's Dragon in the U.S., but Temeraire in the U.K.

The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw is one of my favorites as well and centers around a changeling switched with a human girl and the difficulties she faces when ousted by society because she's different. (Also highly recommend The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue for all those who enjoy stories about changelings, but it's for adults, not teens.)

I haven't read it myself, but Elizabeth Haydon's Ven Polypheme series is a YA Fantasy series set in the same world as her more adult series, Symphony of Ages. I have heard many good things about the series.

Nobodys mentioned Fablehaven or Sisters Grimm!