To Your Scattered Authors Go: The Shadow Library Re-Organized

 

The Atlas of the Land … Karen Wynn Fonstad

Lord Foul’s Bane; The Illearth War; The Power That Preserves, The Wounded Land, The One Tree, White Gold Wielder … Steven R Donaldson*

Daughter of Regals and other tales … Stephen R. Donaldson

Gildenfire … Stephen R. Donaldson

The Mirror of Her Dreams … Stephen R. Donaldson

A Man Rides Through … Stephen R. Donaldson                  

Fatal Revenant … Stephen R. Donaldson

Against All Things Ending … Stephen R. Donaldson    

The Runes of the Earth … Stephen R. Donaldson

[The Last Dark … Stephen R. Donaldson]

The Bishop’s Heir; The King’s Justice; The Quest for St. Camber; King Kelson’s Bride; Deryni Magic … Katherine Kurtz

The Harrowing of Gwynedd; King Javan’s Year; The Bastard Prince … Katherine Kurtz

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Vols. I, II, and III; Mixed Magics; Eight Days of Luke; Archer’s Goon, Enchanted Glass; Earwig and the Witch; Hexwood … Diana Wynne Jones

The Dalemark Quartet … Diana Wynne Jones

A Wizard of Earthsea*; The Tombs of Atuan*; The Farthest Shore*; Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings … Ursula K. Leguin

The Translator … John Crowley

Novelty: Four Stories … John Crowley*

Four Freedoms … John Crowley

Beasts … John Crowley*

The Folk of the Air … Peter S. Beagle

I See by My Outfit … Peter S. Beagle

The Fires of Windameir … Neil Hancock*

Riddle of Stars … Patricia A. McKillip*

The Wicked Day … Mary Stewart

Time Cat … Lloyd Alexander

Encyclopedia Cthulhiana … Daniel Harms

Secrets of The Wee Free Men and Discworld … Carrie Pyykkonen & Linda Washington

These are all books by good writers whom I admire, or about their creations, of which I do not feel I need to keep copies. Some, whose work I enjoyed, just lost my interest. Take Donaldson, for instance. While I enjoyed the first Thomas Covenant trilogy a good deal, and the second less so, the third batch seemed dedicated to unweaving the triumphs of the first books simply for the reason of continuing the series; it devalued the previous work for me. I lost interest and never even bought the final volume, The Last Dark. Kurtz seemed to me to lose some of her zest and became just like an endless D&D campaign; there is a whole other Deryni trilogy, The Childe Morgan Trilogy, that I never bothered to seek out. Some books are simply spare copies I can do without.

Katherine Kurtz, Lloyd Alexander

Deryni Rising, Deryni Checkmate, High Deryni, Camber of Culdi, Saint Camber, Camber the Heretic, The Deryni Archives, by Katherine Kurtz

I used to have 8 other Deryni books, but when I took them out of storage, I discovered the series’ newer books gave me no joy, so I sold them. I remember buying the rest of them with relish, mostly from the pharmacy (Eckerd’s?) that used to be in the Plaza Del Rey. Many a time I’d have Mom drop me off there early and then stroll down to Mr. Gatti’s to do a little reading before I started work. These are fine entertainments, with covers by Darrell K. Sweet.

Ranking: Keepers.

File Code: Fantasy. Novels. Paperbacks.

The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King, by Lloyd Alexander.

The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron were squeezed into the most forgotten Disney animated movie ever made. “Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles (as is the series over-all name) deals with the life and adventures of Taran, a foundling boy, who begins life as a pig-tender and ends up as King of Prydain. These are good books; I enjoyed reading them, and sought out any related stuff, like The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain. But if the series suffers from any drawbacks it is that it is too perfect, too architecturally complete. There is little wiggle room for the imagination, all mysteries are explained; all the characters, admirable in themselves, learn their due lessons and fulfill their destinies. In the end, magic goes away, and the heroes must use the lessons they've learned in real life, yadda yadda yadda. The series ends, not with triumph or the sense of doors opening to elsewhere, but with weariness, drabness, and the prospect of hard labors to come. Realistic, perhaps, but hardly satisfying. Alexander builds his world almost like a model train. It is cunning, and crafted, and fascinating, and runs around the tracks as it is designed to do. As such, it is an admirable work of fun, but I don't think Alexander ever actually believes in it.” – Power of Babel.

Ranking: Keepers.

File Code: Children’s Books. Fantasy. Paperbacks.