Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Literary Criticism Books
Here you will get Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Literary Criticism Books For you.This is an up-to-date list of recommended books.
1. Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Author: by Neil Gaiman
B07HY7YH7R
October 30, 2018
English
A fully illustrated guide to Deborah Harkness’s #1 New York Times bestselling All Souls trilogy”an irresistible … Wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy” (People). Look for the hit TV series A Discovery of Witches, streaming on AMC Plus, Sundance Now and Shudder. Season 2 premieres January 9, 2021!
A Discovery of Witches introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont. Shadow of Night and The Book of Lifecarried Deborah Harkness’s series to its spellbinding conclusion. In The World of All Souls, Harkness shares the rich sources of inspiration behind her bewitching novels.
She draws together synopses, character bios, maps, recipes, and even the science behind creatures, magic, and alchemy-all with her signature historian’s touch. Bursting with fascinating facts and dazzling artwork, this essential handbook is a must-have for longtime fans and eager newcomers alike.
4. The Outlandish Companion (Revised and Updated): Companion to Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, and Drums of Autumn
Author: by Diana Gabaldon
Delacorte Press
English
608 pages
Perfect for readers of the bestselling Outlander novelsand don’t miss The Outlandish Companion Volume Two! #1 New York Times bestselling author Diana Gabaldon has captivated millions of readers with her critically acclaimed Outlander novels, the inspiration for the Starz original series.
From the moment Claire Randall stepped through a standing stone circle and was thrown back in time to the year 1743and into a world that threatens life, limb, loyalty, heart, soul, and everything else Claire hasreaders have been hungry to know everything about this world and its inhabitants, particularly a Scottish soldier named Jamie Fraser.
In this beautifully illustrated compendium of all things Outlandish, Gabaldon covers the first four novels of the main series, including: full synopses of Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, and Drums of Autumn a complete listing of the characters (fictional and historical) in the first four novels in the series, as well as family trees and genealogical notes a comprehensive glossary and pronunciation guide to Gaelic terms and usage The Gabaldon Theory of Time Travel, explained frequently asked questions to the author and her (sometimes surprising) answers an annotated bibliography essays about medicine and magic in the eighteenth century, researching historical fiction, creating characters, and more professionally cast horoscopes for Jamie and Claire the making of the TV series: how we got there from here, and what happened next (including My Brief Career as a TV Actor) behind-the-scenes photos from the Outlander TV series set For anyone who wants to spend more time with the Outlander characters and the world they inhabit, Diana Gabaldon here opens a door through the standing stones and offers a guided tour of what lies within.
5. Tolkien Boxed Set (Word Cloud Classics)
Author: by David Day
Thunder Bay Press
English
1504 pages
A must-have collection covering the lands and inhabitants of Middle-earth. The fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth contains a rich assortment of people, cities, powers, and creaturesas well as a deep, intertwined history that spans thousands of years.
In these specially designed volumes, best-selling author and Tolkien scholar David Day presents four decades of research and writing on the lands and inhabitants of Middle-earth. A must-have guide to the Tolkien world, this collection provides an A-to-Z dictionary of the vernacular, an atlas describing the various terra firma, histories of battles, dark powers, heroes, and the Hobbits that started it all.
More than 200 black-and-white and full-color illustrations make the pages a joy to behold as you learn all you’ll need to know about Tolkien’s fantasy realm. This work is unofficial and is not authorized by the Tolkien Estate or HarperCollins Publishers.
6. The Atlas of Middle-Earth (Revised Edition)
Author: by Karen Wynn Fonstad
Houghton Mifflin
English
224 pages
Karen Wynn Fonstad’s THE ATLAS OF MIDDLE-EARTH is an essential volume that will enchant all Tolkien fans. Here is the definitive guide to the geography of Middle-earth, from its founding in the Elder Days through the Third Age, including the journeys of Bilbo, Frodo, and the Fellowship of the Ring.
Authentic and updated – nearly one third of the maps are new, and the text is fully revised – the atlas illuminates the enchanted world created in THE SILMARILLION, THE HOBBIT, and THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Hundreds of two-color maps and diagrams survey the journeys of the principal characters day by day – including all the battles and key locations of the First, Second, and Third Ages.
Plans and descriptions of castles, buildings, and distinctive landforms are given, along with thematic maps describing the climate, vegetation, languages, and population distribution of Middle-earth throughout its history. An extensive appendix and an index help readers correlate the maps with Tolkien’s novels.
7. Around the world in Eighty days: A Jules Verne's Classic Novel With 55 Original Illustrations (100th Anniversary Collection Edition, #1)
Author: by Jules Verne
B09328FD5F
English
255 pages
Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real. Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty DaysThis beautiful unabridgededition contains 55 illustrations from the 1873 English first edition. Around the World in Eighty Days is a classic adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1873.
In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a 20,000 wager (roughly 1. 6 million today) set by his friends at the Reform Club. It is one of Verne’s most acclaimed works.
The story starts in London on Tuesday, October 1, 1872. Fogg is a rich English gentleman living in solitude. Despite his wealth, Fogg lives a modest life with habits carried out with mathematical precision. Very little can be said about his social life other than that he is a member of the Reform Club.
Having dismissed his former valet, James Foster, for bringing him shaving water at 84 F (29 C) instead of 86 F (30 C), Fogg hires a Frenchman by the name of Jean Passepartout as a replacement. At the Reform Club, Fogg gets involved in an argument over an article in The Daily Telegraph stating that with the opening of a new railway section in India, it is now possible to travel around the world in 80 days.
8. The Outlandish Companion Volume Two: The Companion to The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in the Bone, and Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander)
Author: by Diana Gabaldon
Delacorte Press
English
656 pages
Perfect readers of the bestselling Outlander novelsand don’t miss the revised and updated first volume of The Outlandish Companion! More than a decade ago, #1 New York Times bestselling author Diana Gabaldon delighted her legions of fans with The Outlandish Companion, an indispensable guide to all the Outlander books at the time.
But that edition was just a taste of things to come. Since that publication, there have been four more Outlander novels, a side series, assorted novellas, and one smash-hit Starz original television series. Now Gabaldon serves up The Outlandish Companion, Volume Two, an all-new guide to the latest books in the series.
Written with Gabaldon’s signature wit and intelligence, this compendium is bursting with generous commentary and juicy insider details, including a complete chronology of the series thus far full synopses of The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in the Bone, and Written in My Own Heart’s Blood recaps of the Lord John Grey novels: Lord John and the Private Matter, Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, Lord John and the Hand of Devils, and The Scottish Prisoner a who’s who of the cast of Outlander characters, cross-referenced by book detailed maps and floor plans a bibliographic guide to research sources essays on subjects as wide ranging as Outlandish controversies regarding sex and violence, the unique responsibilities of a writer of historical fiction, and Gabaldon’s writing process a guided tour of the clothes, food, and music of the eighteenth century a Scottish glossary and pronunciation guide personal photos from the author taken on the set of the Starz Outlander series As entertaining, sweeping, and addictive as the series itself, this second volume of The Outlandish Companion is a one (or two)-of-a-kind gift from an incomparable author.
9. The Wheel of Time Companion: The People, Places, and History of the Bestselling Series
Author: by Robert Jordan
Tor Books
English
816 pages
The definitive encyclopedia of The Wheel of Time series, the companion sheds light on some of the most intriguing aspects of the world, including biographies and motivations of many characters that never made it into the books, but helped bring Jordan’s world to life.
Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters. Over the course of fifteen books and millions of words, the world that Jordan created grew in depth and complexity.
However, only a fraction of what Jordan imagined ended up on the page, the rest going into his personal files. Included in the volume in an A-to-Z format are:An entry for each named characterAn inclusive dictionary of the Old TongueNew maps of the Last BattleNew portraits of many charactersHistories and customs of the nations of the worldThe strength level of many channelersDescriptions of the flora and fauna unique to the worldAnd much more!
10. The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science
Author: by John Tresch
English
448 pages
0374247854
One of The Christian Science Monitor’s ten best books of JuneAn innovative biography of Edgar Allan Poehighlighting his fascination and feuds with science. Decade after decade, Edgar Allan Poe remains one of the most popular American writers. He is beloved around the world for his pioneering detective fiction, tales of horror, and haunting, atmospheric verse.
But what if there was another side to the man who wrote The Raven and The Fall of the House of Usher? In The Reason for the Darkness of the Night, John Tresch offers a bold new biography of a writer whose short, tortured life continues to fascinate.
Shining a spotlight on an era when the lines separating entertainment, speculation, and scientific inquiry were blurred, Tresch reveals Poe’s obsession with science and lifelong ambition to advance and question human knowledge. Even as he composed dazzling works of fiction, he remained an avid and often combative commentator on new discoveries, publishing and hustling in literary scenes that also hosted the era’s most prominent scientists, semi-scientists, and pseudo-intellectual rogues.
11. Frankenstein: The Original 1818 text of Mary Shelley (200th Anniversary Collection Classics Edition, #1)
Author: by Mary Shelley
B092P6WYNV
English
172 pages
Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein. This is a original 1818 text edition of Frankenstein. Frankenstein is a novel written by English author Mary Shelley about eccentric scientist Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment.
Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty. Shelley had travelled through Europe in 1814, journeying along the river Rhine in Germany with a stop in Gernsheim which is just 17 km (10 mi) away from Frankenstein Castle, where two centuries before an alchemist was engaged in experiments.
Later, she traveled in the region of Geneva (Switzerland)where much of the story takes placeand the topics of galvanism and other similar occult ideas were themes of conversation among her companions, particularly her lover and future husband, Percy Shelley.
Mary, Percy, Lord Byron, and John Polidori decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story. Since publication of the novel, the name “Frankenstein” is often used to refer to the monster itself, as is done in the stage adaptation by Peggy Webling.
12. The Invisible Man
Author: by H.G. Wells
English
135 pages
1512091979
All men, however highly educated, retain some superstitious inklings.H.G. Wells, The Invisible ManThe Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells published in 1897. Originally serialized in Pearson’s Weekly in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year.
The Invisible Man of the title is Griffin, a scientist who has devoted himself to research into optics and invents a way to change a body’s refractive index to that of air so that it absorbs and reflects no light and thus becomes invisible.
He carries out this procedure on himself and renders himself invisible, but fails in his attempt to reverse it. A practitioner of random and irresponsible violence, Griffin has become an iconic character in horror fiction. While its predecessors, The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau, were written using first-person narrators, Wells adopts a third-person objective point of view in The Invisible Man.
The novel is considered influential, and helped establish Wells as the “father of science fiction”.A True Classic that Belongs on Every Bookshelf!
13. On Writing and Worldbuilding: Volume I
Author: by Timothy Hickson
English
243 pages
1798967650
Writing advice tends to be full of ‘rules’ and ‘tips’ which are either too broad to be helpful or outright wrong. In On Writing and Worldbuilding, we will discuss specific and applicable ideas to consider, from effective methods of delivering exposition and foreshadowing, to how communication, commerce, and control play into the fall of an empire.
On WritingPart I: ProloguesPart II: The First ChapterPart III: The Exposition ProblemPart IV: ForeshadowingPart V: Villain MotivationPart VI: Hero-Villain RelationshipsPart VII: Final BattlesPart VIII: The Chosen OnePart IX: Hard Magic Systems Part X: Soft Magic SystemsPart XI: Magic Systems and StorytellingOn WorldbuildingPart XII: Polytheistic ReligionsPart XIII: Hidden Magical Worlds Part XIV: How Empires RisePart XV: How Empires WorkPart XVI: How Empires FallExclusive ContentPart XVII: How I Plan a Novel
14. The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Author: by J.R.R. Tolkien
Mariner Books
English
240 pages
J.R.R.Tolkien’s complete artwork for his magisterial novel, published on the sixtieth anniversary of The Lord of the Rings As he wrote The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien’s mental pictures often found expression in drawing, from rough sketches made within the manuscript to more finished illustrations.
Only a few of these were meant for publication; most were aids to help Tolkien conceive his complex story and keep it consistent. Many do not illustrate the final text, but represent moments of creation, illuminating Tolkien’s process of writing and design.
In addition to pictorial sketches, numerous maps follow the development of the Shire and the larger landscape of Middle-earth, while inscriptions in runes and Elvish script, and “facsimile” leaves from the burned and blood-stained Book of Mazarbul, support Tolkien’s pose as an “editor” or “translator” of ancient records.
The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien collects these drawings, inscriptions, maps, and plans in one deluxe volume. More than 180 images are included, all of them printed in color from high-quality scans and photographs, more than half not previously published.Wayne G.
16. The Complete Tolkien Companion
Author: by J. E. A. Tyler
1250023556
St. Martin's Griffin
English
For all those who journey to Middle Earth, here is the complete guide to its lands, legends, histories, languages, and people. The Complete Tolkien Companion explains, translates, and links every single referencenames, dates, places, facts, famous weapons, even food and drinkto be found in J.R.R.
Tolkien’s world, which includes not only The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings but also The Simarillion and many other posthumously published works. A detailed explanation of the various Elvish writing systems, together with maps, charts, and genealogical tables, bring the remarkable genius of Tolkien and the unforgettable world and wonder of Middle Earth to life with focus and accuracy.
First published in 1976, this is an indispensable accompaniment for anyone who embarks on the reading journey of a lifetime.
