This set of books helped to form my character and my sense of possibility. I think the same passion for these stories and ideas has led me to study the unconscious and dreams. I also am passionate about the earth and caring for nature; the Elven magic deepened my sense of its sacredness while stretching my mind into the fun of creating magical realms. I think it’s a moral code but also a playful way of thinking and being. Other ways I’ve continued from these works, coupled with my love of language, is an extensive study of the Ancient Futhark, the runes, which have magical power in Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
This book, the start of a series of seven books, I think, made a difference in my life starting in my 20s. The main character, with her sentience and mind-powers that made her long red hair writhe when the power was rising, gave me a new sense of myself as a woman. She held 9 others’ souls within her, carried by the diadem that was sealed to her head. This gave me a new sense of how full spirits might be carried in others, expanding my perception of existence. I loved the dynamic quality of the story, the worlds she built, and the Thief who was her friend and sometimes lover. Through it all, the planet of her people and origin is missing, adding a compelling mystery.
Abandoned on an alien planet, a young woman gains remarkable powers from a mysterious artifact, in the first installment of a sprawling, unforgettable science fiction saga.
A magnificent combination of space opera and epic fantasy quest in the beloved science fantasy tradition of Andre Norton and C. J. Cherryh, author Jo Clayton’s masterful Diadem Saga begins with an unforgettable tale of destiny, self-discovery, survival, and an extraordinary young woman’s coming of age in a world that is not her own.
Raised, but never loved, by the barbarian valley people of Jaydugar, a planet of two suns, young Aleytys has always…
This book carried a concept of shared thought that enchanted me. Colonists find themselves marooned on a planet of simple technologies. At a certain season, a flower sends pollen through the air that causes special connective telepathy and healing powers. They form a society based on royal families but there’s a group that melds minds which is beautifully depicted. This series raised in me a fascination with the idea of closeness of mind and connection. Amid the challenges of a primitive society blended with increasing amounts of outer, technologically advanced influence as their planet is eventually discovered, the mind is shown to still be the most powerful.
Dragonflight, of the Dragonriders of Pern series, is considered YA, yet these books are a very satisfying read for adults who may take different things from them. The two aspects of the books I found most powerful were, first, the craft guilds, both the valuing of craft itself--making things by hand--and the magic involved in the creation of cloth and music. Second is the sentience of the dragons; a rider is “impressed” by a single dragon, which lasts for life. These are both ideas admirably developed by McCaffrey that have stayed with me.
Volume I of The Dragonriders of Pern®, the groundbreaking series by master storyteller Anne McCaffrey
On a beautiful world called Pern, an ancient way of life is about to come under attack from a myth that is all too real. Lessa is an outcast survivor—her parents murdered, her birthright stolen—a strong young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. But when an ancient threat to Pern reemerges, Lessa will rise—upon the back of a great dragon with whom she shares a telepathic bond more intimate than any human connection. Together, dragon and rider will fly . . . and…
This is one of the first indie fantasy books I read. I’m excited to see new authors who are bringing mind powers to the page with skill and creativity. These novels follow the life of a fascinating main character who saw her parents killed when she was young, the oldest of three sisters. She lives as a pickpocket, dominated by a sort of Fagen who owns her. She makes many sacrifices to keep her younger sisters safe. Since she has the ability to tell if someone is speaking truth, she gets drawn into some very gnarly power entanglements. There’s a compelling love story, an overarching conflict over the land, and maybe most valuable to me, Elves who have nature powers and a passion for the land.
Sable, a reluctant thief from the slums, can feel truth when people speak. For years she’s been using that skill to try to break free from the vicious gang boss she's indebted to.
Escape comes in the form of an odd set of companions:
-a dwarf running from the past,
-an actor with a magical, glowing tree
-a too-helpful kobold,
-a playwright with a knack for getting stories out of people, and
I’d be lying to say Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series hasn’t been one of the most important elements of my development as a person. Since early adolescence, I have carried ideas first encountered in these books. First and foremost, Elves are hugely influential to me, their sacred treatment of plant life and their unerring ethics. They have no interest in a capitalist value system. They can heal and create wondrous things with their minds. They are a thing of beauty to me. I think they are well set off by the wicked Soron and the hominess of the Hobbits and Hobbiton. Aragorn towers over other figures. He is of the Tuatha de Danaan, the Brights ones, early folk of the British Isles. He is much more than the films convey.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
In an epic tale of multi-dimensional mystery, fantasy, and love, Kay Halefin begins as a professor of ancient languages whose research was too controversial for her to remain at the university. One Halloween night, she encounters a bard of Medieval times who steps from an old oak tree and invites her into the past. Little does she know she entering a vast web of intrigue woven by both powerful healers and malevolent mages. Kay is hopelessly fascinated with the discovery that mind-powers, stitchery, and runes held wyld magicks in medieval times. She’d better learn to harness the powers for herself if she wants to survive and protect her grown son and daughter from the tightening web that’s subsuming her life.
Growing up in New England, my mother had a set of books that she kept in the living room, more for display than anything else. It was The Works of Edgar Allen Poe. I read them and instantly became hooked on horror. In the seventh grade, I entertained my friends at a sleepover by telling them the mysterious clanking noise (created by the baseboard heater) was the ghost of a woman who had once lived in the farmhouse, forced to cannibalize her ten children during a particularly bad winter. And I’ve been enjoying scaring people ever since.
In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunged off a waterfall to her death, leaving behind a legacy shrouded in secrets. Her great-niece Julia, a struggling journalist recovering from a divorce, seeks answers decades later.
Tasked with retrieving Dr. Greer’s discovery–a flower that could have world-changing properties–Julia unearths a story rife with hidden agendas and a missionary community unwilling to share the truth. As she confronts the eerie legends and a fellow traveler with his own motives, Julia finds that the longer she stays, the thinner the line between reality and the fantastical becomes until she…
From the award-winning author of Dead Souls and Poe comes an all-new bone-chilling novel where a mysterious island holds the terrifying answers to a woman's past and future.
In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunges off a waterfall to her death, convinced the spirits of her dead husband and daughter had joined the nightmarchers-ghosts of ancient warriors that rise from their burial sites on moonless nights. But was it suicide, or did a strange young missionary girl, Agnes, play a role in Irene's deteriorating state of mind?
