Magician: Apprentice (Riftwar Saga Series #1)

In the world of fantasy, the shadow of Tolkien’s influence looms large, and readers often fall into one of two camps when discussing his legacy: either every quasi-European secondary world fantasy that came after The Lord of the Rings is an unashamed knockoff, or a spiritual descendant of the best books ever written. Not mentioned nearly as often, and undeservedly […]

From J.G. Ballard’s High-Rise, to Stephen King’s Dark Tower, to Tolkien’s two, the genres certainly offer their fair share of sky-scraping edifices (we’ve even put together a list of our favorites), but they hardly serve as a monolithic piece of imagery—in fact, the tower so rich a symbol that one can stand for any number […]

As we ramp toward the end of the show and continue our watch for the next book, there are many more fantasy worlds to explore. Below, we’ve assembled a list of books and series that might help to fill the void. Each of these epic fantasy sagas is a unique creation—none are facsimiles of Game […]

For a long time, role-playing games (RPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons were as much a punchline as an outlet for the imaginations of their dedicated fans—the source of unfair stereotypes of fantasy enthusiasts as folks better left to themselves in their parents’ basements. But like many other pillars of geek culture, RPGs have been making major […]