| Tolkien and Beyond |
| • Tolkien's Contemporaries • Tolkien's Heirs • The Impact of Harry Potter • |
In the mid 1950s J. R. R. Tolkien,
a British medievalist and Beowulf scholar, published his fantasy trilogy The
Lord of the Rings. However, it wasn't until American readers made these books wildly popular after their publication in paperback in 1965 that fantasy came into its own.
Publishers began to treat fantasy as a separate genre and went looking for authors who could write material that would appeal to the mass audience for Tolkien. |
| Tolkien's Contemporaries |
Before and at the height of Tolkien's popularity readers were also discovering fantasy, especially series fantasy, that seemed to be aimed primarily at a young adult audience. Authors include:
- Ursula K. Le Guin
- Madeline L'Engle
- C. S. Lewis
- Mervyn Peake
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| Tolkien's Heirs |
By the late 1970s authors were churning out seemingly endless series of novels set in fantasy worlds. Some of the most popular include:
- Terry Brooks
- Stephen R. Donaldson
- Robert Jordan
- Gene Wolfe
- Roger Zelazny
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| The Impact of Harry Potter |
The phenomenal success of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels and their crossover appeal to not only the adult audience for fantasy but all adult readers has led to more works of fantasy that feature young adult protagonists but that are enjoyed equally by adult audiences. Some prominent authors include:
- Cornelia Funke
- Christopher Paolini
- Paul Park
- Phillip Pullman
|
Today fantasy has attracted authors more well-known for science fiction or horror and also mainstream authors looking for the kind of success that Rowling enjoys. These authors include:
- Lois McMaster Bujold
- Michael Chabon
- Neil Gaiman
- Stephen King
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| Interest in fantasy has exploded in the last few decades. The field has involved in such a way that it is entwined and cross-marketed with science fiction and to a lesser extent horror fiction. |
