Fantasy and Science Fiction

Books 21 to 30: Fantasy and Science Fiction

This category is my favorite. I love to lose myself in a book that will take me somewhere beyond the world I live in.

21. The Lord of the Rings  The epic fantasy classic from J.R.R. Tolkien.

            The Fellowship of the Ring introduces you to hobbit Frodo Baggins and the Ring and sees him start on his perilous quest with his nine companions.

            The Two Towers finds the fellowship broken and moving in separate directions. But the actions of each will influence the fate of the others, as will the unexpected companions they gain along the way.

            In The Return of the King, Frodo and Sam move closer to the end of their journey every day. Will hope and light conquer the darkness which so swiftly is moving to conquer all lands?

22. The Hobbit  The official account of how the infamous Ring was discovered by Bilbo Baggins. Learn why Bilbo had such dangerous treasure to give to Frodo. This book expands on a tale only hinted at in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

23. The Children of Hurin  While in some ways dark and sad, this book is one that will keep you interested until the last page. It ends in a way that is completely unexpected. The two children of Hurin, a son and a daughter, are separated when they are very young. When their paths cross later in life, they will become intertwined in a way that neither ever expected.

24. The Circle Series I consider this series to be Ted Dekker's finest work.

            In Black, Thomas Hunter is knocked unconscious while running from thugs down a dark alley. When he wakes, he is in a strange colored forest populated by strangely perfect people and white bats. While there, he learns something that will effect Earth in a very short time...and he is the only one who can stop it from happening.

            In Red, Thomas is till hurtling down the same path he was in Black, shifting back and forth between realities and trying desperately to save the world. But some of the rules have changed now, and Thomas is struggling to defeat his enemies in both worlds...before it's too late.

            White  Time is running out. Thomas Hunter now holds the fate of both worlds in his hands. This story is filled with danger, enemies, and forbidden love. And in the end, will there truly be a way to save even one world, let alone both?

            Green  Published five years after White, Green is book zero. What does that mean? That you can read it either first or last. I personally prefer reading it last. The thing I always loved about the Circle Series was the fact that I never had any idea what would happen next. If you read Green first, you find out everything that has already happened and then read the rest of the series to find out exactly how it happened. Supposedly Green makes the series into a perfect circle. But I will leave that for you to decide.

25. A Wrinkle in Time  By Madeleine L'Engle. This book introduces Meg Murray and her family. The classic story about time travel that taught us to believe that there is such a thing as a tesseract

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26. Last Light  What would you do if everything electronic stopped working-- at the exact same moment? If your car stalled and your cell phone died and you saw planes falling from the sky? In a single moment, everything has changed. Or has it? Follow along with the Branning family as they discover the one part of life that will never change-- God.

27. Out of the Silent Planet  The first book in C.S. Lewis's epic space trilogy. Although not as well-known as the Chronicles of Narnia, the Space trilogy is a work of genius. It was written as part of an agreement with J.R.R. Tolkien. Lewis would write a space travel series and Tolkien would write a time travel series. Tolkien never got to keep his end of the bargain, but we have Lewis's masterpiece with us today.

28. Tuck Everlasting  All Winnie Foster ever wanted was to go outside her fence. And finally, she does. While walking in the woods, she meets the Tucks, a strange, reclusive family. Why are they hiding in the woods? What is their secret, and how powerful is it? When Winnie learns the answers to these questions, her life will change forever.

29. Inkheart  Meggie's father has never read to her from any book. Ever. And she doesn't know why. But circumstances force him to reveal his reason, and Meggie's boring life suddenly becomes just like something out of a book...literally.

30. Till We Have Faces Have you ever heard of this book by C.S. Lewis? I never had, up until about a year ago. Taking an old legend and turning it into something new, Lewis weaves a complex tale that cannot be fully understood until the final paragraphs. And then you want to read it the whole book all over again, because suddenly everything makes sense.