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Stand-Alone Fantasy Novels

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Bistoinferno

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Ive got to go away for a few days soon so can any suggest a decent fantasy novel that is not part of a series, trilogy etc?

The good read threads suggests a few but again a lot of them seem to be in a series.

Cheers :)
 
_Hart's Hope_ or _Songmaster_ by Orson Scott Card. Not interrelated to any of his series / sequels. _Hart's Hope_ is a standalone expansion of a novella-length story, making a relatively short novel that's a tidy little showcase for Card's storytelling skills. _Songmaster_ is more 'full-length' and has some interesting settings / themes, though I wouldn't rank it among his best.

_Jack of Shadows_ by Roger Zelazny. Like _Hart's Hope_ for Card, an overlooked jewel that's a compact showcase for the writer's fantasy work / skills.

Though its fantasy world would be 'followed up' as the basis for further novels, I always considered Eddison's _The Worm Ouroboros_ a standalone. It closes at the end with no loose ends or pending story lines.
 
EnolaGaia said:
_Jack of Shadows_ by Roger Zelazny. Like _Hart's Hope_ for Card, an overlooked jewel that's a compact showcase for the writer's fantasy work / skills.
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Another Zelazny standalone is "Lord of Light" which is is actually SF but with tendencies towards fantasy, also "Creatures of Light and Darkness".

Michael Moorcock's the "Warhound and the World's Pain" can be read as a standalone, though it's tied into his Etenal Champion Mythos.
 
Although some of Diana Wynne Jones's stuff is interrelated, others are standalone. Homeward Bounders, Dogsbody, Tale of Time City, Aunt Maria, Archer's Goon, Time of the Ghost, Fire and Hemlock, Ogre Downstairs, Witch's Business, Wild Robert, Power of Three - all standalone.

Mine are all standalone, but I don't know how low you like your fantasy. I set mine in the real world with one fantasy element (at least, in all the stuff published so far). Dig in Time, Switching Well, and 11,000 Years Lost are time travel, Hobkin is fairies in West Texas, The Maze is a magic picture that sucks you in, Ghost Sitter is a ghost story, and the rest aren't fantasy.

Neal Shusterman is fantastic. Eyes of Kid Midas, Everlost, Fill Tilt, Dark Side of Nowhere - all standalone. Higher fantasy than mine, but not otherworldly.

High fantasy tends to be series-heavy because it's a certain amount of work to make a new, viable-seeming fantasy world (unless you're DWJ, who makes them like other people make sandwiches) and you don't want to start over from scratch. Also, readers want to explore more.
 
While I quite like Eyes of the Overworld, it's not a standalone, since there are two different sequels. One rather bad one by Michael Shea called A Quest of Simablis and Cugel's Saga by Vance himself, which completely contradicts the Shea book.

Also, it forms part of a larger sequence with the books The Dying Earth and Rhialto the Marvellous which are set in the same universe.

Of course, as with The Worm Ourouboros, you could consider it a standalone, as you could The Hobbit or The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Just don't read the rest of the books in the series.
 
I'd say that The Dying Earth and Rhialto the Marvellous are pretty much stand-alone novels with very little in common outside their ostensible setting. They are very different in tone and matter. There are, of course, two Cugel novels (three counting Simbalis, which isn't that bad) so I guess that rules them out.

Speaking of Michael Shea, I would suggest Nifft the Lean - there are two more books (names escape me at the mo) but there's no sequence or continuity between them.

Many of Moorcock's trilogies are collected in single volumes and - by today's standard - could easily be stand-alones. The entirety of the Runestaff is about 600 pages, barely half of a single volume of Robert Jordan. The Fantasy Masterworks Elric collection is a fine stand-alone work, although there's all sorts of other crap... er, material out there. For something a little different, why not try his Gloriana?

The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany also stands alone.

Patrick H
 
All of Dunsany's novels stand alone AFAIK. Finding Dunsany's novels, now, that's a trick.

Most of Patricia A. McKillip's novels are functionally stand-alone.
 
How about "The Song of Phaid the Gambler" by Mick Farren? A satisfyingly thick tome, and a rollicking good read. Just don't ask me to explain the story, or hazard a guess at what the cover blurb is all about.
 
PeniG said:
All of Dunsany's novels stand alone AFAIK. Finding Dunsany's novels, now, that's a trick.
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amazon.co.uk has a reasonable list, including the King of Elfland's Daughter for £8.99.

Patrick H
 
Ah, I've seen a number of those editions only recently in a bargain bookshop (for any FTMB'ers in the West Mids, it's near the Friary shopping arcade in Lichfield).

They were reasonably priced too at £4 along with other classics.
 
Can anyone recommned any fanstasy books set in the "here and now" and not in a magical kingdom far far away.........? (other than Tom Holt or Robert Rankin).
 
The Da Vinci Code? Seemingly in the here-and-now, but sod-all basis in reality.
 
The Good Fairies of New York by... er... memory fails, just google it. It's a terrific book!

Many people rave about Time POwers - Last Call, Strange Weather, &etc - but I'm not a big fan. Given that others adore him, might be well worth trying to see if it's your bag. (I LOVE The Anubis Gates and The Drawing of the Dark, but they ain't modern day, so...)

And let's not forget the 800lb gorilla in the room, Mr N*** G******.

Patrick H
 
I must admit, I wasn't that keen either on Tim Powers' modern-day set books.
 
People I know rave about them so vociferously, I often think I should give them another go. But time and life being what they are (apart from crappy American mags and publishers of dodgy CD compilations, I mean) I don't think I'll get around to it.

A more horror (of the subtle kind) oriented entry is Our Lady of Darkness by Fritz Lieber. A while since I read, but a terrific book. I'd be inclined to call Christopher Priest's The Prestige (great book - average movie) a fantasy as well, although it might not be quite what the OP is looking for.

Patrick H
 
Can anyone recommned any fanstasy books set in the "here and now" and not in a magical kingdom far far away.........? (other than Tom Holt or Robert Rankin).
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I don’t know if it needs to be said but the Dark Materials books take place partly in today’s world and other versions of it.

I settled on the Orcs omnibus in the end, not strictly a stand alone novel. Its not high fantasy but there’s been a couple of decent battles already and I’m only a few chapters in so it will do nicely :).

Has anyone read any of the Raven books by James Barcley and are they any good?
 
kitsunegari said:
Can anyone recommned any fanstasy books set in the "here and now" and not in a magical kingdom far far away.........? (other than Tom Holt or Robert Rankin).
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Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Neverwhere
 
Patrick_Hudson said:
The Good Fairies of New York by... er... memory fails, just google it. It's a terrific book!
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Martin Millar.

Although from his books (those I've read), I'd go with Milk Sulphate and Alby Starvation.

Brief review here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/books/review/Krusoe-t.html

Patrick_Hudson said:
Many people rave about Time POwers - Last Call, Strange Weather, &etc - but I'm not a big fan. Given that others adore him, might be well worth trying to see if it's your bag. (I LOVE The Anubis Gates and The Drawing of the Dark, but they ain't modern day, so...)
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On Stranger Tides & The Anubis Gates get a hearty recommendation from me.

uair01 said:
Jack Vance - Eyes of the overworld

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eyes_of_the_Overworld
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The only thing I know about Jack Vance is that his conception of magic ('Vancian') was borrowed for the initial Dungeons & Dragons game, but having never read any of his books I'm unsure what precisely his conception of magic and its working is.

Anybody?
 
Peripart said:
How about "The Song of Phaid the Gambler" by Mick Farren? A satisfyingly thick tome, and a rollicking good read. Just don't ask me to explain the story, or hazard a guess at what the cover blurb is all about.
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ha, booting an old post about that grebo read, memorable in the worst of ways, wasnt he an nme hack
 
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