Reading List · Classic Fantasy

Classic Fantasy: Portals, Magic & Invented Worlds

From Lewis Carroll's rabbit hole to Tolkien's Middle-earth, fantasy builds secondary worlds that illuminate our own. One timeless free classic, four essential modern reads.

Free Public-domain titles on this site.   Kindle Paid picks (affiliate links).

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll · Free · Public domain

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice “without pi...

The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien · 1937 · Kindle

Bilbo Baggins is dragged from his comfortable hole by a wizard and thirteen dwarves seeking dragon gold.

The Name of the Wind

Patrick Rothfuss · 2007 · Kindle

Kvothe tells his life story — from orphan to legendary wizard — over three days in a waystone inn.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Susanna Clarke · 2004 · Kindle

Two magicians attempt to restore English magic in an alternative Napoleonic War-era Britain.

The Princess Bride

William Goldman · 1973 · Kindle

Adventure, true love, and a swamp full of monsters — framed as the abridgement of a classic tale.