There are countless Modern Fantasy courses, tutorials, articles available online, but for some, having a book is still a necessity to learn. This is an up-to-date list of recommended books.
1. Modern Fantasy (2019)
A young Ranger woman who came to the city with dreams of adventure, her drug dealing reptilian wizard roommate, and her boisterous Dwarf maiden BFF embark on a modern day quest to save the world while struggling to keep their crappy day jobs and pay off their student loans. They are joined in this quest by a thief (a half-Goblin sleazeball and the wizard’s boyfriend), an elf (the hot actor-wannabe currently working as a waiter), a cleric (the cute guy from down the hall and the dwarf’s occasional hook-up), and a barbarian (the religious fanatic who works in the cubicle next to the ranger)….
2. A Quest of Her Own: Essays on the Female Hero in Modern Fantasy (2014)
This collection of new essays seeks to define the unique qualities of female heroism in literary fantasy from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings in the 1950s through the present. Building upon traditional definitions of the hero in myth and folklore as the root genres of modern fantasy, the essays provide a multi-faceted view of an important fantasy character type who begins to demonstrate a significant presence only in the latter 20th century. The essays contribute to the empowerment and development of the female hero as an archetype in her own right….
3. J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Howard and the Birth of Modern Fantasy (Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy) (2014)
The birth of modern fantasy in 1930s Britain and America saw the development of new literary and film genres. J.R.R. Tolkien created modern fantasy with The Lord of the Rings, set in a fictional world based upon his life in the early 20th century British Empire, and his love of language and medieval literature. In small-town Texas, Robert E. Howard pounded out his own fantasy realm in his Conan stories, published serially in the ephemeral pulp magazines he loved. Jerry Siegel created Superman with Joe Shuster, and laid the foundation for perhaps the post far-reaching fantasy worlds: the…
4. Ascending Mage 5 Changeling Uprising: A Modern Fantasy Thriller (2019)
She once passed as an obedient servant. Now, Senior Investigator Ember Wright shines a light on corruption wherever she finds it.But the corrupt are hitting back. They’re hitting back hard. Her cover blown, they’ve branded her as public enemy number one.With a target painted on her back and on anyone who dares help her, Ember leads a global uprising. When her changeling friends get caught in the crossfire, she learns the true cost of freedom.Win or lose, she stands for justice against the oppressors. She doesn’t stand alone. What’s coming up for the Ascending Mage series:…
5. Ascending Mage 2 Changeling Hunter: A Modern Fantasy Thriller (2019)
A brutally cunning serial killer. A relentless mage. When her changeling friends become the next target, the hunter becomes the hunted.Nobody had better get in her way.Undercover Investigator Ember Wright swore an oath to protect the powerless and serve justice in the Magic City. When two changelings bleed out along a gravel road, everyone assumes it was just another sad accident.Everyone but Ember.Armed with her ability to interview the ghosts of the dead changelings, she follows the clues. She finds a pattern. She realizes her friends may be next in…
6. Ascending Mage 1: Changeling Justice: A Modern Fantasy Thriller (2019)
No living mage has powers like hers. She does her job and keeps her true abilities secret—that is, until she discovers a dark conspiracy.They never should have underestimated her.Ember Wright hates high heels, steep staircases, and having to cook for herself. She lives mostly on instant noodles and old western novels. She sometimes chats with dead people.Newly-promoted to Associate Investigator, Ember is sent undercover on her first assignment to rural North Dakota. Mages and changelings have been living in harmony, hidden in plain sight among humans for centuries. But now a…
Best Modern Fantasy Books You Must Read
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Genesis and download some modern fantasy books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
The Post-Soviet Politics of Utopia: Language, Fiction and Fantasy in Modern Russia
Author(s): Per-Arne Bodin (editor), Mikhail Suslov (editor)
Publisher: I.B.Tauris, Year: 2019, Size: 4 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2488970
Classical traditions in modern fantasy
Author(s): Rogers, Brett M.; Stevens, Benjamin Eldon
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Year: 2017, Size: 30 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1703256
The Fantasy of Individuality : On the Sociohistorical Construction of the Modern Subject
Author(s): Almudena Hernando
Publisher: Springer, Year: 2017, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2134580
Enjoyment and Submission in Modern Fantasy
Author(s): Mihnea Panu
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, Year: 2016, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1582549
The Unique Legacy of Weird Tales: The Evolution of Modern Fantasy and Horror
Author(s): Justin Everett, Jeffrey H. Shanks
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Year: 2015, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1441844
The Evolution of Modern Fantasy: From Antiquarianism to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series
Author(s): Jamie Williamson
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan US, Year: 2015, Size: 1 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1481992
Metroimperial Intimacies Fantasy, Racial-Sexual Governance, and the Philippines in U.S. Imperialism, 1899-1913
Author(s): Victor Román Mendoza
Publisher: Duke University Press Books, Year: 2015, Size: 12 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2284919
Lois McMaster Bujold: Essays on a Modern Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Author(s): Janet Brennan Croft, Series Editor Donald E. Palumbo, Series Editor C.W. Sullivan III, Donald E. Palumbo, C.W. Sullivan III
Publisher: McFarland, Year: 2013, Size: 920 Kb, Download: pdf
ID: 1201951
Modernism and Market Fantasy: British Fictions of Capital, 1910-1939
Author(s): Carey James Mickalites
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, Year: 2012, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1012233
Modernism and Market Fantasy: British Fictions of Capital, 1910–1939
Author(s): Carey James Mickalites
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, Year: 2012, Size: 1 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1473866
Please note that this booklist is not final. Some books are truly chart-busters according to Chicago Tribune, others are composed by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant books you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.