In the beginning, there was Tolkein, and it was good. Tolkein exposed us to a whole new world; nay a whole genre of fiction. Drawing deep from those thoughts that bounce around unconsciously in the back of our minds, he created a series of books that has inspired generation after generation.

Much like the rending of the curtain at the temple, Tolkein exposed to us what was long hidden. Many have come after him; imitating and innovating to their hearts content. Few bookstores you wander into will not have a fantasy section. Why all the noise? Why does fantasy continue to exist? Perhaps I can answer that.

I was once a child. I spoke as a child, I thought as a child. I had been reared by a society that extolled the virtues of conformity and marketing. Little was my imagination engaged that some plastic figurine did not fit in the equation somewhere. When I first discovered Terry Brooks’s Shannara series of novels, I had no idea what I was getting into. Soon I was swept away into a world that made me its own. There were no Shannara action figures to play with. At the end of the book, there was no advertisement to take advantage of the consumer. There was only the solemn promise of another book, greeted happily by me, the reader.

Soon I caught up with Mr. Brooks. He has a tendency to put out one book a year, and my fantasy hunger could not be quieted. I branched out into new series; Tolkein, Robert Jordan, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Countless others I devoured and still do. It feeds a primal part of me; the part that resists modern society. In the world of fantasy there are no cars or planes. The internet does not exist. There is man and nature and magic; the way it should be.

There are good fantasy writers and there are bad fantasy writers. The greatest threat to the world of modern day fantasy literature exists not with the right wing, it does not lie in the uneducated, it lies in those that attempt to cash in on the phenomenon. Each time I begin my search for a new series, I am thoroughly disgusted by the amount of “trash novels” I see padding the shelves in between legitimate series. It is a sad but unavoidable fact.

Still, the amount of readers the genre has continues to grow; thanks in part to the acclaim it has received lately. The Harry Potter series of books initiates a whole new generation of readers to our ranks; many of whom read the master, Tolkein himself, after finishing the escapades of Mr. Potter. Both Tolkein and J.K. Rowling are British authors, and apparently read much the same. (I have not read Harry Potter, so I cannot say for sure.)

But, you may ask, after one is introduced to the series, and reads its “foundation” works, if you will, where does one go? Where can a new fantasy reader find a world to become immersed in? Where is the meat? I can only offer suggestions, since I am certainly no expert in the field. These are biased opinions, and they should be regarded as such.

If you’d like a series that stresses community and thought, you cannot go wrong with Robert Jordan’s massive “Wheel of Time” series. With nine books to date, an encyclopedia, and other short stories, the Wheel of Time phenomenon is approaching ten thousand pages of active text. It is not complete, and has three or four books left to be published. This series is riddled with mysteries and half-revealed truths, and leaves the reader to speculate what each new book will bring. Translated into many different languages and present in many countries, the Wheel of Time welcomes new readers to join the ranks of those already mesmerized.

The Shannara series was my “break in” series, and still one of my favorites. Terry Brooks creates a new world to rival that of Tolkeins for depth and beauty. The story of a lineage of people is told in many different times and adventures. Brooks has reinvented himself many times in his writing, and the new Shannara series is praised by many fans to be the best yet.

Of course, Brooks has more to offer than just Shannara; he has two separate series outside of his classic Shannara. The “Landover” books were Brooks’s second series, and chronicled the exploits of a modern man that becomes king of a fantasy world. Astute readers may recognize physical similarities between Ben Holiday (the series’ protagonist) and Terry Brooks himself. Of course, more metaphorical lines are also drawn between the two, clinching the fact that this series is indeed about Brooks himself. It is well written, and takes a couple of implied jabs at the state of modern fantasy itself.

Another great series from Brooks is the “Word and Void” trilogy. This series really exercised Brooks’s fantasy writing capabilities by taking place in modern-day America. It was a strange side-trip for fans of the author, but the series was ultimately very fulfilling. Also hinted at are links between this trilogy and Shannara; ones that readers will find most disturbing.

There are, of course, more great series out there than I have space to mention here. Of course, working your way through all the books presented here will take you some time indeed, and you will undoubtedly become a more active member of the fantasy fiction community in that time. You will discover what you like and dislike, and find series outside of the regular canon to read. Enjoy the works of this great genre, for it taps into what we would all be like, if only we weren’t what we are.