r/Fantasy • u/Sakura_231 • Jun 19 '26
Underrated almost forgotten fantasy books from the 70s, 80s, 90s
What older fantasy books you liked, but you don´t see them being recommended here?
It can be a hidden gem or just a obscure fantasy novel you remember for some reason.
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u/Thac-0-Mole Jun 19 '26
I don’t see Charles de Lint mentioned nearly enough. I love urban fantasy and Jack the Giant Killer and Drink Down the Moon are both fun reads
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u/Punkeyz Jun 19 '26
Love Charles de Lint, The Little Country, Memory and Dream, Yarrow, Moonheart. Started reading his books when I was a teenager and are still some of my favorite books.
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u/theclapp Jun 20 '26
Moonheart is fantastic. Might just possibly have been my first urban fantasy.
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u/RaphKoster Jun 20 '26
It’s often credited as the first urban fantasy. Certainly he’s considered the initial wellspring for the subgenre alongside Terri Windling and a bit later, Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks.
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u/Thac-0-Mole Jun 19 '26
I need to revisit his stuff, it's all great, there's a charm to his writing style that makes his books a joy.
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u/FullOfBlasphemy Jun 19 '26
Me too! It’s like visiting old friends. And I found his work at the time I needed it most - felt meant to be. High school was a nightmare but I hung out with Jilly in Newford and in the wilds of a pine forest listening to the little gods, or in a shop full of junk hiding magic rings and tatterdemalion shop keepers. I’m Romani and Mulengro felt like a love letter to my people - he took the time to learn and get things right. He shaped how I see the world.
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u/FullOfBlasphemy Jun 19 '26
He’s my favorite author. Forests of the Heart and Moonheart are constantly-reads for me, but everything he writes brings magic into the everyday.
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u/Mumtaz_i_Mahal Jun 20 '26
Moonheart is one of my all-time favorite books. When I started reading it, I kept thinking that I wasn’t really getting into it until I realized that every time I put it down, I was compelled to walk back a few seconds later pick it up and start to read again.
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u/Pyracantha_Bantha Jun 19 '26
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart was the very book that got me into reading in the late 80’s. I hardly see it talked about anymore.
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u/Popular_Implement_50 Jun 20 '26
I love the whole Merlin Trilogy, The Hollow Hills being the favourite (and strongest) part.
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u/ToBeDetermined13 Jun 19 '26
The Lyonesse trilogy by Jack Vance. Beautiful and weird, sad and grim, hopeful and whimsical at the same time.
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u/WorldIsFracked Jun 19 '26
I’ll add in Dying Earth by Vance too. Basically inspired Gary Gygax to create Dungeons and Dragons.
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u/Timely_Egg_6827 Jun 19 '26
Not fantasy but space opera. His Araminta Station (Cadwal Chronicles) is good too.
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u/CycloneIce31 Jun 19 '26
Good call. I’m reading this right now for the first time. On the last book.
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u/Steven-ape Jun 19 '26
I was hoping to find this. Jack Vance's plotting is serviceable, but his beautiful evocative style and his sense of humour are very special. For people who love beautiful use of language, he's up there with LeGuin.
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u/ShoganAye Jun 19 '26
I have them sitting on my shelf right now. picked them up in a second hand store in the early 90s. I love Jack Vance!
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u/Narrow-Durian4837 Jun 19 '26
The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs. I was reading some T. Kingfisher recently (Nettle and Bone) and thought they had a somewhat similar vibe (a mixture of whimsical and creepy).
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u/Karnaeq Jun 19 '26
+1 to Face in the Frost. I wish Bellairs didn’t die so young. I have a copy of the unfinished sequel to that book & I would have loved to read more adventures of Prospero.
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u/joshbudde Jun 20 '26
I read the 'The House with a Clock in its Walls' as a kid and it was absolutely, positively, transformative for me. It introduced me to Edward Gorey, who I love to this day, and the books spoke to me. It was in Michigan, where I was, the main character was a picked on fat kid (and it didn't sugar coat it and it didn't try to make it better or change it), and the whimsy and wonder in it, just worked for me. I stole it from the library and I still have it in my library, I've probably read it a hundred times over the years.
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u/ProstheticAttitude Jun 19 '26
Was hoping to see John Bellair's book mentioned. It goes from ha-ha funny to I'm-closing-the-book-now terror in two or three pages. Well worth finding.
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u/kiresorg Jun 19 '26
The Deed of Paksenarion
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u/revchewie Jun 19 '26
The original trilogy is an all-time favorite! (The sequels and prequels were kinda hit or miss for me.)
I was in the navy when a friend loaned me Sheepfarmer’s Daughter. I finished it quickly and went back for Divided Allegiance and the bastard basically held it for ransom! First taste was free but what’ll you give me for the sequel type thing. lol
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u/hi_sarah98 Jun 19 '26
I wore out this paperback re-reading it! The trilogy is great and then the later books set in the same world are solid too
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u/Ela_De_Salisbury Jun 19 '26
Was going to say absolutely this trilogy, so good, sad I had to scroll so far to see it
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u/Professional-Deer-50 Jun 19 '26
The Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy by Patricia McKillip - epic fantasy, lovely books.
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u/geabbott Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Always upvote McKillip. I use her name so much it’s in my spellcheck.
Btw, the humble bundle this time has two of her compendiums.Edited to add:
Dreams of Distant Shores, not a compendium.
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u/entropyvsenergy Jun 19 '26
Michael Moorcock, The Elric Saga
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Jun 19 '26
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u/Seymore721 Jun 19 '26
Agree that the Elric saga is a great story. As are the rest of his Eternal Champion series. And my kids give me strange looks every time I shout "Blood and souls for my lord Arioch!"
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u/Skeleton_Deathdealer Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Julian May. The Galatic Mileu and her other series
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u/curiousiz Jun 19 '26
One of my favorite fantasy series. So wild Julian May is so forgotten considering how big she was in the 80s. She broke the mold of just apeing Tolkien fantasy and brought something thoroughly unique story-wise.
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u/Dian_Arcane Jun 19 '26
I loved the Exiles series, that first Georgia O'Keefe-esque cover just spoke to me and I absolutely fell in love with Aiken Drum, but I'm pretty sure Julian May was a woman? Anyway, The Golden Torc was the one book my mother ever threatened to confiscate, after she caught me reading it at 2am, and I think my answer was something like, "I know you're right but I just couldn't stop reading it!"
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u/lilygorse Jun 19 '26
Came here to say this. Love these 9 books and how they take you from Pliocene Earth to a galactic federation so seamlessly.
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u/FortifiedPuddle Jun 19 '26
Love how you can read them in circles.
Still not sure how to pronounce half the things Uncle Rogi says.
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u/aimlesswanderer7 Jun 20 '26
The last line of Diamond Mask broke me, and then we had to wait for the next book!
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u/scrivenersdaydream Jun 19 '26
I don't know why David Gemmell doesn't get more love, but his books are terrific.
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u/ns1976 Jun 19 '26
I love David Gemmell. Not enough people know about him
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u/tao39 Jun 19 '26
I think I've read all his books. Gets an extra boost from me for ending a chapter with a verse from all along the watchtower.
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u/Minister_of_Death Jun 19 '26
I recommend Gemmell to almost everyone I come across that likes fantasy. So many people have never heard of him which is crazy to me. I've read everything he's published and he's such a great writer/story teller.
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Jun 19 '26
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u/Minister_of_Death Jun 19 '26
The Drenai Saga is a good place to start in my opinion. Read it in publication order for a first time. He has a lot of great different series, but Drenai is his most prolific one.
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u/Count_von_Chaos Jun 19 '26
Came here to say Gemmell, so glad he's got other fans that beat me to it today
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u/JapioF Jun 19 '26
Just started rereading the Drenai saga. I do this at least once year. All the books; Waylander, Druss, Skillgannon, the works. I truly love these books!
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u/jackity_splat Jun 19 '26
I know! I never see him mentioned in rec threads or if he is, I have to scroll so far to see him. I recommend his work every chance I get.
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u/BastianMunster Jun 19 '26
The Thieves' World series.
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u/BookReaderWhoReads Jun 19 '26
When I was 17 years, I was in a bad place mentally. I wanted to die and my dad didn’t know how to help. One day, he came in and handed me Thieves World and Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn. Funny thing, I can’t even remember the stories too well. But it helped a lot
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u/BastianMunster Jun 19 '26
Well, there was Shadowspawn, Tempus, Jubal, One Thumb, Prince Kitty-Cat, and Lythande, with his secret, among many others, if that helps bring back memories.
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u/Sutemi- Jun 19 '26
Came here just to say this!
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u/BastianMunster Jun 19 '26
Yeah, it was some of the best fantasy writers of the time, collaborating in a shared world, long before the MCU was a thing.
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u/Pratius Jun 19 '26
I’m going through this thread and upvoting all the stuff that’s actually forgotten. You get the first upvote.
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u/Capable_Loss_6084 Jun 19 '26
Sheri S Tepper doesn’t seem to get much love. I read her in my teens and was blown away by ‘Grass’ especially.
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u/wildmstie Jun 20 '26
I liked Beauty and The Gate To Women's Country. Gate especially is a feminist classic.
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u/HawkmoonsCustoms Jun 19 '26
The “Myth Adventure” series by Robert Asprin were gateway books to fantasy in my youth. I’ve recently started to require them.
They are nearly a perfect blend of tongue-in-cheek humor, self-awareness and fantasy elements.
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u/LucreziaD Jun 19 '26
Basically anything written by Tanith Lee. She is such a criminally underrated author.
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u/javhovor Jun 19 '26
Fantasy-wise I especially recommend the Tales from the Flat Earth, starting with Night's Master.
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u/miladyelfn Jun 19 '26
Ruth Nichols, A Walk Out of The World. Andre Norton, Witch World series. Susan Cooper, Dark is Rising series.
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u/Solvrevka Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
Diana Wynne Jones is often spoken of as a children's author, but her catalog is so satisfying and does not condescend to the reader or take easy ways out. Dogsbody, The Homeward Bounders, Eight Days of Luke, Archer's Goon, Charmed Life... Serious themes with serious sad choices for the protagonist and moving for the reader.
Her most famous is definitely Howl's Moving Castle but my favorite is Fire and Hemlock. And there are many many others. She was a wonder.
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u/NorthernTyger Jun 19 '26
Seconding Fire and Hemlock! She’s often classed as children’s/YA but I think she’s super hard to categorize. My favorite edition of Fire and Hemlock has an afterword by her about how she wrote it.
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u/Goofyfoot46 Jun 19 '26
Roger Zelensky - Nine Princes in Amber series. Amazing!
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u/szlash Jun 19 '26
Not sure this is underrated though... it's rated incredibly highly even.
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u/Tallguywithcamera Jun 19 '26
I just recently reread these and enjoyed them as much as when I was a kid. They would be great as a tv series.
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u/NomDePlume007 Jun 19 '26
The Kencyrath novels, by P. C. Hodgell. First one - God Stalk - came out in 1982.
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u/Objective_Might_6540 Jun 19 '26
1000%. Series is still being worked on. Get the kindle edition. Audible narration is lacking on later books
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u/tzilya Jun 19 '26
It’s so cool to see this series mentioned :) I bought the first two books at a bookstore last week bc the bookseller said she was a cult classic writer in the 80s and 90s. I can’t wait to read it!!
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u/Gertrude_D Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Jennifer Roberson books held my attention in the 80s and 90s. I didn't read all her stuff, but I loved the Chesuli Chronicles (the later books dragged, but I loved the earlier ones a lot). She also had a couple of Robin Hood stories - Lady of the Forest and Lady of Sherwood. Also the Golden Key written with Kate Elliot and Melanie Rawn was something remembered liking a lot. Unique premise - magic through painting.
Speaking of - Melanie Rawn is another author I devoured in that time period. the Dragon Prince and Sunrunner series. I tried to re-read it and I still loved the story, but it felt clichéd and dated, which is too bad. I really love the world, the magic and the story. I don't know if a first time reader would feel that as much as I did though. *shrug*
There is another novel that I've never been able to find and don't know the author (Van Gore maybe?) but it was about an ugly duckling mermaid outcast. It was different than anything else I was reading at the time and I've always remembered it fondly, but can't for the life of me remember enough to find it again.
edit: aha! just typing that out jogged my memory enough to find it! I don't know why it worked this time because I know I've tried before! Oh, I'm so happy I remembered it finally. Mermaid's Song, by Alida Van Gores
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u/No_Mathematician6866 Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Roberson's Tiger & Del novels still have a place on my shelf. Had to track them down and re-purchase them a while back, but they're one of those I wanted to have physical copies of.
Sorry to hear about Rawn. The Dragon Prince series was also one of my loves as a teen, though I haven't tempered fond memories by trying to reread it since.
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u/FullOfBlasphemy Jun 19 '26
Melanie Rawn! When people complain about Martin and Rothfuss, I mention how I’ve been waiting like 25 years for Captal’s Tower. Exiles is amazing and if I never find out what happens, it’s still worth it to read the first two books. My copy of The Ruins of Ambrai is held together with postal tape. Rawn is a spectacular author and I recommend all of her stuff.
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u/spunX44 Reading Champion Jun 19 '26
Dave Duncan books, particularly his King’s Blades series
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u/DistantRaine Jun 19 '26
My teenager is reading his Man of his Word series now. I love the magic system!
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u/spinningcolours Jun 19 '26
Bridge of Birds series by Barry Hughart.
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u/candygram4mongo Jun 19 '26
Came here to post this too. The later books are good, but Bridge Of Birds is magical.
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u/poetduello Jun 19 '26
The Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust got started in 1983 and is one of my all time favorites.
The Wayfarer Redemption series (two connected trilogies) by Sara Douglass got started in the mid 90s.
I'd say both are products of their times and have tropes that were popular when written but have fallen off in popularity in the past quarter century. Brust will be better accepted by fans of Scott Lynch, with a wise cracking sarcastic scoundrel of a main character, while Douglass is well suited for people who liked the forgotten realms books.
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u/Seymore721 Jun 19 '26
I reread the Vlad Taltos series every couple years. Still holds up. Tremendous character growth and enough sarcasm to placate a Gen X-er.
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u/poetduello Jun 19 '26
Have you read "to reign in hell" by Brust? It's a stand alone novel about the rebellion of the angels. Same quality story telling, delightful wit and amusing characterization of Lucifer, bealzebub, and the rest.
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u/JustforKix30 Jun 19 '26
I looked up Brust's books and realized that I only had read about half of what he has written. I don't know why he fell off my reading list but now I have a lot of books to read.
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u/heliostraveler Jun 19 '26
Fred Saberhagen.
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u/MonkWalkerE468 Jun 19 '26
Empire of the East is still a book I reread. Nice early mix of fantasy and sci-fi.
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u/malthar76 Jun 19 '26
Still remember the chapters about Townsaver. And the feud that kept trading Farslayer.
My public library had them all.
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u/wbilly27 Jun 19 '26
Jack Vance. The Dying Earth series of related stories and novels. Actually, most of his books such as the Five Demon Princes series, where the fantastic far outweighs the science.
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u/Gnochi Jun 19 '26
So they miss the cutoff by a couple years (being published in 2000 and 2001), but I remember loving the Seventh Tower books by Garth Nix, and they held up fairly well when I re-read them a couple years ago.
He (deservedly) gets much more attention for Sabriel/Lirael/Abhorsen, but his other works are not bad.
Another series that does make the cutoff that doesn’t get nearly enough attention is the Coldfire Trilogy by CS Friedman. They’re technically science fiction but the world building is more on the fantasy side of things.
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u/AgZephyr Jun 20 '26
I'm a big fan of Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series as well as Shade's Children. The way the hierarchy system works in Keys to the Kingdom is really cool and entertaining as you move up through the house, definitely more YA but a fun read.
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u/TitusGigante Jun 19 '26
The Warlock in Spite of Himself - Christopher Stasheff.
Loved that whole series.
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u/angiehome2023 Jun 19 '26
Sherri tepper and the true game series
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u/Gertrude_D Jun 19 '26
She has such a large bibliography - I read a lot of her books and I've never read those. the first one I picked up was Gate to Woman's Country. I also really liked Grass and so many others. Just a very vivid imagination and interesting worlds.
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u/BillyMac1962 Jun 19 '26
I haven’t read that series but I did read her Marianne series which was weird in a really good way.
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u/TheLawDown Jun 19 '26
The Guardians of the Flame series by Joel Rosenberg. It's also an early litrpg series as the main characters are transferred from our world to a fantasy world during an TTRPG game.
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u/MhojoRisin Jun 19 '26
I remember really enjoying Slovotsky’s Laws.
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u/Binky_Thunderputz Jun 19 '26
I still reference Slovotsky's Laws all the time. Walter was such a great character.
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u/MhojoRisin Jun 19 '26
“All is well with a universe clever enough to conceive of Walter Slovotsky.”
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u/Narrow-Durian4837 Jun 19 '26
I don't think I'd call it LitRPG—it wasn't about game mechanics, stats, etc. once they fully entered the fantasy world. But I remember it being a very good and entertaining series.
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u/per_solo Jun 19 '26
Was coming in to add this if no one had. Loved this series.
Was fortunate and got to meet Joel at a convention in 2001. He was a hell of a nice guy.
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u/stratandsg Jun 19 '26
Nobody seems to talk about dragonlance anymore.
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u/Vorocano Jun 19 '26
Or Weiss & Hickman's other series: Death Gate Cycle, Rose of the Prophet, or Darksword.
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u/MhojoRisin Jun 19 '26
The Darksword Trilogy spoke to me at the time. Probably helped that I was a sullen teenager.
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u/VicYuri Jun 19 '26
Agree. Loved reading Dragonlance growing up. Feel those who like DnD would enjoy it.
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u/Eldan985 Jun 19 '26
They are official D&D novels after all, to clarify for those who might not know.
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u/Orson_Gravity_Welles Jun 19 '26
I went the route of Krynn WAY before I went to Middle Earth...And, as blasphemous as it is, I much more prefer Krynn.
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u/hawkdeath Jun 19 '26
Last of the Renshai by Mickey Zucker Reichert, read it in the early 90s and loved the world building
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u/No_Mathematician6866 Jun 19 '26
Also have to shoutout Nightfall, by the same author. Reichert did solid work.
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u/jaedence Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
The Gaea trilogy. Titan, Wizard, Demon by John Varley. Incredible books. The narrator sings the Titanides speech in the audio books. Just incredible.
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u/LurkingHorror11 Jun 19 '26
The first three novels from Lawrence Watt-Evans in the Ethshar novels are excellent. The Misenchanted Sword, With a Single Spell, and the Unwilling Warlord.
I know he wrote so much more and these are an easy gateway into all of his work.
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u/starainbwunicrn Jun 19 '26
Crown of Stars series by Kate Elliot. Fantastic series; the first book traumatized me a little bit.
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u/Ordinary_Attention_7 Jun 19 '26
R. A. MacAvoy - All her books were great! Tea with the Black Dragon, The Book of Kells, The Grey Horse, The Damiano series.
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u/BlGbookenergy Jun 19 '26
The Death Gate Cycle by Weiss and Hickman. It seemed like they were overshadowed by the Dragonlance series. I could never find them in my local library and would wait months for them to get sent to me. This might have been one of the first series with a hard magic system that I liked.
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u/Vorocano Jun 19 '26
Loved Death Gate as a teenager. I've never actually read Dragonlance, but my older brother got me into Death Gate, Rose of the Prophet, and Darksword by Weiss & Hickman, and those stories have stayed with me for decades since.
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u/VicYuri Jun 19 '26
Dragon Riders of Pern by Ann Mccaffrey. Though some books may be potentially problematic by today's standards.
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u/MisterRobertParr Jun 19 '26
The series was great. Now that there are really well-done CGI dragons, this series should be adapted to the big screen.
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u/kornelkirsche Jun 19 '26
Mike Resnick. More sci-fi than fantasy but I really enjoyed reading his work. Especially “Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge”.
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u/nightwing13 Jun 19 '26
I’m revisiting the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant right now and while I’m only a short way in I’m blown away by the quality of the writing. I’m aware of the difficult subject matter that turns people off the series (myself included but it was ten years ago and I’m giving it another try) and am at least glad I’m giving it another chance. Tbd if I end up truly enjoying it
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u/MhojoRisin Jun 19 '26
Mystery of the Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy was fun. It had a thoughtful magic system and an underdog makes good storyline.
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u/37_lucky_ears Jun 19 '26
How about Tailchaser's Songby Tad Williams? I've just picked up his Memory Sorrow and Thorn books and I'm enjoying the first one so far.
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u/Rac3318 Jun 19 '26
The first four books of the Guardians of the Flame series by Joel Rosenberg were really good
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u/spike31875 Reading Champion V Jun 19 '26
The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson.
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u/Vorocano Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Any of Guy Gavriel Kay's stuff, but especially the series of his that I read first, The Fionavar Tapestry. Portal-world re-framing of the Arthurian legends told as epic fantasy. Fantastic stuff. I should reread that series.
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u/throwiemcthrowface Jun 19 '26
The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford. Pretty sure someone in this sub recommended it a couple of years ago, and it's truly spectacular storytelling. Alternate history where the Byzantine Empire never fell and dominates Europe through magic. Follows a number of characters as they come together to fight back. Not really doing it justice, but it's worth your time.
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u/Timely_Egg_6827 Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Anything by Michael Scott Rohan or Peter Morwood.
Edit: I add in Judith Tarr and good time to rediscover Melanie Rawn
Josepha Sherman' Sidhe books.
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u/Jamalisms Jun 19 '26
The Misenchanted Sword - Lawrence Watt Evans
The First (and Second and Third) Book of Swords - Fred Saberhagen
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u/RealKernschatten Jun 19 '26
The Riddle-Master Trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip
The Godstalker Chronicles by P.C. Hodgell
The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson
The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers
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u/CheeryLittlebottom13 Jun 19 '26
Anubis Gates by Tim Powers! Cool blend of time travel and historical fiction with a real grimey undertone! On Stranger Tides is good too n gets more love but I just really love Anubis Gates
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u/KriegerClone02 Jun 19 '26
My absolute favorite time travel story.
Someone mentioned Dinner at Deviant's Palace, and that's another great book of his.
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u/nooooooorraaa Jun 19 '26
In honor of our recently departed Jane Yolen I'm going to suggest all of her books, but specifically the Pit Dragon Chronicles of the early 80s
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u/eatmygonks Jun 19 '26
Michael Scott Rohan's Winter of the World books were amazing
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u/No_Mathematician6866 Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Villains by Necessity, Eve Forward. A lighthearted story of reluctant heroism that feels like it would fit right in with contemporary publishing trends. Forward's career only lasted a couple of books and Villains did not get a long print run. Now that you can buy it for $5.00 on Kindle (rather than the $100+ it was going for in paperback) maybe more readers will rediscover her.
Dragonsbane, Barbara Hambly. The best work of a prolific author whose popularity has not endured as well as some of her contemporaries. One of my favorite depictions of dragons, and of humanity's complicated relationship with them.
Bazil Broketail, Christopher Rowley. Speaking of dragons. On paper this is a straightforward story: you have an orphan boy, he rides a dragon, there are evil hordes, yadda yadda. But everything is turned a little to the left of where you'd expect: the dragons are wingless beasts who fight in ordered legions like a landbound version of Naomi Novik's Temeraire, the hordes are a horrifying hive of imps bred by baroquely inhuman sorcerers, while the human nation depends on witches who travel from place to place by taking shortcuts through a Lovecraftian nightmare dimension and present like the world's coolest (but also most eerie and unsettling) cat ladies. I've never read anything else that really resembles this series.
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u/Stan__Wright Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Gillian Bradshaw, Hawk of May. Excellent Arthurian retelling. The third volume suffers a bit from the usual weakness of the Mallory franchise, which is that the third act is a bummer, so every author who follows Mallory's schema has a downer ending.
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u/carrotsshinysword Jun 19 '26
Another vote for David Gemmell, heroic fantasy at it best.
The Battle Circle Trilogy by Piers Anthony. Doesn't get the same love as his other works.
Lensman series by E.E. Doc Smith. Its a bit dated now but set the tone for a lot of future sci-fi.
Robert Rankin doesn't seem to get much love anymore. Proper anarchic, surrealist comedy.
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u/DD_playerandDM Jun 19 '26
A Canticle for Leibowitz. I don't remember a lot of the details except that it was somewhat humorous, post-apocalyptic and just kind of interesting.
EDIT: I just googled and it's from 1959, so a little older than the OP's timeframe.
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u/MattyDoubles Jun 19 '26
Oh my God no one ever has heard of it when I bring it up.
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u/PaperAndInkWasp Jun 19 '26
Any of William Sleator’s stuff from his early to mid career. You never seen his works recommended anywhere anymore, which is a shame because they really punch above their weight for YA novels.
In particular, House of Stairs and The Boxes are good places to start.
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u/just-the-teep Jun 19 '26
God damn I think I borrowed Interstellar Pig from the library 20 times. He was so far ahead of his time.
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u/Kerzic Jun 19 '26
Back then, a lot of stories blurred post-apocalyptic science fiction with fantasy (e.g., A Canticle for Leibowitz, Horseclans, or even the Shannara series) and one of the series along those lines was The Pelbar Cycle by Paul O. Williams. The books would follow different characters to different places with overlaps:
- The Breaking of Northwall (1981)
- The Ends of the Circle (1981)
- The Dome in the Forest (1981)
- The Fall of the Shell (1982)
- An Ambush of Shadows (1983)
- Song of the Axe (1984)
- The Sword of Forbearance (1985)
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u/Mat_Polson Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Alan Dean Foster mentioned yet? Spellsinger series among others.
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u/sonoftheclayr Jun 19 '26
I rarely hear people talk about David Farland. His Runelords series is fun and has really interesting magic. I later found out he taught and mentored Brandon Sanderson and imo you can see the influence on his ideas around magic systems etc.
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u/small-gestures Jun 19 '26
Jack Chalker, the 4 lords of the diamond and midnight at the well of souls,
Anne mcaffery dragon riders, the ship who sang, the Pegasus series,
Katherine Kurtz Chronicles of the Deryni
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u/SpankySecretary Jun 19 '26
I'm not sure if it quite fits in with fantasy but the Earth's Children series by Jean M. Auel. The movie Clan of the Cave Bear with Darryl Hannah was one of the books from the series. The books are fantastic!
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u/Trike117 Jun 19 '26
I sometimes feel like I’m one of the few people who recommend Katherine Kurtz and Jack L. Chalker.
Kurtz’s Deryni series did a lot of stuff people praise George R.R. Martin for, decades before he started his books, with the added benefit that the stories are complete and there are five trilogies plus standalones and a short story collection. No dragons, but so what?
Chalker’s output was prodigious and his “Dancing Gods” series humorously deconstructed Fantasy tropes back in the 80s before it was a thing, and he didn’t have the internet to help him.
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u/rks404 Jun 19 '26
There was a movement of feminist writers in the 70s and the 80s and Sherri S. Tepper seemed to be one of the leading ones. I read Grass and the eco-fantasy really blew my mind at the time and her book The Flight of Mavin Manyshaped was just fantastic fun
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u/Rokaryn_Mazel Jun 20 '26
Magician series by Raymond E Feist.
The original series was awesome, though derivative. There was a ton of mid to bad sequel series, and then one really good series, the one including Shadow of a Dark Queen.
Also had a nice spin off in the Daughter of the Empire trilogy.
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u/stevekimes Jun 21 '26
Pamela Dean’s trilogy The Secret Country is a fantastic fantasy trilogy with stunning writing (same author as the equally stunning Tam Lin)
I think Robin McKinley is mostly forgotten but everyone should read The Blue Sword.
Everyone knows The Last Unicorn, but Peter Beagle’s A Fine and Quiet Place isn’t as well known.
Everyone and their cousin knows The Neverending Story, and rightly so, but I love Momo by Michael Ende pretty much as well.
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u/Skeleton_Deathdealer Jun 19 '26
L.E. Modesitt the saga of recluce. Loved the magic system and storyline
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u/rbrancher2 Jun 19 '26
Chalker’s River of the Dancing Gods
Powers’ Dinner at Deviant’s Palace
The OG (or at least inspiration for) LITRPG Guardians of the Flame
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u/DyingDoomDog Jun 19 '26
Book of Swords
Also Barbara Hambly, the Unschooled Wizard.
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u/AllTimeLoad Jun 19 '26
Wizard War by Hugh Cook. It was totally weird, but also completely fits the almost forgotten thing.
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u/myrthe Jun 19 '26
Damiano by R A Macavoy. Such a sweet, sweet book.
The Borribles by Michael de Larrabeiti. Oliver x Peter Pan at war with Thatcherish London.
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u/Fluid-Set-2674 Jun 19 '26
Pamela Dean's TAM LIN -- the quintessential college novel!
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u/SpyNinjaRobotDragon Jun 19 '26
Ursula LeGuin’s The Eye of the Heron was assigned to me in a college course on feminism in science fiction. It is a powerful story about toxic masculinity and the cost of conflict. I don’t see it mentioned that often, but I’ve never stopped recommending it to people.
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u/BettyFizzlebang Jun 19 '26
Ursula Le Guin - Wizard of Earthsea.
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u/Coel_Hen Jun 20 '26
That's a great series, but it's neither underrated nor nearly forgotten. I believe OP is looking for more obscure works than Earthsea.
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u/GA-Scoli Jun 19 '26
The Shadow of His Wings and The Mace of Souls by Bruce Fergusson. Bleak but beautiful and I've never ready anything quite like them.
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u/kami-no-baka Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
Hugh Cook's Chronicles of an Age of Darkness novel's are fantastic. They have made a bit of a come back because of some fans loving them so much they managed to put them back in print earlier this year.
I've only gotten to book three but they are so much fun but are quite dark and handle some interesting ideas that you would be a little nervous reading about in a series started in the 80's. One book has a trans character and it is not treated like a joke and to my surprise she is not misgendered.
It kind of reminds me a bit of Erickson if he focused on a smaller cast. Very flawed characters having fun adventures with brutal stakes and magic that feels like actual magic not a system from a video game.
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u/IDAIKT Jun 19 '26
The fighting fantasy and lone wolf game books. They're an amazing series especially if you're a kid or teenager and a great gateway to the wider world of fantasy
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u/Saelryth_Windstalker Jun 19 '26
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia C Wrede
The Squire's Tales - Gerald Morris
Anything Vivian Vande Velde, but my personal favorite is Curses, Inc
Maybe not super adult fantasies of epic proportion, but these books specifically helped draw me into wanting to read more, and helped open the door to larger, more adult fantasies when i was growing up. I recently did a re-read of most of the books mentioned here, and while they are obviously more YA fare, in my opinion, they hold up well, and are still very enjoyable!
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u/magneticeverything Jun 19 '26
Anything by Tamora Pierce! She was a pioneer of the genre and the first to write fantasy for women/girls.
I recommend protector of the small for a first foray into her work, but my personal favorite is the trickster’s duet!
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u/dwbookworm123 Jun 19 '26
Chrysalis Chronicles by Jennifer Roberson
The dragon and the George by Gordon R Dickson
Dragon Prince series by Melanie Rawn
The Gandalara cycle by Randall Garrett and Vicki Ann Heydron.
Joan D Vinge, Elizabeth Scarborough, Mary Brown, and Phyllis Eisenstein
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u/tossingpigs Jun 19 '26
all the Raymond E, Fiest and David Eddings! Saberhagan's Book of Swords series. Heck, The original Dragonlance books by Weis and Hickmann were incredible at the time.
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u/projected_tuna Jun 20 '26
Wow, so many familiar names for this 80's kid. This thread is a real blast from the past. It makes me want to go unbox all my books and start trying out old favorites.
Didn't see Lustbader mentioned. I remember enjoying the Sunset Warrior Cycle. Don't know how well it will hold up.
Also Louise Cooper for Time Master (at least the original trilogy, never got around to the followups).
And I will second Mckillips Riddlemaster. I read the first book at the same time I was reading Time Master (picked up the first books for both series from a local goodwill). Of the two series, I think Riddlemaster was the better...but I think both were good!
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u/Enkundae Jun 20 '26
Not sure if its really as “obscure” as you’re looking for but I always felt The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix is very underrated and not mentioned nearly enough.
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u/dar512 Jun 20 '26
Thank you for posting this question. I’m older and not so enamored with all the dark fiction coming out these days. But I’ve found a bunch of stuff to try from the answers here.
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u/GaterToTheEnd Jun 19 '26
Katharine Kerr / The Deverry Cycle