A Wizard of Earthsea is a fantasy novel written by American author Ursula K. Le Guin and first published by the small press Parnassus in 1968. It is regarded as a classic of children's literature and of fantasy, within which it is widely influential. The story is set in the fictional archipelago of Earthsea and centers on a young mage named Ged, born in a village on the island of Gont. He displays great power while still a boy and joins a school of wizardry, where his prickly nature drives him into conflict with a fellow student. During a magical duel, Ged's spell goes awry and releases a shadow creature that attacks him. The novel follows Ged's journey as he seeks to be free of the creature.
Grand Admiral Thrawn is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He is notable for appearing as the eponymous character in the Thrawn trilogy of novels (1991–1993) by Timothy Zahn. Thrawn is an imperial military leader and member of the Chiss race who returns from the unknown and leads the remnants of the scattered Galactic Empire in a campaign against the New Republic. Thrawn faces off against classic Star Wars characters Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian in the Thrawn trilogy, but is ultimately defeated. He is seemingly resurrected in the Hand of Thrawn duology (1997–1998), and his backstory is explored in various other novels, short stories, comics, and video games in the Star Wars expanded universe.
Bone is an American independently-published graphic novel series, written and illustrated by Jeff Smith, originally serialized in 55 irregularly released issues from 1991 to 2004.
Robin Jarvis is a British Young-Adult fiction (YA) and children's novelist, who writes dark fantasy, suspense and supernatural thrillers. His books for young adults have featured the inhabitants of a coastal town battling a monumental malevolence with the help of its last supernatural guardian (The Witching Legacy), a diminutive race of Werglers pitched against the evil might of the faerie hordes (The Hagwood Trilogy), a sinister "world-switching" dystopian future, triggered by a sinister and hypnotic book (Dancing Jax), Norse Fates, Glastonbury crow-demons and a time travelling, wise-cracking teddy bear. (The Wyrd Museum series), dark powers, a forgotten race and ancient evils on the North Yorkshire coast (The Whitby Witches trilogy), epic medieval adventure (The Oaken Throne) and science-fiction dramatising the "nefarious intrigue" within an alternate Tudor realm, peopled by personalities of the time, automata servants and animals known as Mechanicals and ruled by Queen Elizabeth I. (Deathscent).
The Dark Portal is a dark fantasy novel for children by British author Robin Jarvis. The first book in The Deptford Mice trilogy and Jarvis's debut novel, it follows the story of Audrey Brown, a mouse girl who is looking for her missing father. Her search takes her into the sewers of Deptford where, with the help of her friends and family, she must face an army of evil rats and their living god, a mysterious being known as Jupiter.
The Spiderwick Chronicles is a 2008 American fantasy film based on the book series of the same name by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. It was directed by Mark Waters and stars Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger and Mary-Louise Parker, with Martin Short, Nick Nolte, and Seth Rogen in voice roles. The film, set in the Spiderwick Estate in New England, follows three children who discover a field guide to fairies while encountering various magical creatures such as goblins, ogres, brownies, boggarts, hobgoblins, trolls and many others.
Avalon: Web of Magic is a series of twelve young adult fantasy novels created by Robert Mandell, loosely based on his animated series Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders, and written by American author Rachel Roberts between 2001 and 2010. The books tell of the adventures of a trio of modern girls who are turned into mages to save the legendary land of Avalon from those who want to use its magic for evil. There is a related graphic novel series, Avalon: The Warlock Diaries, and an animated series adaptation is currently in the works.
Fablehaven is a fantasy book series for children written by Brandon Mull. The book series, which includes Fablehaven, Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star, Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague, Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary and Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison, is published by Shadow Mountain in hardcover and Simon & Schuster in paperback. It is followed by the five-part sequel series Dragonwatch.
Elves, a word from Germanic mythology, are frequently featured in fantasy fiction. In modern fiction, particularly because of the influence from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, elves are modeled mostly after his original description: tall, human-like creatures of otherworldly beauty, with Kings and Queens. Along with this development, Dark elves are often modeled as a more sinister counterpart to the High elves, like the Drow or the Trow, which are the fairy-like dark creatures of Orcadian and Shetland folklore. The dark elves (Dökkálfar) or black elves (Svartálfar) are presented in Germanic mythology as dwarves and gray ones.
An Orc is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially The Lord of the Rings. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugly, and malevolent race of monsters, contrasting with the benevolent Elves and serving an evil power, though they share a human sense of morality. There is a suggestion, among several somewhat contradictory origin stories, that they are a corrupted race of elves.
The Rondo series is a children's fantasy novel trilogy written by Jennifer Rowe under the pen name Emily Rodda.
Mark Lawrence is an American-British novelist who wrote The Broken Empire trilogy. In 2014, Lawrence won the David Gemmell Legend Awards for best novel for Emperor of Thorns. He operates the annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is a 2019 American fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures, directed by Joachim Rønning, and written by Linda Woolverton, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, and Noah Harpster. It is a sequel to the 2014 film Maleficent, with Angelina Jolie returning to portray the title role. Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville also return to their previous roles, with Harris Dickinson replacing Brenton Thwaites from the first film and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, and Michelle Pfeiffer joining the cast as new characters. Set five years after Maleficent, the film sees the eponymous character face the neighboring kingdom's manipulated perception of herself as a villain, in addition to a subplot of the rise of an endangered, powerful fairy race known as the Dark Fey.
Sarah Janet Maas is an American fantasy author, best known for her debut series Throne of Glass, published in 2012, and her A Court of Thorns and Roses series, published in 2015. Her newest work is the Crescent City series. As of 2021, she has sold over twelve million copies of her books and has been translated into thirty-seven languages.
Leigh Bardugo is an Israeli-American fantasy author. She is best known for her young adult Grishaverse novels, which include the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, and the King of Scars series. She also received acclaim for her paranormal fantasy adult debut, Ninth House. The Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows series have been adapted into Shadow and Bone by Netflix and Ninth House will be adapted by Amazon Studios; Bardugo is an executive producer on both works.
The Sin Eater's Daughter is a young adult fantasy trilogy written by British YA author Melinda Salisbury and published by Scholastic Press. The first book in the trilogy, The Sin Eater's Daughter, was published in 2015 on 24 February and marked Salisbury's first book in print. The second book in the trilogy, The Sleeping Prince, was published the following year. A short story prequel, The King of Rats, was also released that year but only as an exclusive print edition at Young Adult Literature Convention in London. The third and final book in the trilogy, The Scarecrow Queen, was released in 2017. Later in 2017, a short story collection set in the same world, The Heart Collector, was released. This included The King of Rats and two brand new short stories entitled The Heart Collector and Mully No-Hands.
Charles David Wendig is an American author, comic book writer, screenwriter, and blogger. He is best known for his online blog Terribleminds, for his 2015 Star Wars novel trilogy Aftermath, the first book of which debuted at #4 on The New York Times Best Seller list and #4 on USA Today's best seller list, for which series he created the characters of Gallius Rax and marshal Cobb Vanth, the latter of whom would subsequently appear in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Wendig has additionally written comics for Dark Circle Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Marvel Comics, and VS Comics.
"Ill-Boding Patterns" is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of the American fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time, which aired on March 19, 2017. In this episode, Gold must find a way to stop Gideon from going dark as he prepares to kill Emma, while Hook must find a way to hide the truth about Robert from her, and Wish Realm Robin seeks an ally to help escape Storybrooke. In the past, the legend of Beowulf and how he crossed paths with Rumplestiltskin is revealed.
The Bear and the Nightingale is a historical fantasy novel written by Katherine Arden. It is Arden's debut novel, and the first novel in the Winternight trilogy. The Bear and the Nightingale is set in medieval Russia and incorporates elements of Russian folklore. The central character is a young girl, Vasya Petrovna, who is able to communicate with mythological creatures, at a time when Orthodox Christianity is attempting to stamp out all belief in such beings.
A Court of Thorns and Roses is a new adult high fantasy novel series by American author Sarah J. Maas, beginning with the novel of the same name, released in May 2015. The story follows the journey of mortal Feyre Archeron after she is brought into the faerie lands of Prythian for murdering a faerie, and the epic love story and fierce struggle that happens after she enters the fae lands.
