Lin Carter's Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

In addition to contributing to the currently trending topics (and possibly reviving some that aren't), I thought I would share something with you all. I make and collect quite a lot of lists, partly as a hobby and probably also as a developmental quirk - I just want to keep them where I'll remember them. Based on a few conversations with Raven, I figured that I would share some of these lists with you, as they pertain to many of our frequently discussed topics. As you can probably tell, a LOT of them are about books, and for now, so as not to overwhelm you, I'll just post a few that are fantasy related. If you would like to see more, feel free to let me know.

The first list I want to talk about isn't really a list in the typical sense, at least as I would put it - it's a book series. The importance of this series, it seems, is quite substantial. In the late 60's-early 70's, as The Lord of the Rings began to take off in popularity and revived the fantasy genre after its decline following WWII, publishers began looking for the next big thing to capitalize on the craze. Ballantine Books, which published Tolkien's works officially, sought to meet the demand, and after a short run of titles both old and new, they decided to release a line solely dedicated to fantasy. This series, edited by Lin Carter, may not have been a bestseller - it only ran until the original company heads, Ian and Betty Ballantine, transferred ownership to Random House - but it has subsequently proved influential to both readers and writers of fantasy, bringing many out-of-print classics and forerunners back into public knowledge. Here's a longer, better evaluation from Black Gate:

https://www.blackgate.com/2013/11/21/lin-carter-and-the-ballantine-adult-fantasy-series/

To get the full list, as well as links to information on individual titles, here is the link to the Wikipedia article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballantine_Adult_Fantasy_series

I was going to copy the whole thing out right here, but I feel that you may be better served by checking out on official source with more information. Suffice to say, being interested in the history of fantasy, I highly enjoyed finding out about this series. Some of these titles have actually not been reprinted, to my knowledge, while others are available in one form or another. Many of the authors listed will eventually find their way to the blog (in theory, at least). Hopefully, this will further provoke an interest in the fantasies of yesteryear and the building blocks of today's industry.