My Fantasy Collection

“Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?" - J.R.R. Tolkien

Ah fantasy. It's what I partake in instead of heavy drugs. It is the best antidepressant. I really don't care when genre-snobs turn their noses up at it. Let them have their literary fiction which is basically just nonfiction with the names of the real people changed. I ranted about all this before if you're curious.

Anyway, I've way too many books, movies and video games sitting in my room, so I figured why not show off my collection? Might as well show them off. Most of them I've at least read/watched/played once, but I rarely have time for them sadly.

My Oz Collection

L.Frank Baum's Oz was the beginning of the modern fantasy genre in a lot of ways. Not the first fantasy story, of course, but the first to really world-build. Here is my meager Oz collection. I know some fans who can fill an entire room (or even a house, like my good friend Fred Trust who's starting a Wizard of Oz Museum in Cocoa Beach, FL) with all their rare Oz books and collectibles. But thing is, I'm not rich. Also I've not been a big Oz fan for very long. So this is what I have. Pretty meager, sadly. The box set toward the back contains the first 15 Oz books; I've written at length about the Sweet Cherry Publishing Oz books, and I do not recommend them in the slightest because of their lack of illustrations and the wonky-looking illustrations they do have. I've also written about The Lost Tales of Oz, which I do recommend. I'm currently reading Queen Ann in Oz, which perhaps I'll review when I finish, and I will then read Outsiders from Oz and review that as well. The Greg Hildebrandt illustrated edition of The Wizard of Oz was a lucky find at a library used book sale many years ago. It has incredible illustrations. Then of course I have a VHS copy of the famous 1939 The Wizard of Oz movie from 1998, and a DVD of Return to Oz with a terrible cover. This collection is bound to grow, though. In fact I'll probably have to get rid of more things to make room for it. Not pictured is The Haunted Castle of Oz, which I have as an ebook. 

Alice in Wonderland

I've had this book since childhood. It's a great edition, has both books in one and all the classic illustrations.The DVD to the right is my favorite rendition of Alice in Wonderland, the 1985 made-for-TV musical version. It's fairly close to the book, all things considered, and stars a bunch of B-list celebrities. I'll probably do a full review of it one day, after I watch it again.   

Peter Pan

I used to love the story of Peter Pan when I was younger, and would dream of escaping to Neverland, which always seemed like a real place to me back then. I've got the original book, and an unofficial prequel called Peter and the Starcatchers which tries to tell the story of how Peter and the other Lost Boys as well as Captain Hook ended up in Neverland. I've not read it in years, but I remember it being alright. I'll be reading these to my kid when he's a bit older though. But I'll just warn him not to follow Peter Pan anywhere. You're better off going to Oz, really. That way I'm allowed to come too. I hate it when Fairylands have age limits. (Also not pictured: I have the movie Hook on VHS somewhere...but I didn't feel like digging it up.)

Chronicles of Narnia

I was more into Narnia when I was younger. It is yet another fantasy world with an age limit, alas. Strangely I never came into the possession of the first book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, just books 2 through 4, purchased used at a library once again. They're old and held together with tape. My favorite Narnia book was always The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Most people say they like either the first book or The Silver Chair best. But, I just like Eustace's redemption arc, I suppose. The bigger prize in this collection is the 6-cassette box set of the BBC Narnia movies. I used to get these at the library as a kid, and I bought this set immediately when I ran across it at a thrift store. The movies have silly costumes, terrible special effects (they even use 2d animation in places) and hilarious acting, but they're so much more enjoyable than the Disney Narnia movies. It's a textbook example of "so bad, it's good".

J.R.R. Tolkien

My Lord of the Rings collection is really nothing to boast about, I suppose. But as a fantasy fan, I should have something of Tolkien's, right? I have an old copy of The Hobbit, all three Lord of the Rings books in one volume that advertises the movies, a three disc volume of all the movies, and Fellowship of the Ring in an as-of-yet unopened VHS, still sealed. It probably won't ever be worth money, but hey, you never know I guess. I read all the books as a teen. It'd be nice to read them again sometime, but I don't know when that will be. I'm better off sticking to the book when it comes to The Hobbit, of course.

Armenian Folktales

Now for something different. These are my Armenian folktale books. David of Sassoun is an epic poem that dates back to the 800s AD if not earlier, which follows a hero who frees Armenia from the oppressive rule of an Egyptian sultan (a stand-in for either the Arabs or later the Ottoman Turks), following the universal Hero's Journey story arc. I got this book when I was in Yerevan, Armenia, for only 6,000 drams (roughly $12). The Armenian Folk Fables book is something I also bought in Armenia, at a grocery store. From what I recall it was really cheap too. Armenian Folk-tales and Fables is something I bought online. I first read it at the library of the community college I attended and decided to get my own copy. My favorite story in the volume is Zangi and Zarangi, about a boy named Suren and his two dogs, who he uses to free his village from dragons. I ought to blog about that story in more detail eventually.

The Age of Fire Series

This book series is great. It tells the story of three dragon siblings. One of the dragon siblings was run out of the nest by the others, so it found some dwarf poachers and led them to the nest, betraying his family. Two of the hatchlings escaped, and each book is about the life of the survivors. I love dragons, so these books are perfect. Fantasy stories told from the perspective of a dragon are rare indeed, even though as of late dragons are less likely to be depicted as villainous in the fantasy genre. 

The Dark Crystal

I love this series. I had the movie on DVD first, purchased sometime in the mid-2000's. The VHS was an impulse buy at a thrift store about a year ago because I liked the cover art. And below is The Power of the Dark Crystal comic series. The art in these books is incredibly beautiful, and the story is worthy of a sequel to the classic movie. One day I'll get the Netflix series on physical media, but it'll have to wait for now.

Gulliver's Travels

This is the 1996 made-for-TV movie version, on two cassettes. I watched this when it first aired at age 10, and it definitely left an impression on me.  I'll always love this version. It's one of the only movie versions that makes it past the Lilliput section and does all four travels. The part with the yahoos and the Houyhnhnms was perhaps my first exposure to a critique on humanity, and has come to help shape my philosophy. Maybe the framing device was a bit unnecessary (where Gulliver gets put into an insane asylum by some landlord who wants to steal away his wife after he returns from his travels, and is only cured after he recites all of his travels to whoever is in earshot). I had the book at some point, but must have lost it in one of my many moves over the years, I guess. It's public domain anyway, I could just read it on Gutenberg. 

The 10th Kingdom

Damn I love The 10th Kingdom. I watched this miniseries when it came out in 2000, had it recorded off the TV on a blank VHS for a long time until I lost it, and finally bought the DVD, which has scenes that were deleted from the original TV airing anyway so it all worked out. This series is so under-rated. Almost no one seems to have heard of it. I strongly recommend this series. 

The Legend of Zelda

Let's get into some video games. I first got into The Legend of Zelda in 1999 when I played Ocarina of Time for the N64. I was a Sega kid during the 16-bit era, so I didn't play any of the previous games until later. My second game was Majora's Mask, which is still story-wise my favorite Zelda game. I bought the first Zelda game for the NES at a used game store sometime in the late 90's or early 2000's when NES games were still being sold dirt cheap because no one wanted them. What a golden age that was. I've still never beaten it though. It's super hard. Then I have Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Gamecube, which is another great one. Later on I bought a Retron 2 game system which plays both NES and Super Nintendo games, and finally got A Link to the Past. Everyone who grew up with the game swears it's one of the best games they've ever played, but I don't know if it's because I started with the 3D Zelda games but I just wasn't that into it. I mean it was fun, but I feel like there were better ones. I also have Link's Awakening for the Game Boy, which I play via a Super Game Boy that let's me play on the TV. I've never been much for portable gaming, really.  Finally I have Breath of the Wild for the Nintendo Switch. This game is huge, and pretty fun. It doesn't quite have the story that the previous games had though, I feel like. And in the center I have two mangas based on Ocarina of Time, which have some nice artwork and retell the story of the game. Albeit in a somewhat rushed manner. They could have done a really long manga series out of that game. Instead they squeezed the whole thing into two books.

Fire Emblem

Fire Emblem is one of my favorite video game series. These are turn-based strategy games with fantasy elements (medieval weaponry, magic, dragons, etc.). Thing is they weren't even being released in the US until the early 2000's, after characters from the games began appearing in Super Smash Bros. And the ones that are released here are pretty rare. Those two games on the bottom are worth a lot. Probably the most expensive games I have, along with Conker's Bad Fur Day. I've also played the Fire Emblem games on the Game Boy Advance, but via an emulator. I want to review the games on this blog eventually. I'm actually slowly playing through Path of Radiance again, when life gives me the time to do so. Radiant Dawn had good gameplay but the story was a mess in my opinion, which I'll eventually go into detail about. Three Houses had the opposite issue; pretty good story and characters, but redundant gameplay. Not bad per se, but a little underwhelming. 

Assorted 80's Fantasy Movies

This is the rest of my fantasy collection.  I got Willow at a VHS giveaway at a library which was a pretty nice find. Labyrinth is among my favorite movies, which I first saw as a child. I even named my son Jareth after the Goblin King, so there you go. I have a funny story behind The NeverEnding Story. I actually had it on DVD first, the stupid thing somehow got scratched and unplayable even though I barely ever took it out of its case, and now I have it on VHS and the tape plays fine despite being around 30 years old. Don't you just love technology?  And of course we have Legend, an oft-overlooked 80's fantasy classic. Any movie with Tim Curry as a villain deserves praise, or course. I have a couple other movies not pictured here such as The Last Unicorn and The Princess Bride. 

So anyway, that's my fantasy collection. Keep in mind this doesn't include my horror, sci-fi, animation, and other miscellaneous genre collections. Which I keep in two small bookcases, a bunch of VHS drawers, and boxes. Maybe one day I'll have a bigger place and not have to tuck all my cool stuff away. Hopefully.