Quests...

"Who's the more foolish... the fool or the fool who follows him?" -Ben

What defines a quest? Well, they usually involve travelling long distances, though variations on this theme have been used, and not all fantasy novels involving distance are quests. There must be a goal, usually something to be obtained or destroyed, and the journey has to be a key part of character development, not just plot. In a more esoteric sense, a quest is a search for who the main character(s) is, at heart. It's a process of discovery with a definite end in mind, even if the end isn't reached. I have only placed Fantasy books in this category due to a lack of categories for that genre.

• E. B. White
  • Stuart Little (A mouse-sized boy goes on a trip to search for his disappeared bird friend.)
• J. R. R. Tolkien
  • The Hobbit (Prim and proper Bilbo joins 13 dwarves in search of a lost treasure guarded by a dragon.)
  • "The Lord of the Rings" (Frodo and his companions must find a way to destroy the one ring before Sauron can use it to control Middle Earth.)
• John Barnes
  • One for the Morning Glory (The son of a king drinks the Wine of the Gods, so a year and a day later, 4 companions arrive to take him on his journey into legend.)
• Julian May
  • Black Trillium (with Marion Zimmer Bradley and Andre Norton. Each author writes the perspective of one of the triplet princesses who are on quests to discover the power to save their world.)
• L. Frank Baum
  • Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The Road to Oz, The Emerald City of Oz (Dorothy and various other characters wander around looking for things, like misplaced princesses.)
• Larry Niven
  • Destiny's Road (Jemmy sets out along the forbidden spice road to find the secret the caravans keep.)
• Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • City of Sorcery (5 women start out to save a friend, and find themselves on a spiritual and physical quest to find the secret of the Priestesses of Avarra.)
• Mercedes Lackey
  • Winds of Fate (Princess but no longer heir to the thrown, Elspeth sets out to find someone to help her beleaguered people.)
  • Fortress of Frost and Fire (A game-derived quest with eight unlikely companions out to find the valley where summer never comes.)
• R. A. Salvatore
  • Streams of Silver (Drizzt and company search for and try to reclaim the ancient home of a dwarf's clan.)
• Robin McKinley
  • The Hero and the Crown (Princess Aerin is out to kill dragons- but after she meets the big one, she has to switch careers.)
• Susan Cooper
  • "The Dark is Rising" (Will needs six signs, Barney needs the Holy Grail, Jane needs what the Greenwitch has, Bran needs to wake the Sleepers, and the Light must have the sword made for it in a kingdom lost beneath the sea if it is to triumph over the Dark.)
• Terry Brooks
  • The Sword of Shannara (Two half-brothers go in search of a legendary talisman that can help them destroy the evil overcoming their world.)

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Last Updated: November 7, 1999

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