Forgotten fantasy novels

[besilarius]

http://flavorwire.com/391301/10-forgotten-fantastical-novels-you-should-read-immediately/view-all

A fine list.  We all have favorites that should be included.  My own would be Jack Vance's The Dying Earth and Avram Davidson's The Phoenix and the Mirror.
Perhaps Vance should not be included in the list, as he probably is still read and he should be.
Davidson was a great talent who couldn't keep his focus.  The Phoenix and the Mirror is a marvelous fantasy novel.  The hero is the mage, Virgil, living in medieval Naples.   Perhaps one of the most knowledgable people of the age, and one of the greatest makers of magic, Virgil is ensnared by a queen whose daughter has been kidnapped.  To find her, Virgil must construct a virgin mirror, a mirror of fantastical materials, which never being exposed to light and view is thus "virgin".  How Virgil constructs the artifact, and then uses the knowledge it reveals, is utterly enthralling.
Davidson is obscure because he alos had a talent for losing interest in his stories and not finishing the story arc.  A truly frustrating talent.

[eyebiter]

Surprised Algis Budrys Who? or the Hildebrandt brothers Urshurak wasn't on the list. 

[MetalDog]

With the exception of, That Hideous Strength," I had neither heard of, or read, any of the authors put forward.  That makes me sad for two reasons, 1) because if they are as good as the author thinks they are, then I am missing out on having read those books and 2) because I consider myself knowledgeable about the fantasy genre (at least a lot of its origins) and it wounds my pride not to know any of them :(  I did notice that he seems drawn to books that are written differently than the mainstream formula.  It put me in mind of the worlds that Michael Moorcock, Elric and Roger Zelazny, Amber created.