Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women is a fantasy novel by Scottish writer George MacDonald published in London in 1858.

The story centres on the character Anodos ("pathless" in Greek) and takes its inspiration from German Romanticism, particularly Novalis.

The story concerns a young man who is pulled into a dreamlike world and there hunts for his ideal of female beauty, embodied by the "Marble Lady".

Anodos lives through many adventures and temptations while in the other world, until he is finally ready to give up his ideals.

He discovers an ancient fairy lady in the desk that he inherited as a birthright from his late father.

Cosmo is a believer in fantasy who sacrifices his life to free the soul of his lover from an enchanted mirror.

Next Anodos finds himself with two brothers who are forging armour and swords in order to fight three marauding giants living in a fortified stronghold.

He destroys the worshippers' idol, exposing a dark opening out of which a monster rushes to attack him.

He floats as a spirit for a time before awakening alive on Earth, retaining the memory of his experiences in Fairy Land.

In this way, MacDonald is able to explore the adult unconscious mind that eludes logical patterns and separations.

C. S. Lewis wrote of his first reading of Phantastes at age sixteen, "That night my imagination was, in a certain sense, baptized; the rest of me[,] not unnaturally, took longer.

[3] The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series editor Lin Carter wrote that "MacDonald, frankly, had no ear for writing verses at all, and the intrusion of his saccharine rhymes injured, rather than enhanced, the strength and clearness of the book."

[4] In 2020, UK singer/songwriter and guitarist Nick Harper released the album Phantastes, which was partly inspired by MacDonald's book.