Best stand-alone Fantasy novel?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by VaporPunk

Heh, here we go. Let's define stand-alone as "you can enjoy it without reading anything else". It has a beginning and an ending with the main storyline complete. But whatever works for you. Its also why I included Tigana because that is hands-down, written in stone, stand-alone.

I'm also of the opinion that the thread's originator should get to set the "rules."

Its also why I included Tigana because that is hands-down, written in stone, stand-alone.

*cough, cough*
Most of GGK's works are all very loosely connected with Fionavar Tapestry, but yeah... it's about as stand-alone as fantasy ever gets.

[VaporPunk]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

*cough, cough*
Most of GGK's works are all very loosely connected with Fionavar Tapestry, but yeah... it's about as stand-alone as fantasy ever gets.

I knew when I typed those words...I saids to myself, I saids - "Somebody is going to prove me wrong and I will make an ass of myself, yet again".

BTW, Irish Lion - Haven't read it but mostly hear good things!

[DiapDealer]

And in keeping with the spirit of the thread:

Jo Walton's Tooth and Claw, Tim Powers' On Stranger Tides, The Child Thief by Brom, Once A Hero or Talion: Revenant by Michael A. Stackpole, Tad Williams' War of the Flowers, and Mark J. Ferrari's The Book of Joby.

[GERGE]

Mists of Avalon, Ombria in Shadow, Best Served Cold, House of Leaves, Our Lady of Darkness, The Dancers at the End of Time, Freedom and Necessity, The Scar, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Kafka on the Shore... All of of these are published as one book these days.

And the best of them all: Gloriana, or The Unfulfill'd Queen.

[Penforhire]

So tough to only pick one or two!

I'll spotlight "The Drawing of the Dark" by Tim Powers and ...

"Jack of Shadows" by Roger Zelazny. Some might call this one SF but I call BS on that, lol.

[BenG]

Imajica by Clive Barker
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker (Clive Barker reminds me somewhat of Neil Gaiman when he's writing dark fantasy rather than outright horror)
The Worm Ourobouros by E.R.R. Eddison (once you get used to the faux-Elizabethan language)
The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle
Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Suzanna Clarke (though come to think of it, she left it open for a sequel)
Little, Big by John Crowley
The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs
Lud-in-the-Mist by Helen Hope Mirrlees
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
The Well at the World's End by William Morris (the Ballantine paperbacks were split into two volumes but really it's one book)
Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt
The Blue Star by Fletcher Pratt
Lilith by George MacDonald

[DiapDealer]

Best Served Cold

Could you read Best Served Cold in a vacuum? Sure. But you'd probably be wondering who/what some of these other people and events they keep referring to are. Same with The Scar (I assume you mean Mieville?). You can read it alone, but it's enhanced by reading it in between the other two Bas Lag books (Perdido Street Station and Iron Council).

They "stand alone," sure... but they have a little hitch in their gait without their predecessors, if you ask me.

Very nice list, BTW, BenG.

[gollu]

Tigana just didn't make if for me. I know a lot of readers out there like it, but I was bored when I read it...

I'd vote for "Lord of Light" by Zelazny, though its genre is somewhere between fantasy and sci fi.

[Cheddartrek]

Hm, well -- since I think this is turning into more of a recommendation thread than anything, I'll try to add something new.

I don't actually think that this is the "best," by the way, but I don't think it's been mentioned in the thread yet. It's also not standalone, though it is one story that together may equal the length of a longer book in some places. It's also aimed at young adults, but then so was Lord of the Rings originally (I think).

Leviathan / Behemoth / Goliath -- a Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

If you like YA fiction I'd say they are worth a read. It's an alternate history beginning around the start of World War I. Countries tend to be either "Clankers" (using Mechanical technology) or "Darwinists" (using evolution to create beasts for specific purposes).

They aren't just alternate history books though. The stories feature two protagonists who are reasonably engaging on their own. Alek (the only son of the assassinated Archduke Ferdinand) and Deryn (a girl pretending to be a boy in order to join England's Air Force because more than anything she loves to fly). Both are around 15 if I recall correctly.

...again, not my favorite series ever, but one that I did enjoy reading from both an intellectual and a downright fun point of view. Not to mention something you can give to your kids to check out.

[Barbara1955]

Well for 30 yrs my best Stand alone was Ariel by Steven R Boyett... Danged if 30 yrs later he wrote the sequil ... Elegy Beach

Guess it dont stand alone any more Still my Fave

[covingtoncat73]

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly and The Witch's Boy by Michael Gruber are excellent, dark fractured fairy tales. There are a number of wonderful stand-alones by Neil Gaiman. I would list A Wizard of Earthsea but that is part of a series.

[pwalker8]

Perhaps Tim Powers - The Drawing of the Dark.

I believe that Tolkien considered LOTR to be one very large novel in six books. It's sometimes published that way. It's certainly one of my favorite works, though I'm not sure that I would consider it a stand alone novel.

Another might be Zelazny's Lord of Light, though fantasy or SF is hard to say.

[Bookpossum]

My apologies - I was enjoying reading the various suggestions that I lost the plot and nominated the first of a series rather than a stand alone book.

I would like to put in a good word for Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" which I don't think has been listed yet. Actually I think anything by him is well worth reading.

[charlesatan]

I don't think there's any single "best of" book. But:

Either Tigana or The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay is good for me.

I also loved Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord.

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (if you count that as fantasy).

[VaporPunk]

Originally Posted by BenG

Imajica by Clive Barker
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker (Clive Barker reminds me somewhat of Neil Gaiman when he's writing dark fantasy rather than outright horror)
The Worm Ourobouros by E.R.R. Eddison (once you get used to the faux-Elizabethan language)
The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle
Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Suzanna Clarke (though come to think of it, she left it open for a sequel)
Little, Big by John Crowley
The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs
Lud-in-the-Mist by Helen Hope Mirrlees
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
The Well at the World's End by William Morris (the Ballantine paperbacks were split into two volumes but really it's one book)
Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt
The Blue Star by Fletcher Pratt
Lilith by George MacDonald

Yikes! Could you narrow it down a bit! I haven't read most of what is on that list but...
Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King?

It is good, but best? Not even close, imo. Thanks for the others, I will put them on my TBI(nvestigated) list.