Best Fantasy Books of All Time

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

Reinforcing this. Don’t let the thought of seven books daunt you; as with so many fantasy series, the quality tanks after the first three books. No reason not to do one and done, but I’d strongly advise not going past the third book at most.

Hildea’s right; there are issues with this series and it’s impossible to say whether you can live with them or whether you bail. The first time I tried to read Outlander, I didn’t get past the first few pages before I (literally, if memory serves) threw the book across the room. My pre-eink days. But some years later I wanted mindless entertainment and it fit the bill and I kept going after that. Now, they’ve become hate-reads, because the later books truly are awful.

My mother-in-law has read all of the Outlander books and she does like them. I didn't care for the first book.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Luffy

Six of Crows is considered a masterpiece by a small group of YA fans. Many others give the book at least 4 stars on GR. I gave it a half hearted try, and was surprised that my expectations were not low enough. DNFed after a few pages.

I'm not a fan of a lot of YA labeling. To me they are just novels.

[WillAdams]

Notable lacunae:

- Poul Anderson _The Broken Sword_ --- published the same year as _The Fellowship of the Ring_ it was quite influential (c.f., _The Merman's Children_ and _Three Hearts and Three Lions_), esp. on:
- Michael Moorcock --- at least one of his Eternal Champion books should be listed
- Mannly Wade Wellman --- his John Thunstone and Silver John the Balladeer books presaged urban fantasy by decades
- Roger Zelazny --- The Chronicles of Amber or one of the shorter fantasy works would be well worth reading
- C.J. Cherryh's Morgaine books --- notable for a female protagonist written by a female author

Arguably a few older classics should be included as well:

- William Morris was quite influential
- Lord Dunsany --- _The Charwoman's Shadow_ is a fascinating contrast to _The Lord of the Rings_
- David Lindsay's _A Voyage to Arcturus_ was a text which J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis (and the other Inklings) took note of

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Anyway, I've read either the first book of or the entire series of the items that are bolded in the list above. So, which of the ones that are not bolded should I try in the next year?

I've read six of the eight you haven't bolded. Three are classics and two of those are for children, so it depends how you feel about those. Of the classics the one I like most is the Dark is Rising sequence, a series of children's books. A Wrinkle in Time is beloved but is showing its age a bit IMO, and Watership Down is, well, Watership Down (and not really super fantastical).

Outlander is primarily historical epic romance, with a time travel element; I wouldn't call it primarily 'fantasy'. Northern Lights is a children's book, and it's fine but not 'best of all time' fine. I like The Night Circus, and it's a standalone if that is what you're looking for. Readers' reactions are mixed.

I have no plans to read Bardugo, but Gideon the Ninth is on my list for this year.

[Colonel Cathcart]

TL;DR No mention of Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell?
I can't agree with that list.

[JSWolf]

There are the books I would remove from this list and yes, there are plenty of other books that should be on this list.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

These books do not belong on this list. And many more do belong.

[WillAdams]

_A Wizard of Earthsea_ is notable as one of the first fantasy novels which was not a direct copy-paste from LoTR, and which had a non-white protagonist --- it deserves to be on this list, and I don't see what else could replace it.

_A Wrinkle in Time_ arguably should be on an equivalent SF list.

_The Dark is Rising_ is a wonderful set of books, which again, pre-dated the urban fantasy craze, and which I would argue makes the world a better place when folks read it.

Another missing text would be Andre Norton's _Witchworld_ books.

A chronological arrangement would be interesting to find other missing texts, and to help make clear why certain books should be included.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

_A Wizard of Earthsea_ is notable as one of the first fantasy novels which was not a direct copy-paste from LoTR, and which had a non-white protagonist --- it deserves to be on this list, and I don't see what else could replace it.

There are many many books that would replace this. It's terrible. Le Guin is an awful author.

[Dazrin]

The Earthsea books are some of my favorites, especially the first two. The first has a fairly standard coming of age story but the setting is wonderfully unique. The second book though is where I think LeGuin shines. The perspective and empathy we get for the narrator is unrivaled.

I've never figured out why Jon hates LeGuin so much, maybe it's because she rarely writes thriller type novels. Her prose is excellent, without being overdone, and the stories are very unique and generally have a lot of social commentary. The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, etc.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

The Earthsea books are some of my favorites, especially the first two. The first has a fairly standard coming of age story but the setting is wonderfully unique. The second book though is where I think LeGuin shines. The perspective and empathy we get for the narrator is unrivaled.

I've never figured out why Jon hates LeGuin so much, maybe it's because she rarely writes thriller type novels. Her prose is excellent, without being overdone, and the stories are very unique and generally have a lot of social commentary. The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, etc.

She's way too wordy and her characters are not all that likable.

[Aleron Ives]

If you think LeGuin is wordy, then you've never read a wordy author.

[WillAdams]

What novel would you put forth in the stead of _A Wizard of Earthsea_?

Needs to be:

- not an LoTR rip-off/extruded fantasy product
- written by a woman
- has a non-white protagonist
- written by someone in the Western canon
- pre-dates the publication of Earthsea: 1968

to properly take its place in terms of significance/milestones.

Tastes differ, and it's fine if LeGuin isn't to your taste, but it's hard to dismiss _multiple_ Hugo and Locus and World Fantasy awards, as well as a Nebula.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

If you think LeGuin is wordy, then you've never read a wordy author.

True. Generally I'm a fan of her SF & F, but hated The Lathe of Heaven.

[Aleron Ives]

Ha! The Lathe of Heaven is the first of her books I've read, and I loved it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

What novel would you put forth in the stead of _A Wizard of Earthsea_?

Needs to be:

- not an LoTR rip-off/extruded fantasy product
- written by a woman
- has a non-white protagonist
- written by someone in the Western canon
- pre-dates the publication of Earthsea: 1968

to properly take its place in terms of significance/milestones.

Tastes differ, and it's fine if LeGuin isn't to your taste, but it's hard to dismiss _multiple_ Hugo and Locus and World Fantasy awards, as well as a Nebula.

I'm going to suggest Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. It's definitely good enough to be in the list. Other then the date, it fits all of your other criteria.