I actually thought the Magic Kingdom For Sale series was better from him.
Shannara was good - but after the first several books he just started to go on a bit.
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Top 25 Best Fantasy Books ?
- Thread starter slobake
- Start date
I actually thought the Magic Kingdom For Sale series was better from him.
Shannara was good - but after the first several books he just started to go on a bit.
The list is somewhat focused Slo 
I'll add a few of my personal favs and what I consider must reads.
Stephen Brust - Vlad Taltos series. The early books were some of my favorite fantasy written. Later some of the side projects disappointed me greatly as they were tedious and supremely uneventful. I had HUGE hopes for them as I was immensely interested in the characters and their back grounds. They failed to deliver on any level imo. Those are referred to as the romance novels...
Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth series. The first book, Wizards first Rule is as good a book as fantasy can deliver. The books are massive in size but manage to keep a good pace and deliver everything I love about the genre.
Michael Moorcock - I love English authors and he is my favorite. He may not have been the inventor of the anti hero but he sure perfected it and made it his own. I also loved that he linked some of his works in a shared multiverse interweaving characters between series. The Eternal Champion and Jerry Cornelious are excellent and the last paragraph of the Elric saga is my favorite ending to a book. Any book. Ever.
Jack L. Chalker - I loved the way he put sentences together. He also had a real knack for creating characters and then letting them grow in his books. Four Lords of the Diamond series, All of the Well of Souls books including the Watchers, Dancing Gods series, Ring of the Masters series, Changewind series, Wonderland Gambit series ... on and on. SO good.
Fred Saberhagen - Empire of the East series, Book of Swords and the Lost book of Swords series, Berserker series ( sci fi ). He was a very gifted story teller.
Stephen R Donaldsons Chronicals of Thomas Covenant books. Thomas Covenant is exceedingly hard to like as a main character, but his growth as a person throughout the books ( and it takes all of them ) makes him bearable at the end.
The Legends Trilogy by Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman are some of the best fantasy written. Exceedingly memorable characters and stands as one of the few authors that made me so distraught that I put the books down for a while because they killed a beloved character off. I was devastated.
Elizabeth Moon. The Deed Of Paksenarrion series is a fantastic read. The Speed of Dark is also a fascinating read by Moon.
I'll add a few of my personal favs and what I consider must reads.Stephen Brust - Vlad Taltos series. The early books were some of my favorite fantasy written. Later some of the side projects disappointed me greatly as they were tedious and supremely uneventful. I had HUGE hopes for them as I was immensely interested in the characters and their back grounds. They failed to deliver on any level imo. Those are referred to as the romance novels...
Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth series. The first book, Wizards first Rule is as good a book as fantasy can deliver. The books are massive in size but manage to keep a good pace and deliver everything I love about the genre.
Michael Moorcock - I love English authors and he is my favorite. He may not have been the inventor of the anti hero but he sure perfected it and made it his own. I also loved that he linked some of his works in a shared multiverse interweaving characters between series. The Eternal Champion and Jerry Cornelious are excellent and the last paragraph of the Elric saga is my favorite ending to a book. Any book. Ever.
Jack L. Chalker - I loved the way he put sentences together. He also had a real knack for creating characters and then letting them grow in his books. Four Lords of the Diamond series, All of the Well of Souls books including the Watchers, Dancing Gods series, Ring of the Masters series, Changewind series, Wonderland Gambit series ... on and on. SO good.
Fred Saberhagen - Empire of the East series, Book of Swords and the Lost book of Swords series, Berserker series ( sci fi ). He was a very gifted story teller.
Stephen R Donaldsons Chronicals of Thomas Covenant books. Thomas Covenant is exceedingly hard to like as a main character, but his growth as a person throughout the books ( and it takes all of them ) makes him bearable at the end.
The Legends Trilogy by Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman are some of the best fantasy written. Exceedingly memorable characters and stands as one of the few authors that made me so distraught that I put the books down for a while because they killed a beloved character off. I was devastated.
Elizabeth Moon. The Deed Of Paksenarrion series is a fantastic read. The Speed of Dark is also a fascinating read by Moon.
I couldn't finish even the first book of the Game of Thrones series. I found the plot plodding, and none of the characters were remotely sympathetic... they were all horrible people, and I didn't really give a damn about what they did to each other.
If you're looking at Glen Cook, don't overlook his Garret series... it's Private Investigator meets Dungeons and Dragons, and it's fabulous!
If you're looking at Glen Cook, don't overlook his Garret series... it's Private Investigator meets Dungeons and Dragons, and it's fabulous!
Lois McMaster Bujold writes some good stuff. Fantasy and SF and she's prolific
C.J Cherryh - lots of fantastic SF but some good early fantasy
J.V Jones - start with The Baker's Boy and watch her grow as a writer. Entertaining and kind of amazing
Robin Hobb - one of my favorite authors in this genre. Farseer Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy, and The Soldier Son Trilogy are highly recommended.
Not a fan of Dresden Files but the six books of Jim Butcher's Codex Alera kick butt.
A few years ago I was reading 200-250 books a year and that included a lot of SF/F. I should go take a look at my reading list
C.J Cherryh - lots of fantastic SF but some good early fantasy
J.V Jones - start with The Baker's Boy and watch her grow as a writer. Entertaining and kind of amazing
Robin Hobb - one of my favorite authors in this genre. Farseer Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy, and The Soldier Son Trilogy are highly recommended.
Not a fan of Dresden Files but the six books of Jim Butcher's Codex Alera kick butt.
A few years ago I was reading 200-250 books a year and that included a lot of SF/F. I should go take a look at my reading list
Oh, if we're including Urban Fantasy, Charles deLint must be mentioned.
And... she's outside the awareness of most Western readers, but Miyuki Miyabe's Brave Story is a great introduction to Japanese YA fantasy.
Butcher was mentioned in the original list but I will agree that de Lint should be mentioned.
Good call
I was a little surprised at some of the omissions already mentioned--I was extra grumpy that Pratchett wasn't included because not only was he as masterful as some of the other authors left off, he took the genre so far in his comic direction that nothing else even resembles it.
Does King's Dark Tower count as fantasy? Robots, cowboys, metafiction, NYC circa 4 or 5 different years in the 20th century--it's tricky to categorize. At the end of the day, I think its core is Arthurian fantasy and that it's definitely seated toward the top of that genre.
Does King's Dark Tower count as fantasy? Robots, cowboys, metafiction, NYC circa 4 or 5 different years in the 20th century--it's tricky to categorize. At the end of the day, I think its core is Arthurian fantasy and that it's definitely seated toward the top of that genre.
If you like post apocalyptic world stories, I recommend this. Blew my mind, one of the best books I've ever read. (I read a lot.)
That list is terrible. 
No Terry Pratchett or Piers Anthony? No Jack Chalker or Larry Niven? Lots of other authors and fantasy books that are mysteriously neglected in favor of some very mediocre pulp.
Also, nearly every great fantasy novel is automatically turned into a series so it's probably more useful to name the entire series rather than just one of the novels.
Just a few series off the top of my head that are must reads in the fantasy genre. The ones in bold I consider the best of the best with Discworld being number 1:
Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Land of Xanth - Piers Anthony
Blue Adept - Piers Anthony
Incarnations of Immortality - Piers Anthony
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - Stephen R. Donaldson
Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
Well of Souls - Jack Chalker
Four Lords of the Diamond - Jack Chalker
Tales of Alvin Maker - Orson Scott Card
Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McAffrey
The Magic Goes Away - Larry Niven
Shannara - Terry Brooks
Magic Kingdom of Landover - Terry Brooks
Myth Adventures - Robert Lynn Asprin
Thieves World - Robert Lynn Asprin (editor)
Darkover - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Compleat Enchanter - L. Sprague de Camp
Elric Saga - Michael Moorcock
No Terry Pratchett or Piers Anthony? No Jack Chalker or Larry Niven? Lots of other authors and fantasy books that are mysteriously neglected in favor of some very mediocre pulp.
Also, nearly every great fantasy novel is automatically turned into a series so it's probably more useful to name the entire series rather than just one of the novels.
Just a few series off the top of my head that are must reads in the fantasy genre. The ones in bold I consider the best of the best with Discworld being number 1:
Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Land of Xanth - Piers Anthony
Blue Adept - Piers Anthony
Incarnations of Immortality - Piers Anthony
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - Stephen R. Donaldson
Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
Well of Souls - Jack Chalker
Four Lords of the Diamond - Jack Chalker
Tales of Alvin Maker - Orson Scott Card
Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McAffrey
The Magic Goes Away - Larry Niven
Shannara - Terry Brooks
Magic Kingdom of Landover - Terry Brooks
Myth Adventures - Robert Lynn Asprin
Thieves World - Robert Lynn Asprin (editor)
Darkover - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Compleat Enchanter - L. Sprague de Camp
Elric Saga - Michael Moorcock
I absolutely agree with the Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett, and the Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon.
Piers Anthony's Xanth books and Robert Asprin's Mythadventures are also frequently awesome.
Dave Duncan's Seventh Sword Trilogy is addictive. I just found out that there is now a fourth book. I will be reading that this week. He also had a series called the King's Blades, about a group of medieval sort-of Secret Servicemen who are magically bound to the person they must guard. Pretty awesome.
Michael Z Williamson's Freehold series is pretty awesome, too. It has a fair amount of only-slightly-hidden political commentary. But if you take it in the spirit it's given, it's a killer read. But it's SF, not actually Fantasy.
How about books that are only a little impossible? Like the have one great big whackin' chunk of That-can't-happen right at the beginning of the series but everything afterward is reasonable, given that impossible part having happened? My favorites of that bent are S M Stirling's Emberverse books and their predecessors, the Islands in the Seas of Time Trilogy.
Then there's Alternative History. Nobody does that as well as Harry Turtledove. Check out the How Few Remain/Great War/American Front books. It's several books starting in the civil war and going until the end of World War II with the focus on the fighting from Virginia to Texas. It has MANY cool cameos from real, or nearly real people.
Piers Anthony's Xanth books and Robert Asprin's Mythadventures are also frequently awesome.
Dave Duncan's Seventh Sword Trilogy is addictive. I just found out that there is now a fourth book. I will be reading that this week. He also had a series called the King's Blades, about a group of medieval sort-of Secret Servicemen who are magically bound to the person they must guard. Pretty awesome.
Michael Z Williamson's Freehold series is pretty awesome, too. It has a fair amount of only-slightly-hidden political commentary. But if you take it in the spirit it's given, it's a killer read. But it's SF, not actually Fantasy.
How about books that are only a little impossible? Like the have one great big whackin' chunk of That-can't-happen right at the beginning of the series but everything afterward is reasonable, given that impossible part having happened? My favorites of that bent are S M Stirling's Emberverse books and their predecessors, the Islands in the Seas of Time Trilogy.
Then there's Alternative History. Nobody does that as well as Harry Turtledove. Check out the How Few Remain/Great War/American Front books. It's several books starting in the civil war and going until the end of World War II with the focus on the fighting from Virginia to Texas. It has MANY cool cameos from real, or nearly real people.
Yepp, Moorcock, love Elric, Corum and so on.
Jack Vance.
His books are great, Dying Earth, Lyonesse..!
Tanith Lee, Tales from the flat earth
Jack Vance.
His books are great, Dying Earth, Lyonesse..!
Tanith Lee, Tales from the flat earth
Asprin's Mythadventures series is good but it's certainly a lot lighter reading and the books are very short compared to others on the list. This might be just right for someone starting out in fantasy or for older kids.
IMO, the Xanth books started out fantastic (especially the first three) but he's been cranking out sequals for years and they are all nearly worthless garbage compared to his earlier standards.
Pratchett's Discword series, on the other hand, started out great and just keeps getting better and better. After more than 30 novels I eagerly await his latest release. Best series - ever!
Haven't read either. I'll have to make time for these.
I think a lot of books fall under this category of fantasy/science fiction where it's difficult to categorize which one it leans toward.
I should put this one on my list, too. Where am I going to find the time?
I've got bad news for you, hbarcat. Just those few I mentioned is a LOT of reading. That Turtledove series is ten or twelve books, and all of them substantial. Start with How Few Remain > American Front > Walk In Hell > Breakthroughs > American Empire : Blood and Iron > The Center Cannot Hold > Victorious Opposition > Return Engagement > Drive To The East > The Grapple > In At The Death
I think that's all of them.
Stirling started with a trilogy in which an island got dropped back to the bronze age, taking just the people and stuff on it and a little of the ocean around it. Then a few years later he said "Hmmmmm...What about the world they left behind?" and started to do another trilogy...that's now up to nine or ten books, again, all of them fairly substantial.
Williamson's Freehold books are kind of like that. I read teh first one a bajillion years ago and didn't know that there were others until just recently. I think there are six. But I've only found three. Once again, they are what my wife calls doorstop books.
Don't get me started on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books. It was supposed to be a trilogy and twenty years later, he dies writhing book twelve or so. Fortunately his wife found a ghost writer to use his notes and outlines to finish it. I haven't read the latest yet. I'm hoping it's still good.
And look into the Duncan books. They are straight up Fantasy. But well done. And as a plus, I think there are fewer of them.
I think that's all of them.
Stirling started with a trilogy in which an island got dropped back to the bronze age, taking just the people and stuff on it and a little of the ocean around it. Then a few years later he said "Hmmmmm...What about the world they left behind?" and started to do another trilogy...that's now up to nine or ten books, again, all of them fairly substantial.
Williamson's Freehold books are kind of like that. I read teh first one a bajillion years ago and didn't know that there were others until just recently. I think there are six. But I've only found three. Once again, they are what my wife calls doorstop books.
Don't get me started on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books. It was supposed to be a trilogy and twenty years later, he dies writhing book twelve or so. Fortunately his wife found a ghost writer to use his notes and outlines to finish it. I haven't read the latest yet. I'm hoping it's still good.
And look into the Duncan books. They are straight up Fantasy. But well done. And as a plus, I think there are fewer of them.
If Terry Pratchett's Discworld could be considered for inclusion,then how about Douglas Adams' HHGG? Just curious. I'm a huge fan of both.
I would have included Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun", although be warned that it is very tough going and not something you can get into without some serious work. Also, maybe some stuff by Iain M. Banks although that is more in the sci-fi rather than fantasy genre (with some overlap).
How about Julian May's "Saga of the Exiles" and Galactic Milieu stuff? Pretty epic.
I would have included Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun", although be warned that it is very tough going and not something you can get into without some serious work. Also, maybe some stuff by Iain M. Banks although that is more in the sci-fi rather than fantasy genre (with some overlap).
How about Julian May's "Saga of the Exiles" and Galactic Milieu stuff? Pretty epic.
I'd think of the Culture series (Iain Bank's books as "Iain M. Banks"), HHGG and the Necroscope as Sci-Fi, though granted, the lines between sci-fi and fantasy can be very blurry at the best of times. All excellent reads though, no doubt about that.
And there's no Kurt Vonnegut?
And don't some of John Brunners dysutopian tales from the soon to be crypt fall into fantasy? At least they should be required reading.
And don't some of John Brunners dysutopian tales from the soon to be crypt fall into fantasy? At least they should be required reading.
