What are your top 10 fantasy novels?

[Carpet_pissr]

Do we already have a thread for this topic?

I feel like we do, but couldn't find it.

If so, I will delete this...if not, please list yours!

Prompted by trying to decide what to read next and realizing that a lot of people out there like the Rothfuss book I just finished, but personally wanting to avoid that. I saw some good lists on Reddit but they were very specific (standalone books only for instance). So many books in the fantasy genre are series' that I thought this was pretty limiting. By seeing someone make a list of their faves that align with my tastes, I was hoping to let that be my guide.
OTOH some of the lists on Reddit also confused me, because they contained books which I thought were very Meh, with books that I also consider top 10 material.

[Pyperkub]

Do you want actual series, or individual novels?

And does the Hobbit stand on its own, or is it part of LoTR?

[TheMix]

Oof. Hmm. That's challenging. I moved away from most fantasy years ago because it got too... trite, I guess. Predictable. Which means that most of the series that I loved back in the day, I probably wouldn't recommend any more.

I did just read, and enjoy, Raymond E. Feist's The Riftwar Saga.

Many years ago I read a ton of Terry Brooks. I enjoyed them, but, man, are they formulaic. I'm not sure how well I'd like them now. Same with Dennis L. McKeirnan. And the last few books of his I read sent me into a rage. Horrible. Apparently he got too "popular" for an editor. Or something. That dreck should never have been published. But I digress...

Mike Resnick did an excellent "alternative history" novel called The Buntline Special. I've read it multiple times. And I just discovered that there are other novels in the same Weird West series. I might have to get me to a bookstore soon!

David Gemmel writes some pretty easy-to-read novels. They flow fast, but I generally find them entertaining. If you want something lighter. Fun characters. Good action. But doesn't expect any real depth. Or many surprises.

If you want something different. Patricia A. McKillip's Riddle Master series is worth a read. At least, it's been one I've been wanting to revisit. I don't remember it at all (the "joy" of getting old), but I remember it being different from the "usual" fare I was reading at that time of my life. And I did recently read The Sorceress and The Cygnet. It was definitely not typical fantasy. I've always found her stories to have more depth.

In the same vein, you can't go wrong with Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series.

[Moliere]

The original First Law trilogy and the 3 following stand alone novels:

The Blade Itself
Before They Are Hanged
Last Argument of Kings
Best Served Cold
The Heroes
Red Country

[Carpet_pissr]

Do you want actual series, or individual novels?

And does the Hobbit stand on its own, or is it part of LoTR?

Let's say stand on its own in that case. PERSONALLY if I were to put LOTR on my list (and I will), I would just list it as LOTR trilogy as one item, but again, however you want to do it.

I'm still thinking of mine FWIW. Pending...

Here are some titles that I came across that I had not heard of, or don't own (unread), so maybe some can chime in. These were also listed several times on multiple people's lists:
Piranesi - Clarke
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Clarke (saw this a TON, and have never heard of it!)
The Goblin Emperor - Addison
A few by author Guy Gavriel Kay
The Library at Mount Char - Hawkins
This is How You Lose The Time War - El-Mogtar and Gladstone

And here are the ones I have in my library, yet to read:

Spoiler:

The Way of Kings
Queen's Shadow (I think this is Star Wars?)
The Blade Itself
A March of Kings
Gardens of the Moon
Lies of Locke Lamora
The Song of Achilles (this was listed on numerous lists and I own it, but is this fantasy?)
Quicksilver (Stephenson)
Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
The Rithamatist
The Briar King (Keyes)
Wizard's First Rule (is this Juvenile Fiction?)
The Heroes
Mistborn
Time of the Dark

[JCC]

Wheel of Time would be my favorite. Sags a little in middle books (or a lot YMMV) but the ending is superb. Total props to Brandon Sanderson for wrapping it up so well based on RJ's notes.

The Dark Tower is another favorite though I really didn't like the ending and most of the last 2 books. This is more of a journey vs destination thing for me as the first 4.99 books are awesome. (Well, the first isn't great either, but it's not like you can/should skip it.)

I won't mention or rate Song of Fire and Ice since it isn't done (and I highly doubt Martin will live to finish it) but I will say I found the ending to Game of Thrones to be fine unlike nearly everyone else. Whether the showrunners made up the ending or used info Martin told them about the ending, I aciticpate the books' ending will be different given the backlash many had towards it.

I certainly like Lord of the Rings, and acknowledge how the others I listed above owe a lot/everything to it. But, I also prefer the movies, though that isn't to say I didn't enjoy the books and have read them more than once.

I've ready plenty of other fantasy books/series and enjoyed most of them, but those are my faves.

[McNutt]

I second the First Law series.

A Game of Thrones

The Name of the Wind

A Promise of Blood

[Smoove_B]

The original First Law trilogy and the 3 following stand alone novels:

The Blade Itself
Before They Are Hanged
Last Argument of Kings
Best Served Cold
The Heroes
Red Country

Some of my absolute favorite books. It's rare for me to re-read things, but I've read the original Trilogy at least 3 times. and the second 3 at least twice.

I'd also add his Age of Madness trilogy to the list. I didn't realize it was connected to the First Law trilogy, with some character overlap, but it's the same world, marching forward into a new age. I blasted through them last summer and they were also quite good.

[Carpet_pissr]

I will sort these at some point, but now I'm thinking top five would have been better!

Not in order yet:

LOTR trilogy
Not sure if these still hold up, but I adored the Raymond E. Feist books (Magician: Apprentice, etc)
The Curse of Chalion series of books by Lois Bujold
Pretty much everything by Robin Hobb...but specifically the Farseer Trilogy
Song of Ice and Fire (this will be my #1 without question)
Not sure if the Dark Tower series is considered fantasy, but if so, definitely on my list, and easily in the top 5.

[Holman]

Lots of good recommendations already, but definitely give a look to Gene Wolfe's The Shadow of the Torturer, the first of a four-book (or five, or twelve, depending on whether you proceed with his later related sequels) series.

This one owes a lot to Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories: we are so far into the future that present-day civilization is utterly forgotten, and ancient science might as well be magic. The overall feeling is of a decadent, Byzantine world on the edge of an actual apocalypse.

The prose is dense but not as hard to read as some people claim. The real issue is that Wolfe is fond of leaving mysteries unexplained (although the clues are there). He also likes to use extremely unusual words, but none of them are invented.

This is as "literary" as Fantasy gets, but it has plenty of sex and violence and crude humor.

[Moliere]

I'd also add his Age of Madness trilogy to the list. I didn't realize it was connected to the First Law trilogy, with some character overlap, but it's the same world, marching forward into a new age. I blasted through them last summer and they were also quite good.

I wasn't able to complete the second trilogy. Too much of trying to repeat the formula that made the other books so good.

It reminded me of the The Emberverse series by S. M. Stirling. Loved the first 6 books. After that he was now into the 3rd generation and it was too much rinse-repeat to pump out more books.

[Smoove_B]

I wasn't able to complete the second trilogy. Too much of trying to repeat the formula that made the other books so good.

I can totally see that. I hadn't read anything by him in years, so I enjoyed the return to form. But I can appreciate it wasn't nearly as innovative or evocative this time around. I mainly enjoyed the character interactions - seeing old friends and how they ended up after the original trilogy...

[Jaymann]

No fantasy list is complete without The Chronicles of Amber.

Also the Riverworld series.

And thumbs way up for The First Law series.

[Pyperkub]

Chronicles of Amber (the first 5) Is also high on my list.

Others (not in order) include (all from memory, so it could be updated as more get triggered from responses

The Hobbit/Hobbit + LotR
the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Wheel of Time
Myth Adventures series (the first 4 plus #6 Little Myth Marker, at least)
Stross' Laundry Files (tho they are wearing thin lately)
The Dragon and the George (not sure how well this holds up, but I fondly remember it)
Harry Potter series
The Magic goes away
The Shattered World

[TheMix]

Pretty much everything by Robin Hobb...but specifically the Farseer Trilogy

Holey carp! How did I forget Robin Hobb. Absolutely. Farseer was outstanding. Everything else I've read by her as also been superb. But the Farseer trilogy was first and holds a special place.

[Skinypupy]

I second/third/fourth the “First Law Trilogy”. In fact, I just started re-reading them again last week.

I would add “War of the Flowers” by Tad Williams. It’s an amazing “real world Earth dude gets sucked into a fantasy world” story with a richly developed world, awesome character, and some fantastic twists and turns.

I also have a huge soft spot for the original Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy. Unlike most people, I think it still holds up very well today (maybe that’s just the nostalgia talking). They were far and away the biggest influence on my love of the genre, even more than LotR.
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[Blackhawk]

Unlike most people, I think it still holds up very well today (maybe that’s just the nostalgia talking).
-

The content holds up OK. It's the writing that is hard to get through. The two authors weren't terribly experienced - one was a game designer, and the other an editor/nonfiction/children's book author, and it shows. They quickly improved and have become accomplished authors, but Dragons of Autumn Twilight in particular has some really awkward writing in it.

[Rumpy]

I'm making my way through the Poppy War Trilogy by R.F Kuang. I'd put it up there with some of the best fantasy writing.

[Skinypupy]

They quickly improved and have become accomplished authors, but Dragons of Autumn Twilight in particular has some really awkward writing in it.

Interestingly, none of their other books ever clicked with me at all.

[Blackhawk]

My own list... wow, trying to remember 35 years of novels. And yeah, this isn't the best 10 ever written, these are my 10 favorite and/or most impactful on me. Some of them are likely to be very much a matter of taste.

1. Vlad Taltos, Stephen Brust - Detective noir fiction in a fresh take on a fantasy world, centered around an assassin/small-time mob boss as the main character. He's very much the anti-hero, and very conflicted over his position and role.
2. Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan
3. Farseer Trilogy, Robin Hobb - Yeah, another vote.
4. Myth Adventures series, Robert Asprin - A classic fantasy humor series, and a favorite
5. Night Angel Trilogy, Brent Weeks - A great series about the criminal underworld
6. The First Law Trilogy, Joe Abercrombie
7. The Valdemar novels, Mercedes Lackey - If I have to specify one series, it would be the Last Herald Mage trilogy. Remember when I said "matter of taste?" I was thinking about this. Something in the characters - especially Vanyel - just resonated with me, despite a lot of people hating her writing.
8. The Pern series, Anne McCaffery - This one barely qualifies as fantasy (but then again, we have Riverworld in the lists, so it works.) It has elements that appear to be fantasy, and the setting feels fantasy, but there is nothing there that is supernatural, magic, or 'fantastic' in any way. It feels more like a sci-fi series in a pre-modern setting. I'm not going to spoil why, but it really works.
9. The Belgariad, David Eddings - Feel free to substitute The Elenium or any of his other series, given that they're all more or less interchangeable. This one plays right off of the tropes, and it isn't shy about it. Despite that, it is (they are) fun, light fantasy romps. If you want the novel equivalent of an 80s fantasy movie, this is it. But at the same time, the author was scum of the lowest variety. If you can't separate the artist from the art, stay away (or don't look up his background.)
10. Harry Potter series, Just Kidding Rowling - Good storytelling, good characters, manages to tell a good story and be fun without going too dark.

A few related lists. The above is my response to the thread - what's below is just my ramblings, so feel free to think of this as the end of the post.

Well-loved series that I bounced off of:
~The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Stephen R Donaldson - my god, what a horrible, unlikable, foul main character. I get that he's supposed to be that way, but spending 10 novels with an insufferable asshole just doesn't appeal.
~The Riftwar Cycle, Raymond Feist - I really wanted to like this, but could only get through the first book. There were some great moments in there, but every exciting conclusion/climax I was looking forward to seemed to be handled with time jump, with the actual event demoted to something that vaguely happened in the past. It's like Superman revealing his identity to Lois Lane, and as soon as he takes off his glasses, it jumps to fifteen years later when they're already married with kids.

Honorable Mentions:
~Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit), JRR Tolkien - probably one of my personal top 10, but they're not for everyone. If you love Tolkien's prose, they're fantastic. If you don't like his long winded poetic prose, though, they're a tough read.
~Kingkiller Chronicles, Patrick Rothfuss - fantastic writing, but I can't straight up recommend them until there is some movement on finishing the damned series. Think of it as a great game that's still in early access.
~Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Tad Williams - man, I love this one, but it takes forever to get going, and has parts that really drag. It's still worth the read, but it requires a patient reader.
~Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser novels, Fritz Leiber - only demoted to Honorable Mentions because there wasn't space.
~Various Forgotten Realms/Dragonlance novels - Here because, while there were some great novels, the writing from book to book was all over the place, and there were far more mediocre/bad books than there were good ones. Still, they were a huge influence on me when I was younger (especially Ed Greenwood, RA Salvatore, and Weis/Hickman), and carry a lot of weight with me.
~Lone Wolf books, Joe Dever - I won't claim these to be amazing literature, but they had one of the biggest impacts on me and on my life. Picking up Chasm of Doom in 1989 inspired me in ways that kicked off a series of events that I can say with zero hesitation, shaped the direction my life took.

[Blackhawk]

They quickly improved and have become accomplished authors, but Dragons of Autumn Twilight in particular has some really awkward writing in it.

Interestingly, none of their other books ever clicked with me at all.

I'm pretty sure that, outside of Dragonlance, I only ever read the Darksword trilogy, and it never clicked, either. I haven't read any of their more recent stuff. But to be clear, it was the prose itself that improved after Autumn Twilight.

[YellowKing]

I'm only four books in right now, but I can tell you that Terry Mancour's Spellmonger series is already in my Top 10 and quite possibly in my Top 5. And I still have 12 more books (so far) to go. The books themselves are great, but if you're an Audible guy, John Lee's narration almost adds another dimension of goodness on top of them. He really brings the author's dry humor to life.

[Smoove_B]

I'm pretty sure that, outside of Dragonlance, I only ever read the Darksword trilogy, and it never clicked, either. I haven't read any of their more recent stuff. But to be clear, it was the prose itself that improved after Autumn Twilight.

I read the Sovereign Stone Trilogy back in the early 00s, but for me their high water mark will always be the Death Gate Cycle. Like many others, I started with Dragonlance, but I agree the writing isn't great. I don't recall that being an issue with Death Gate, which to this day still feels rather unique and epic and I'd list in my Top 10 series.

[Jaymann]

I will add the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks. Fantastic magic system. And it's great that all 6 books are out.

[Zarathud]

No fantasy list is complete without The Chronicles of Amber.

I have in my office the original ink of a first page of the Amber graphic novel (Guns of Avalon) signed by Andrew Pepoy. Loved the books so much, my wife had him save it for me.

[Zarathud]

My next series is catching up with Vlad Taltos. He’s just fun and easy to read. It’s a shame the older books are in copyright hell.

[Madmarcus]

My top four series have already been mentioned.

The Chronicles of Amber
The Riddlemaster of Hed series
The First Law trilogy
The Lord of the Rings

After that it gets difficult but some books that I love include

the two Chinese historical fantasies by Guy Gavrial Kay (Under Heaven and River of Stars)
The Bridge of Birds
Throne of the Crescent Moon
the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories (I have them in one book so they count!)

[Blackhawk]

My next series is catching up with Vlad Taltos. He’s just fun and easy to read. It’s a shame the older books are in copyright hell.

This is one of the two always ongoing, always growing series that I'm wanting to catch up on. This, and Alan Dean Foster's Humanx novels (including, but not limited to, Pip & Flinx.)

I hadn't heard about the copyright issues. I'll have to read up.

[Blackhawk]

Semi on-topic. If you've got an interest in fantasy opinions/recommendations, I recommend Daniel Greene on YouTube.

Spoiler:

All time:





2023 only:



He also does a regular fantasy news roundup:

[Pyperkub]

I'm making my way through the Poppy War Trilogy by R.F Kuang. I'd put it up there with some of the best fantasy writing.

I'm absoutely loving her Nebula Award winning Babel.

[Jaymann]

No fantasy list is complete without The Chronicles of Amber.

I have in my office the original ink of a first page of the Amber graphic novel (Guns of Avalon) signed by Andrew Pepoy. Loved the books so much, my wife had him save it for me.

Was not aware of that one. Will have to see if I can get a copy.

[Rumpy]

I'm making my way through the Poppy War Trilogy by R.F Kuang. I'd put it up there with some of the best fantasy writing.

I'm absoutely loving her Nebula Award winning Babel.

Yeah, I have that on my Kindle. I just haven't gotten to it yet

[Daehawk]

Any novel by RA Salvatore that features Drizzt.

[ImLawBoy]

Piranesi - Clarke
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Clarke (saw this a TON, and have never heard of it!

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell is good, but it's long and dense. Not something to pick up casually, but worth a go if you're craving something meaty. I wrote about it here

Piranesi, also by Susanna Clarke, is much shorter and easier to read. I thought it was also a ton of fun and well worth the read.

I generally don't do a ton of fantasy reading, but I'd put LotR and A Song of Ice and Fire on my list. For something a bit unusual, I'm enjoying the Dark Star Trilogy by Marlon James. It's set in Africa and based on a lot of African mythology. Only the first two books are out so far (Black Leopard, Red Wolf and Moon Witch, Spider King), but they were great.

I think King's Dark Tower books qualify as fantasy of a sort, but you can also try Fairy Tale as a good recent read by him.

[Carpet_pissr]

Was not aware of Fairy Tale by King. Will have to check that out.

And the Jonathan Strange book being described as ‘meaty’ makes me want to pick that up soon as well. I think ‘meaty’ is my preference when it comes to fantasy.

[Smoove_B]

Was not aware of Fairy Tale by King. Will have to check that out.

I also just read this last summer. It's the most Dark Tower book that never actually confirms it's in the Dark Tower series book I've ever read. Yes, he makes a few references indicating the book is in the Dark Tower universe (like many other King books), but it's not part of the core story in the way that you can't help but feel it must be.

Regardless, it was a really good read; I enjoyed it tremendously.

[Carpet_pissr]

Anything referenced as ‘Dark Tower like’ to me gets shortlisted immediately.

I would love for him to do another ‘epic’ like that before his writing days are over.

[JCC]

I liked Fairy Tale but I didn't get much Dark Tower vibes from it. I found it more similar to the Talisman personally, but that's just me.

[Jaymann]

Piranesi - Clarke
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Clarke (saw this a TON, and have never heard of it!

Piranesi, also by Susanna Clarke, is much shorter and easier to read. I thought it was also a ton of fun and well worth the read.

Moid of Media Death Cult said this was his second favorite book of 2023. I promptly checked it out from the library, but bounced off after a few chapters. Different strokes.

[Madmarcus]

I was reminded of two older series that I loved but haven't revisited in reading them in the mid 90s; Michael Scott Rohan's The Winter of the World series and C. S. Friedman's Coldfire trilogy.