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Top 50 Fantasy Books on Goodreads
-George R.R. Martin
Within these pages are legends, heroes, myths, and magic. When you really need to escape, is there any better place than an entirely different realm? Always in search of a great book, Goodreads recently set out to uncover readers' all-time 50 most-loved fantasy novels.
These titles were chosen based on reader reviews, so every single book had to meet at least a four-star average rating from the Goodreads community. Then, for good measure, we looked at how many ratings each book has received. We also decided to select the first book in a series (although it's worth noting that the entirety of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings as well as George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire have the rare distinction of being above a 4.0 rating).
It's time to unveil the top 50 fantasy books on Goodreads, conjured up in alphabetical order. How many have you read? Tell us in the comments.
How many have you read? Tell us in the comments!
Check out complete coverage of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Week:
Meet the Rising Stars of Science Fiction & Fantasy
The New Frontier of Science Fiction
The 24 Most Popular Sci-Fi & Fantasy Novels of 2019 (So Far)
Check out complete coverage of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Week:
Meet the Rising Stars of Science Fiction & Fantasy
The New Frontier of Science Fiction
The 24 Most Popular Sci-Fi & Fantasy Novels of 2019 (So Far)
Comments Showing 1-50 of 612 (612 new)
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by
Juliet
(new)
Aug 20, 2018 08:12AM
I like "A Wrinkle in Time" but feel it belongs more in the Science Fiction category.
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It seems the link for Brent Weeks' The Way of Shadows takes you to Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle. Which explains why I've read and rated a book that I actually haven't read yet.
I've read 12, and have another five on my tbr shelf! Hobb is wonderful, not sure I'd classify those Stephen King ones as fantasy though.
I can’t FATHOM why the Harry Potter series is not included here. Certainly the best of the bunch, although there are many wonderful and well-loved novels I’ve enjoyed throughout my life here.
McCaffrey always averred her Pern series was SF, not fantasy. Where the hell is Malazan Book of the Fallen?
Steven Erikson's Malazan series is more deserving than several books on this list.
I'm surprised I've read 15 of them. But 4 were long enough ago that I don't remember much about them, so I'm probably closer to 11.
I've read four. Tolkien, King, Jemisin and L'Engle. It never occurred to me that King's The Stand is fantasy. Also, I really need to read Watership Down.
I've read 20 (I was expecting to have read more on the fantasy list than the sci-fi list and I was correct!) And 10 of these are on my to read shelves.
How on earth is there no Malazan books on this list?
Surprising how few (0) from the old Ballantine adult fantasy series (although Beagle was kind of retroactively added to that). That series was a great mix of seminal and modern works, and is not a bad series to use as a reading list.
How can not a single one of Sarah J Maas's books be on this list? Both the overall score and the number of ratings are higher for most of her novels than quite a few on this list...
Read 8, and have 4 on my TBR list already. Considering going with The Way of Kings for my next series of books to read?
Also, if the Dark Tower series counts as "Fantasy" it needs to be on this list!
I was confused by this and the SF list. Most of my favorite authors don't appear on either. CJ Cherryh, Barbara Hambly and Tanith Lee should appear on both, definitely, just to list a few names among many that are missing. Meanwhile, lots of YA, which to me is a different genre. All these lists are subjective, obviously...
9 on fantasy list. Don't quite see the difference in Sci-Fi and Fantasy with respect to some of these.
Agreed with many of these "why is this fantasy" comments, and would like to throw Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy in there...terrific read. Gonna read Malazan and S.Maas' books now too--thanks! :)Oh...18
Taryn wrote: "I can’t FATHOM why the Harry Potter series is not included here. Certainly the best of the bunch, although there are many wonderful and well-loved novels I’ve enjoyed throughout my life here."I could not agree more! Harry Potter has reinvigorated the fantasy genre for generations. The list is less credible without him. It is nice to include new books readers may not have yet read, but immense popularity should be a plus on this type of list.
Taryn wrote: "I can’t FATHOM why the Harry Potter series is not included here. Certainly the best of the bunch, although there are many wonderful and well-loved novels I’ve enjoyed throughout my life here."Maybe it's considered "Youth" fantasy? I agree it's one of the best though, regardless.
Brent Weeks and Brandon Sanderson but no Stephen Erickson? Really? Wheel of Time Shouldn't have made the cut - Malazan is a towering body of work that has it all - world building, characters, enough sub plots to make Martin look like a single-threaded storyteller. Still, this seems like a list of very deserving authors. And, Pat "Never gonna finish it" Rothfuss shouldn't be on the list either, until he finishes a story :). Although I really, really hope he does.Edit: 30 out of 50 read.
Edit of the edit: removing comments about omitted authors that weren't actually omitted, even though they should have been. Time to get my eyes checked!
Taryn wrote: "I can’t FATHOM why the Harry Potter series is not included here. Certainly the best of the bunch, although there are many wonderful and well-loved novels I’ve enjoyed throughout my life here."Probably because it didn't meet the basic requirement of an aggregate 4.0 stars rating. Did you NOT read the introduction which stated the requirements to be included in the list?
Don't read Watership Down if you like bunnies, Anissa. I've heard it's actually pretty bleak.
Michael and Kate, see my comment to Taryn above.
I think Dennis McKiernan's series about Mithgar should be added. I am probably commiting heresy here but I liked his Iron Tower Trilogy better than Tolkein's ring trilogy.
I’ve read 22 of these and have six others in my Kindle to-read queue. My Top 50 list might be about halfway similar to the above one.
19, and some very strange inclusions (and lacks thereof)
Eight. Hello!? The Harry Potter books should be on here!
Amber wrote: "Taryn wrote: "I can’t FATHOM why the Harry Potter series is not included here. Certainly the best of the bunch, although there are many wonderful and well-loved novels I’ve enjoyed throughout my li..."According to my goodreads browser, all 7 books have over a 4.0 rating. Not a small feat.
Eight. The Darker Shade of Magic series was absolutely amazing! I've read a few on this list but when opening the link was not expecting some of the books listed here, and was shocked at a few that were missing. I'm surprised Harry Potter isn't on here.
Half. Very disappointed some of these books get a 4 star+ rating. Missing others.
As someone else mentioned, I believe Harry Potter is listed as a YA series by it's author. Which would also be the reason some other books are not listed here, perhaps the author/publisher does not assign them into this genre.Taryn wrote: "I can’t FATHOM why the Harry Potter series is not included here. Certainly the best of the bunch, although there are many wonderful and well-loved novels I’ve enjoyed throughout my life here."
Jenny wrote: "I could not agree more! Harry Potter has reinvigorated the fantasy genre for generations. The list is less credible without him. It is nice to include new books readers may not have yet read, but immense popularity should be a plus on this type of list."
Amber wrote: "Don't read Watership Down if you like bunnies, Anissa. I've heard it's actually pretty bleak.."Good point (I recall as a child hearing about a harrowing scene of farmer closing the rabbit holes & trapping them in their warrens to die of suffocation because the field needs to be used) but I'm going to have to marshal myself to the task for it being a classic. At least as an adult, I can have a calming glass of wine while I read it.
I have only read 4 but I was expecting Harry Potter to be on this list too.
Wow, I've only read 7 of these! I need to step up my game xD Adding most of the rest to my TBR.
Juliet wrote: "I like "A Wrinkle in Time" but feel it belongs more in the Science Fiction category."Science Fantasy is a thing, see Star Wars for reference.
I'm currently reading The Lies of Locke Lamora. On the one hand, I can't believe it took me this long to get to it. On the other hand, I can't believe I just started ANOTHER series where the books are only coming out every 6-9 years....
