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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 151-200 of 612 (612 new)
message 151:
by
Kim
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Aug 20, 2018 12:31PM
41/50. Romance fantasy really should be separated out.
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11 of these, I thought it would be more - maybe I don't read as much fantasy as I think
Amber Martingale Tolkien’s works got a reboot of popularity off the long list of movies injecting his works into the mainstream.
Amber wrote: "JT wrote: "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..."Possibly. Never resolved, and the dog comes home all bitten up.
12. Thought I might have read more, but I realize there are some categories I do not care for (gothic). Incidentally, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is one (long) book, not a trilogy of which Fellowship of the Ring is the first part.
Water ship down was never written for children ,I wish I’d been told that as a child!! but is fab for comparing human society to the rabbits.. horrible ones there like in all societies!!I love all Robin Hobbs books and Feist.
I wouldn’t put Stephen King on here
Unfortunately this list biases against older books. The number of reviews in a social media app isn’t going to be the same for older works. Riddlemaster of Hed by McKillip and Gene Wolf’s Shadow of the Torturer are two of my favs missing. Oh, Wizard of Earthsea too!
These are many books i read in my early adult years. They made a very impact on my life when i needed an escape from a less than ideal life.
David LaGraffe wrote: "Unfortunately this list biases against older books. The number of reviews in a social media app isn’t going to be the same for older works. Riddlemaster of Hed by McKillip and Gene Wolf’s Shadow ..."
It biases because it's supposedly based on rating. Thanks for the list of oldies! There are so many gems that the majority of modern readers don't know about.
I've read 13, which surprises me a little because I'm not much of a sci-fi/fantasy reader. But I thought I did pretty well :)
Fantasy= Heroic Fantasy=Conan.Many writers of the pulp era belong on this list.
I've ready 30 or so . . . but geesh some of these are complete stinkers. Why oh why Goodreads are you putting in some of that goth/romance fantasy on here? I just went back to look at my list of read books to see what was left off. What janky algorithm did you use to get this list. Just a short list of things left offAny Harry Potter Book
Sandman Series ( but somehow Nimona made it).
The Name of the Wind
Color of Magic (hey, any Disc World books!)
Anything by Gene Wolfe
HP Lovecraft (maybe Horror but still).
RA Salvatore Books (classic for the whole genre)
Tales of the Black Company?
I mean come on goodreads!
Interestingly enough, 12 on this list I've read, which exactly matches how many I've read from the scifi list. Although, I have to agree that A Wrinkle in Time really belongs on the scifi list.Didn't realize I was so balanced. If you'd asked me before looking at these lists, I'd have bet good money that I'd have more on the science fiction list than the fantasy, but ...
Anissa wrote: "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 ..."
I read Watership when I was 12 or so, it has some really brutal stuff, not an easy read, and traumatizing for a kid, but it had some beautiful stuff as well, that I still remember now, and it's been 40 years.
David LaGraffe wrote: "Riddlemaster of Hed by McKillip and Gene Wolf’s Shadow of the Torturer are two of my favs missing. Oh, Wizard of Earthsea too! "Seriously, how did Ursula K Le Guin not get a single entry on this list? Stunning.
Sarah wrote: "Anissa wrote: "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 farm..."
I saw it first run in the theater when I was about 7 or 8. I loved it with the intensity only an 8 year old boy can bring to a truly horrific war movie. I read it about 5 years later. Cover to cover. Overnight. I've worn out three paperbacks and finally bought a hardback.
12, with a couple on my TBR. I always feel that I'm far more a SF than a fantasy fan. This confirms I'm 55% more into SF.Surprised to see Brent Weeks, WoTS, here; didn't think people liked it much.
4. There are several more series of fantasy books I've read that should be here.
No Malazan books and no Tigana make this a pretty incomplete list.
(and of course, my eyes rolled right over Tigana, so I'll just see myself out.)
Wizard of Earthsea & Earthsea series by Ursula Le Guin not on list? Also, reason for Harry Potter absence can't be that it was written for the young when C S Lewis Narnia & Tolkien The Hobbit are included.
Brian wrote: "I've ready 30 or so . . . but geesh some of these are complete stinkers. Why oh why Goodreads are you putting in some of that goth/romance fantasy on here? I just went back to look at my list of re..."I looked and saw the first Sandman book listed, and also The Name of the Wind....am I wrong?
My favorite authors of all time are Stephen King,Anne Rice,Clive Barker and Dannielle Steele my passion since I was 3 years old was reading but my eyesight has gotten so bad that I can't read anymore. I used to lose myself in my books.
So so so Many More...... Harry Potter left off?!?!?!?! ABSOLUTLEY INEXCUSABLE!!!!!!
16 ... NIce to see Brian Staveley on this list. A good choice for GRRM fans waiting for the next book. And I can't get enough Neil Gaiman.
Sarah wrote: "David LaGraffe wrote: "Riddlemaster of Hed by McKillip and Gene Wolf’s Shadow of the Torturer are two of my favs missing. Oh, Wizard of Earthsea too! "Seriously, how did Ursula K Le Guin not get ..."
Left Hand of Darkness did make the sci-fi list.
Only 7. Surprised Le Guin's Earthsea books arent there, nor any of the very early fantasy books, like Fantastes, which CS Lewis borrowed heavily from for his Narnian chronicles. Or Roger Zelazny and Andre Norton, but I suppose most readers are too young to know of the classics of the genre, before movies made fantasy popular.
Matthew Kossler wrote: "David wrote: "Any Brandon Sanderson. Just finished the final empire. Superb!"He's on there. Mistborn I'm good with, Way of Kings is the first of an intended 10 book series of which he has written..."
Agree. I really liked the Mistborn series. The Way of Kings - not so much.
Marion Zimmer Bradley is one of my favorite fantasy authors.
I don't understand how anyone enjoyed The Night Circus, much less why it's as popular as it is. There's zero character development, the two romantic leads hardly interact the entire book and when they do it's the most vapid, meaningless conversation possible, there's practically no plot, zero narrative tension, it's really just hundreds of pages of flowery description of a circus. I just really don't get it. I like great prose as much as the next pretentious writer-type, but I need something more than just great prose. Haven't read The Stand, but from what I understand, wouldn't it be firmly scifi rather than fantasy? Are there magic or supernatural elements in it I don't know about? Would be way more likely to read it if so.
14 no make that 17
