"Must Read" fantasy books

[Tina]

So I was browsing Reddit and I came across this list of "must read" fantasy novels, and I was wondering how other folks felt about it:
https://medium.com/philosophy-logic/8...

I think it's interesting that Brandon Sanderson is on the list. I know he's quite popular, and he's a fine author, but I don't know if I would put him among the fantasy greats just yet.
Personally, I think the list is SERIOUSLY lacking in many respects, but I'd like to have some discussion on the topic. What are your thoughts, guys?

[David]

Regardless of who I'm talking to, I will never, ever hesitate to recommend The Dresden Files. It is probably my favorite fantasy series to date, second to none, in the amount of fun it's been to read. Book 15 is due out at the end of May, and there should be plenty more to come.

Ever since Daniel Ben-Zvi got me into them, I've really enjoyed the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson. They're pretty chaotic at times and can be confusing but the story is one of the best epic fantasies I've read...and I'm only on book 9 of 10. Gardens of the Moon is the first book, but it really doesn't get to my "must read" list until book 2, Deadhouse Gates.

[David]

On the article, I've only heard of a couple of those series and I've only read the first one. Fantasy is such a huge genre that you really can't narrow it down unless you sort by category. There are some great urban fantasy stories, and high fantasy stories that weren't even mentioned.

[Ross]

I saw this article put Anthony Ryan on the list and thought "okay this author knows what he's talking about". Then I saw that the Hyperion Cantos was in the "just missed" list, and thought, "what the hell? Does this guy know what he's talking about?" The Hyperion novels were some of my favorite SF novels from the phase before Dan Simmons joined the "old reactionary right wing mediocrity retirement pool" that authors like Orson Scott Card and James Clavell languished in.

[Mike]

"The other pain I always endure is the purists who believe there are books you must read first in order to understand the evolution of the genre."

I don't care if you understand the evolution, but there are in fact great works of fantasy fiction that are more than 20 years old.

As Ross notes, it's hard to take the author seriously when he describes Hyperion as "a very hard read". I think his faux-ironic title is not as ironic as he thinks.

Anyway, NPR's list (of sf & fantasy) is also skewed toward more recent books, but offers a lot more breadth
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...

Here's Enigma's fantasy list (compiled last millennium):
http://archive.enigmata.org/library/f...

Speaking personally, I'd recommend:
LotR
LotR (again)
Leiber's Fafhrd & Grey Mouser stories (despite some adolescent sexuality that has not aged well)
McCaffrey's Harper Hall series (and other early Pern books)
The Once and Future King
Charles DeLint's urban fantasy
The first Thomas Covenant trilogy (yes, I know he rapes a girl.)
Oh, and LotR.

[Lesley]

I'd add, but Mike has already summed up most of my thoughts.

Also adding Jack Vance's Dying Earth. If we're going to include urban fantasy, Sean Stewart has some great books. Elizabeth Knox's Dreamhunter Duet is also amazing. I've always had a soft spot for Glen Cook too.

[Brent]

The books I've read on the list are good, but it's missing a lot of good ones. Sanderson keeps getting better. Mistborn is a lot of fun, but the Stormlight Archive is better (and I liked book 2 even more than book 1). I would add the Wheel of Time and the Malazan Book of the Fallen to any must-read fantasy list. I'll admit that there were some slower books in the middle of the Wheel of Time, but that was a bigger issue when we had to wait 2 years for another installment. It's not bad now when you can just read right through the whole series. I'd also recommend the Riyria books and the Acacia trilogy.

[Ross]

Brandon Sanderson is awfully productive and needs to stop writing books faster than I can read them because its getting embarrassing. My impression is that his writing had improved significantly from mistborn onwards and, from traversing the Internet it seems like by word of mouth, Mistborn has become quite popular among specialized science fiction/fantasy communities

[Ross]

Also a lot of these lists are heavily skewed towards recent fiction as mike notes. Until recently I always associated Conan the Barbarian with Arnold, but having read Robert Howard I would argue that his later Conan works, specifically Hour of the Dragon, could easily belong on many "best of" fantasy lists