An Aficionado’s Guide to the top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time: Nominations

[Sandra]

The ones that pop to the top of my head:

The Curse of the Mistwraith - Wars of Light and Shadow series by Janny Wurts
Fortress in the Eye of Time - Fortress series by C.J. Cherryh
The Lions of al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone by Carol Berg
Transformation - the Rai Kirah Trilogy by Carol Berg
The Harry Potter Collection by J.K. Rowling

[Philip]

Pages of Pain
The Stolen Child
Elric of Melniboné
A Princess of Mars
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
The Lost World
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Hobbit
Last Dragon

http://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/...

[Mike (the Paladin)]

1. The Deed of Paksenarrion
2. Storm Front (First of the Dresden Files)
3.The Lord of the Rings
4.Legend
5.The History of the Runestaff
6.Count Brass
7.Conan the Barbarian Omnibus -The Original Stories (it was hard to find a good edition of Conan to add, but I though it ought to considered for the top 100 fantasy)
8.Elric of Melniboné
9.The Chronicles of Amber
10.The Sword and the Satchel


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[Chelsea]

1. The Lord of the Rings
2. Dragon Wing (Death's Gate Cycle)
3. The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles)
4. Storm Front (The Dresden Files)
5. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (No Beowulf, no fantasy)
6. The Darkness That Comes Before (The Prince of Nothing)
7. Among Thieves (I was hesitant about adding this since it's brand new, but it's damn good.)
8. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (OK, so I have only read the first, and I was not quite blown away by it, BUT I feel the need to include it for consideration because of the philosophical and sociological considerations the author clearly took while writing it. I feel a bit of a kinship with her as I also worked in post-colonial studies while doing my BA.)
9. The Anvil of the World (This stands alone, though there are other books written in this world.)
10. The Curse of Chalion (Chalion - there are three)

I may revisit this and do some editing, but I feel comfortable with this. Assassin's Apprentice and Game of Thrones were in here, but I am positive plenty of people will be adding these to their lists.

[carol. , Senor Crabbypants]

Kara wrote: "Yes. I too was thinking only list books you have not already seen nominated. (so "Thank you" Kevin for throwing in the Night Angel Trilogy!)"

No, we expected there to be overlap--I don't know how MrsJ worked out the details, but I personally would be tempted to leave books with only one nomination off the polls--each poll has a number limit, so that means she'll be setting up fifty polls if we strive to make our nominations unique and not Best. Have some sympathy for the voting process and her workload! We have a thread for the favorite but unheard of book recommendations. ;)

[Kevin]

Carol wrote: "Kara wrote: "Yes. I too was thinking only list books you have not already seen nominated. (so "Thank you" Kevin for throwing in the Night Angel Trilogy!)"

No, we expected there to be overlap--I ..."

If that is part of the rules, then it would leave out certain books on my list. Plus I would have to change my list, for certain books I would put on my list, but it has only been nominated once.

[Chelle]

Good Omens
Neverwhere
Daughter of the Forest Sevenwaters #1
Enchantment
Ysabel
The Wild Wood
Dreams UnderfootNewford #1
HoundedIron Druid Chronicles
The Study Series Bundle
Od Magic
Bloodsucking FiendsA Love Story #1
Dragon WingThe Death Gate Cycle #1
Golden Book Of FaerieBook of Faerie series

I tried to nominate books that haven't been nominated yet if there are any repeats sorry about that

[Tim]

The Enchantment of Abigail Brown

[Kati]

In no particular order...

The Belgariad: Pawn of Prophecy Queen of Sorcery Magician's Gambit Castle of Wizardry Enchanter's End Game

The Redemption of Althalus

His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass The Subtle Knife The Amber Spyglass

Harry Potter series

The Dark Elf Trilogy

[Weenie]

A Game of Thrones - George RR Martin
Magician - Raymond E Feist
The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
A Spell for Chameleon - Piers Anthony
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Sabriel - Garth Nix
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Dragon Wing - Weis and Hickman

[Cheryl]

The Magic Kingdom of Landover: Volume 1 (Magic Kingdom of Landover series)
Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera series)
Green Rider (Green Rider series)
The Castings Trilogy

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Carol wrote: "No, we expected there to be overlap--I don't know how MrsJ worked out the details, but I personally would be tempted to leave books with only one nomination off the polls--each poll has a number limit, so that means she'll be setting up fifty polls if we strive to make our nominations unique and not Best. Have some sympathy for the voting process and her workload! We have a thread for the favorite but unheard of book recommendations. ;)"


^This - we do expect overlap. I will not drop books - in this instance - unless: the elgibilty of the book is in dispute OR the rules listed at the top of the thread are not followed.

Please remember that this is a manual process...unless Rachel is still ok with helping out with a site build.

[Carolyn]

In no particular order, leaving off the ones that have been previously suggested:
Shapechangers (Chronicles of the Cheysuli)
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
The Gilded Chain (The King's Blade series)
Household Gods
Daggerspell (Deverry series)
Tooth and Claw
Daughter of the Empire (Empire series)
Darkborn (Darkborn series)
Witch World (Witch World series)
White Mare's Daughter (Epona series)

Thanks for doing this MrsJ - this is fun!

[Traci]

1. Fool's Errand(Tawny Man series)
2. The Broken Sword
3. Black Sun Rising(Coldfire trilogy)
4. The Sellswords
5. Shadow of a Dark Queen(The Serpent War saga)
6. The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching, #1)(Discworld?)
7. Another Fine Myth(Myth series)
8. The Bone Doll's Twin(The Tamir Triad)
9. Stardust

[Pauline]

Difficult, really difficult. In no particular order:



Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance Series)
Good Omens
Dragon Champion(Age of Fire Series)
The Way of Shadows(Night Angel Trilogy)
Retribution Falls
Sir Apropos of Nothing (Sir Apropos of Nothing Trilogy)
The Abhorsen Trilogy Box Set
The Last Stormlord
The Pillars of the Earth
Joust


Editing b/c there are a lot of similar nominations

[Mike (the Paladin)]

We get 10 Traci...that's all. Not, 10 per post. :)

[Kevin]

MrsJoseph wrote: "Carol wrote: "No, we expected there to be overlap--I don't know how MrsJ worked out the details, but I personally would be tempted to leave books with only one nomination off the polls--each poll h..."

What a whole site just for this. That is hardcore.

[Amy]

Kushiel's Dart
The Mists of Avalon
Howl's Moving Castle
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Daughter of the Forest
The Ill-Made Mute
A Wrinkle in Time

Now that I think about it, is A Wrinkle in Time SciFi? I'm not completely sure.

[Traci]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "We get 10 Traci...that's all. Not, 10 per post. :)"

I haven't named any yet. I didn't want to repeat what others have already listed. Sorry for any confusion. I can edit to make it clearer.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

...just an attempt at humor Traci....just an attempt at humor.

sigh, I'm so misunderstood.

[Charlie]

Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Harry Potter Collection

:)

[Jason]

Mistborn

[TinaNoir]

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire series)
The Curse of Chalion (Chalion series)
Tigana
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter series)
The Deed of Paksenarrion (Paksennarion series)
Pawn of Prophecy (Belgariad series)
The Name of the Wind
Daughter of the Empire (Empire series)
Guards! Guards! (specifically the Sam Vines arc of discworld)
The Lions of al-Rassan

[Roger]

The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales
The Towers of the Sunset
A Game of Thrones
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
The Children of Húrin
The Great Book of Amber
Dragonflight
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation

[[deleted user]]

1. Lord of the Rings -- Tolkien
2. Elric of Melnibone // Elric Saga -- Moorcock
3. Dinotopia -- Gurney
4. The Mists of Avalon -- Bradley
5. Chronicles of Narnia -- Lewis
6. The Watch Series -- Lukyanenko
7. Forgotten Realms -- RA Salvatore
8. Dragonlance Series -- Weis & Hickman
9. Game of Thrones -- Martin
10. Malazan Book of the Fallen -- Erikson

[Danielle]

God Stalk
The Hero and the Crown
Prospero Lost
Acheron
Bad-Ass Faeries
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Guards! Guards!
Dragonflight
The Dark Is Rising Sequence
The Princess Bride

[Crystalclearwpg]

wow i really have to think on this one.

[Em]

The Tower of Geburah(Archives of Anthropos)
The Circle Trilogy: The Complete Trilogy in One Epic Edition
The Chronicles of Narnia
Eragon, Eldest & Brisingr
Chosen (The Lost Books Series)
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
Guardians of Ga'Hoole Collection: Legend of the Guardians
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Boxed Set
Stardust
Magyk (Septimus Heap Series)

Yes, I'm eighteen going on nineteen and still can't get enough of that MG fantasy ;]

[Valerie]

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
His Dark Materials
Witches Abroad (Discworld)
Kushiel's Dart (Kushiel's Legacy)
Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters)
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire)
Graveminder
Sunshine

Still pondering the last two. :)

[Kevin]

Wow, this is bring out everyone.

[Darrell]

The Demon Awakens
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Eye of the World
The Druid of Shannara
The Name of the Wind
The Dark Tower
Academ's Fury
The Highwayman
Spearwielder's Tale
The Way of Shadows

And as for those I have repeated that others have put up, sorry I don't have time to read everyone's input because I got to get back to my books! LOL.

[Galit]

Song of Ice ang fire 5 books

Tigana

Wizards first rule

The mists of Avalon

FarSeer Trilogy

All Robin Hobb books are good and much more then that :-)

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Emily wrote: "Yes, I'm eighteen going on nineteen and still can't get enough of that MG fantasy ;] "

Pish. I'm 32, dangerously close to 33, and I still tend to prefer YA books to most adult ones (though there are exceptions).

[Roshio]

In no particular order:
The Wheel of Time: Boxed Set
Robin Hobb Collection: Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassin's Quest
The Name of the Wind
Kushiel's Scion (some people view this as book 4 of the whole kushiel series, but it is also the first book of the Imriel's trilogy. if that's not allowed, then I nominate the whole series)
Wizard's First Rule
A Song of Ice and Fire 4-Book Boxed Set
Priestess of the White
Harry Potter Boxset
Saga of Darren Shan Box Set
Guilty Pleasures (although I've stopped reading this series, the first few books are still some of the best urban fantasy books I've read)

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

1. Moon Called to represent the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
2. Magic Bites to represent the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews
3. Nightlife to represent the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman
4. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
5.Blue Moon Rising by Simon R. Green
6.Something from the Nightside to represent the Nightside series by Simon R. Green
7.Storm Front to represent the Harry Dresden novels by Jim Butcher
8.Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

I may do a few edits before this is over...

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Amy wrote: "Kushiel's Dart
The Mists of Avalon
Howl's Moving Castle
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Daughter of the Forest
[book:The Ill-Made Mute|..."


Now that I think about it, is A Wrinkle in Time SciFi? I'm not completely sure.


Great question! I will bring this to the Eligibility thread.

[Kevin]

The Eye of the World (Wheel of time)
Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set
The Curse of Chalion/Paladin of Souls (1 nomination if you consider them a series, 2 nominations if not.)
Assassin's Apprentice (either the first trilogy or the trilogy of trilogies)
Daughter of the Empire (the Empire trilogy)
I Am Not A Serial Killer The John Cleaver series.
Best Served Cold (Yes, this one. Not the First Law trilogy.)
The Braided Path: Weavers of Saramyr, The Skein of Lament, The Ascendancy Veil
The Name of the Wind

[Brandt]

Can't wait to see how this list turns out :)

Some Urban Fantasy...

Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant Series
Midnight RiotandMoon Over Soho

Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt series
First book (of 5)Already Dead

Mike Carey's Felix Castor series
First book (of 5) The Devil You Know

Larry Correia's Monster Hunter series
First book (of 4)Monster Hunter International

[Valerie]

Roshio wrote: "Kushiel's Scion (some people view this as book 4 of the whole kushiel series, but it is also the first book of the Imriel's trilogy. if that's not allowed, then I nominate the whole series)"

I almost nominated this instead of the first one. I love Imriel's trilogy even more than Phedre's.

[Lisa H.]

In no particular order (SO hard to keep it to 10):

The Fionavar Tapestry - Guy Gavriel Kay
Watership Down - Richard Adams
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
A Game of Thrones - A Song of Ice & Fire, George R. R. Martin
The Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Watchtower - The Chronicles of Tornor, Elizabeth A. Lynn
The Princess Bride - William Goldman
The Snow Queen - Joan Vinge
The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle

[Maggie]

Here are mine:

LotR The Lord of the Rings
aSoIaFA Game of Thrones
Malazan Gardens of the Moon
WOT The Eye of the World
7waters Daughter of the Forest
First Law The Blade Itself
Demon Cycle The Warded Man
Dresden Files Storm Front
Joe Pitt Already Dead
Garrett PI Sweet Silver Blues

[Melissa]

The Dark Elf Trilogy Collector's Edition
Hogfather(Discworld series, too many to list! :-D )
The Book of Three(The Chronicles of Prydain~good for younger fantasy lovers!)
Dragonsong(Dragonriders of Pern chronicles, also too many to list)
The Eye of the World(Wheel of Time series)
The Fellowship of the Ring(Classic!)
The Immortals(also good for younger fantasy readers)
Falls The Shadow(sorry...gave a shout out to my own book :-D )

that's all I can think of at the moment...

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Valerie wrote: "Roshio wrote: "Kushiel's Scion (some people view this as book 4 of the whole kushiel series, but it is also the first book of the Imriel's trilogy. if that's not allowed, then I nominate the whole ..."

I have to agree, sadly. I love Phedre but Imriel's story & romance really touched me.

[Lee]

Thought I knew a lot about Fantasy. Kernos' list has just reminded me there are so many other great reads out there that I should be exploring. Looking at your list I only recognise the Empire Trilogy.

This thread is going to be expensive.

[Linette]

I suspect some on my tbr list may belong on here, but of the ones I have read my favourites are:

A Game of Thrones
The Eye of the World
Harry Potter Boxset
Storm Front
Robin Hobb Collection: Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassin's Quest
His Majesty's Dragon
The Name of the Wind
The Lord of the Rings
Kushiel's Dart
Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set

[Nick]

A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin
Kingkiller Chronicle - Patrick Rothfuss
The First Law Trilogy - Joe Abercrombie
Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
The Night Angel Trilogy - Brent Weeks
The Gentleman Bastard - Scott Lynch
The Monarchies of God - Paul Kearney

That should do for adult fantasy.

[Sara]

Since this is for the Top 100 of all time I'm listing book that I think have had the biggest impact on fantasy books and readers.

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
The Complete Chronicles of Narnia
The Harry Potter Collection
The Color of Magic(Disc World Series)
Interview with the Vampire
The Sword of Shannara Trilogy
The Twilight Saga
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Odyssey
Dracula

[Sara]

Tacuazin wrote: "The Princess Bride
Guards! Guards!, Discworld series
The Neverending Story
A Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire
[book:The Blade Itself|94407..."

Love your list!

[Kevin]

Charlene wrote: "Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Harry Potter Collection

:)"

Should this count since all the book, but Harry Potter are not fantasy?

[carol. , Senor Crabbypants]

Kevin wrote:
Should this count since all the book, but Harr..."

Kevin, this is addressed elsewhere. See Post #1 of this thread by MrsJ for the link and rules of this thread. This isn't the discussion part, just nominations. Thanks!