Best Fantasy Book List

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What is Fantasy?

If you came here looking for good fantasy books to read, you probably know all about the genre already. For those who don't, here's the definition. Fantasy is a genre that uses magic as it's primary setting. The technology in most fantasy works is at the level of the Middle Ages. What they have instead of machines and computers are the things we fantasy readers love: dragons, brave warriors, witty bards, graceful elves, powerful magic and tales of epic adventures.

You might want to choose some excellent works to read from our list of best fantasy books, or vote for the best fantasy novels. If there's one you think absolutely has to be on the list, feel free add it yourself!

Top Fantasy Books

A list of best fantasy book series.

You have to be a Squidoo member to vote or add a new fantasy novel. Submissions will show up after approval. Click "more..." for a description and links to buy the books.

Lord of the Rings

An epic high fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien: The more...51 points

Harry Potter

7 book series by J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the: more...39 points

The Chronicles of Narnia

Highly popular seven fantasy novels for children by more...23 points

A Song of Ice and Fire

Epic fantasy series by George R. R. Martin with seven more...22 points

His Dark Materials

Trilogy by Philip Pullman (The Golden Compass, The more...22 points

The Wheel of Time

Fantasy book series of epic scope and length by Robert more...22 points

The Discworld Series

36 comic fantasy novels up to date by the famous English more...19 points

Inheritance

Tetralogy by Christopher Paolini (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr more...17 points

Abhorsen

Trilogy for young adults by Garth Nix (Sabriel, Lirael, more...16 points

10

The Hobbit

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again is a fantasy novel more...14 points

11

Earthsea

Fantasy series by Ursula K. Le Guin (A Wizard of Earthsea, more...11 points

12

The Sword of Truth

Epic fantasy series by Terry Goodkind containing 11 more...11 points

13

Howl's Moving Castle

Young adult fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones. It more...10 points

14

Mistborn Trilogy

A a trilogy of high fantasy novels by Brandon Sanderson more...10 points

15

The Chronicles of Amber

Fantasy series by Roger Zelazny. Consists of two story more...9 points

16

The Black Company

Series of dark fantasy novels by Glen Cook. Has 9 total more...8 points

17

Stellar Wind: 2012

A mix of ancient history, Mayan prophecies and fantasy more...8 points

18

The Dresden Files

The adventures of Harry Dresden, a wizard-for-hire more...8 points

19

Stardust

Stand-alone fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman that was adapted more...8 points

20

Riftwar Saga

Fantasy trilogy by Raymond E. Feist (Magician, Silverthorn, more...7 points

21

The Shannara Series

Fantasy Series by Terry Brooks, including The Original more...7 points

22

KnorraSky: The Deception

KnorraSky: the Deception is a fantasy novel series more...7 points

23

Kingmaker, Kingbreaker

Two book series by Karen Miller (The Innocent Mage, more...6 points

24

Conan series

Dark fantasy series by Robert E. Howard. Many other more...6 points

25

Liveship Traders

Trilogy by Robin Hobb (Ship of Magic, Mad Ship, Ship more...5 points

26

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy

Three books by Tad Williams, (The Dragonbone Chair, more...5 points

27

Caenus and The Quiver of Artemis (Of Kings And Gods series)

A moving, romantic historical fantasy novel by Christopher more...5 points

28

The Belgariad / Mallorean cycle

A fantasy cycle by author David Eddings tells the story more...5 points

29

The Death Gate Cycle Series

A series of seven books by Margaret Weis and Tracy more...4 points

30

Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter

This vampire fantasy novel series is written by Laurell more...4 points

31

The Kingkiller Chronicle series

The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man's Fear and The Doors more...4 points

32

The Black Magician Trilogy

Magic fantasy novel series by Trudi Canavan (The Magician's more...4 points

33

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Fantasy / adventure young adult novels by Rick Riordan. more...4 points

34

The Legend of Drizzt

One of the best fantasy series by R. A. Salvatore which more...4 points

35

'mancer series

5 book series by Don Callander (Pyromancer, Aquamancer, more...3 points

36

MythAdventures series

Humorous light fantasy series by Robert Lynn Asprin more...3 points

37

The Malazan Book of the Fallen

Fantasy series by Steven Erikson (Gardens of the Moon, more...3 points

38

The Septimus Heap Series

Written by Angie Sage, this magical fiction is about more...3 points

39

Dragonriders of Pern series

The sci fi / fantasy mix series by Anne McCaffrey consists more...3 points

40

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

An excellent children's fantasy novel by English author more...3 points

41

The Witcher Series

Short stories and 5 epic battle fantasy novels by Andrzej more...2 points

42

Dragon series

Trilogy by Don Callander (Dragon Companion, Dragon more...2 points

43

The Little Goddess Series

Contemporary / urban fantasy series by Amy Lane. Romance more...2 points

44

The Astonishing life of Octavion Nothing, Traitor to the Nation

Historical novel by M.T. Anderson. I love this book! more...2 points

45

The Dead Days Omnibus

Fiction anthology by Marcus Sedgwick. A story about more...2 points

46

The Janna Mysteries

By by Felicity Pulman. I really enjoyed this book. more...2 points

47

Kate Daniels series (Magic Bites, etc.)

Some of the best urban fantasy novels by Ilona Andrews more...2 points

48

The Runelords

A fantasy book series by author David Farland. The more...2 points

49

Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams

A subterranean fiction series by British authors, consisting more...2 points

50

The Dark Tower Series

An epic saga by Stephen King which incorporates elements more...2 points

51

Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, and Ptolemy's more...2 points

52

Soldier Son

Trilogy by Robin Hobb (Shaman's Crossing, Forest Mage, more...1 point

53

Arrows Series (The Heralds of Valdemar)

Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, and Arrow's Fall more...1 point

54

The Chronicles of Prydain

Award-winning children's fantasy novels by Lloyd Chudley more...1 point

55

Elantris

A single fantasy novel by Brandon Sanderson, this book more...1 point

56

The First Law

An incredible trilogy of low / dark fantasy novels more...1 point

57

The Moon's Eye

High fantasy series by A.J. Calvin about a search for more...1 point

58

The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb

Fantasy trilogy that consists of Assassin's Apprentice, more...1 point

59

The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks

Great fantasy series (The Way of Shadows, Shadow's more...1 point

60

Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix

Great young adult fantasy heptalogy following the adventures more...1 point

61

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

A planned tetralogy of fantasy novels by Stephen R more...1 point

62

Ellena And The Magic Lamp

A wonderful juvenile magic fantasy book from Ameri more...1 point

63

Lud-in-the-Mist

One of the most forgotten standalone fantasy novel more...0 points

64

Magic: The Gathering Series

A fantasy book cycle based on the popular collectible more...0 points

65

Sovereign of the Seven Isles series by David A. Wells

In the first book of the series, Thinblade, a second more...0 points

66

The Eirie Chronicles by Prue Batten

Intense, lyrical, gripping fantasy series by Tasma more...0 points

Best Fantasy Series: The Chronicles of Amber

This is one of my favorite fantasy book series of all time.

The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 (Chronicles of Amber)

Amazon Price: $13.62 (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now

Amber is a magnificent immortal city, and all other worlds are but shadows of it. The royal family of Amber has the power to travel through these by manipulating reality itself, and communicate with each other by means of magical cards created by the great Dworkin. The main character is Corwin - a prince of Amber who lost his memories and spent centuries living on Earth. After an attempted murder, Corwin regains his memories and embarks on an epic journey to search for his father, battle for Amber's throne, and even reach the other side of the shadows - Chaos itself.

Buy it at the Book Depository and get free worldwide shipping.

Fantasy Book Discussion & Opinions

Do you enjoy reading fantasy books?

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Fantasy books are awesome!

Elric22 says:

But of course!

Edutopia says:

Fantasy books are great and certainly have a place on any person's bookcase.

opheliakeith says:

Anyone can do reality. I say, more fantasy :)

Burn_the_ginger_haters says:

Those whose are discusted by fantasy discust me. I REALLY like the unicorn chronicles :) Im a 6th grader and I love fantasy and japanese manga- those are the best types of fantasy because they have humor. It just a good thing for when your feeling down- it helps you escape while other books give head aches. Stop being a bor-O non-fictoners. Its called haveing an imagination try it sometime. I get all As and the ocasional B at school and the only not fantasy book ive ever like is about the titanic, cuz its interesting. Id like to ride it, -the sinking. 

Ps: I if you havent guessed I am also Ginger_and_proud

Ginger_and_proud says:

@ArmorofFaith
Youre an idiot. Im a 6th grader that grw up reading and loving fantasy. I know magic is not real and its just an interesting story. We all no its not real and I know this- like heck am I EVER going to stop reading fantasy its INTERESTING. Who knows what CRUD youve been reading but it sure as heck made you a boring little saint eh? Fantasy just 4 fun lame-O get e REAL life not one with only facts. Sounds weird to come out of the mouth of someone who wants to be an architect (architects seem to act boring all the time if u ask me). And no I am not rude from to much fantasy Im not rude period idt Im just VERY blunt. I say it as I see it and why the heck shouldnt I? Redheads opinions count 2!!!!!!!

khemo53 says:

I read the Dragon Riders of Pern when I was a kid and loved them.

Ayushi says:

wat about Septimus Heap by Angie Sage...I liked it very much!!

pat fish says:

Crossing Borders by Michael Keller

Lorenzio O says:

giving the night angel trilogy 1 point is a crime against god. these people have no idea what a good fantasy book is

nephthys says:

I love fantasy! add the Pellinor books by Alison Croggon- they're my favourites. There are four, The Gift, The Riddle, The Crow, The Singing.

Darran says:

yes very much

adrianaheep says:

I love fantasy. Piers Anthony is my favorite author. I also really enjoy the Anita Blake series. I like that the author of Anita Blake incorporates more creatures than just vampires and it is nothing like Twilight. The Twilight books were a light, fun read, but not exactly my favorite. I like more mature themes. Plus, the movies were plain horrible... Well, I only saw the first two and that was enough for me. Sorry I sort of got off on a tangent.

Shri says:

Would the Warrior Cats series be apart of it? Please!! Also HoN and Seekers!

Stiles says:

not trying to start a holy war here, but i think it is rude to come on here and start talking about how "evil" the fantasy genre is. one might ask the question how you came to be at this website in the first place;

Kristy says:

I am looking for a book I read when I was 10-11 years old, maybe. I am now 50, so have NO idea if anyone has ever heard of it. Don't remember any part of the title. All I think I remember is that it was about 4 sisters and each was named either after the earth's elements or had names that represented them. I would so love to find this book again as it was a favorite when I was young. I know that's very little to go on, but thought it was worth a shot.

OldStones says:

Yes, fantasy novels are my favorite genre. I really enjoyed The Wheel of Time series.

Stefan says:

A book not mentioned above is The Godslayer Chronicles which is very good.

StacyBirch says:

I tend to read books that are for younger teens like Harry Potter, not just for the fantasy part, but I don't like the swears and other things they put in adults books for my age group.

xaniver says:

I read a lot of fantasy. I prefer the historical and Celtic settings though, like the works of Stephen Lawhead, Juliet Marillier and Caiseal Mor.

UtopianDreamer says:

I love fantasy books because they remove some of the restrictions placed on fiction by 'reality'. Fantasy books have a freedom that most other fiction can't have - the ability to totally reset the rules and explore very different ways of being. As a result I think many fantasy books can be deeply spiritual and challenge the reader to look beyond the boundaries of organised religion and think for themselves. Plus they make a cracking good read!

I don't like fantasy fiction.

i says:

your gay

bobby says:

your gay

koushiro says:

Not a huge fan of western fantasy, but I do enjoy Japanese light novels ^^

haverd says:

I don't hate fantasy novels or anything, but I think a lot (but not all) of them are low-quality cookie-cutter tripe with no substance or literary value. Here are a few examples I've encountered:

1) Sucky space operas which have blasters and space ship, but otherwise are the same as stories set in modern times or in the Wild West. Usually feature cliche ugly, evil aliens that eat human babies and spaceship physics which have no basis in real science (showing that the author doesn't even bother to do his homework).

2) Low quality "battle fantasy" which is little more than a retelling of some RPG game scenario (beat some enemies, acquire a "rare item", beat the boss").

3) A lot of fantasy stories which are set in "shared realms" often degenerate into something unrecognizable as more and more authors pile in their ideas without much respect for the laws of the original fantasy universe their stories are set in.

Let's not forget that majority of fantasy novels features cliches like elves (graceful, wise), dwarves (strong, live underground, generally rude) and humans - essentially copying from Tolkien.

That being said, there are some great fantasy works that don't use common cliches. Robin Hobb comes to mind....

JodiVee says:

I've read a few fantasy novels -- they were ok, but I much prefer literary fiction.

ArmorOfFaith says:

Fantasy books aren't "stupid", They are dangerous. Read more about how books like Harry Potter corrupt out children by promoting black magick and witchcraft. And they read this to kids in our schools!!

http://cuttingedge.org/news/n1377.cfm

ArmorOfFaith says:

The Bible teaches us that any kind of supernatural "powers" or "magic" only comes from the Satan. These fantasy books promote witchcraft and sorcery both to children and impressible adults. Do not let your mind be tempted by the devil.

http://crossroad.to/

Treasures-By-Brenda says:

I did not read fantasy books so I have had to stretch to learn to read them with my sons. I still cannot read many of them.

Brenda

Jack says:

My father used to read a lot of those. I tried a few, but never could get into them. Magic, dragons, fairies...?? Please, is that what grown people should be reading? I just don't understand the weird fascination some people feel about this all fantasy.I wouldn't calll anyone reading them stupid, by no means,but those books have no appeal to me. Read a psychology or a self help book those will do you much more good!!

 
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Subgenres of Fantasy

Fantasy fiction can be divided into many branches.

There are lots of different fantasy book genres.Fantasy is very popular these days, so it's no wonder it has a lot of subgenres. They are pretty hard to define clearly, so most are just a matter of agreement. You can find the most prominent ones and their descriptions below.

Contemporary fantasy

Fantasy of this subgenre is set in the real world in current times, but with added fantasy elements. Perhaps the most famous example would be the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.

Dark fantasy

Dark fantasy refers to the stories which represent the medieval brutality, or has horror elements. A good example would be the Black Company series by Glen Cook, or some of the H. P. Lovecraft's works.

High fantasy

High fantasy usually tells the story of epic struggle between clearly distinguished sides of good and evil. A classic example would be the Lord of Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Low fantasy

Low fantasy is the opposite of High fantasy. It is usually realistic and features characters who can be called neither good nor evil. A good example would be Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard. Such fantasy often overlaps with other genres, like Dark fantasy. It also has less magic than High fantasy - or the magic is a more dangerous art with bigger consequences to the practitioners.

Steampunk

Steampunk fantasy is often set in Victorian or Edwardian eras. Like the name suggests, the steam power is widely used in steampunk worlds, but other fantasy or science fiction elements are present as well. It's really a cross-breed between sci-fi and fantasy; an example would be the Last Exile anime.

Historical fantasy

Historical fantasy might tell the history of an alternate fantasy world, similar to ours - or our own world, with added fantasy elements. A great example would be A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin.

[More on fantasy subgenres on Wikipedia...]

Great Heroic Fantasy Novel

Featuring magic, adventure, epic battles and a touch of humor.

Rider: Spirals of Destiny: Book 1

Amazon Price: $6.57 (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now

I have been a fan of Jim Bernheimer ever since I read his collection of short stories called Horror, Humor, And Heroes, so I simply had to read his new novel. Rider: Spirals of Destiny is the beginning of what looks to become an amazing fantasy series. It features adventures of a unicorn named Majherri who survived his rider's death - an unheard thing in the whole history of Battle Maidens, elite force of young women possessing magic powers and a deep connection with their unicorns - and Kayleigh, a 16 year old girl who forms a new bond with him. Definitely NOT a fluffy and cute unicorn story!

Buy it at the Book Depository and get free worldwide shipping.

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Armored Polar Bears!

His Dark Materials Trade Paper Boxed Set (Golden Compass, Subtle Knife, Amber Spyglass)

Amazon Price: $13.90 (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now

His Dark Materials takes place in a world parallel to ours, where human souls live outside their bodies as small creatures called daemons. Join Lyra and Will in their breathtaking journey to save the Universe itself. And yes, there's badass armored polar bears, too.

Get it on the Book Depository wtih free worldwide delivery.

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Death is a Black River 

The Abhorsen Trilogy Box Set

Amazon Price: $13.62 (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now

Abhorsen is an epic dark fantasy trilogy telling the story of a family of necromancers who's job it is to lay the dead (and undead) to rest. Deep characters, rich world and unique magic makes Abhorsen a must-read!

Buy it at the Book Depository with free worldwide shipping.

Epic Tale of Magic 

A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1)

Amazon Price: $5.80 (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now

The first book in the trilogy, A Wizard of Earthsea tells the epic story of a young mage named Sparrowhawk, who is hungry for power and knowledge and unwittingly releases a great evil upon the world.

Grab it on BookDepository with free worldwide shipping.

Today's Fantasy Bestsellers 

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