Goodreads’ 100 Most Popular Fantasy Books 

Trying to navigate through the fantasy section is an impossible task. There are hundreds of classics, and even more books that you would enjoy that you haven’t come across. We decided to look at Goodreads’ 100 most popular fantasy books to see which 100 books are worth reading! 

Goodreads is one of the most trusted websites when it comes to books. That gives them a lot of insight into what people are reading and they have used that data to curate this list. Fantasy novels that were the most reviewed were chosen for this list. They also had to have a 3.5-star rating to make the list. And the most reviewed book in the series was chosen to represent the series.  

Goodreads’ 100 Most Popular Fantasy Books 

1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien 
2. The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1) by J.R.R. Tolkien 
3. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis 
4. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin 
5. A Wrinkle in Time (Time Quintet, #1) by Madeleine L’Engle 
6. The Princess Bride by William Goldman 
7. American Gods (American Gods, #1) by Neil Gaiman 
8. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 
9. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire 
10. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett 
11. The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1) by Stephen King 
12. Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1) by Charlaine Harris 
13. Watership Down by Richard Adams 
14. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman 
15. The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson 
16. The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1) by Robert Jordan 
17. A Discovery of Witches (All Souls, #1) by Deborah Harkness 
18. Stardust by Neil Gaiman 
19. The Color of Magic (Discworld, #1; Rincewind, #1) by Terry Pratchett 
20. The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) by Brandon Sanderson 
21. Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1) by Jim Butcher 
22. Circe by Madeline Miller 
23. A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1) by Ursula K. Le Guin 
24. Wizard’s First Rule (Sword of Truth, #1) by Terry Goodkind 
25. Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1) by Robin Hobb 
26. The Magicians (The Magicians, #1) by Lev Grossman 
27. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien 
28. The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1) by Scott Lynch 
29. The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman 
30. Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle, #1) by Diana Wynne Jones 
31. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman 
32. 1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3) by Haruki Murakami 
33. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley 
34. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke 
35. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 
36. A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) by V.E. Schwab 
37. Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, #1) by Patricia Briggs 
38. Elantris (Elantris, #1) by Brandon Sanderson 
39. The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski 
40. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende 
41. The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1) by Joe Abercrombie 
42. Uprooted by Naomi Novik 
43. Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm 
44. The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1) by Brent Weeks 
45. Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #1) by Laurell K. Hamilton 
46. The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) by N.K. Jemisin 
47. Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen 
48. Dragonflight (Pern: Dragonriders of Pern, #1) by Anne McCaffrey 
49. The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next, #1) by Jasper Fforde 
50. Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows, #1) by Kim Harrison 
51. Warbreaker (Warbreaker, #1) by Brandon Sanderson 
52. Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance: Chronicles, #1) by Margaret Weis 
53. The Warded Man (Demon Cycle, #1) by Peter V. Brett 
54. The Bear and the Nightingale (The Winternight Trilogy, #1) by Katherine Arden 
55. The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King 
56. The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches, #1) by Anne Rice 
57. Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1) by Ilona Andrews 
58. The Immortals of Meluha (Shiva Trilogy, #1) by Amish Tripathi 
59. Nimona by N.D. Stevenson 
60. The Black Prism (Lightbringer, #1) by Brent Weeks 
61. The Golem and the Djinni (The Golem and the Djinni #1) by Helene Wecker 
62. The Once and Future King by T.H. White 
63. Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1) by Gail Carriger 
64. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle 
65. Furies of Calderon (The Codex Alera, #1) by Jim Butcher 
66. Vicious (Villains, #1) by V.E. Schwab 
67. Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire, #1) by Mark Lawrence 
68. Bitten (Women of the Otherworld, #1) by Kelley Armstrong 
69. Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1) by Steven Erikson 
70. Rivers of London (Rivers of London, #1) by Ben Aaronovitch 
71. The Sword of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy #1) by Terry Brooks 
72. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell 
73. Magician: Apprentice (The Riftwar Saga, #1) by Raymond E. Feist 
74. Temeraire (Temeraire, #1) by Naomi Novik 
75. Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #1) by Kevin Hearne 
76. Blood Song (Raven’s Shadow, #1) by Anthony Ryan 
77. Kushiel’s Dart (Phèdre’s Trilogy, #1) by Jacqueline Carey 
78. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro 
79. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman 
80. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik 
81. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly 
82. Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1) by Leigh Bardugo 
83. Year One (Chronicles of The One, #1) by Nora Roberts 
84. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern 
85. The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #1) by Tad Williams 
86. Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon, #1) by China Miéville 
87. Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters, #1) by Juliet Marillier 
88. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance, #1) by N.K. Jemisin 
89. Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu 
90. House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1) by Sarah J. Maas 
91. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay 
92. Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold (Stephen Fry’s Great Mythology, #1) by Stephen Fry 
93. All the Birds in the Sky (All the Birds in the Sky, #1) by Charlie Jane Anders 
94. The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy, #1) by S.A. Chakraborty 
95. Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1) by Mark Lawrence 
96. The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1) by R.F. Kuang 
97. The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1) by Samantha Shannon 
98. The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1) by Lois McMaster Bujold 
99. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 

Classics and Lesser-Known Novels 

The list starts off with the father of fantasy novels, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. And it continues that trend with having The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at third. Game of Thrones sneaks in at fourth because of its recent popularity. I loved the novels and recommended them to anyone that has seen the show but hasn’t read the books. 

I was surprised to see a bunch of novels by Gaiman on the list. American Gods is the one that has come to define his works. But it is one of many great fantasy novels that he has written. And they may be better in my opinion. 

I was surprised to see The Bear and the Nightingale on the list. The writing and world building is amazing. It is a fantasy novel that focuses on Russian folklore and as someone that knows little about them, I was very fascinated.  

Conclusion 

That is all for Goodreads’ 100 most popular fantasy books list. How many books on this list have you read? Let us know in the comments below! 

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