If you are like me, then you are a huge fantasy fan. It is easily my favorite genre and I have to force myself to read to read other books. But for this list, we will be staying with this genre as we share our list of the 21 must read fantasy books of all time!
With so many fantasy books to choose from, making this list was not easy. But it must be done. This is a strong list that contains some of the best fantasy novels to be published as well as some hidden gems. No list is going to get it completely right but we like how this list came out. You can see the full list below!
The 21 Must Read Fantasy Books of All Time
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien
- A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
- His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
- Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson
- The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- The Night Angel by Brent Weeks
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
- The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie
- The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
- A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
- Discworld by Terry Pratchett
- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
- The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
- Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
- The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1 by Patrick Rothfuss
- Temeraire by Naomi Novik
The Best Fantasy Books
If you love fantasy novels, then you have to read The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Not only is it an amazing series but it is the formula that many fantasy authors have used to write their novels. If you have read a bunch of fantasy novels, then you have most likely come across troupes that were popularized by Tolkien.
Or if you prefer mystery novels and wanted them to have a flair of fantasy, the Dresden Files should be your next read. Butcher’s writing is brilliant and it feels like a whodunnit instead of your usual world building fantasy novel. Butcher was a big fan of fantasy novels and it shows.
A surprise series on this list is Brandon Sanderson’s The Final Empire. It is a more recent series that pushes the genre forward. It has a multitude of characters and the novel has a time jump as well as in a change of protagonists. Those are stuff you don’t see in many fantasy novels because it is a lot to juggle and fans aren’t always receptive to such changes. But Sanderson makes this work with ease as well as making the newer books feel fresh.
Conclusion
That is all for our list of the 21 must read fantasy books of all time. How many of these books have you read? What books should have made our list? Let us know in the comments below!
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Conspicuously missing: Harry Potter. I’d ask how someone could possibly forget, but I know the answer: JK Rowling is an unperson and therefore her books no longer exist and were never good.
You can’t ignore Harry Potter. I disagree with the author’s point of view but the books are great.
Literally the greatest and the most profitable fantasy of all time, the Harry Potter series, is bizarrly missing. The political allegiance weighing heavy of the critic’s logic I see.
True story.
I disagree with some of it but hey, it’s not my list. Thank you for at least not including Harry Potter. I don’t give a crap about her politics, those books just aren’t that good. There are certainly 21 fantasy books that are better. It’s a huge genre. Also, Harry Potter was written for children. This is a more adult oriented list. People are upset that you didn’t include a kids book alongside Ursula Le Geuin. That’s silly.
Thank you also for not including Mists of Avalon. A lot of people include that book without knowing any better.
Kelly Link has a full length novel that just came out. Based on your list, I guarantee you’ll love it. Do it up.
Lol. Get lost loser.
Literally the greatest and the most profitable fantasy of all time, the Harry Potter series, is bizarrly missing. The political allegiance weighing heavy of the critic’s logic I see.
Great fantasy book for kids, and i’m sur they would even be top 1 in a best books for kids list.
But they are not contenders for best fantasy books as a whole
If you think HP is just a good book for kids you know very little about books.
The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. The Shannara Chronicles by Terry Brooks.
I asked my friend Vladimir Taltos to pay this author a “visit”
No Brust
No Eddings
No Zelazny!
No Salvatore
The list goes on.
Read “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”
Michael Moorcock is conspicuous by his absence, it seems he is being forgotten by a younger generation.
If you don’t have any of David Gemmal’s books listed than you just don’t have a clue.
Steven Erikson and Iaun C Esslemont Malazan series and Raymond E Feist Magician are 2 I would recommend to anyone
No Tad Williams and no Malazan books? Please.
There’s a hell of a lot more than 21 books there
Magician by Raymond E Feist knocks the socks off most. Harry Potter is for kids and though popular as feel it ain’t the greatest by a long stretch
Jesus. No raymond e feist. No david eddings, no katherine kerr, no r a salvatore, no traci harding, no Margaret weis n tracy hickman, its less of a best fantasy and more of what crap has been turned into tv
Magician and the entire riftwar series unacceptable that it was left off
*Patternist Series Octavia Butler
*Nation Terry Pratchett
*Harry Potter series
*East of Eden series Harry Harrison
*Riverworld Series Philip Jose Farmer
*Jonathan Livingston Seagull Richard Bach
ASoIaF on top
Have you even read Lord of the Rings?
After the first couple books….game of thrones devolves into random people wandering around with random deaths…plus it will never be finished and was forever tainted by the TV show ending.
LoTR is great as a movie and the books are source material for most other fantasy…but honestly they are a painful slog to get through…and I read them long before the movies.
Terry Brooks – The Sword of Shannara.
How about Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber? I know it’s old, but there’s Dune here (isn’t it technically sci-fi, though?); it’s also literarily demanding of the reader, but again, Le Guin has made it to this list, even though Earthsea is the least impressive of her works. It built the foundation for fantasy, sure, but so did Amber (much much later, I know), and in a much more adult, complex, and engaging manner. And the Sphinx there is just the best.
Hey, HP warriors, it’s a list of must-read books, everyone’s already read Harry Potter. Chill.
No Malazan book of the Fallen? You’re missing the best of the best friend.
David Weddings, The Belgariad, The Mallorion, and The Elenium series are all great reads.
agreed
You forgot the Dragonlance series……
Hiw is Malazan book of the fallen not there?
agreed Ian esslemont and Steven Erikson malazon series should be there
The Shannara series, Terry Brooks, really should be on this list.
agreed should be there
The Tairen Soul series by C. L. Wilson, I would contend, should be at the top of the list.
Uhhh wow really how do you not include RA Salvatore Drizzt legends series really !!? Probably top 5 series of all time
Not sure if it feels in this category or not, but Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (not the movie, the actually book), no?!
Love the guide but it’s sci-fi not fantasy. Dune also falls into sci-fi.
Glen Cook, Black Company and Garret PI. David Gemmel’s Drenai books, and Stephen R. Donaldson’s the Thomas Covenant the unbeliever trilogies, are all much better than several of the books on your list. I haven’t read all of them, but most.
What a weird way to reference The Name of the Wind.
All readed! NEXT!!!
The chronicles of Thomas Covenant is an excellent series. An unacceptable omission.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant are superb along with the Black Company series and any Robert E Howard books.
Memory Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams are three of the best Fantasy novels ever written!
No C. S. Lewis? H. G. Wells? How about “The Forever War”? Homer? So many more.
Dune? I mean sure you could argue it has some Fantasy elements like the Bene Gesserit and prophecy, as well as sword fighting and the like, but it’s all under a hard Sci-fi shell. I don’t really think it counts enough as Fantasy to be taking a spot away here from other fantasy works.
Actually, the same could be said for Hunger Games, again, more dystopian Sci-fi than fantasy and the Dresden Files as well as the Graveyard Book are really more Supernatural horror/thriller than fantasy.
A fair amount of this list kinda feels like someone who doesn’t really read fantasy all that much trying to fill in some gaps around the few mainstream ones they have to make the list seem bigger than it actually has a right to be. As seen in the comments where more than a few great fantasy series seem to have been overlooked I’m favour of things the are at best fantasy adjacent or maybe have fantastic elements without really being fantasy in of themselves.
Dune is pure sci-fi, all the mental stuff is explained scientifically.
What about the inheritance series? Eragon?
In the photo: Naomi Alderman’s “The Power”!
That’s not 21 books.
It’s AT LEAST 59 books.
actively weird that dune and the hunger games are on this list when neither one is remotely a fantasy novel
Interesting list, with a bunch of exceptions noted above.
At least a couple of the listed titles are science fiction, not fantasy.
I do suspect there’s a tendency, in multi-book stories to read the first book, and stop. That’s the only reason I can see for some of the choices.
Gene Wolf. (But I also like the eternal hero books)
What moron but Dune and Hunger Games on this list? Both are serious SciFi, *NOT* fantasy. Someone needs to lose their jobs over that.
R.A. Salvatore’s Dark Elf and Icewind Dale trilogies (especially – there are 39 books). Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern anthology. Gary Gygax’s Gord the Rogue series (especially Sea of Death). Dave Duncan’s Seventh Sword series. Stephen R. Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant trilogies.
All better than Hunger Games, especially considering HG is a direct ripoff of a short story (The Lottery) and Battle Royale.
Terry brooks, Anne mccaffrey, Tracy Hickman, Margaret Weis, Salvador. I am not saying any of the 21 are not deserving but the must reads need to include these