Top 10 Fantasy Books or Series’ That Everyone Should Read
Though fantasy may be considered a pulpy shelf genre that serious readers should avoid, there are several books out there that have merits beyond most. This list takes almost a decade of reading fantasy and suggests 10 series’ or books that stand out above the cut, making for a memorable read for anyone who loves to read.
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The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
This should probably go without saying, but this series is the epitome of high fantasy. Without it, we probably would not even have it as a genre. It is a well-written series as well, so for those of us who only read books with literary merits, these are good ones. It is a story that defines good and evil fairly succinctly but what it truly shows us is the hardships of holding true to one’s goals. Look at all the times Frodo almost gave up the One Ring, and yet he didn’t. There’s a lot we can learn from this series beyond imagination and good writing.
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The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin
LeGuin has been writing speculative fiction for so long it’s no wonder that her works have received so many literary merits she would need a separate apartment to store them all. Perhaps not her greatest work, but certainly a good one, the Earthsea Trilogy really shows what this writer can do. Not following the High Fantasy structure based around a talisman (jewel, sword, one ring etc.) it instead follows the personal journey of Ged, a young wizard who learns humility from his own mistakes. Many of LeGuin’s books are based on personal discovery, and this series does it better than most. Definitely a must read on anybody’s list.
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The RiddleMaster Trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip
This series is my personal favorite. There is nothing more unique than a story written by McKillip but this one is just amazing. In a world based around answering riddles, one young prince could call himself a Riddle Master. This trilogy follows his journey to discover who he is, and where the high lord of the realm has disappeared. My description really cannot do the story justice, because everything about the story is different from the basic formula for a fantasy novel, which typically follows the structure that Tolkien laid out years before. Just believe me when I say that this is an incredible, thought-provoking, and unique experience that every reader should partake in.
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The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
Though intended to be a science fiction novel, and certainly there are aspects in it, it really falls under the fantasy genre, delving into the realm of magic and high aristocracy. The idea behind the series is that there is only one true world, Amber, and every other world, including earth, is a shadow world of it, a parallel universe if you will. This is where the science fiction part comes into the play. The royal family of Amber has the ability to traverse these shadows, and even create shadows of their own. While many of the shadows that the main character, Corwin journeys through are entirely made up, some, like Earth and Avalon, will be familiar to the reader. The story is a roller coaster ride of intrigue, political battles, and right out war, a must read for any avid fantasy reader.
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The Sword of Shannara Series by Terry Brooks
What would a fantasy book list be without some Terry Brooks on it? By many he is considered to be the prominent mythcrafter of our generation. I list the Sword of Shannara not because it is his best work, but because it is his first work. None of his other books based in the world he has created would make any sense without reading the first three. The first book, The Sword of Shannara, is really an obvious spin off of the Lord of the Rings, but as the series progresses the books get more and more unique, to the point where a magical song is all that is there to combat an ancient evil. A very cool series indeed, and if it hooks your interest, please read The Heritage of Shannara, which is, in my own opinion, a superior series.
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Grendel by John Gardner
What an incredible book! Most of you are familiar with Beowulf, the heroic struggle against the monster Grendel, but we only hear it from the point of view of the people, not the monster. John Gardner decided that was hardly fair and wrote a book from the monster’s point of view. You discover that Grendel was not nearly so mindless as we supposed, and that he is truly a philosophical being, trying to discover his place in the world. The book deals with some pretty heavy topics, chief of which asks the question “Do we live in a moral universe?” Not the easiest of reads but definitely a must for all readers of fiction, be it fantasy or not.
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The First Three Books of The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
I have a particular bias with these books. I loved the first three books, which were very unique and a veritable thrill ride of dark magic and prophecy. But the problem with the series is that there end up being so many characters that you can read 500 pages before you return to the main character. And the books keep getting longer and longer, going well over 1000 pages. I attend college full time and work as well, I don’t have time to sit down and read a gigantic tome. But I put this series down because it is very good, at least while there are only 10 notable characters or so. If you like that sort of thing then by all means read the entire series, you won’t be disappointed.
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The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Children’s literature and Christian undertones be damned, this is a fine series for any age. Most of you are familiar with the movies, but the books are quite fantastic. A simple read for anyone of nine years or so, but a heavy series, full of good life lessons and good stories. I cannot say much more about the series, I think everyone should read it and that’s really all there is to it.
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The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
Another series that is considered to be a child’s series but definitely a must for any reader of any age. You don’t see many books nowadays that ignore the existentialist movement and make you glad to be a decent human being. The characters are well developed and some are very cute, having a particular catch phrase that makes you smile every time you read it. A journey of self discovery for Taran, who after several journeys with a princess, hopes to discover royalty in his blood. Each book has an unpredictable plot twist that will leave you thinking. A fantastic read.
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The Redemption of Althalus by David Eddings
Eddings has written so many books it’s hard to pick just one to put on the list, but when push comes to shove, The Redemption of Althalus is an incredible book, with some really cool twists on magic and comradery. You follow Althalus, a thief and a rogue who makes his living robbing people blind. He considers himself incredibly lucky and for awhile it seems to be true. One day his luck runs sour and in the end he is forced to take a job from a mysterious stranger, just to make ends meet. He is asked to retrieve a book. Little does Althalus know that this retrieval is the catalyst for a journey that will last thousands of years. A witty and overall pleasant piece of adult literature.
Liked it
Hi nice piece. But of course whenever anybody gives a list of the best of anything there are just loads of people who will disagree. For me, you could take out terry brooks and Jordan as well. For me both of these fellas dragged their stories out longer than a giraffe’s neck that had been really streatched a very, very long way indeed and then perhaps streatched a little bit longer still. And where is David Gemmell, gasp…
All told it’s a good list and i hope you get a lot of arguments debate, after all that’s the best thing about lists, isn’t it?
Well done for one of your fist articles. Just remember that is the coming weeks if you happen to make it on the hot content list sooner than expected, you will start getting some jealous trolls.
I’ve ran into this problem already but, because of the most wonderful community we have on Triond it will just make your articles that much more appealing.
Read my troll article for a low down.
Good Luck and welcome to Triond!
Well Aaron, I definently want to see some opinions on there, and I will agree with the Robert Jordan stretching out his stories, which is why I put only the first three books. David Gemmell, I will admit I have not read his books…looks like I’ve got some reading to do. If anyone else has any books to recommend, I am always expanding my library.
And for the record, I don’t actually care for Robert Jordan but I’m a firm believing in experiencing “what everybody is talking about”.
Nice article. I’m not fond of Robert Jordon, haven’t read David Edding-too many books in hiss series,like Jordon. I think I’d like to read Grendal though. I do agree on the rest of your list though
Very nice article, I agree with of your opinions:)
Thanks for the list, I’m constantly on the look out for new series and having recommendations makes it that much easier to weed through some of the “how did this get published?”s and “last time I buy based on cover art”s!
thanks!
Great article! I do like your number 1 choice. I love “The Lord Of The Rings”! God Bless You!
The great thing about lists is that everyone has not heard of something but know something that somebody else doesn’t. As for the few series on there that I have read, great choice!
Keep on writing!
your mom
lord of the rings at top of list makes your list valid cs lewis man should be rated higher prob just underneath lord of the rings
and as for brooks and jordan couple of jokers ,i am reading a book at the moment magicians law tales of the bard by m scott not bad ok not a patch on j r tolkien but than what is ?
Does anyone else here have an opinion on the author Terry Brooks? He has plenty of books out but I picked up one or two and I guess I personally thought they were rather poor. It just seemed very bland and totally predictable to me. Perhaps I just picked the wrong ones, but I guess I felt they lacked integral drama and character personality, emotion, and interaction. Comments?
I would agree with your list to a large extent, albeit, I believe no fantasy fiction list can be complete without having Robert Salvatore – impossible to ignore Drizzit – as well as Raymond Feist on it.
Why is neither Harry Potter nor Eragon on your list? It certainly ought to qualify as they are both renowned books (Especially Harry Potter) and it seems redundant and ignorant to not put them on there…
If you want 2 excellent fantasy books to read, go read Harry Potter and The Inheritance Cycle (Eragon / Eldest / Brisingr)
I am also a college student (carrying 19 credits) and I also work (24 hour a week) and I ALWAYS find time to get some reading done on the Wheel of Time…of course I can read upwards of 1200 words a minute and have already read the entire series to date more than 13 times. Anyway my point being that Jordan’s Wheel of Time is too good to put down after just three books…period. It truly deserves a spot higher up on your list of also very note worthy books (I have read most of them a few times as well as some not mentioned here (Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy, Mercedes Lackey’s Obsidian Trilogy as well as her Bedlams Bard series)). None the less this is a very nice list
Nice series but no fantasy series is complete without David Gemmell’s Rigante , Drenei series in my opinion he is one of the most underrated writers i just love his books
Where is a song of ice and fire series by george r. r. martin? What about robin hobb’s the farseer’s trilogy, the liveship traders trilogy and the tawny man trilogy. I think a must read in the list of fantasy books. If read you will not be dissapointed (like you may from the terry brooks books). I am gonna check out the riddlemaster tril. and the earthsea tril.
Stumbled across this list while using google to find something new to read. I’ve bookmarked this page and intend to take a closer look at some of the titles you have listed, thank you very much!
Although I am surprised that Stephen Donaldson has not been mention yet (ol’ Tommy Covenant is the life and soul of any party!). And if you haven’t read it yet Weis and Hickman’s Death Gate Cycle is a must!
I have come across this list while googling. The list is pretty nice and I have seen some books I haven’t read in it and also from the comments above.
To add one of mine – The sword of truth series by Terry Goodkind is one of my favorite from the sword and sorcery genre.
hi,
yes i agree, there must be the farseer tril on here, i think i will try the riddlemaster tril next. just finished trudi canavan the black magician tril, it was slow starting, but did keep me held.
so now i am all out of books, and will not sleep untill i get another trilogy under my bed sheets.
i need books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
s.
I started with Tolkien and found my taste to be with Brooks, Farland, Donaldson. I just could not get into the Harry Potter books as I felt I was reading a child’s book and I find that unfortunate as makes me feel ancient. Terry Brooks has taken his stories to a whole new level, beyond anything I could ever imagine and I am astounded he was able to tie into the present… He and J.R.R. Tolkien are similiar in some aspects, but If anyone should have in his/hers possesion of Tolkien’s pen it would be Terry- he has proved that
Hmmm. Im a bite dissapointed in this list and i also love debating about this kinda stuff and i must agree WHERE THE HELL IS THE FARSEER TRIL. Also where is the liveship traders tril and Keys to the Kingdom Tril And the sword of truth series and the Bartimaeus tril my god u guyz were most prob writing this in ur mom’s basements comeing up wateva books u could remember but sry …. but i guess there a few gd series and writers but not all are even recommended by anyone rlly sry i have to disagree with ur list
OMFG AND MY HAVE WRITER BRENT WEEKS HE MADE THBEST TRIL EVER TO BE CREATED IN THE WORLD ITS E THE NIGHT ANGEL TRIL IF U DO NOT READ IT U WILL SUFER IT IS A COMPLETE MUST U READ AND U WONT REGRET IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JACK VANCE? GEORGE RR MARTIN? RAY BRADBURY?
wow no harry potter? interesting.