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Fantasy literature has a long history of beckoning readers to escape into fleshed-out magical worlds, where wizards and dragons are the norm. Over the years, several titles have established themselves as pinnacles of fantasy fiction, molding the genre into the multifaceted entity it is today. Here are the best fantasy books of all time.
‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ by C. S. Lewis (1950)
The first entry in C. S. Lewis’ seven-volume “Chronicles of Narnia” has drawn in a legion of fans across decades, said Time. The series was the “literary spark that ignited dozens of contemporary fantasies,” in which a child “suddenly discovers that magic exists.”
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There have always been “fraught times,” and there have always been “those whose mastery of the art of storytelling” has helped us understand how “powerfully stories shape the world,” fantasy author N. K. Jemisin said at Time. Lewis is undoubtedly one of those greats who “sought to comfort children with faith.”’ ($11, Harper Collins, Amazon)
‘The Lord of the Rings’ by J. R .R. Tolkien (1954)
When it comes to fantasy world-building, J. R .R. Tolkien set a standard with Middle Earth. Starting as a sequel to his novel “The Hobbit,” the book evolved into one of the most recognizable and celebrated fantasy series of all time.
The world of elves, hobbits, dragons and wizards has a dedicated fanbase, many of who are Tolkien scholars. The author created a “great work of literature” that has the “power to engage an immense range of readers” and “most importantly, engage them in fundamentally different ways than its predecessors, contemporaries or imitators,” English literature scholar Michael D.C. Drout said at Lit Hub. ($26, Harper Collins, Amazon)
‘A Wizard of Earthsea’ by Ursula K. Le Guin (1968)
The fantasy genre, like other speculative fiction, is male-dominated. Butt there have been more than a fair share of women writing amazing fantasy books. Ursula K. Le Guin’s canon is a master class in what women can do in fantasy literature.
The author’s “A Wizard of Earthsea” challenges readers to “see the tropes and themes of a familiar genre in a way that doesn’t line up with the history of the canon,” said Lit Reactor. The world she creates with Earthsea feels “populated and alive in the way that the best fictional worlds always do,” but it also “doesn’t feel overly precious.” A “Wizard of Earthsea” is “smart, conscientious and morally responsible,” but also a “dude fights a dragon!” ($20, Harper Collins, Amazon)
‘The Golden Compass’ by Phillip Pullman (1995)
Two years before a bespectacled boy named Harry Potter took young-adult fantasy by storm, Philip Pullman’s “The Golden Compass” was making a name for itself as a classic of the subgenre. While both are “wildly popular,” only J. K. Rowling’s series “inspired a theme park,” The Atlantic said.
Still, Pullman’s legacy endures. After more than 30 years, his books “retain an idiosyncratic spikiness,” said The Atlantic. While Rowling’s work has a “glossy, optimized feel” and is “engineered for your comfort,” Pullman’s epic doesn’t “leach into the cultural groundwater quite so readily.” The author’s abilities as a storyteller are “stupendous,” and his stories “flood you.” ($13, Penguin Random House, Amazon)
‘Assassin’s Apprentice’ by Robin Hobb (1995)
Another master world builder is Robin Hobb, the pen name of Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden. If you enjoy Tolkien’s Middle Earth or George R. R. Martin’s Westeros, then you’ll be an “instant fan of the Realm of the Elderlings,” said BookTrib.
The 1990s were a time of “huge change in fantasy,” as writers brought “new levels of grittiness and explicitness” to a genre that had been “prudish and puritanical, perhaps to a fault,” said The i Paper. Hobb’s work has been “every bit as boundary-breaking” as her contemporaries like Martin. This is “down-and-dirty fantasy,” where magic is “more myth than reality,” but with characters who are “richly drawn human beings, full of flaws and all the more compelling for it.” ($20, Penguin Random House, Amazon)
‘A Game of Thrones’ by George R. R. Martin (1996)
Thirty years ago, Martin introduced us to Westeros, a world that has spawned a series, multiple standalones and an HBO deal. The book features a mix of “political intrigue, morally complex characters and unpredictable storytelling” that before him “wasn’t the norm for the genre, which traditionally featured clearly defined heroes and villains,” said Parade.
We have Martin to thank, in part, for the resurgence of interest in high fantasy. The success of GOT “reshaped both publishing and television,” Parade said. Fantasy storytelling embraced his blueprint of “morally complex protagonists, political intrigue and serialized storytelling” that rewarded “long-term investment from readers and viewers alike.” ($21, Penguin Random House, Amazon)
‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone’ by J.K. Rowling (1997)
Despite its author courting controversy in recent years by being vocally anti-transgender, Rowling’s “Harry Potter” and the larger world of wizards that she’s developed over the years were many a millennial's gateway into the fantasy genre. Returning to the first book in the series will remind you of “what it felt like to enter this enormous, expansive, enchanting world for the first time,” a world of “wonder and whimsy where everything that really mattered happened within the walls of your school,” said Vox.
That feeling is “peculiar to the books that imprint themselves on you at a very young age,” said Vox. Harry Potter has been able to “be that kind of book for so many people all at once.” ($13, Scholastic, Amazon)
‘Mistborn: The Final Empire’ by Brandon Sanderson (2006)
Brandon Sanderson introduced his Cosmere universe with this novel, featuring an edgier magic system and more adult themes. With “Mistborn: The Final Empire,” Sanderson “popularized his approach to crafting complex magic systems,” in which the “rules that govern the extraordinary have more in common with a chemical equation than with a wave of a wand,” said Time.
The novel is a “standout work amid the genre as a whole,” said Grimdark Magazine. With its “impressive world-building” and thrilling revenge heist plot, the book is “not only a legitimate classic,” it is “one of the essential works in the genre.” ($24, Macmillan Publishers, Amazon)
‘The Fifth Season’ by N. K. Jemisin (2015)
When the first book in N. K. Jemisin’s “Broken Earth” trilogy arrived in 2015, it “hit shelves with a bang,” said Book Riot. The book quickly “swept the awards circuit,” winning the Hugo Award for Best Novel and “being nominated for many others, including the Nebula Award.”
In time, Jemisin dominated the Hugo Award category for three years with each subsequent entry in the trilogy. She is the first Black person to win the Hugo for a novel. There is a “grim majesty” to Jemisin’s storytelling, and an “extraordinary artistry” to how she “unwinds its interlocking narratives” and “explores the systems that constrain its characters,” said Time. ($20, Hachette Book Group, Amazon)
‘The Poppy War’ by R. F. Kuang (2018)
R.F. Kuang’s 2018 debut made it clear she was here to shake up the genre. “The Poppy War” is a “grim-dark military fantasy novel” that draws on “mid-20th century Chinese politics” from the Imperial Dynasty, said Comic Book Resources.
It is highly regarded for its “complex portrayal of a strong female protagonist” and the “heavy psychological toll of war,” said Comic Book Resources. Kuang’s “rich and intricate world-building” blends historical events with a “unique shamanic magic system.” ($10, Harper Collins, Amazon)
