100 Fantasy Books

[Maria]

I just finished a day long research project. Someone on facebook linked to a sort of quiz thingy about how many of these 100 great fantasy books have you read? Well, I looked and I'd only read 27 of them! So, since we've been looking for more material to listen to as audiobooks, I took that list of 100 books and crossreferenced it to the Audible.com website and put all the ones they had of that list that I hadn't read into my wish list. (At least, the ones that the blurb sounded OK on and the listener reviews weren't too bad) And then (not wanting to pay when I could have it for free) checked my library's downloadable and CD audiobook sites and will be able to get about ten of them from the library. Eventually.


Here's the list:

1. The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
2. The Fellowship of the Ring- J.R.R. Tolkien
3. A Game of Thrones- George R.R. Martin
4. Gardens of the Moon -Steven Erikson
5. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
6. Titus Groan - Marvin Peake
7. The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
8. The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson
9. Assassin’s Apprentice - Robin Hobb
10. The Warded Man - Peter V. Brett
11. Black Sun Rising - C. S. Friedman
12. The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
13. The Magicians - Less Grossman
14. A Cavern of Black Ice - J.V. Jones
15. Acacia - David Anthony Durham
16. The Darkness That Comes Before - R. Scott Bakker
17. Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
18. Lord Foul’s Bane - Stephen R. Donaldson
19. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
20. Sabriel - Garth Nix
21. The Dragonbone Chair - Tad Williams
22. Redwall - Brian Jacques
23. The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks
24. Magicican: Apprentice - Raymond Feist
25. Welcome to the Jungle - Jim Butcher
26. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
27. Wizard’s First Rule - Terry Goodkind
28. The Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K Le Guin
29. Homeland - R.A. Salvatore
30. Dragon Wing - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
31. Grendel - John Gardner
32. The Gunslinger - Stephen King
33. Seventh Son - Orson Scott Card
34. The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
35. Watership Down - Richard Adams
36. Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
37. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
38. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
39. Interview With the Vampire - Anne Rice
40. Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. Dracula - Bram Stoker
44. The Odyssey - Homer
45. The Once and Future King - T.H. White
46. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
47. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
48. Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
49. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
50. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
51. Howl’s Moving Castles - Diana Wynne Jones
52. Legend - David Gemmell
53. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
54. Green Rider - Kristen Britain
55. Lamb - Christopher Moore
56. Flatland - Edwin A. Abbott
57. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
58. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
59. Glory Road - Robert A. Heinlein
60. The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers
61. The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
62. The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
63. Imajica - Clive Barker
64. Time and Again - Jack Finney
65. The Misenchanted Sword - Lawrence Watt-Evans
66. The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
67. Eragon - Christopher Paolini
68. Stellar Wind 2012 - Catherine Barber
69. The Black Company - Glen Cook
70. Another Fine Myth - Robert Lynn Aspirin
71. The Deception - R.A. Knowlton
72. Pyromancer - Dan Callender
73. Vulnerable - Amy Lane
74. The Pox Party - M.T. Anderson
75. The Innocent Mage - Karen Miller
76. Magyk - Angie Sage
77. The Phoenix and the Sword - Robert E. Howard
78. The Book of Dead Days - Marcus Sedgwick
79. Arrows of the Queen - Mercedes Lackey
80. The Magician’s Guild - Trudi Canavan
81. Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews
82. The Sum of All Men - David Farland
83. Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrlees
84. Pawn of Prophecy - David Eddings
85. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L’Engle
86. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
87. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
88. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
89. Beowulf - Unknown
90. Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay
91. Elric of Melnibone - Michael Moorcock
92. Dragon Prince - Melanie Rawn
93. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
94. Sheepfarmer’s Daughter - Elizabeth Moon
95. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
96. Perfume - Patrick Suskind
97. Beauty - Robin McKinley
98. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Marakami
99. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
100. Boy’s Life - Robert McCammon

How many have you read?

I've got enough fantasy audio now lined up to keep us busy for a couple of years now, I think!

[yovargas]

Robert Jordan??

[Maria]

I haven't actually read that series, but the fact that someone-- however ill advised-- put it above FOTR intrigues me. I'm going to try that one since it has been done in audio form.

And I like audio because it leaves me free to do stuff with my hands, and my husband and I can listen together. We've been listening to books preferentially over any other form of entertainment lately, which is why we needed new material!

[River]

Why isn't Harry Potter on that list?

[vison]

I've read 12 of them. I must say, that is a VERY peculiar list, including many books that are NOT fantasy at all.

I have started at least 50 of them and threw them across the room in disgust. An awful lot of dreck on that list, along with a few wonderful books.

And those wonderful books scarcely fit the definition of "fantasy". When it gets right down to it, isn't any work of fiction a fantasy?

[Elentári]

I've read approx a quarter of the books on that list...and I LOVE Robert Jordan -wouldn't put him above JRRT, though, naturally...

[Primula Baggins]

Some of that list is SF, intended by its writer as such. I've read barely a tenth of the list and recognize only about half the titles—fantasy rarely catches me up, even if it's brilliant, and after all these years I've stopped trying it except on urgent recommendation from people whose taste I respect.

And even then it often doesn't work; I've bounced off Jonathan Strange three or four times now. There's something there I'm somehow blind to, and maybe it's at the core of why other fantasies haven't worked for me, either.

[Alatar]

Ok. Bolded are the ones I've read, italicised are on my reading list

1. The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
2. The Fellowship of the Ring- J.R.R. Tolkien
3. A Game of Thrones- George R.R. Martin
4. Gardens of the Moon -Steven Erikson
5. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
6. Titus Groan - Marvin Peake
7. The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
8. The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson
9. Assassin’s Apprentice - Robin Hobb
10. The Warded Man - Peter V. Brett
11. Black Sun Rising - C. S. Friedman
12. The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
13. The Magicians - Less Grossman
14. A Cavern of Black Ice - J.V. Jones
15. Acacia - David Anthony Durham
16. The Darkness That Comes Before - R. Scott Bakker
17. Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
18. Lord Foul’s Bane - Stephen R. Donaldson
19. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
20. Sabriel - Garth Nix
21. The Dragonbone Chair - Tad Williams
22. Redwall - Brian Jacques
23. The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks
24. Magicican: Apprentice - Raymond Feist
25. Welcome to the Jungle - Jim Butcher
26. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
27. Wizard’s First Rule - Terry Goodkind
28. The Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K Le Guin
29. Homeland - R.A. Salvatore
30. Dragon Wing - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
31. Grendel - John Gardner
32. The Gunslinger - Stephen King
33. Seventh Son - Orson Scott Card
34. The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
35. Watership Down - Richard Adams
36. Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
37. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
38. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
39. Interview With the Vampire - Anne Rice
40. Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. Dracula - Bram Stoker
44. The Odyssey - Homer
45. The Once and Future King - T.H. White
46. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
47. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
48. Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
49. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
50. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
51. Howl’s Moving Castles - Diana Wynne Jones
52. Legend - David Gemmell
53. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
54. Green Rider - Kristen Britain
55. Lamb - Christopher Moore
56. Flatland - Edwin A. Abbott
57. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
58. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
59. Glory Road - Robert A. Heinlein
60. The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers
61. The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
62. The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
63. Imajica - Clive Barker
64. Time and Again - Jack Finney
65. The Misenchanted Sword - Lawrence Watt-Evans
66. The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
67. Eragon - Christopher Paolini
68. Stellar Wind 2012 - Catherine Barber
69. The Black Company - Glen Cook
70. Another Fine Myth - Robert Lynn Aspirin
71. The Deception - R.A. Knowlton
72. Pyromancer - Dan Callender
73. Vulnerable - Amy Lane
74. The Pox Party - M.T. Anderson
75. The Innocent Mage - Karen Miller
76. Magyk - Angie Sage
77. The Phoenix and the Sword - Robert E. Howard
78. The Book of Dead Days - Marcus Sedgwick
79. Arrows of the Queen - Mercedes Lackey
80. The Magician’s Guild - Trudi Canavan
81. Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews
82. The Sum of All Men - David Farland
83. Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrlees
84. Pawn of Prophecy - David Eddings
85. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L’Engle
86. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
87. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
88. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
89. Beowulf - Unknown
90. Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay
91. Elric of Melnibone - Michael Moorcock
92. Dragon Prince - Melanie Rawn
93. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
94. Sheepfarmer’s Daughter - Elizabeth Moon
95. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
96. Perfume - Patrick Suskind
97. Beauty - Robin McKinley
98. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Marakami
99. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
100. Boy’s Life - Robert McCammon

[Impenitent]

1. The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
2. The Fellowship of the Ring- J.R.R. Tolkien
3. A Game of Thrones- George R.R. Martin
4. Gardens of the Moon -Steven Erikson
5. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
6. Titus Groan - Marvin Peake
7. The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
8. The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson
9. Assassin’s Apprentice - Robin Hobb
10. The Warded Man - Peter V. Brett
11. Black Sun Rising - C. S. Friedman
12. The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
13. The Magicians - Less Grossman
14. A Cavern of Black Ice - J.V. Jones
15. Acacia - David Anthony Durham
16. The Darkness That Comes Before - R. Scott Bakker
17. Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
18. Lord Foul’s Bane - Stephen R. Donaldson (meh)
19. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
20. Sabriel - Garth Nix
21. The Dragonbone Chair - Tad Williams
22. Redwall - Brian Jacques
23. The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks
24. Magician: Apprentice - Raymond Feist
25. Welcome to the Jungle - Jim Butcher
26. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
27. Wizard’s First Rule - Terry Goodkind
28. The Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K Le Guin
29. Homeland - R.A. Salvatore
30. Dragon Wing - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
31. Grendel - John Gardner
32. The Gunslinger - Stephen King
33. Seventh Son - Orson Scott Card
34. The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
35. Watership Down - Richard Adams
36. Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
37. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
38. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
39. Interview With the Vampire - Anne Rice
40. Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. Dracula - Bram Stoker
44. The Odyssey - Homer
45. The Once and Future King - T.H. White
46. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
47. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
48. Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
49. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
50. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
51. Howl’s Moving Castles - Diana Wynne Jones
52. Legend - David Gemmell
53. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
54. Green Rider - Kristen Britain
55. Lamb - Christopher Moore
56. Flatland - Edwin A. Abbott
57. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
58. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
59. Glory Road - Robert A. Heinlein
60. The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers
61. The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
62. The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
63. Imajica - Clive Barker
64. Time and Again - Jack Finney
65. The Misenchanted Sword - Lawrence Watt-Evans
66. The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
67. Eragon - Christopher Paolini (Deeply regretted the waste of time, but my son insisted)
68. Stellar Wind 2012 - Catherine Barber
69. The Black Company - Glen Cook
70. Another Fine Myth - Robert Lynn Aspirin
71. The Deception - R.A. Knowlton
72. Pyromancer - Dan Callender
73. Vulnerable - Amy Lane
74. The Pox Party - M.T. Anderson
75. The Innocent Mage - Karen Miller
76. Magyk - Angie Sage
77. The Phoenix and the Sword - Robert E. Howard
78. The Book of Dead Days - Marcus Sedgwick
79. Arrows of the Queen - Mercedes Lackey
80. The Magician’s Guild - Trudi Canavan
81. Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews
82. The Sum of All Men - David Farland
83. Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrlees
84. Pawn of Prophecy - David Eddings
85. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L’Engle
86. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
87. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
88. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
89. Beowulf - Unknown
90. Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay
91. Elric of Melnibone - Michael Moorcock
92. Dragon Prince - Melanie Rawn
93. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
94. Sheepfarmer’s Daughter - Elizabeth Moon
95. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
96. Perfume - Patrick Suskind
97. Beauty - Robin McKinley
98. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Marakami
99. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
100. Boy’s Life - Robert McCammon

A lot on that list I'd never think of as fantasy (Watership Down, for example, although I guess talking/thinking rabbits is pretty fantastic)

[vison]

Some of that list is SF, intended by its writer as such. I've read barely a tenth of the list and recognize only about half the titles—fantasy rarely catches me up, even if it's brilliant, and after all these years I've stopped trying it except on urgent recommendation from people whose taste I respect.

And even then it often doesn't work; I've bounced off Jonathan Strange three or four times now. There's something there I'm somehow blind to, and maybe it's at the core of why other fantasies haven't worked for me, either.

I couldn't get into Jonathan Strange, either. Likewise with The Magician and Mrs. Quent. Twee, and overstrained.

I only loved one "fantasy" and that was LOTR. The others I've tried seemed always to be poor imitations of Tolkien. It wasn't the fantasy aspect of LOTR that I loved/love, it was the words.

Science fiction is, one must admit, a kind of fantasy. All fiction is, in the end. But good science fiction is better than any regular fantasy, except for LOTR and that's comparing apples to oysters or something.

Years ago my son persuaded me to try Raymond E. Feist. I shall not soon forget that. And not in a good way.

[Primula Baggins]

Yes, with LotR for me as well, it's the words. And the world they create in my mind that goes from the roots of the mountains to the topmost peaks, from Hobbiton to places far over the horizon that are barely mentioned, from Sam crying over his pots to King Elessar's coronation. Even the language covers the whole spectrum. Compared to LotR, even the best other fantasy has three colors and two voices and four places I believe in. Spoiled, I am.

[WampusCat]

I've read 28.

1. The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
2. The Fellowship of the Ring- J.R.R. Tolkien
3. A Game of Thrones- George R.R. Martin
4. Gardens of the Moon -Steven Erikson
5. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
6. Titus Groan - Marvin Peake
7. The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
8. The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson
9. Assassin’s Apprentice - Robin Hobb
10. The Warded Man - Peter V. Brett
11. Black Sun Rising - C. S. Friedman
12. The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
13. The Magicians - Less Grossman
14. A Cavern of Black Ice - J.V. Jones
15. Acacia - David Anthony Durham
16. The Darkness That Comes Before - R. Scott Bakker
17. Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
18. Lord Foul’s Bane - Stephen R. Donaldson
19. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
20. Sabriel - Garth Nix
21. The Dragonbone Chair - Tad Williams
22. Redwall - Brian Jacques
23. The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks
24. Magicican: Apprentice - Raymond Feist
25. Welcome to the Jungle - Jim Butcher
26. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
27. Wizard’s First Rule - Terry Goodkind
28. The Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K Le Guin
29. Homeland - R.A. Salvatore
30. Dragon Wing - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
31. Grendel - John Gardner
32. The Gunslinger - Stephen King
33. Seventh Son - Orson Scott Card
34. The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
35. Watership Down - Richard Adams
36. Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
37. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
38. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
39. Interview With the Vampire - Anne Rice
40. Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. Dracula - Bram Stoker
44. The Odyssey - Homer
45. The Once and Future King - T.H. White
46. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
47. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
48. Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
49. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
50. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
51. Howl’s Moving Castles - Diana Wynne Jones
52. Legend - David Gemmell
53. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
54. Green Rider - Kristen Britain
55. Lamb - Christopher Moore
56. Flatland - Edwin A. Abbott
57. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
58. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
59. Glory Road - Robert A. Heinlein
60. The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers
61. The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
62. The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
63. Imajica - Clive Barker
64. Time and Again - Jack Finney
65. The Misenchanted Sword - Lawrence Watt-Evans
66. The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
67. Eragon - Christopher Paolini
68. Stellar Wind 2012 - Catherine Barber
69. The Black Company - Glen Cook
70. Another Fine Myth - Robert Lynn Aspirin
71. The Deception - R.A. Knowlton
72. Pyromancer - Dan Callender
73. Vulnerable - Amy Lane
74. The Pox Party - M.T. Anderson
75. The Innocent Mage - Karen Miller
76. Magyk - Angie Sage
77. The Phoenix and the Sword - Robert E. Howard
78. The Book of Dead Days - Marcus Sedgwick
79. Arrows of the Queen - Mercedes Lackey
80. The Magician’s Guild - Trudi Canavan
81. Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews
82. The Sum of All Men - David Farland
83. Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrlees
84. Pawn of Prophecy - David Eddings
85. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L’Engle
86. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
87. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
88. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
89. Beowulf - Unknown
90. Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay
91. Elric of Melnibone - Michael Moorcock
92. Dragon Prince - Melanie Rawn
93. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
94. Sheepfarmer’s Daughter - Elizabeth Moon
95. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
96. Perfume - Patrick Suskind
97. Beauty - Robin McKinley
98. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Marakami
99. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
100. Boy’s Life - Robert McCammon

[Maria]

These are the one's I've read:

2. The Fellowship of the Ring- J.R.R. Tolkien
Yay!!
3. A Game of Thrones- George R.R. Martin
Listened to this series as an audiobook while commuting a few years ago. It took *forever*! I'm somewhat sad to find out, though, that I've forgotten almost all of it, since the sequel is coming out this year and I'll only have a vague outline of the previous books in my brain- and there's no way I'm listening to all that again!

9. Assassin’s Apprentice - Robin Hobb
I read this as a book. EXCELLENT series! Now that an audiobook is out I'm going to recommend my husband listen to it.

17. Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
We started this one as an audiobook but didn't get far for reasons I can't remember. Either the reader was bad, or the story didn't adapt well to audio, or the story just sucked. Anyway, we abandoned that one.

21. The Dragonbone Chair - Tad Williams
Read in book form, loved it.

22. Redwall - Brian Jacques
Read in book form, but don't remember any of it.

25. Welcome to the Jungle - Jim Butcher
I love the Dresden series, it's one of my favorites... but "Welcome to the Jungle" is a graphic novel prequel to the real series. I don't think that counts as a *real* novel, does it?

26. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Read it, then mostly forgot it. Kids? Wardrobe? Lots of snow?

32. The Gunslinger - Stephen King
We got this from the library as an audio book, and stuck with it in a kind of horrified mesmerization. We slogged through the whole thing hoping the next book would be better, but abandoned book two really quickly. I'm just not up to Stephen King's sort of writing.

33. Seventh Son - Orson Scott Card
Excellent series! I've read and listened to it several times.

34. The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
Read it, forgot it. Something about dimensional shifting? And Fae?

35. Watership Down - Richard Adams
Loved it as a kid. Don't think I'd have much patience with it nowadays.

36. Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
I must have read this at some point but only remember bits and pieces.

37. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
Like the series, don't much like the first book. Too fragmented and random for my taste.

38. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
Loved the movie, loved the book better!

39. Interview With the Vampire - Anne Rice
I hated this one so much I threw it away afterwards. I didn't want it in the house where my kids might read it.

42. The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Read it, forgot it.

43. Dracula - Bram Stoker
I've read it, but only as a counterpoint to Fred Saberhagen's book that tells Dracula's side of the story.

44. The Odyssey - Homer
I've read a translation.

49. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
I know I've read it, but can't disentangle it from the movie in my mind.

57. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
A childhood favorite.

59. Glory Road - Robert A. Heinlein
My least favorite Heinlein novel.

62. The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
Read it as a kid, loved it. Don't know if I would as an adult or not.

70. Another Fine Myth - Robert Lynn Aspirin
This used to be a favorite series of mine and I'd buy every new book as soon as it would come out- but after Mr. Aspirin started collaberating with other authors to continue the series, something died. I don't even bother getting them anymore.

81. Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews
Read it, forgot it. Lucky to even remember the title.

86. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
Childhood favorite.

88. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
Started it as an audio book but dropped it for some reason. Saw the movie....

[Aravar]

2. The Fellowship of the Ring- J.R.R. Tolkien

The best on the list, but why only Fellowship?

6. Titus Groan - Marvin Peake

Well written and atmospheric, but not really to my taste.

12. The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie

Really liked this, wlthough I think Best Served Cold is the best so far. I don't tihnk everyone will like it : it reminds me of the feel of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: a dark renaissance Europe.

16. The Darkness That Comes Before - R. Scott Bakker

Another good recent read, with a similar level of darkness ot Abercombie.

19. American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Superb.

21. The Dragonbone Chair - Tad Williams

Gave up about a third of the way in. I couldn't buy a world where there had been a major famine for months and yet the preotagonist could go into an inn and buy a steak. Just cause its fantasy doesn't mean anytinhg goes.

26. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis

Enjoyable, but not brillaint.

36. Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

Great classic.

37. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett

Who chose this out of all of Pratchett's works? It's fun, but not a patch on the later books.

38. The Princess Bride - William Goldman

I prefer the film. The book is a little too self-indulgent IMO

41. Animal Farm - George Orwell

Altough it has talking Animals, i owuldn't really put it as fantsy. Great book, though.

42. The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley

One of the better takes on a "fantasy" Arthur, which I will get round to reading again. Mary Stewart is the best in this genre IMO.

43. Dracula - Bram Stoker

Good, but the neding always seems to me to be extremely rushed: the climax is over in a couple of pages: a poor payoff.

44. The Odyssey - Homer

This transcends comment.

45. The Once and Future King - T.H. White

Enjoyed it, but not read it for many years.

57. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

Enjoyed as a child. Wouldn't read it now.

66. The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman

Enjoyed it, but obviouusly not enougth as I still haven't read the Amber Spyglass.

84. Pawn of Prophecy - David Eddings.

Throughly enjoyed it and sttill do . Hwover i wish Eddigns had knwn wehtn to stop and that ultra- powerful, invincible protagonists are boring.

86. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

Fun as a child, and I love the recent Tim burton film. Not going to read again.

87. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Great fun: I've often used it to introduce people to Pratchett.

89. Beowulf - Unknown

As with the Odyssey

I think that's 20, excluding Tad Williams. Gulliver's Travels is a curious omission.

[vison]

The Once and Future King is the one other book on that list that comes up to the Tolkien standard. It's not "like" LOTR, but equally great in its way.

But what the hell it's doing on that list is beyond me. Likewise with The Odyssey. A very strange list. Oh, and Beowulf. WTF??

[Primula Baggins]

Probably the Odyssety and Beowulf were grandfathered in because they have fabulous monsters, though at the time they came from everyone knew there were such things, for real.

It's a bit like saying some early- to mid-20th-century SF is now fantasy because we now know that the scientific premises it was based on were wrong—no canals on Mars, no swamps on Venus. To me that's always seemed unfair, but maybe I tend to overvalue the writer's intent.

[vison]

Ah, well. The first SF I ever read was Edgar Rice Burroughs' "A Princess of Mars" and you know what? It was a GREAT book. Not great literature, but a great book. He had a wonderful imagination, and I still love those books.

[River]

27.


2. The Fellowship of the Ring- J.R.R. Tolkien
Why do you think I'm even here?

3. A Game of Thrones- George R.R. Martin
And the rest of the series. Winter is coming...

5. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
Lovely. As is the sequel.

7. The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
The writing quality and style are patchy, but it's still a rollicking good time. Think heist movie, set in a fantasied up Renaissance Venice. And the sequel involves pirates.

19. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Dark, weird, and fascinating.

22. Redwall - Brian Jacques
Talking animals, food porn, and an epic sword fight at the end. The last time I tried reading it I was sad to discover I'd learned too much biology to properly suspend my disbelief, but when I was a kid, it and the series were delightful.

26. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Read the entire series. The later books get a little high-handed with the allegory and, all in all, I think I liked it better as a kid.

28. The Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K Le Guin
Different from the usual, but classic.

31. Grendel - John Gardner
Read this for a class assignment in existentialism in HS. I kid you not.

35. Watership Down - Richard Adams
Talking animals, but it works for adults as well as kids.

36. Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
My mom read this to us as kids.

37. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
I've read a zillion Pratchett books but not this one.

41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
Never thought of it as fantasy but I guess it is. Haunting social commentary/satire.

42. The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
One of my favorite takes on the Arthurian legend.

44. The Odyssey - Homer
Um, why is this on the list? It deserves better company.

45. The Once and Future King - T.H. White
Classic.

46. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
Borderline waste of time.

47. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
Fun.

49. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
Mom read this to us as well.

50. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
I wouldn't have put this in the fantasy genre. The story did not make me believe in god, but it showed me why people find it so appealing.

53. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
My first brush with magical realism and Latin American literature. It ruined most of the subgenre for me - GGM is impossible to match.

55. Lamb - Christopher Moore
just thinking about it. Seriously. Everyone needs to read this.

56. Flatland - Edwin A. Abbott
I remember reading it but that's about it.

57. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Mom read this to us as kids as well.

66. The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
Liked it but not enough to continue the series.

86. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
No childhood is complete without this book.

87. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
My intro to both authors. Hilarious.

[Teremia]

I've read 39 of them, and that's being so scrupulously honest that I didn't count Colour of Magic, even though I've read tons of other Pratchett by now.

<looks humble and honest for a moment>

<though it would be best not to be fooled>

[Frelga]

27

2. The Fellowship of the Ring- J.R.R. Tolkien

Well, you know.

9. Assassin’s Apprentice - Robin Hobb

Great worldbuilding, interesting premise, lovely writing, but even as the fate of the Kingdom and the character hung in balance, I could not shake off the overwhelming feeling of "so what."

17. Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Made it through.

19. American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Brilliant, although the denouement was a bit too easy, IMO.

26. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis

Not my thing.

28. The Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K Le Guin

Very much my thing

34. The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny

Excellent read.


35. Watership Down - Richard Adams

A classic, beautifully written tale. The only book I know where animal characters have all the richness of human interest and yet remain animals, not dressed-up humans.

36. Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

Yes, of course.

37. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett

Hilarious, even if it is not as deep as what came later.

40. Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

My son was reading it. A teenage criminal genius and the fairies. Not bad.

41. Animal Farm - George Orwell

That ain't fantasy!

42. The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley

? I read some retelling of Arthur's tales, may have been this one.

43. Dracula - Bram Stoker

Read for its classic value.

44. The Odyssey - Homer

Yes, of course.

49. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum

Yes, of course, although I prefer the Russian retelling, The Magician of the Emerald City. Yay for the total disregard for intellectual property in Soviet Russia.

52. Legend - David Gemmell

A good story buried in too many battle scenes.

53. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I was much too young when I read it, and I'm afraid it was lost on me.

57. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

Lovely

62. The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle

A classic adventure of Europeans in the savage world.

66. The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman

Excellent story, beautifully written. Never understood what the fuss was about with all the protests.

67. Eragon - Christopher Paolini

Gave up about half-way. Ugh.

84. Pawn of Prophecy - David Eddings

Probably, if that's one of the interminable Belgariad books. I enjoyed it quite a bit at the time, even while being quite aware that it's rubbish, go figure.

87. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

That's not exactly fantasy either, but a must read. The end of the world was never so funny and uplifting.

88. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

Very good, although I liked subsequent books better.

93. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury

Bradbury scares me more than King does.

95. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Mais oui! It made me very sad.