The Greatest Fantasy Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
20 The Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien 1959 English English
21 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll 1865 British English
52 Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone J. K. Rowling 1997 British English
61 One Thousand and One Nights Unknown 800 Multiple Arabic
184 Watership Down Richard Adams 1972 British English
186 His Dark Materials Philip Pullman 1995 British English
198 Fairy Tales and Stories Hans Christian Andersen 1835 Danish Danish
201 A Wrinkle In Time Madeleine L'Engle 1962 American English
203 The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien 1937 British English
204 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe C. S. Lewis 1950 British English
242 Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban J. K. Rowling 1999 British English
245 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling 2000 British English
274 A Wizard Of Earthsea Ursula K. Le Guin 1968 American English
282 The Once and Future King T. H. White 1958 British English
284 The Chronicles of Narnia C. S. Lewis 1950 British English
287 Household Tales Brothers Grimm 1812 German German
320 The Tempest William Shakespeare 1623 British English
322 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling 2005 British English
331 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling 2003 British English
332 Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets J. K. Rowling 1998 British English
338 The Fifth Season N. K. Jemisin 2015 American English
349 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum 1900 American English
350 A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin 1996 American English
368 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J. K. Rowling 2007 British English
377 Le Morte d'Arthur Thomas Malory 1485 British Middle english
420 Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak 1963 American English
433 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke 2004 British English
463 The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster 1961 American English
465 Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl 1964 British English
478 The Mists of Avalon Marion Zimmer Bradley 1983 American English
489 Through the Looking Glass Lewis Carroll 1871 British English
497 Tarzan of the Apes Edgar Rice Burroughs 1912 American English
518 The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchett 1983 British English
539 The BFG Roald Dahl 1982 British English
574 The Golden Compass Philip Pullman 1995 British English
593 American Gods Neil Gaiman 2001 British English
601 Good Omens Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman 1990 British English
603 A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare 1595 British English
605 Outlander Diana Gabaldon 1991 American English
671 Journey to the West Wu Cheng'en 1592 Chinese Chinese
675 The Princess Bride William Goldman 1973 American English
708 Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne 1864 French French
740 Sandman Neil Gaiman 1989 British English
756 The Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling 1894 British English
785 The Name Of The Wind Patrick Rothfuss 2007 American English
821 Howl's Moving Castle Diana Wynne Jones 1986 British English
829 The Faerie Queene Edmund Spenser 1590 British English
884 The Last Unicorn Peter S. Beagle 1968 American English
930 Children Of Blood And Bone Tomi Adeyemi 2018 Nigerian English
933 Haroun and the Sea of Stories Salman Rushdie 1990 British English
963 James and the Giant Peach Roald Dahl 1961 British English
972 The Witches Roald Dahl 1983 British English
986 The Neverending Story Michael Ende 1979 German German
1004 Dragonflight Anne McCaffrey 1968 American English
1005 Circe Madeline Miller 2018 American English
1006 The House at Pooh Corner A. A. Milne 1928 British English
1007 Neverwhere Neil Gaiman 1996 British English
1015 Artemis Fowl Eoin Colfer 2001 Irish English
1032 Magician Raymond E. Feist 1982 American English
1040 The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson 2010 American English
1054 Mistborn Brandon Sanderson 2006 American English
1063 The Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault Charles Perrault 1697 French French
1096 Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One Rick Riordan 2005 American English
1149 Winter's Tale Mark Helprin 1983 American English
1159 Twilight Stephenie Meyer 2005 American English
1193 Swan Song Robert R. McCammon 1987 American English
1194 The Eye Of The World Robert Jordan 1990 American English
1254 The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern 2011 American English
1282 Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt 1975 American English
1308 The Wheel of Time Series Robert Jordan 1990 American English
1315 The Last Battle C. S. Lewis 1956 British English
1328 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Simon Armitage 2007 British Middle english
1331 Ancillary Justice Ann Leckie 2013 American English
1352 Mary Poppins P. L. Travers 1934 British English
1368 Parzival Wolfram Eschenbach 1200 German Middle high german
1368 A Swiftly Tilting Planet Madeleine L'Engle 1978 American English
1380 The Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper 1973 British English
1385 Legend David Gemmell 1984 British English
1396 The Silmarillion J. R. R. Tolkien 1977 British English
1413 King Solomon's Mines H. Rider Haggard 1885 British English
1414 Peter And Wendy J. M. Barrie 1911 Scottish English
1422 A Storm Of Swords George R. R. Martin 2000 American English
1425 Six Of Crows Leigh Bardugo 2015 American English
1432 Tom's Midnight Garden Philippa Pearce 1958 British English
1477 The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman 2000 British English
1484 Night Watch Terry Pratchett 2002 British English
1510 The Sword Of Shannara Terry Brooks 1977 American English
1529 Eragon Christopher Paolini 2002 American English
1567 Vathek William Beckford 1786 British French
1619 The Truth Terry Pratchett 2000 British English
1658 Small Gods Terry Pratchett 1992 British English
1675 Mythago Wood Robert Holdstock 1984 British English
1688 The Broken Earth Trilogy N. K. Jemisin 2015 American English
1750 The Gunslinger Stephen King 1982 American English
1773 Who Fears Death Nnedi Okorafor 2010 Nigerian English
1787 Coraline Neil Gaiman 2002 British English
1789 The Poppy War R. F. Kuang 2018 Chinese English
1804 The Gruffalo Julia Donaldson 1999 British English
1836 The Owl Service Alan Garner 1967 British English
1864 Black Leopard, Red Wolf Marlon James 2019 Jamaican English
1864 Grendel John Gardner 1971 American English
1864 The Anubis Gates Tim Powers 1983 American English
1864 Ella Enchanted Gail Carson Levine 1997 American English
1864 Akata Witch Nnedi Okorafor 2011 American English
1864 An Ember In The Ashes Sabaa Tahir 2015 American English
1940 The Dying Earth Jack Vance 1950 American English
1943 The Ocean at the End of the Lane Neil Gaiman 2013 British English
1974 The Velveteen Rabbit Margery Williams 1922 British English
1976 Five Children And It Edith Nesbit 1902 British English
2009 All the Birds in the Sky Charlie Jane Anders 2016 American English
2010 The Book of the New Sun Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
2011 Momo Michael Ende 1973 German German
2040 Saga Vol. 1 Brian K. Vaughan 2012 American English
2042 Jade City Fonda Lee 2017 Chinese English
2080 She H. Rider Haggard 1887 British English
2107 The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Selma Lagerlöf 1906 Swedish Swedish
2129 The Brothers Lionheart Astrid Lindgren 1973 Swedish Swedish
2133 Assassin's Apprentice Robin Hobb 1995 American English
2136 Perdido Street Station China Miéville 2000 British English
2145 The Adventures Of Cipollino Gianni Rodari 1951 Italian Italian