The Greatest Epic Books of All Time

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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.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
12 War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 1869 Russian Russian
17 The Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien 1959 English English
24 The Odyssey Homer -740 Greek Ancient greek
30 The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri 1308 Italian Italian
46 One Thousand and One Nights Unknown 800 Multiple Arabic
70 The Aeneid Virgil -19 Roman Latin
127 Paradise Lost John Milton 1667 British English
175 Metamorphoses Ovid 8 Roman Latin
264 The Epic Of Gilgamesh Unknown -2100 Multiple Akkadian
323 Mahabharata Vyasa -400 Indian Sanskrit
367 Journey to the West Wu Cheng'en 1592 Chinese Chinese
422 Ramayana Valmiki -200 Indian Sanskrit
430 The Bridge on the Drina Ivo Andrić 1945 Bosnian Serbo-croatian
481 The Lusiad Luís Vaz Camões 1572 Portuguese Portuguese
548 Le Morte d'Arthur Thomas Malory 1485 British Middle english
588 The Pillars Of The Earth Ken Follett 1989 British English
623 Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry 1985 American English
669 Beowulf Unknown 1000 Unknown Old english
699 The Nibelungenlied Unknown 1200 German Middle high german
802 Romance of the Three Kingdoms Guanzhong Luo 1400 Chinese Chinese
810 Amadis of Gaul Garci R. de Montalvo 1508 Spanish Spanish
972 The Orlando Furioso Lodovico Ariosto 1516 Italian Italian
1053 The Kalevala Elias Lönnrot 1835 Finnish Finnish
1091 Shahnameh Ferdowsi 1010 Iranian Persian
1187 Jean Christophe Romain Rolland 1904 French French
1270 Omeros Derek Walcott 1990 Saint Lucian English
1284 The Faerie Queene Edmund Spenser 1590 British English
1289 A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin 1996 American English
1291 Parzival Wolfram Eschenbach 1200 German Middle high german
1410 Poem of the Cid Unknown 1207 Spanish Old spanish
1805 A Hero Born Jin Yong 1957 Chinese Chinese
1998 Ben-Hur Lew Wallace 1880 American English
2138 The Worm Ouroboros E. R. Eddison 1922 British English
2389 The Wheel of Time Series Robert Jordan 1990 American English
2475 The Last Battle C. S. Lewis 1956 British English
2717 Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Unknown 1400 British Middle english
2728 La légende des siècles Victor Hugo 1859 French French
2843 The Book Of Ptath A. E. van Vogt 1943 American English
2888 Olvidado Rey Gudú Ana María Matute 1996 Spanish Spanish
3305 The Silmarillion J. R. R. Tolkien 1977 British English
3442 The Summer Tree Guy Gavriel Kay 1984 Canadian English
3450 Mistborn Brandon Sanderson 2006 American English
3638 The Works Of John Dryden John Dryden 1808 British English
3925 The Great Captains Henry Treece 1956 British English
4450 The Eye Of The World Robert Jordan 1990 American English
4474 Soundjata Ou L'épopée Mandingue Djibril Tamsir Niane 1960 French French
4898 Judith Unknown -150 Unknown Hebrew
4991 Utenzi Wa Vita Vya Uhuru Robert Bin Shabaan 1967 Tanzanian Swahili
5158 Самуил Dimitar Talev 1956 Bulgarian Bulgarian
5231 Tales from the Kathasaritsagara Somadeva 1070 Indian Sanskrit
5444 The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson 2010 American English
5479 The Inferno Dante Alighieri 1308 Italian Italian
5836 Paradise Regained John Milton 1671 British English
5945 The Wandering Fire Guy Gavriel Kay 1986 Canadian English
6075 The Darkest Road Guy Gavriel Kay 1986 Canadian English
6834 The Dynasts Thomas Hardy 1904 British English
7042 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Simon Armitage 2007 British Middle english
7156 The One Tree Stephen R. Donaldson 1982 American English
7157 La Horde Du Contrevent Alain Damasio 2004 French French
7680 The Long Journey Johannes V. Jensen 1908 Danish Danish
8665 The Rape of the Lock Alexander Pope 1712 British English
8787 The Reivers William Faulkner 1962 American English
8936 The Rage Of Dragons Evan Winter 2019 Canadian English
9236 The Sword Of Shannara Terry Brooks 1977 American English
9656 The Messiah Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock 2012 German German
10047 The Tale Of The Heike Unknown 1371 Japanese Japanese
10165 Laughing Boy Oliver La Farge 1929 American English
11106 The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton John Milton 2007 British English
11449 The Able McLaughlins Margaret Wilson 1923 American English
11520 Argonautika Apollonius of Rhodes -250 Ancient greek
11544 Nineteen Nineteen John Dos Passos 1932 American English
13226 Gardens Of The Moon Steven Erikson 1999 Canadian English
13599 God Was Born In Exile Vintilă Horia 1960 Unknown Spanish
13599 The Battle Patrick Rambaud 1997 French French
13738 The Difference Engine William Gibson, Bruce Sterling 1990 American English
14070 Erste Erde Epos Raoul Schrott 2016 Austrian German
14937 Digenes Akritas Unknown 1050 Multiple Greek
14953 The Tain Thomas Kinsella 1969 Irish English
14983 Ilium Dan Simmons 2003 American English
14983 My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Vol. 1 Emil Ferris 2017 American English
15715 The Two Towers J. R. R. Tolkien 1954 British English
15716 The Return Of The King J. R. R. Tolkien 1955 British English
15738 "Les Misérables" De Victor Hugo Henri Scepi 1862 French French
15897 Paradise Lost And Other Poems John Milton 1667 British English
15876 Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien 1954 British English
15889 The Earth Is The Lord's Taylor Caldwell 1940 American English
16505 The Book Of Dede Korkut Unknown 1400 Multiple Oghuz turkic
16645 The Iliad Of Homer Richmond Lattimore -762 Greek Ancient greek
16718 Os Miseráveis 2 Victor Hugo 1862 French French
16709 Os Miseráveis 1 Victor Hugo 1862 French French
17117 The Road to Reunion Paul Herman Buck 1937 American English
17117 The Devil All The Time Donald Ray Pollock 2011 American English
17117 The Lamb Will Slaughter The Lion Margaret Killjoy 2017 American English
17117 Vn Madeline Ashby 2012 Canadian English
16911 The White Mountains John Christopher 1967 British English
17117 Raavan & Eddie Kiran Nagarkar 1995 Indian English
17117 That Long Silence Shashi Deshpande 1988 Indian English
17117 Winter Garden Robert Edric 1985 British English
17117 The Deadman’s Pedal Alan Warner 2012 Scottish English
17117 A Game Of Thrones / A Clash Of Kings George R. R. Martin 1996 American English
17117 A Song Of Ice And Fire George R. R. Martin 2011 American English
17117 The Lord Of The Rings Brian Sibley British Unknown
17094 Vis And Ramin Fakhraddin Gorgani 1048 Persian Persian
17042 Epic Of Sundiata Unknown 1235 Multiple Mandinka
17117 Huon De Bordeaux Unknown French Old french
17102 Daredevils Of Sassoun Unknown 800 Multiple Armenian
17117 A Heart Of Blood And Ashes Milla Vane 2020 Unknown English
17117 A Day Of Fallen Night Samantha Shannon 2023 British English
17117 The Heirs Of The Kingdom Zoe Oldenbourg 1970 French French
16765 The Heike Story Eiji Yoshikawa 1956 Japanese Japanese
17117 To Green Angel Tower, Part 2 Tad Williams 1993 American English
17117 Dragons Of Summer Flame Margaret Weis 1995 American English
16896 The Iliad/The Odyssey/The Aeneid Homer -800 Greek Ancient greek
17117 War Of Lanka Amish Tripathi 2022 Indian English
17117 The Complete Malazan Book Of The Fallen Steven Erikson Canadian English
17117 The Walking Drum Louis L'Amour 1984 American English
17117 रश्मिरथी Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' 1981 Indian Hindi
17117 Witcher Series 6 Books Set Collection Andrzej Sapkowski 1986 Polish Polish
16866 Iliad & Odyssey Homer -749 Greek Ancient greek (homeric greek)
17117 Oath Of Gold Elizabeth Moon 1989 American English