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
2139 The Worm Ouroboros E. R. Eddison 1922 British English
2391 The Wheel of Time Series Robert Jordan 1990 American English
2477 The Last Battle C. S. Lewis 1956 British English
2718 Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Unknown 1400 British Middle english
2729 La légende des siècles Victor Hugo 1859 French French
2846 The Book Of Ptath A. E. van Vogt 1943 American English
2890 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
3637 The Works Of John Dryden John Dryden 1808 British English
3923 The Great Captains Henry Treece 1956 British English
3932 Tales from the Kathasaritsagara Somadeva 1070 Indian Sanskrit
4450 The Eye Of The World Robert Jordan 1990 American English
4475 Soundjata Ou L'épopée Mandingue Djibril Tamsir Niane 1960 French French
4899 Judith Unknown -150 Unknown Hebrew
4994 Utenzi Wa Vita Vya Uhuru Robert Bin Shabaan 1967 Tanzanian Swahili
5161 Самуил Dimitar Talev 1956 Bulgarian Bulgarian
5447 The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson 2010 American English
5482 The Inferno Dante Alighieri 1308 Italian Italian
5839 Paradise Regained John Milton 1671 British English
5949 The Wandering Fire Guy Gavriel Kay 1986 Canadian English
6078 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
7681 The Long Journey Johannes V. Jensen 1908 Danish Danish
8669 The Rape of the Lock Alexander Pope 1712 British English
8792 The Reivers William Faulkner 1962 American English
8940 The Rage Of Dragons Evan Winter 2019 Canadian English
9240 The Sword Of Shannara Terry Brooks 1977 American English
9659 The Messiah Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock 2012 German German
10052 The Tale Of The Heike Unknown 1371 Japanese Japanese
10169 Laughing Boy Oliver La Farge 1929 American English
11112 The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton John Milton 2007 British English
11454 The Able McLaughlins Margaret Wilson 1923 American English
11522 Argonautika Apollonius of Rhodes -250 Ancient greek
11546 Nineteen Nineteen John Dos Passos 1932 American English
13229 Gardens Of The Moon Steven Erikson 1999 Canadian English
13600 God Was Born In Exile Vintilă Horia 1960 Unknown Spanish
13600 The Battle Patrick Rambaud 1997 French French
13739 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
14955 The Tain Thomas Kinsella 1969 Irish English
14985 Ilium Dan Simmons 2003 American English
14985 My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Vol. 1 Emil Ferris 2017 American English
15723 The Two Towers J. R. R. Tolkien 1954 British English
15724 The Return Of The King J. R. R. Tolkien 1955 British English
15746 "Les Misérables" De Victor Hugo Henri Scepi 1862 French French
15873 Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien 1954 British English
15850 The Earth Is The Lord's Taylor Caldwell 1940 American English
15915 Paradise Lost And Other Poems John Milton 1667 British English
16525 The Book Of Dede Korkut Unknown 1400 Multiple Oghuz turkic
16593 Iliad & Odyssey Homer -749 Greek Ancient greek (homeric greek)
16573 The Arthurian Vulgate anonymous 1210 French Old french
16680 The Iliad Of Homer Richmond Lattimore -762 Greek Ancient greek
16677 The Iliad/The Odyssey/The Aeneid Homer -800 Greek Ancient greek
16752 Os Miseráveis 2 Victor Hugo 1862 French French
16734 Os Miseráveis 1 Victor Hugo 1862 French French
17160 The Road to Reunion Paul Herman Buck 1937 American English
17160 The Devil All The Time Donald Ray Pollock 2011 American English
17160 The Lamb Will Slaughter The Lion Margaret Killjoy 2017 American English
17160 Vn Madeline Ashby 2012 Canadian English
16952 The White Mountains John Christopher 1967 British English
17160 Raavan & Eddie Kiran Nagarkar 1995 Indian English
17160 That Long Silence Shashi Deshpande 1988 Indian English
17160 Winter Garden Robert Edric 1985 British English
17160 The Deadman’s Pedal Alan Warner 2012 Scottish English
17160 A Game Of Thrones / A Clash Of Kings George R. R. Martin 1996 American English
17160 A Song Of Ice And Fire George R. R. Martin 2011 American English
17160 The Lord Of The Rings Brian Sibley British Unknown
17140 Vis And Ramin Fakhraddin Gorgani 1048 Persian Persian
17085 Epic Of Sundiata Unknown 1235 Multiple Mandinka
17160 Huon De Bordeaux Unknown French Old french
17148 Daredevils Of Sassoun Unknown 800 Multiple Armenian
17160 A Heart Of Blood And Ashes Milla Vane 2020 Unknown English
17160 A Day Of Fallen Night Samantha Shannon 2023 British English
17160 Fire And Blood George R. R. Martin 2018 American English
17160 The Heirs Of The Kingdom Zoe Oldenbourg 1970 French French
16805 The Heike Story Eiji Yoshikawa 1956 Japanese Japanese
17160 To Green Angel Tower, Part 2 Tad Williams 1993 American English
17160 Dragons Of Summer Flame Margaret Weis 1995 American English
17160 War Of Lanka Amish Tripathi 2022 Indian English
17160 Russka Edward Rutherfurd 1991 British English
17160 The Complete Malazan Book Of The Fallen Steven Erikson Canadian English
17160 The Walking Drum Louis L'Amour 1984 American English