The Greatest Fantasy and Fiction 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 488 '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
16 The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien 1954 British English
23 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll 1865 British English
44 One Thousand and One Nights Unknown 800 Multiple Arabic
166 Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone J. K. Rowling 1997 British English
185 Watership Down Richard Adams 1972 British English
186 The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien 1937 British English
189 The Once and Future King T. H. White 1958 British English
192 A Wrinkle In Time Madeleine L'Engle 1962 American English
197 A Wizard of Earthsea Ursula K. Le Guin 1968 American English
206 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe C. S. Lewis 1950 British English
259 The Chronicles of Narnia C. S. Lewis 1950 British English
291 Peter And Wendy J. M. Barrie 1911 Scottish English
306 Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak 1963 American English
333 His Dark Materials Philip Pullman 1995 British English
346 Journey to the West Wu Cheng'en 1592 Chinese Chinese
373 Gormenghast Mervyn Peake 1950 British English
379 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell 2004 British English
390 The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster 1961 American English
402 The Princess Bride William Goldman 1973 American English
444 Froth on the daydream Boris Vian 1947 French French
483 Titus Groan Mervyn Peake 1946 British English
494 The Crying of Lot 49 Thomas Pynchon 1966 American English
495 Perfume Patrick Suskind 1985 German German
508 Nights At The Circus Angela Carter 1984 British English
516 Lud-in-the-Mist Hope Mirrlees 1926 British English
525 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum 1900 American English
540 Through the Looking Glass Lewis Carroll 1871 British English
550 Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury 1957 American English
565 The Third Policeman Flann O'Brien 1967 Irish English
576 Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl 1964 British English
617 Le Morte d'Arthur Thomas Malory 1485 British Middle english
637 A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin 1996 American English
675 The House On The Borderland And Other Novels William Hope Hodgson 1908 British English
694 Rhymes And Legends Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer 1871 Spanish Spanish
728 Conjure Wife Fritz Leiber 1943 American English
750 Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban J. K. Rowling 1999 British English
767 Little, Big John Crowley 1981 American English
772 The Fifth Season N. K. Jemisin 2015 American English
782 Something Wicked This Way Comes Ray Bradbury 1962 American English
830 The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchett 1983 British English
848 A Hero Born Jin Yong 1957 Chinese Chinese
882 Les Enfants Terribles Jean Cocteau 1929 French French
898 Sandman Neil Gaiman 1989 British English
905 Invitation To A Beheading Vladimir Nabokov 1935 American Russian
930 Outlander Diana Gabaldon 1991 American English
933 Winter's Tale Mark Helprin 1983 American English
940 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling 2000 British English
943 Evenings On A Farm Near Dikanka Nikolai Gogol 1831 Russian Russian
993 The BFG Roald Dahl 1982 British English
994 The Last Unicorn Peter S. Beagle 1968 American English
1009 The Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper 1973 British English
1012 The Golden Compass Philip Pullman 1995 British English
1035 The Mists of Avalon Marion Zimmer Bradley 1983 American English
1076 Mary Poppins P. L. Travers 1934 British English
1085 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling 2005 British English
1094 The Baron in the Trees Italo Calvino 1957 Italian Italian
1096 Darker Than You Think Jack Williamson 1948 American English
1105 Jurgen James Branch Cabell 1919 American English
1139 Time and Again Jack Finney 1970 American English
1145 The Famished Road Ben Okri 1991 Nigerian English
1156 Hawksmoor Peter Ackroyd 1985 British English
1157 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader C. S. Lewis 1952 British English
1178 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke 2004 British English
1186 Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt 1975 American English
1199 Billy Liar Keith Waterhouse 1959 British English
1201 The Sound Of His Horn Sarban 1952 British English
1205 Dragonflight Anne McCaffrey 1968 American English
1209 The 13 Clocks James Thurber 1950 American English
1210 The Street of Crocodiles Bruno Schulz 1934 Polish Polish
1242 Howl's Moving Castle Diana Wynne Jones 1986 British English
1252 The Book of the New Sun Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
1259 The Last Battle C. S. Lewis 1956 British English
1262 Peace Gene Wolfe 1975 American English
1292 The Owl Service Alan Garner 1967 British English
1300 Lanark Alasdair Gray 1981 Scottish English
1324 Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets J. K. Rowling 1998 British English
1331 The October Country Ray Bradbury 1955 American English
1347 The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller 2011 American English
1352 Titus Alone Mervyn Peake 1959 British English
1361 A Voyage To Arcturus David Lindsay 1920 Scottish English
1363 She H. Rider Haggard 1887 British English
1371 James and the Giant Peach Roald Dahl 1961 British English
1383 A Swiftly Tilting Planet Madeleine L'Engle 1978 American English
1441 Haroun and the Sea of Stories Salman Rushdie 1990 British English
1454 Blow Up And Other Stories Julio Cortazar 1968 Argentinian Spanish
1457 The Swords Of Lankhmar Fritz Leiber 1968 American English
1463 Out Of Space And Time Clark Ashton Smith 1942 American English
1484 Conan The Conqueror Robert E. Howard 1935 American English
1500 A Sport and a Pastime James Salter 1967 American English
1511 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter Unknown 900 Japanese Japanese
1532 The Dying Earth Jack Vance 1950 American English
1554 Tom's Midnight Garden Philippa Pearce 1958 British English
1559 The Lorax Dr. Seuss 1971 American English
1563 The Neverending Story Michael Ende 1979 German German
1564 The Witches Roald Dahl 1983 British English
1601 Stormbringer Michael Moorcock 1965 British English
1608 Fancies And Goodnights John Collier 1951 British English
1609 American Gods Neil Gaiman 2001 British English
1632 Something About Eve James Branch Cabell 1927 American English
1667 Lolly Willowes Sylvia Townsend Warner 1926 British English
1669 The Crystal Cave Mary Stewart 1970 British English
1670 The Infernal Desire Machines Of Doctor Hoffman Angela Carter 1972 British English
1682 Star Maker Olaf Stapledon 1937 British English
1687 The Wind on the Moon Eric Linklater 1944 British English
1698 Amadis of Gaul Garci R. de Montalvo 1508 Spanish Spanish
1698 The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby Charles Kingsley 1863 British English
1764 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling 2003 British English
1774 The Tombs Of Atuan Ursula K. Le Guin 1971 American English
1788 The Wheel of Time Series Robert Jordan 1990 American English
1799 The Land Of Laughs Jonathan Carroll 1980 American English
1840 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J. K. Rowling 2007 British English
1852 Good Omens Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman 1990 British English
1861 The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag Robert A. Heinlein 1942 American English
1863 The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories Angela Carter 1979 British English
1864 Betrayed by Rita Hayworth Manuel Puig 1968 Argentinian Spanish
1873 Witch World Andre Norton 1963 American English
1879 The Little Demon Fedor Sologub 1907 Russian Russian
1882 The Book Of Ptath A. E. van Vogt 1943 American English
1903 Delta of Venus Anaïs Nin 1977 French English
1911 Love and Rockets Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Mario Hernandez 1982 American English