The Greatest American 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 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
192 A Wrinkle In Time Madeleine L'Engle 1962 American English
197 A Wizard of Earthsea Ursula K. Le Guin 1968 American English
306 Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak 1963 American English
390 The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster 1961 American English
402 The Princess Bride William Goldman 1973 American English
494 The Crying of Lot 49 Thomas Pynchon 1966 American English
525 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum 1900 American English
550 Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury 1957 American English
637 A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin 1996 American English
728 Conjure Wife Fritz Leiber 1943 American 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
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
994 The Last Unicorn Peter S. Beagle 1968 American English
1035 The Mists of Avalon Marion Zimmer Bradley 1983 American English
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
1186 Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt 1975 American English
1205 Dragonflight Anne McCaffrey 1968 American English
1209 The 13 Clocks James Thurber 1950 American English
1252 The Book of the New Sun Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
1262 Peace Gene Wolfe 1975 American English
1331 The October Country Ray Bradbury 1955 American English
1347 The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller 2011 American English
1383 A Swiftly Tilting Planet Madeleine L'Engle 1978 American English
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
1532 The Dying Earth Jack Vance 1950 American English
1559 The Lorax Dr. Seuss 1971 American English
1632 Something About Eve James Branch Cabell 1927 American 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
1861 The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag Robert A. Heinlein 1942 American English
1873 Witch World Andre Norton 1963 American English
1882 The Book Of Ptath A. E. van Vogt 1943 American English
1911 Love and Rockets Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Mario Hernandez 1982 American English
1966 Swan Song Robert R. McCammon 1987 American English
1982 Our Lady Of Darkness Fritz Leiber 1977 American English
2028 The Mouse And His Child Russell Hoban 1967 American English
2033 The Well Of The Unicorn Fletcher Pratt 1948 American English
2066 Silverlock John Myers Myers 1949 American English
2069 Pricksongs and Descants Robert Coover 1969 American English
2073 The Anubis Gates Tim Powers 1983 American English
2106 The Castle Of Iron L. Sprague de Camp 1950 American English
2155 Grendel John Gardner 1971 American English
2293 The Broken Sword Poul Anderson 1954 American English
2311 Three Hearts And Three Lions Poul Anderson 1953 American English
2319 The Sinful Ones Fritz Leiber 1953 American English
2378 Swordspoint Ellen Kushner 1987 American English
2389 Lost Souls Poppy Z. Brite 1992 American English
2480 The Shrinking Man Richard Matheson 1956 American English
2517 Deathbird Stories Harlan Ellison 1975 American English
2533 Lost Worlds Clark Ashton Smith 1944 American English
2542 Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One Rick Riordan 2005 American English
2586 Mistborn Brandon Sanderson 2006 American English
2604 Stuart Little E. B. White 1945 American English
2654 A Fine And Private Place Peter S. Beagle 1960 American English
2709 The Girl, The Gold Watch And Everything John D. MacDonald 1962 American English
2719 Ozma Of Oz L. Frank Baum 1907 American English
2804 Glory Road Robert A. Heinlein 1963 American English
2824 A Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Lemony Snicket 1999 American English
2857 Akata Witch Nnedi Okorafor 2011 American English
2859 Ella Enchanted Gail Carson Levine 1997 American English
2876 A Princess Of Mars Edgar Rice Burroughs 1912 American English
2895 The Eye Of The World Robert Jordan 1990 American English
2956 My Book House Olive Beaupré Miller 1920 American English
2998 The Eyes Of The Overworld Jack Vance 1966 American English
3005 Day Of The Minotaur Thomas Burnett Swann 1966 American English
3007 Black Easter James Blish 1968 American English
3018 Dark Lover J. R. Ward 2005 American English
3019 The Name Of The Wind Patrick Rothfuss 2007 American English
3032 Who Fears The Devil? Manly Wade Wellman 1963 American English
3089 We Need To Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver 2003 American English
3166 Worse Things Waiting Manly Wade Wellman 1973 American English
3168 Fourth Mansions R. A. Lafferty 1969 American English
3223 Creep, Shadow! A. Merritt 1934 American English
3233 The Phoenix And The Mirror Avram Davidson 1969 American English
3235 The Compleat Werewolf And Other Stories Of Fantasy And Science Fiction Anthony Boucher 1969 American English
3234 A Feast Unknown Philip José Farmer 1969 American English
3258 The Day After Judgement James Blish 1971 American English
3297 Song Of Kali Dan Simmons 1985 American English
3327 Alanna Tamora Pierce 1983 American English
3340 A Storm Of Swords George R. R. Martin 2000 American English
3347 An Ember In The Ashes Sabaa Tahir 2015 American English
3365 Jack Of Shadows Roger Zelazny 1971 American English
3394 The Forgotten Beasts Of Eld Patricia A. McKillip 1974 American English
3418 Ariosto Chelsa quinn yarbro 1972 American Unknown
3551 Who Made Stevie Crye? Michael Bishop 1984 American English
3554 Magician Raymond E. Feist 1982 American English
3558 Replay Ken Grimwood 1986 American English
3593 The Broken Earth Trilogy N. K. Jemisin 2015 American English
3647 Nine Princes In Amber Roger Zelazny 1970 American English
3706 Circe Madeline Miller 2018 American English
3735 Stone Junction Jim Dodge 1990 American English
3741 The Dragon And The George Gordon R. Dickson 1976 American English
3771 Lord Foul's Bane Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
3852 Cities of the Red Night William S. Burroughs 1981 American English
3859 Boy's Life Robert R. McCammon 1991 American English
3879 Eragon Christopher Paolini 2002 American English
3893 We Others Steven Millhauser 2011 American English
3916 Fata Morgana William Kotzwinkle 1977 American English
3920 The Sword Of Shannara Terry Brooks 1977 American English
3952 Advise and Consent Allen Drury 1959 American English
3956 The Witches Of Eastwick John Updike 1984 American English
3974 A Hunger Like No Other Kresley Cole 2006 American English
3985 Six Of Crows Leigh Bardugo 2015 American English
4026 The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern 2011 American English
4058 Bid Time Return Richard Matheson 1975 American English
4062 The Blue Sword Robin McKinley 1982 American English
4072 The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson 2010 American English
4088 Frisk Dennis Cooper 1991 American English
4109 Sorcerer's Son Phyllis Eisenstein 1979 American English
4114 The Stories of Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury 1980 American English