The Greatest Books of All Time on Fate

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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
5 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez 1967 Colombian Spanish
7 Moby-Dick Herman Melville 1851 American English
12 War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 1869 Russian Russian
24 The Odyssey Homer -740 Greek Ancient greek
46 One Thousand and One Nights Unknown 800 Multiple Arabic
84 Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut 1969 American English
99 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera 1984 Czech Czech
106 Oedipus the King Sophocles -429 Greek Ancient greek
117 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy 1891 British English
129 First Folio William Shakespeare 1623 British English
155 Macbeth William Shakespeare 1606 British English
249 A Hero of Our Time Mikhail Lermontov 1840 Russian Russian
323 Mahabharata Vyasa -400 Indian Sanskrit
337 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare 1597 British English
358 The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1886 British English
383 Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles -401 Greek Ancient greek
412 Jacques the Fatalist and His Master Denis Diderot 1796 French French
484 Dream of the Red Chamber Cao Xueqin 1754 Chinese Chinese
512 The Golden Ass Apuleius 158 Roman Latin
518 The Odes Horace 23 Roman Latin
622 Elective Affinities Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1809 German German
631 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Thornton Wilder 1927 American English
681 Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut 1963 American English
736 Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Edward FitzGerald 1859 British English
739 The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy 1878 British English
793 The Sirens of Titan Kurt Vonnegut 1959 American English
797 The Manuscript Found in Saragossa Jan Potocki 1805 Polish French
884 Homo Faber Max Frisch 1957 Swiss German
971 The Discovery of Heaven Harry Mulisch 1992 Dutch Dutch
985 Mythology Edith Hamilton 1942 American English
1046 Justine Marquis de Sade 1791 French French
1053 The Kalevala Elias Lönnrot 1835 Finnish Finnish
1091 Shahnameh Ferdowsi 1010 Iranian Persian
1102 I Ching China -1000 Chinese Chinese
1126 Women of Trachis Sophocles -450 Greek Ancient greek
1201 Kafka On The Shore Haruki Murakami 2002 Japanese Japanese
1205 The Enchanted Wanderer Nikolai Leskov 1873 Russian Russian
1256 Prometheus Bound Aeschylus -455 Greek Ancient greek
1350 Seven Against Thebes Aeschylus -467 Greek Ancient greek
1435 Life After Life Kate Atkinson 2013 British English
1528 The Consolation of Philosophy Boethius 524 Roman Latin
1540 Decline of the West Oswald Spengler 1918 German German
1544 The Poetic Edda Unknown 1270 Multiple Old norse
1555 Troilus And Criseyde Geoffrey Chaucer 1385 British Middle english
1556 The Poems of Francois Villon François Villon 1489 French Middle french
1675 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger 2003 American English
1694 Cassandra Christa Wolf 1983 German German
1782 The Wild Ass's Skin Honoré de Balzac 1831 French French
1800 The Deptford Trilogy Robertson Davies 1970 Canadian English
1900 Collected Stories Of O. Henry O. Henry 1908 American English
2072 Night Has A Thousand Eyes George Hopley 1945 American English
2132 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick 1962 American English
2188 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
2199 Trojan Women Euripides -415 Greek Ancient greek
2495 The Garden Of Forking Paths Jorge Luis Borges 1941 Argentinian Spanish
2547 Stories Heinrich von Kleist 1810 German German
2592 The Gods Of Pegana Lord Dunsany 1905 Irish English
2750 Gods And Heroes Gustav Schwab 1838 German German
2778 Carmina Burana Unknown 1230 Multiple Latin
2786 By Night Under The Stone Bridge Leo Perutz 1953 Austrian German
2914 The Broken Sword Poul Anderson 1954 American English
2989 The Tale Of Igor's Campaign Unknown 1187 Russian Old east slavic
3053 The Sinful Ones Fritz Leiber 1953 American English
3086 The Marriage Of Cadmus And Harmony Roberto Calasso 1988 Italian Italian
3105 Alcestis Euripides -438 Greek Ancient greek
3107 Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Douglas Adams 1987 British English
3181 Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Tom Stoppard 1966 British English
3294 Sonnets Francisco de Quevedo 1648 Spanish Spanish
3379 Zadig Voltaire 1747 French French
3607 A Throw Of The Dice Will Never Abolish Chance Stéphane Mallarmé 1897 French French
3638 The Rider on the White Horse Theodor Storm 1888 German German
3638 The People Of Seldwyla Gottfried Keller 1872 Swiss German
3638 The Prophecies Nostradamus 1555 French French
3638 The Large Testament And The Small Testament François Villon 1461 French French
3893 Oriental Tales Marguerite Yourcenar 1938 French French
4174 Replay Ken Grimwood 1986 American English
4207 The Castle of Crossed Destinies Italo Calvino 1969 Italian Italian
4219 Ion Euripides -413 Greek Ancient greek
4223 The Spectre Of Alexander Wolf Gaito Gazdanov 1947 French Russian
4780 Pharsalia Lucan 61 Roman Latin
4877 L'instant Fatal Raymond Queneau 1948 French French
4995 The Sun Is Also A Star Nicola Yoon 2016 American English
5168 Anecdotes of Destiny Isak Dinesen 1958 Danish Danish
5231 Tales from the Kathasaritsagara Somadeva 1070 Indian Sanskrit
5817 Helen Euripides -412 Greek Ancient greek
5833 Six Tragedies Seneca 54 Roman Latin
5906 Complete Prose Tales Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
5915 The Tale Of The 1002nd Night Joseph Roth 1938 Austrian German
6002 Seven Gothic Tales Karen Blixen 1934 Danish Danish
6873 Povedal Mi Veštec Tiziano Terzani 2002 Italian Italian
6923 The Monkey's Paw W. W. Jacobs 1902 British English
6939 A Reckless Character and Other Stories Ivan Turgenev 1883 Russian Russian
7215 The Countess Of Pembroke's Arcadia Philip Sidney 1590 British English
7215 Comedies, Tragedies, Poems George Chapman 1600 British English
7215 The Earthly Paradise William Morris 1868 British English
7215 The Conduct Of Life Ralph Waldo Emerson 1860 American English
7215 The Infernal Machine And Other Works Jean Cocteau 1934 French French
7215 Eurydice Jean Anouilh 1941 French French
7215 The Burning Oracle George Wilson Knight 1939 British Unknown
7811 Cain José Saramago 2009 Portuguese Portuguese
8008 The Hounds Of The Morrigan Pat O'Shea 1985 Irish English
8167 One Day In December Josie Silver 2018 British English
8686 Wicked Gregory Maguire 1995 American English
10272 Death's End Cixin Liu 2010 Chinese Chinese
10654 An Accidental Man Iris Murdoch 1971 British English
10837 The End Of Days Jenny Erpenbeck 2012 German German
11131 An Arrow’s Flight Mark Merlis 1998 American English
11247 Tiger At The Gates Jean Giraudoux 1935 French French
11517 Enchiridion Of Epictetus Epictetus 135 Greek Greek
11568 Ghostwritten David Mitchell 1999 British English
12410 Bound To Happen Jonathan Shannon Unknown Unknown
13359 The First Folio Of Shakespeare William Shakespeare 1623 English Early modern english
13559 The Fall of Hyperion Dan Simmons 1990 American English
13587 Spring Snow Yukio Mishima 1969 Japanese Japanese
13599 The Rock Of Tanios Amin Maalouf 1993 French French
13715 Age Of Bronze Eric Shanower 2007 American English
13763 Foundation And Empire Isaac Asimov 1952 American English
14088 La Part De L'autre Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt 2001 French French
14163 D'aulaires' Book Of Greek Myths Ingri d'Aulaire 1962 American English
14196 The Mabinogion Unknown 1400 Multiple Middle welsh