The Greatest Western Fantasy 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
2828 A Swiftly Tilting Planet Madeleine L'Engle 1978 American English
2841 The Magician's Nephew C. S. Lewis 1955 British English
2844 The Book Of Ptath A. E. van Vogt 1943 American English
2882 Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One Rick Riordan 2005 American English
2890 Olvidado Rey Gudú Ana María Matute 1996 Spanish Spanish
2894 Silverlock John Myers Myers 1949 American English
2916 The Broken Sword Poul Anderson 1954 American English
2918 Legend David Gemmell 1984 British English
2926 The Castle Of Iron L. Sprague de Camp 1950 American English
2933 The Compleat Werewolf And Other Stories Of Fantasy And Science Fiction Anthony Boucher 1969 American English
2950 Redwall Brian Jacques 1986 British English
2970 The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman 2000 British English
2979 The Demon Mikhail Lermontov 1829 Russian Russian
2985 The Vampire Lestat Anne Rice 1985 American English
2989 Eragon Christopher Paolini 2002 American English
3017 The House With A Clock In Its Walls John Bellairs 1973 American English
3048 Three Hearts And Three Lions Poul Anderson 1953 American English
3086 Dragonflight Anne McCaffrey 1968 American English
3107 The Adventures Of Cipollino Gianni Rodari 1951 Italian Italian
3125 Undine Baron Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué 1811 German German
3159 Nine Princes In Amber Roger Zelazny 1970 American English
3166 Red Moon and Black Mountain Joy Chant 1970 British English
3190 The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern 2011 American English
3196 The Crock Of Gold James Stephens 1912 Irish English
3210 The Magic Faraway Tree Enid Blyton 1943 British English
3213 Neverwhere Neil Gaiman 1996 British English
3215 The Forgotten Beasts Of Eld Patricia A. McKillip 1974 American English
3229 Phantastes George McDonald 1858 British English
3253 Dwellers In The Mirage A. Merritt 1932 American English
3254 All Hallows' Eve Charles Williams 1945 British English
3255 The Book Of Three Lloyd Alexander 1964 American English
3305 The Silmarillion J. R. R. Tolkien 1977 British English
3324 Tirant Lo Blanc Joanot Martorell 1490 Spanish Catalan
3324 The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby Charles Kingsley 1863 British English
3378 Black Easter James Blish 1968 American English
3398 The Name Of The Wind Patrick Rothfuss 2007 American English
3436 The Broken Earth Trilogy N. K. Jemisin 2015 American English
3442 The Summer Tree Guy Gavriel Kay 1984 Canadian English
3450 Mistborn Brandon Sanderson 2006 American English
3456 Glory Road Robert A. Heinlein 1963 American English
3480 The King Of Elfland's Daughter Lord Dunsany 1924 British English
3488 Akata Witch Nnedi Okorafor 2011 American English
3491 The Claw Of The Conciliator Gene Wolfe 1981 American English
3542 The Dragon And The George Gordon R. Dickson 1976 American English
3546 Five Children And It Edith Nesbit 1902 British English
3549 Gloriana Michael Moorcock 1978 British English
3557 Magician Raymond E. Feist 1982 American English
3571 The Day After Judgement James Blish 1971 American English
3582 Two Sought Adventure Fritz Leiber 1957 American English
3592 The Gruffalo Julia Donaldson 1999 British English
3614 The Eyes Of The Overworld Jack Vance 1966 American English
3616 The Farthest Shore Ursula K. Le Guin 1972 American English
3619 Day Of The Minotaur Thomas Burnett Swann 1966 American English
3637 The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen Gottfried Burger 1785 German German
3637 Der Gaulschreck Im Rosennetz Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando 1928 Austrian German
3637 The Golden Pot E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
3814 Dark Lover J. R. Ward 2005 American English
3819 Weaveworld Clive Barker 1987 British English
3825 The Subtle Knife Philip Pullman 1997 British English
3830 Lord Foul's Bane Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
3878 The Hollow Hills Mary Stewart 1973 British English
3891 Ella Enchanted Gail Carson Levine 1997 American English
3903 The Blue Sword Robin McKinley 1982 American English
3907 The Wind on the Moon Eric Linklater 1944 British English
3949 The Phoenix And The Mirror Avram Davidson 1969 American English
4064 A Feast Unknown Philip José Farmer 1969 American English
4102 Selected Poems Of Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith 1971 American English
4188 An Ember In The Ashes Sabaa Tahir 2015 American English
4220 The Shadow of the Torturer Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
4232 Eric In The Land Of The Insects Godfried Bomans 1941 Dutch Dutch
4256 Jack Of Shadows Roger Zelazny 1971 American English
4304 A Court Of Thorns And Roses Sarah J. Maas 2015 American English
4399 Ariosto Chelsa quinn yarbro 1972 American Unknown
4400 The Revolt Of The Angels Anatole France 1914 French French
4400 The Sword Of Welleran Lord Dunsany 1908 Irish English
4449 The Eye Of The World Robert Jordan 1990 American English
4458 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman 2008 British English
4471 Nifft The Lean Michael Shea 1982 American English
4487 The Bears' Famous Invasion Of Sicily Dino Buzzati 1945 Italian Italian
4512 Comet In Moominland Tove Jansson 1946 Finnish Swedish
4515 Finn Family Moomintroll Tove Jansson 1948 Finnish Swedish
4516 The Black Cauldron Lloyd Alexander 1965 American English
4547 Restoree Anne McCaffrey 1967 American English
4560 The Unfortunate Fursey Mervyn Wall 1946 Irish English
4560 Return Of Fursey Mervyn Wall 1948 Irish English
4572 The Moomins And The Great Flood Tove Jansson 1945 Finnish Swedish
4575 Alanna Tamora Pierce 1983 American English
4604 Swords And Deviltry Fritz Leiber 1970 American English
4654 Coraline Neil Gaiman 2002 British English
4707 Six Of Crows Leigh Bardugo 2015 American English
4709 Grimus Salman Rushdie 1975 British English
4719 The Sword of the Lictor Gene Wolfe 1982 American English
4722 Venus in Furs Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch 1870 Austrian German
4767 The Incomplete Enchanter L. Sprague de Camp 1940 American English
4767 Works Of Fancy And Imagination George MacDonald 1867 British English
4767 The White Deer James Thurber 1945 American English
4767 The Ship Of Ishtar A. Merritt 1924 American English
4793 Yvain Chrétien de Troyes 1177 French Old french
4816 Ozma Of Oz L. Frank Baum 1907 American English
4818 The Malacia Tapestry Brian Aldiss 1976 British English
4834 Black Magic Marjorie Bowen 1909 British English
4834 The Water Of The Wondrous Isles William Morris 1897 British English
4834 The Silver Stallion James Branch Cabell 1926 American English
4834 The Brass Bottle F. Anstey 1900 British English
4942 The Buried Giant Kazuo Ishiguro 2015 British English
4955 The Man Who Was Born Again Paull Busson 1921 Austrian German
4955 The Secret Mountain And Other Tales Kenneth Morris 1926 British English
4955 Black God's Shadow C. L. Moore 1934 American English
4955 Figures Of Earth James Branch Cabell 1921 American English
4955 The High Place James Branch Cabell 1923 American English
4955 The Centaur Algernon Blackwood 1911 British English
4955 These Mortals Margaret Irwin 1925 British English
4994 Tigana Guy Gavriel Kay 1990 Canadian English
5005 The Magic Pudding Norman Lindsay 1918 Australian English
5038 Storm Front Jim Butcher 2000 American English
5043 The Wolf Leader Alexandre Dumas 1857 French French
5043 Typewriter In The Sky & Fear L. Ron Hubbard 1940 American English
5043 The Face In The Abyss A. Merritt 1931 American English
5043 The Girl And The Faun Eden Phillpotts 1917 British English
5043 Pan And The Twins Eden Phillpotts 1906 British English