THE BEST FANTASY NOVELS

Glad to see so much love fo Dragonlance.

Jordan's Wheel is second to none.

I'm so happy to see I'm not alone.

I thought her name was Phaedre?

I'm a big fan of Kushiel's Dart. Less so of the other two, but they're still very good.

I could NOT put down any of the Jennifer Fallon series. awesome books.

Terry Goodkind
Terry Brooks- Sword of Shannara series
"Under the Overtree"
"The Haven"

All I read is Fantasy novels, so to list them all would be impossible. The above are what left the most impressionable imprints in my mind.

NOTE: I did not include Lord of the Rings because that is just a given.

Okay, it's arguably sci-fi, but really, not enough people have listed The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. And anything else by Gene Wolfe is probably going to be good too. I would like to note that his story "The Death of Doctor Island" which was a novella in a compendium of stories entitled The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories (no, that was not a typo) is possibly the best sci-fi short story I've ever read. And would be thoroughly enjoyed by fantasy readers.

The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake is brilliant, or at the very least the first two are.

I've just started the Amber Chronicles, in the middle of the first book actually, but I'm going to go ahead and stamp that with an okay also.

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville is something I can't imagine people who read Gormenghast will not like. Okay, it doesn't have the wonderful Dickensian characters, but it does have the brilliant descriptions of a startlingly original world. Good stuff.

Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link is one of the best, weirdest short story collections on the market, and by one of the best writers of short stories alive and that means it's good so read it please if you listen to nothing else I say okay thank you.

Threads like this drive me a bit nuts sometimes because while they generally highlight the fun sort of fantasy, they tend not to showcase the ones with some literary depth as much. My choices reflect that, but if you're just looking for entertaining stories, The Amber Chronicles (from the admittedly tiny bit I've read) and Perdido Street Station fill the roles quite nicely. Stranger Things Happen's stories are all bizarre, but in the hands of Kelly Link I think would still be quite readable to anyone. I would warn that The Book of the New Sun should not be begun unless you are prepared for a seriously meaty book that you can read a number of times before you even begin to scratch its surface. The Gormenghast Trilogy is absolutely love-it-or-hate-it. If you like quirky characters and ornate settings and haven't read it, though, do yourself a favor and just get it now.

I *just* came here to say I bought King Rat by Mieville. I had dinner with the guy at San Diego Comic Con but knew nothing about him. When I got back I had friends telling me his books are awesome, so I just bought one to try him out.

The Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop is absolutely amazing, the only thing i didn't like about them is that i read them too fastBlack Jewels

the list that i recommed

wheel of time - robert jordan
all the chronicles of thomas covenant the unbeilver - stephen r. donaldson
the sword of truth - terry goodkind
magic kingdom of landover series - terry brooks
the shannara books - terry brooks
the deathgate cycle - margret weis & tracy hickman
the dragon lance books - margretn weis & tracy hickman
merry gentry series - laurell k. hamilton
the anita blake series - laurell k. hamilton (not really sure it quailfies as fantasy tho, but still some of the best books i have ever read)
the alvin maker series - orson scott card
harry potter - j.k. rowling ( don't knock it if you haven't tried tried it)
the earthsea cycle - ursula k. le guin

that's all i can think of right now. i know i'm forgeting some of them but oh well, after all they do say if affects the mind

That one is good, but if you like it, I would move on to Perdido Street Station. King Rat is a bit like a darker Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. You get a sense of how important setting is to his books, with the detail in which he describes London. But PSS blows it away, and I'm told The Scar is if anything better. I've not gotten around to it yet.

One of the cool things about him is that he's young, so he has plenty of time to produce more great work. And he's now made a very cool and original world to play around with.

The Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop

I read it over two nights, and really enjoyed it. And yes, it does remind me of Neverwhere (with a bit of American Gods thrown in for good measure), but does manage to be its own beast.

I'm looking at that post I made and for the life of me I cannot figure out why the fuck I bothered explaining the book to someone who already read it. I am such a genius. Anyway, I agree with what you said and think if you liked it, you should enjoy PSS. I read King Rat first and PSS blew me away.

No no, I read the book inbetween your first post and this one. Don't worry. I'll pick PSS up after I read Pattern Recognition (the other book I bought).

[Edited on Nov 23, 2004 by McK]

I never could get into the WOT series. Jordan has taken so much for folklore which I know all do, yet he never even tried to hide it. Not only is it simplistic to figure out how it is going to end, but I just cant get the actual words and meanings out of my head when I read parts like the angreal, seanchen, and the like.

He did take a swipe at BMW's and their owners in one of his novels, so points there!

He is a very good writer though, not knocking that.