Okay, everyone. Start nominating!

1. I'm very open to what is considered "fantasy" though if it's iffy, please give a SHORT explanation.

2. Short story *collections* are allowed.

3. For *completed* series of five books or less, recommend the series.

4. For series that are incomplete or are more than 5 books in length, recommend the first book then in the description one or two others can/will be "highlighted."

5. All books must be at least novella length (i.e. no short story nominations)

6. At this point, I'm just collecting names. We'll work on the descriptions later!

7. I don't have to personally like the book or author for it to be added.

8. There is no rule 8.

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 12:17pm.

The Hobbit by you-know-who

The Lord of the Rings by you-know-who

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 12:00pm.

- Lord of the Rings trilogy (duh)
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- Steven Erikson's Malazan Books of the Fallen - First book is Gardens of the Moon, other notable books in the series would probably be Deadhouse Gates and House of Chains
- George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series - First book is A Game of Thrones, A Storm of Swords also notable
- despite some of my misgivings about the religious aspects, C.S. Lewis' Narnia series should be on there - which book is first will depend on who you are (there's a big debate there...)
- Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series - first book is The Eye of the World, someone else would have to mention a couple notables, it's been too long since I've read it to remember which are best in the series
- The Harry Potter books should probably be on there - my notable "other than the first book" would be Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but I know that for others, that was their least favorite edition
- Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light should be on there

edited to add - wow, none of my touchstones seem to be working, but they're all showing up blue and correct in the box to the right while I type. Hmmmmm.

re-edit - there they are!

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 12:08pm.

>3 How many books are in the Malazan series?

>4 It's currently at 7, with more still being written.

edited to add: and just to plug it, it's my absolute favorite after LOTR. Seriously the best fantasy being written right now (IM not-so HO)

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 12:12pm.

Do you have to personally like it? I know you're no fan of Guy Gavriel Kay, but I think any list of fantasy that omits him is limping... OK?

So I nominate Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan, and The Sarantine Mosaic (Sailing to Sarantium & Lord of Emperors).

Also, of course, Ursula K Le Guin. Nominating the Earthsea Cycle (5 books - Tales from Earthsea, A wizard from Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu & The Other Wind).

Personally I have always mentally organised The Left Hand of Darkness as fantasy as well, so I nominate that.

What about collections of short novels? Worlds of Exile and Illusion and Four ways to forgiveness is great as well.

>6 I've added rule 7.

:)

#7 - :-)

I'd recommend the Farseer trilogies by Robin Hobb, beginning with Assassin's Apprentice and Fool's Errand, as well as the Liveship Traders trilogy, beginning with Ship of Magic.

Also Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series, beginning with Kushiel's Dart, with Kushiel's Avatar as a notable great book in the series.

Kushiel's Dart and series
Oz books
Amulet of Samarkand and series
Little, Big

I went to look at my physical shelves, and thought maybe Elantris? I thought it very good. Haven't read Mistborn yet, so I can't compare them...

Also, I think The Master and Margarita is fantasy. At least they meet the devil, fly on broomsticks, and a lot of things only explainable with 'magic' happens :-)
And it is a classic book, whichever way you look at it!

The Faerie Queen by Spenser, Malory's Arthurian legends, especially his Grail myth, A Wrinkle in Time series, Alice through the Looking Glass if that's not already implicit in the Alice in Wonderland mention above, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, LoTR.

Oh, and thanks to whoever recommended Donaldson-- I'm loving it.

I loved Elantris but I thought MIstborn was even better. Busifer, you should read it!

Well I have found The Bartimeaus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud to be very good. Just finished the 2nd book last night.

Robert Jordan Wheel of Time is definitely a great, The first 3 are probably the 'best' then followed by number 11 and the prequel

Magician/ Magician: Apprentice & Magician: Master by Raymond Feist

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman

Daughter of the Empire by Raymond Feist and our Janny Wurts
part of the Empire trilogy.

Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer The Lost Colony in my opinion was the best one.

Von Bek by Michael Moorcock

Tribe of One trilogy by Simon Hawke The Outcast, The Nomad, The Seeker

Myst series by Rand Miller I think the 1st was the best Myst: Book of Atrus

Exalted Trilogy by Richard Dansky Chosen of the Sun, Beloved of the Dead, Children of the Dragon

I am going to throw in The Malloreon and The Belgariad by David Eddings because they were his first and just so much fun.

Of course the Tolkein, and Harry Potter.

I'll come up with some more later...

Michael Moorcock's Elric series.

a. The Dragonbone Chair and subsequent volumes by Tad Williams.

b. Silverlock by John Myers Myers

c. The Deryni series starting with Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz

d. The Recluce series starting with The Magic of Recluce by L. E. Modesitt, Jr

Others to follow...

> Rule #9: Don't talk about Rule #9.

Heh, stands to reason that I'm poised to hit a bunch of the YA fantasy:
- Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles, starting with Dealing with Dragons
- Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness Quartet, starting with Alanna, The First Adventure
- Garth Nix's Old Kingdom Series, starting with Sabriel
- Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, starting with The Book of Three
- Ruth Gannett Stiles's My Father's Dragon (technically part of a series, but the other two are not nearly as good)
- Nobody's brought up C.S. Lewis's Narnia books yet - my personal favorite is Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy, starting with The Golden Compass

And some grown-up books:
- Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon
- Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
- Lois McMaster Bujold's Chalion Series, starting with The Curse of Chalion

Finally, I'm not 100% sure these count as fantasy, but I've got them tagged as such:
- Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
- Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth

discworld by Terry Pratchett - 36 books so far

The Colour of Magic
The Light Fantastic
Equal Rites
Mort
Sourcery
Wyrd Sisters
Pyramids
Guards! Guards!
Faust Eric
Moving Pictures
Reaper Man
Witches Abroad
Small Gods
Lords and Ladies
Men at Arms
Soul Music
Interesting Times
Maskerade
Feet of Clay
Hogfather
Jingo
The Last Continent
Carpe Jugulum
The Fifth Elephant
The Truth
Thief of Time
The Last Hero
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
Night Watch
The Wee Free Men
Monstrous Regiment
A Hat Full of Sky
Going Postal
Thud!
Wintersmith
Making Money

ETA touchstones

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 5:31pm.

Dragon Prince series by Melanie Rawn
Exiles series by Melanie Rawn

The original Dragonlance series by Weis and Hickman. NOT all the myriad offshoot collections and short stories necessarily.

Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Fables by Bill Willingham

Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony

pern series by Anne McCaffrey. (again the original set, not necessarily all the offshoots and sequels)

Neverwhere by Gaiman

American Gods by Gaiman

Magic's Pawn, Magic's Price, and Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey

there are more for sure...but I must get to work : (

My top 10 among books not yet mentioned:

The Odyssey by Homer
The Golden Ass by Apuleius
The Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum
By Night Under the Stone Bridge by Leo Perutz
The Children of Llyr by Evangeline Walton
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
The Gods of Pegana by Lord Dunsany
The Arabian Nights
The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake

some Classics

Dracula by Bram Stoker
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Divine Comedy by Dante
The Illiad/The Odyssey?

Some of Poe's work of course.

Do we put The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Fantasy? when it was written it would have been Sci-Fi.

#13 - I know, it's on my immediate to read list!

To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts
Wicked by Gregory Maguire

1. The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier
which include:
Daughter of the Forest
Son of the Shadows
Child of the Prophecy

2. The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop
which include:
Daughter of the Blood
Heir to the Shadows
Queen of the Darkness

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 1:27pm.

I want to second #19's nomination of Fables by Bill Willingham.

The Merlin Codex - Robert Holdstock (Containing Celtika, The Iron Grail, and The Broken Kings)

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

The Dark Elf Trilogy - R. A. Salvatore

If my son had a vote he'd go for the Warriors series by Erin Hunter

Dictionary of Imaginary Places

Discovery of Dragons by Graeme Base

The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

The Stand by Stephen King

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Faerie Tale by Raymond Feist

Lamb by Christopher Moore

Inkspell and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart

The Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through by Stephen Donaldson

Patricia McKillip-- The Riddlemaster trilogy (The Riddlemaster of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire and Harpist in the Wind) and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

George MacDonald--The Princess and Curdie and The Princess and the Goblin

The Cornish Trilogy by Robertson Davies, composed of The Rebel Angels, What's Bred in the Bone and The Lyre of Orpheus -- not genre fantasy, but certainly with fantastic elements.

Sword in the Stone by T.H. White

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Dante's Disciples an anthology, inspired by The Divine Comedy

Demon the Fallen Trilogy by Greg Stolze another LT author.
Ashes and Angel Wings
The Seven Deadlies
The Wreckage of Paradise

Beyond the Shroud by Rich Hautala

The Erciyes Fragments by C.S. Friedman

Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg

You'll get some argument to either side, but I'd put Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever in there. There are three installments (the third is currently being written), the first book of the first trilogy being Lord Foul's Bane.

I know Anne McCaffrey would string you up for mentioning her in this category, but I'm still surprised nobody has mentioned the Dragonriders of Pern series that begins with Dragonflight. Come on...it has dragons. They spit fire. They fly. There's a stoneage/dark ages society built around them. It's hard to not have that series in this category.

I'm also going to mention a book probably nobody else here will even think of because of the reputation of the author as a horror writer. However, I still have to nominate Imajica by Clive Barker. It's in my top 5 of all time and has many fantastic elements in it. It is true there are also some elements that can be considered horrific, but this is his masterpiece and truly deserved the tag of dark fantasy, in my opinion.

I'll add:

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny

Legends and Legends 2

A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony

The Arrows Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey

Maps In A Mirror, a short story collection by Orson Scott Card

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman

The Watchmen by Alan Moore

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore

A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare

The Tempest by Shakespeare

Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Number of the Beast by Heinlein - this one is a mix of Sci-Fi and fantasy in my opinion, but they do go to Oz so I figure it is at least worth considering for the list. It is an EXCELLENT book, heh.

Split Infinity by Piers Anthony (and some of the other Adept books are very good as well - the later ones got silly tho.

The magic cottage by James Herbert

#32 lol looks like we were posting at the same time

I'm seeing next to no urban fantasy.

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Urban Shaman by C. E. Murphy - LT Author

Moonheart by Charles de Lint

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Ill Wind by Rachel Caine

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Declare and On stranger tides by Tim Powers

...so, some 195 books already? I'm impressed. And then not all books touchstoned, so there's even more.

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 3:37pm.

I humbly submit the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser series by Fritz Leiber, and Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie is one of my favourite books ever. (Why on earth is he touchstoning as Salman Rushdi?? There aren't any books listed as by him! Gah. Anyway.

I also love Under Plum Lake by Lionel Davidson, another YA offering.

I like C.S. Lewis's The Cosmic Trilogy, although I know some people find the Christian content somewhat overbearing in the latter books.

Morphy: one that I'd never thought of before in your quest for Urban Fantasy, but I think does fit (although is tagged Science Fiction quite a bit) is Vurt by Jeff Noon. Kind of weird, but kind of cool as well. And set in Manchester, where I used to live, which always makes books more fun.

We are at 158 books/series although if I count all the books in a mentioned series we are up to 469.

:)

OK, my TBR pile is really going to be huge! And I am already 63, I'll have to live until at least 125.

A Bridge to Tarabithiaby Katherine Paterson
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Cafael (series) by Ellis Peters

43 > Cadfael? I would think of those as Historical mystery, not fantasy

I would suggest China Mieville's following works:

Perdido Street Station and The Scar.

One sequels the other, but both are stand alone books.

For Cadfael, I looked at the LT work and tags and would agree it's not fantasy.

I give up. Every time I think of a book, I come in to check, and someone else has already listed it.
LOL

If stuff by Kim Harrison and Laurel Hamilton make it, it'll be a crime for Elantris and Mistborn to not be on the list.

I'd also like to mention Thieves' World as a series and also Abarat, which will end up being a five book series, though there are only two installments released so far.

I think Journey to the Center of the Earth and Tarzan should be on there, though neither one were my favorites, they are special. Maybe some other books by those authors too, but I'm not familiar enough to know which.

OH OH OH! I think I finally have one!
Okay, I own it, but I have not read it.
It's got a decently high enough rating, though.

The Sea Priestess by Dion Fortune

Yay, Clam, you got one!
You kept trying and didn't give up, (I told my boy the same thing this morning when he lost in the geography finals at school). ;)

Watership Down by Richard Adams

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon

The Secret Garden is great, but how is it fantasy? Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce might qualify, though.

I'd also nominate Five Children and It by E. Nesbit and The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope.

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 6:45pm.

The Once and Future King by T. H. White
Paradise Lost by John Milton

Some collection of Conan by Robert E. Howard - I've read the short stories in scattered places but The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian looks like it has a good set.

And what's a fantasy collection without superheroes?- The Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past are two of the better X-men stories. The Dark Knight Returns is my favorite Batman.

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 7:10pm.

Even though you said at least novella length, I'm going to put these out there anyway, because they're just that good: Chris Van Allsburg's books, particularly The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, The Polar Express, Just a Dream, The Stranger, and Wreck of the Zephyr.

Anyway, on to suggestions that fit the criteria (I know some of these have already been mentioned, but that's ok :) :

- Diana Wynne Jones's Chrestomanci series
I'm not sure which would be considered the 'first' book - maybe The Lives of Christopher Chant? I also love Charmed Life, The Pinhoe Egg, and Conrad's Fate.

Books by Nick Bantock:
- Griffin and Sabine trilogy
Technically there are five books, but I like the first three best by a long shot
- The Venetian's Wife

- Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest series
Four books

- Diane Duane's So You Want To Be A Wizard
Young Wizards series, eight books so far; I'd also recommend Deep Wizardry (book 2) and A Wizard Alone (book 6).

Books by Robin McKinley:
- The Blue Sword
- The Hero and the Crown
- Beauty
- Deerskin
- Sunshine

- The Princess Bride

- A Night in the Lonesome October

- Tough Guide to Fantasyland

- The Last Unicorn

- Immortal Unicorn ed Peter S. Beagle
Short story collection

- Nine Princes in Amber
Ten books in total, though I can't recommend any specific books to highlight because I read them all together in one book collection (so, The Amber Chronicles maybe?). Or maybe there's a separate title for the first five books, the ones just about Corwin, because I like those better than the last five.

My sister suggests:
- Keeping It Real (Quantum Gravity, Book 1) by Justina Robson (she's only read the first book; it may be the whole series will be worth adding)
- Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians by our own Brandon Sanderson
- The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint (I second this)
- The Professor's Daughter by Joann Sfar
- anything by Neil Gaiman
- anything by Ursula K. le Guin
- The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 7:47pm.

I pity poor Morphy having wade through all these, because I'm seeing a lot of repeats.
LOL

Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard (touchstone doesn't have the Complete Chronicles collection that includes ALL of the Conan stories)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Harry Potter 1-7 (how could they have been neglected in this list so far?)

Beowulf

Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda

Stephen King's The Dark Tower series?

Two of my favorites: Brian Froud's World of Faery and Good Faery, Bad Faery also by Brian Froud. I don't know if they fit your classification system because they are not "novels" but they are fiction.

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 9:48pm.

Many of these have already been mentioned, but I'd cast my vote for:

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay. (A duology made up of Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors).

What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies. Definitely more magical realism than straight fantasy, but still a damned good look at the way the mystical interacts with everyday life. I'm surprised that someone else also mentioned it.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. The first book in the ongoing Gentleman Bastards sequence, which is expected to reach seven volumes. Only this one and the second book, Red Seas Under Red Skies, have been released.

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb

The Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb

The Tawny Man Trilogy by Robin Hobb

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

The Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore

Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman - the first book in the ten-volume Sandman series, which is sort of a combination of horror and dark fantasy. My personal favourite volumes are The Doll's House, Brief Lives and The Kindly Ones.

Elfquest: Fire and Flight by Wendy and Richard Pini - the first volume in a sort of ongoing, (but currently on hiatus, I think?), series. My favourite portions fall under the Kings of the Broken Wheel storyline.

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

The Last Herald-Mage Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey

The Belgariad by David Eddings

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

Bone by Jeff Smith - originally published as ten volumes, it's also available in one mammoth edition that weighs about twice as much as my dog but is much cheaper than buying everything individually.

Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock - the first volume of a six book series.

Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block - magical realism, not straight fantasy. It's an omnibus that collects five related novels, my favourites of which are Missing Angel Juan and Baby Be-Bop.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Gnomes by Wil Huygen - if reference is allowed.

And I'll shut up now.

I haven't seen anyone mention Gene Wolfe yet. While his best work is fantasy-flavored science fiction, he has also writtten some excellent fantasy, most notably Castleview, There Are Doors, and The Wizard Knight.

In addition to The Last Unicorn, Peter Beagle's The Folk of the Air and A Fine and Private Place are great stuff.

I heartily agree with the suggestions of Guy Kay's novels. I would add his Fionavar trilogy, which is not as well written as his later work but still a fine fantasy.

E.R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros is a classic. His Zimianvian trilogy is pretty uneven and probably more of historical interest, although it has some fun characters and the style is elegant. Vance's Lyonesse is another classic.

Mark Helprin's The Winter's Tale is not straight fantasy, more magical realism, a great read.

I would say that Lewis' space trlogy is SF, but he also wrote the wonderful Till We Have Faces, a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth, which I would call a fantasy.

In addition to the Prydain series, Lloyd Alexander wrote another YA fantasy series of three books beginning with Westmark.

Along the same lines as Watership Down is William Horwood's Duncton Wood, except he's got moles rather than rabbits.

Zenna Henderson wrote a couple of collections of short stories about The People, humans from another planet who have mental powers and like to beat us over th ehead with Christian ideas. The best id Pilgrimage.

Should Bored of the Rings be on the list?

Barry Hughart has written a few fantasies. The only one I remember well is Bridge of Birds, which I liked a lot. Maybe someone else has read his others and can say something about them.

How widely are you casting your net? Do you want to include Dracula, The Little Prince, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller?

We should give credit where credit is due. I don't see any Jules Verne or H. G. Wells or even Robert Louis Stevenson on the list. Arrrrgh!

edited to add the Arrrrgh.

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2008, 11:14pm.

Blah, I forgot to mention Anne Rice, and it doesn't look as though anyone else has! Interview With the Vampire is the first volume of her Vampire Chronicles, but The Vampire Lestat is my personal favourite. They're shelved in the horror section of the bookstore, but I'd definitely classify them as fantastical.

#62 Jasper, MrsLee did get Journey to the Center of the Earth ;)

Are you tallying how many people recommend something Morphy??? Or just making a list for now then organise some sort of vote once its complete??? Just in case ur tallying allready, I'll list all my recommendations including repeats:

Glenda Noramly's Havenstar
Robin Hobb's Farseer, Liveship & Tawny Man trilogies (all 9 books)
Karen Miller's Kingmaker/Kingbreaker duology
Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana
Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori (4 books - is that called a quadrology???)
Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow & Thorn (quadrology???)
Fiona McIntosh's Trinity Trilogy
Lynn Flewelling's Tamir Triad
David Eddings Elenium Trilogy***
Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (all 11, plus the new one by Brandon Sanderson once its released)
A Dragon Lover's Treasury of the Fantastic (Anthology)
Legends 1 & 2 (Anthologies)

I'm sure I'll think of more later, but this'll do for now :)

***David Eddings is a hard one, I'd say some of his stuff has to be on the list, but I think his writing gets a bit tedious after a while... I liked The Elenium & The Tamuli better than The Malloreon and The Belgariad, but I think thats probably coz I read them first...

Message edited by its author, Jan 12, 2008, 4:36am.

I know that Tolkien has already been comprehensively mentioned (duh!), but i have to correct one apparent omission: The Silmarillion.

Also Tanith Lee - i propose the Flat Earth series, particularly Night's Master

I don't know if these fit into 'read before you die' necessarily but they're fantasy books that I've really liked:

Jane Yolen's Pit Dragons series (trilogy?)
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Lythande
Monica Furlong's Wise Child and Juniper
Patricia C. Wrede's Mairelon the Magician and Magician's Ward
Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small quartet, which I think is better than Song of the Lioness (first book is Page)
Sergei Lukyanenko's The Night Watch (part of a series, I've only read the first one)
Tanya Huff's Blood books (first book Blood Price)
-- her related Smoke Trilogy (first book Smoke and Shadows)
Brian Jacques' Redwall series
-- Redwall, Mossflower, Mariel of Redwall

I can't decide if I think Scott Westerfeld's Peeps and The Last Days are more SF or fantasy - I mean, they are about vampires but they do have a distinctly SF feel to them most of the time.

Message edited by its author, Jan 12, 2008, 6:47am.

This is just for listing. No votes yet please! Also, please remember to list books, not just the authors. I'm NOT going to try to decide which book from an author to include!

P.S. Clamababy, I have a great memory. No problem with remembering dupes yet. :)

Clam, I don't have a problem with duplicating or repeating things.

Really.

Just as a reminder - is this a list of the best fantasy or just 1001 fantasy books or 1001 notable, as opposed to best, fantasy novels?

And did you decide whether books about fantasy qualify?

Will you include the color fairy books? I own The Brown Fairy Book and The Blue Fairy Book but I do not know how many colors there are in the whole series.

I'd say "notable" rather than "best."

Books about fantasy qualify.

I will include the fairy books.

Thanks. I agree with your decisions, I think casting your net widely serves readers the best.

Innocent mage and awakened mage by Karen Miller

The novice and it's 2 sequels Magician's Guild and the high lord

priestess of the white, and it's sequels last of the wilds and Voice of the gods.

I know you don't liek the style but

Fortress in the eye of time is definetly worth a place. As is Morgaine saga though it's a bit SF crossover. The paladin also

The dreaming tree also maybe?

Urban fantasy some fo the World of Darkness books, but I don't know what would be the best.

Drachenfels is a good example of the gaming spin off novels, and a few otehrs shoudl be included.

Ridley walker sort of fantasy /crossover.

Master of whitestorm as another of Janny's excellant standalones. I haven't yet read the wars of light and shadow that start with Curse of the Mistwraith but I'm sure they are good too.

Born to exile

Asimov's Magical World of Fantasy series of short novels. choose the one's you think best. I've only read Giants but the stories are variably good.

The infinity concerto fantasy from an SG author.

the paradise war and sequels

Legend from Gemmell and it's attendant sequels. Quite abit of gemmel's work probably deserves a place, though I have't read much.

How could we have missed
the lost world and other stories

Probably also should include the saga of exiles though I didn't much care for it and it's also SG crossover.

That's about it form my catalog, I'm sure I'll think of some others - like the Deathgate cycle and most of Weis's works.

Go Touchstones!

Some anthologies that should be included:

Snow White, Blood Red by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Black Heart, Ivory Bones by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories For Women by Nancy Madore
The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales edited by Alison Lurie (which includes The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin
Chinese Myths and Fantasies adapted by Cyril Birch with great illustrations by Joan Kiddell-Monroe
The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories compiled by Tom Shippey
Discoveries in Fantasy edited by Lin Carter
The Dedalus book of British fantasy edited by Brian Stableford, which includes some marvelous poems, such as Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti
The Firefly's Lovers and Other Fairy Tales of Old Japan adapted by William Elliot Griffis

This could go on for a while, but I gotta go.

Edited to say: Before I go, I gotta add
Beyond the looking glass : extraordinary works of fairy tale & fantasy edited by Jonathan Cott and Leslie Fiedler

Message edited by its author, Jan 12, 2008, 1:33pm.

Wow, no one's mentioned Wind in the Willows yet?

Another piece of Le Guin - her Gifts duo (Gifts & Voices).
/weird touchstones, so I let them be for now/

Message edited by its author, Jan 12, 2008, 4:02pm.

I'm coming in late on this, but if you're going to include fairy books, then I think at least ONE of the coloured fairy books should be covered, so I name The Brown Fairy Book as well as Time and Again and A Traveller in Time. Did somebody already mention 5 Children and It? Oh! And The Time Traveler's Wife! There, I think that's it for me.

What's the tally so far, Morphy?

I haven't worked on it today. My brain's rather fuzzy from this cold. I'll try and work on it tomorrow.

Here are a few de-fuzzers, for your BRAIN!
:o)

Message edited by its author, Jan 12, 2008, 5:35pm.

also curious on the tally, but thought I'd add a few

I would definitely add the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card

It's a series that's almost done, so it might count as complete series.
If included as individual books I would include all except the last published.

Seventh Son
Red Prophet
Prentice Alvin
Alvin Journeyman
Heartfire

too bad his best stuff in Ender's Game etc which doesn't qualify as fantasy in my book.

I know Terry Goodkind is a love/hate relationship with most,
but I'd feel remiss without some of his.
my favorites were
Wizard's First Rule
Faith of the Fallen

I really enjoy Robert Asprin's Myth books. Tough to choose just one, so I guess you include the first
Another Fine Myth

Looks like all of Robin Hobbs trilogies are all already nominated. That's great. I've loved them all.

I'm looking forward to the complete list.
I'm guessing random order, since actually rating them sounds like an impossible task.

I will sort them by order published then alphabetical by either title or author.

I'm also going to consider having "inner" lists by type of fantasy, i.e. high fantasy, urban fantasy.

The inner lists are a great idea.

How the devil are you going to decide what is Fantasy, and not Horror or SciFi? For instance, what about Anne Rice's books? My brain hurts just thinking about it.

It may be worth posting in some of the subgroups what they'd reccommend as the top x of their subgroup.

I know there's an urban fantasy group
and a few gaming fantasy groups

There's Buffy group- noone's suggested any of these yet, and I haven't read any to say what's good, but considering inspirational the series' were some ought to eb included. Other TV show spin offs?

...and some high fantasy is also arthurian fantasy, and... fantasy based on historical events, or...
I think every book should have a description and a tag cloud ;-)

If there is fantasical in the horror story, then yes, I'll include it as fantasy. This includes stuff with vampires, werewolves, etc. Plain old hacker slasher or technological horror, no.

TV spin offs - I draw the line there! No no no no.

For inner lists, I'll use the most fitting description and will take the heat for it. :)

This is such fun, thanx Morph!

For all of us curious & impatient people, would it be possible for you to post the "list to date" somewhere (maybe even in the 1st post in this thread, that way people can see whats allready here in 1 post & avoid duplicates)? Then you could edit the post daily or weekly or however often you can be bothered... I'm picturing it being as simple as copying & pasting the list from somewhere, but if its not that simple then dont worry...

>87 Yes, I will. I want to have a voting process so that only books that get at least three votes will be included. So there will be a list people can vote on. I'm just not sure how to do it yet.

Take your time planning how you want to do this. There is no hurry that I know about, is there? Someone once said "every hour spent planning, save three in the execution".

I think only including books that at least three people like is brilliant.

Yay, thanx again Morph! & maggie's right, there's no rush, i'm just being impatient, lol...

How about The Blue Fairy Book? 'Tis my favorite of them!

All right, here is my first batch of nominations (which will most likely be added on to as time goes on)

Mistborn and The Well of Ascension, both by Brandon Sanderson.

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith.

All of Tolkien's works, but particularly The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie, both by George MacDonald.

The Book of Atrix Wolfe by Patricia McKillip. Also Ombria in Shadow

The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix, comprised of Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen.

The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany.

I will probably have more to add when I'm a little more awake and coherent.

Message edited by its author, Jan 13, 2008, 12:48am.

With all these books the voting could be done with everyone having a set number of votes, say 10. Else there will be a large number of 3-2 vote books, a lot of 1's and a never ending row of 0's.
Idea: everyone get to post once, listing the books that get the votes.

How about Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges? In the foreword, he himself labels them as fantasy. And they are very cool, even if they're not fantasy in the traditional sense!

I'm also going to be adding from the World Fantasy Awards:

Best novel
Most read fantasy book of lifetime achievement authors
Best anthology
Best collection
Special Award (if nonfiction about fantasy)

Message edited by its author, Jan 13, 2008, 9:16am.

I think Busifer's idea is worth some careful consideration. I think she might be right about results if everyone gets to vote however many times. Interesting challenge, huh?

The Talisman by Stephen King.

I hear Black House is even better, but I cannot vouch for it myself, as I have not read it yet.

I will be looking for a free survey application. All books nominated on this thread will be listed and each LT userid will get to vote for however many books they think should go on the list.

My concerns are #1 finding a decent free survey application, #2 people not wanting to read through a huge list of books and #3 not enough books getting at least three votes.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt
The Sorcerer's Ship by Hannes Bok
Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees
The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris
The Well at the World's End by William Morris
The Waters of the Wondrous Isles by William Morris
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake
Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake
The Mabinogion, medieval Celtic tales
The Children of Hurin by J.R.R.Tolkein

among many many more...

I'd forgotten Lud-in-the mist! I'll have to re-read that.

Mercedes Lackey recommendations, according to my wife (I haven't read any...yet).

Heralds of Valdemar: The original trilogy (mentioned above as the "Arrows" trilogy)
1. Arrows of the Queen, 1987
2. Arrow's Flight, 1987
3. Arrow's Fall, 1988

Heralds of Valdemar: The Mage Winds
1. Winds of Fate, 1991
2. Winds of Change, 1992
3. Winds of Fury, 1993

Heralds of Valdemar: The Mage Storms
1. Storm Warning, 1994
2. Storm Rising, 1995
3. Storm Breaking, 1996

Heralds of Valdemar: Vows and Honor:
1. The Oathbound
2. Oathbreakers

Heralds of Valdemar: Kerowyn's Tale
* By the Sword

Heralds of Valdemar: The Mage Wars
1. The Black Gryphon
2. The White Gryphon
3. The Silver Gryphon

ETA touchstones

Message edited by its author, Jan 13, 2008, 2:19pm.

This is awesome Morphy, Thank you!

Addition:

The Deverry Quartet, by Katherine Kerr:
- Daggerspell, Darkspell, Dawnspell/The Bristling Wood, Dragonspell/The Dragon Revenant

The quintessential Celtic-style fantasy.

Some of Alan Garner's work

Weirdstone for one. Owl Service for another.

Also I don't think Taran Wanderer series has been mentioned?

And everything that appears as a fantasy tag should be included. These are the books most LTers believe are fantasy. Speaking of which user bookstopshere has 4800 works tagged fantasy. Even if many are series' I'm sure he/she would be able to give some valuable insight into gems we've missed so far.

Message edited by its author, Jan 14, 2008, 7:01am.

Here are some more, all beloved favorites of mine.

Sherwood Smith - Inda and The Fox

Jonathan Carrol - Bones of the Moon

Sarah Zettel - Isavalta series, Firebird's Vengeance, Sorcerer's Treason, Usurper's Crown, Sword of the Deceiver

Dennis McKiernan a huge list, but my favorite, Voyage of the Fox Rider

R. A. MacAvoy - the standalone,Tea With the Black Dragon, the series, King of the Dead, Lens of the World, Belly of the Wolf, and her other lovely trilogy, Damiano, Damiano's Lute, Raphael, and her charming Irish fantasy standalone, The Grey Horse

If no one got this one, Raymond E. Feist, Faerie Tale

Heather Gladney - Teot's War and Bloodstorm

Theresa Edgerton - Goblin Moon, Work of the Sun, Moon in Hiding

Joy Chant - Red Moon and Black Mountain

Sorry, some of the touchstones don't seem to be working. A perennial problem. Sigh

Voyage of the Basset

I think The Chronicles of Narnia should probably be given a place on the list.

I did read the whole thread so I don't think these have been mentioned.

Somebody beat me to most of Mercedes Lackey's books but I'll add
The Fire Rose and The Serpent's Shadow. you might be able to classify those under the elemental magics series.

Illusion by Paula Volsky

The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison

Bitterbynde trilogy by Cecilia Dart-Thornton

Fox Spirit by Mickey Zucker Reichert

Oh, did anyone else already list Maia by Richard Adams? It wasn't the best fantasy I've ever read, but it was pretty good!

I guess I should include his Shardik as well. I own it, but have yet to read it.

OH OH OH! Grendel by John Gardner

Touchstones are DEAD.

http://www.librarything.com/work/3364309

If it hasn't been mentioned yet (or even if it has) House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson.

Ack, you've all mentioned most of my favorites. Here's some YA stuff...

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter and The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren — both YA, but hugely enjoyable to many adult readers as well. Ronia has harpies and rumphobs and robber bands in the mountains; what more could you ask?

The Farthest-Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks is another little gem.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine is great. Also Zel by Donna Jo Napoli.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Walter Wangerin Jr.'s The Book of the Dun Cow yet (not YA, btw). Good stuff — but DON'T read the sequel, The Book of Sorrows. It lives up to its name, sadly. I hated it.

Oh, and I have to say it... The Lord of the Rings is not a trilogy. A trilogy is composed of three separate works that are related in theme/characters, but each work can stand on its own. LOTR is one story published in three volumes only because of the astronomical cost of paper after WW II. It was less of a risk for the publisher. *steps off soapbox*

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

Twilight series (Twilight, Eclipse, New Moon) by Stephanie Meyer

The Jaguar Princess by Clare Bell

Sharon Shinn's , A novel of the Twelve Houses series

Green Rider Series, (Green Rider, First Rider's Call and High King's Tomb) by Kristin Britain

Wayfarer Redemption books by Sara Douglass

The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

Halfblood chronicles by Andre Norton (Elvenbane, Elvenblood)

The Once and Future King by T.H. White

This is a bad thread for me. I keep looking to the right side and seeing the list of touchstone books and all the ones not having a green check are making their way to my list to check out.

Message edited by its author, Jan 14, 2008, 3:04pm.

I admit I have a warm place in heart for the first four Xanth books by Piers Anthony. Yet the series tanks spectacularly after that. I'd hope there'd be room at least for A Spell for Chameleon, if nothing else.

And I have no idea how to class R. Scott Bakker. I was impressed by his writing skills but the gang rapes every third page or so (or that's how it seemed to me) were decidedly off-putting. Had to bail on that series midway through the second book.

Sorry if I'm spamming here...but I'd also like to add Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series, starting with The Sleeping Dragon, though I guess it is now also collected in one volume.

And one complete darkhorse:

Prince Ombra by Roderick MacLeish.

Both since no one has mentioned either.

Gmork, your name made me think of it... has anyone mentioned The Neverending Story by Michael Ende?

I'm thinking we also ought to have some art books included -- such as at least some of the following:

Gothic Fantasies: The Paintings of Anne Sudworth by Anne Sudworth
Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio by John Picacio
The Spectrum series by edited by Cathy Fenner – to select my favorite two: Spectrum 3 and Spectrum 7 (features an illustrated tribute to Grand Master Award recipient Alan Lee).
The Deceiving Eye: The Art of Richard Hescox by Randy Dannenfelser
A Journey of the Imagination: The Art of James Christensen by Renwick St. James, James Gurney, and James C. Christensen
Legacy: Selected Paintings and Drawings by the Grand Master of Fantastic Art, Frank Frazetta by edited by Arnie Fenner
Book of Conquests by Jim Fitzpatrick
John Howe Fantasy Art Workshop by John Howe

And, my favorite, although really more of a mainstream art book:
Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali & the Artists of Optical Illusion by Al Seckel

And how about a how-to book which is really pretty cool:
Dragonart: How to Draw Fantastic Dragons and Fantasy Creatures by J. "NeonDragon" Peffer

If you're going to include artists, I'd also recommend both Luis Royo and Boris Vallejo. Once I get home, I'll come up with a couple of book titles for them.

edited to add:
for artists, I nominate Dark Labyrinth and Subversive Beauty by Royo and Dreams: the Art of Boris Vallejo by Vallejo

Message edited by its author, Jan 16, 2008, 12:51am.

Cecilia Dart-Thornton s The Bitterbynde Trilogy blew me away when I read it.Beautiful wordsmithing and a great love story.Hope someone else lists it as well so I get to vote for it!!

Nightwatch and sequels are high on my list right now...

A few more I thought were outstanding, not yet listed -

Martha Wells - Death of the Necromancer
Phoenix and the Mirror - Avram Davidson

Morphy, I have taken a couple of surveys that were created using surveymonkey, and they seemed pretty smooth. I don't know anything about the company or what you have to do to be able to create one.

Not sure I am contributing with anything new, but else consider this a 'me too' post:-)

Guy Gavriel Kay Sarantine Mosaic, The Lions of Al-Rassan
Judith Tarr's historical fantasy The Hound and the Falcon
Gene Wolfe New Sun series
Ellen Kushner Swordspoint
Martha Wells City of Bones, Wheel of the Infinite, The Fall of Ile-Rien series
From Marion Zimmer Bradleys Darkover series: Thendara House
Patricia Briggs Hurog duology
C. S. Friedman Coldfire trilogy
Paul Park Starbridge Chronicles
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, starting with The Colour of Magic (not particularly brilliant) most notably Hogfather and Witches Abroad (from the 'miniseries' about the witches)
Robert Holdstock The Mythago cycle
Charles de Lint Moonheart, Some place to be Flying, Moonlight and Vines/Dreams underfoot/Ivory and Horn (short story collections)
Pamela Dean Tam Lin
Stephen King The Dark Tower series (seven books I think, but I've only read the first 5)
Sean Stewart Mockingbird, Galveston
R.A. MacAvoy Tea With the Black Dragon
Alice Hoffman The Probable Future, Green Angel
Nina Kiriki Hoffman A Fistful of sky, Spirits that Walk in Shadow
Jane Lindskold Child of a Rainless Year, Changer
Robin McKinley The Hero and The Crown, The Blue Sword, Deerskin, Spindle's End, Sunshine
Diana Wynne Jones Howl's Moving Castle, Archer's Goon, Fire and Hemlock
Garth Nix Abhorsen trilogy
Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising series
Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer Sorcery and Cecelia
Meredith Ann Pierce Darkangel Trilogy
Margaret Mahy The Tricksters
Astrid Lindgren Ronja røverdatter, Brødrene løvehjerte (don't know english titles)

Edited to correct Touchstones

Message edited by its author, Jan 15, 2008, 3:14pm.

*drumroll*

We are at 377 nominated titles/series for a total of 987 books.

Some books I did not include because they were science fiction or adventure. I didn't include the drawing dragons book nor anything about super heros.

If an author was mentioned, but no books, I did not look up any titles.

Please remember to include the author and title for nominations.

I'd like to see some more fairy tale and folklore books.

I also am seeing worldwide fantasy such as from Russia, Australia and Sweden, which is nice.

Otherborn by Joan Gould. An odd one - but I really liked it.

At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

>125 I'd like to see some more fairy tale and folklore books.

There is a Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm translated and introduced by Jack Zipes. I have his older two volume set which I enjoy, so I assume the newer, more popular (on LT), one volume edition touchstoned above is good.

The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories - Hans Christian Anderson. I can't get the touchstone for the version I'm referring to so here's the link.

Victorian Fairy Tales edited by Jack Zipes includes tales by several famous writers of the era. While the Victorians get a lot of flak for 'cleaning up' fairy tales and forcing things to have clear morals - I really enjoyed this collection. Both for the ones that demonstrate that tendency and for those that break from it.

Also, how about the 1001 nights. I've only read a few of the more popular ones but they were clearly fantasy. I don't know about the bulk of them though. I also don't have a particular edition to recommend.

Message edited by its author, Jan 15, 2008, 4:54pm.

How about Mythology by Edith Hamilton, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, or The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales?

Older, less known but highly recommended fantasy books.
Chronicles of the Kencryath by P.C. Hodgell.

Omnibus of a duology; the first of which is God Stalk. She's added a third to the series last year after a hiatus of about 12 years.

Sheri Tepper's True Game series. Set of 3 trilogies; each with a different character's viewpoint.
Mavin:
*The Song of Mavin Manyshaped,
*The Flight of Mavin Manyshaped,
*The Search of Mavin Manyshaped,
Collected as The Chronicles of Mavin Manyshaped

Peter:this was the first trilogy published but the second in chronological order
*King's Blood Four,,
*Necromancer's Nine
*Wizard's Eleven,
Collected as The True Game

Jinian:
*Jinian Footseer,
*Dervish Daughter
*Jinian StarEye

deleted as duplicate post

Message edited by its author, Jan 15, 2008, 5:24pm.

The Complete Chronicles of Conan

I finally found the touchstone for the book I meant for the Conan collection, but this doesn't have the neat new illustrations. Oh well.

Shadowmancer

This book is severely overlooked as quality fantasy. Do read it, or better, buy it and read it a million times!

Oooh, i have The Chronicles of Mavin Manyshaped in hardback & its a beautiful book! Definately worth adding to the list :)

Stardust by Neil Giaman

Neverwhere by Neil Gamen (I can't spell)

I'll have to come back.......

Neil Gaiman it is.

#125 -- OK. Here are some good titles of Asian fantasy:

The Book and the Sword by Louis Cha
The Eleventh Son by Long Gu
Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn
Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara
Prince of Ayodhya by Ashok Banker
Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan written when the author was 12!

Also Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling

Maybe also Journey to the West (AKA Xiyouji AKA Monkey) by Cheng'en Wu

You can look at a list of nominated books at http://1001fantasybooks.blogspot.com/.

Can there be an efficient way to "second" already posted nominations, as I only posted ones I had not seen mentioned before?

139 > Morph is doing that later.

Are we including poetry?

Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti

More Fairy tales:

English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
The Troll with no heart in his Body and other tales of trolls from Norway by Lise Lunge-Larsen

Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde byOscar Wilde

If it is a book of poetry, yes. It can be included.

Two authors not yet mentioned: I'd plug Divide and Rule by Jan Mark, and The Blue Hawk by Peter Dickinson (both intended for 'young adult' readership, I think); I think I would also rate Peter Dickinson's Changes trilogy, though it's a long time since I read it.

I'd like to nominate three:

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
King Rat by China Mieville

I second The Changes: a trilogy by Peter Dickinson.

I'll also add Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban.

The Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony:
including:
On A Pale Horse
Bearing an Hourglass
With a Tangled Skein
Weilding a Red Sword
Being a Green Mother
For Love of Evil
...And Eternity
Total: 7

If The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide counts as Fantasy then it has my vote too.

All Kushner's other books have been mentioned, so I might as well throw The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman out there. It was one of the best books I read last year, but I've got the feeling it won't make the final cut. I seem to be one of only three people who actually likes it.

I've scanned the list, and don't see these so far (apologies if they're there and I missed them):

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
His Majesty's Dragon and the rest of the Temeraire series (4 so far) by Naomi Novik
Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley
Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt
Dark Lord of Derkholm and its sequel Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones
The Thief and the rest of the Attolia series (3 so far) by Megan Whalen Turner
The Lightning Thief and the rest of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (3 so far) by Rick Riordan
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (surely I just missed this one?)

Message edited by its author, Jan 16, 2008, 11:13pm.

The Sandman: Dream Country has the World Fantasy Award winning "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in it, which was the only comic ever to win a World Fantasy Award (They changed the rules the next day so it would never happen again). That's significant enough to get a vote from me.

#140 - readafew - cool!

If this isn't included yet, Megan Lindholm - trilogy consisting of Harpy's Flight, Windsingers. Limbreth Gate

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and can I recommend the translation by Simon Armitage?

How about Folk-tales of the British Isles, edited by Kevin Crossley-Holland? (Touchstones "working" as usual!)

I looked at the spreadsheet not this entire post so sorry if some of these repeat:

Deathgate Cycle Weis and Hickman
Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol Gogol
Faust Goethe
The Empty Crown Rosemary Edghill
Chronicles of the Cheysuli Jennifer Roberson
Name of the Wind Patrick Rothfuss
Curse of the Mistwraith and Stormed Fortress by Janny Wurts
The Secret Books of Paradys and
The Secret Books of Venus by Tanith Lee
Wraeththu Storm Constantine and
The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure (trilogy)

Morphy, if you are looking for folk tales, you may want to add Where the Leopard passes: a book of African folk tales by Geraldine Elliot. Good grief! The touchstones are working for a change!!

The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton
The Complete Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm

Especially these two are quite good examples of old and newer fantasy, The Man Who Was Thursday is closer to Alice in Wonderland than it is to the Grimm brothers tales, though it could be argued that its allegory is constructed in a way akin to a Fairy Tale, but not really.

Classic Children's fantasy:

The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay
Beyond The Pawpaw Trees: the story of Anna Lavinia and The Silver Nutmeg: the story of Anna Lavinia and Toby by Palmer Brown
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
The Valley of Song and The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
The Silver Curlew by Eleanor Farjeon

And what about 1001 Nights/Arabian Nights/whatever you want to call it?

I don't think my favorite YA/children's alternate reality books have been listed.

The Borrowers, The Borrowers Afield, The Borrowers Afloat and The Borrowers Aloft by Mary Norton. There is another, The Borrowers Avenged, but it isn't my favorite.

Another suggestion from my son: The Indian in the cupboard.

Here's an unsolicited opinion: I am not sure that classic children's books need to be in a "1001 Fantasies to Read Before You Turn into a Newt" list. Almost all children's books could be called fantasies since they are not very often really realistic.

>161 We'll find out if they'll be included in the voting stage. I'll leave it up to the poll. :)

One of my favorites: A Shadow on the Glass by Ian Irvine

Message edited by its author, Jan 22, 2008, 8:02pm.

#161 & 162 - I like the idea of leaving it up to the poll, only because sometimes it's hard to find a cut off point between what is a "children's book" and what isn't. Also, some of the children's books, like the Narnia series are almost elemental. In the end, the poll will take care of a lot I suppose. Glad you took this on Morphy, and not me! :)

I nominate The Darksword Trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman on the list. The series begins with Forging the Darksword and contains 3 books.

Lots of terrific suggestions - I'm glad I stumbled across this!

Here's my personal best-of-the-best that haven't been mentioned so far.

The Infernal Desire machines of Doctor Hoffman by Angela Carter
The Chess Garden by Brooks Hansen
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
The Exploits of Engelbrecht by Maurice Richardson

And the 9-out-of-10s. Hopefully there's some gems here for like-minded readers.
Hrolf Kraki's Saga by Poul Anderson
Bigot Hall by Steve Aylett
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
The Innkeeper 's Song by Peter S. Beagle
The Etched City by J. K. Bishop
Homunculus by James P. Blaylock
Kai Lung's Golden Hours by Ernest Bramah
Jurgen by James Branch Cabell
The Cream of the Jest by James Branch Cabell
The Troika by Stepan Chapman
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Don Rodriguez by Lord Dunsany
Gods, Men and Ghosts by Lord Dunsany
The Charwomans Shadow by Lord Dunsany
Blown / The Image of the Beast by Philip Jose Farmer
Lanark by Alasdair Gray
Waking the Moon by Elizabeth Hand
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Infernal Devices by K. W. Jeter
Palace of Dreams by Ismail Kadare
Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
Confessions of a Flesh-Eater by David Madsen
The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre
In the Forests of Serre by Patricia A. McKillip
The Book of Knights by Yves Meynard
The Knife Thrower by Steven Millhauser
Letters from a Lost Uncle by Mervyn Peake
Homo Zapiens by Victor Pelevin
The Scalehunter's Beautiful Daughter by Lucius Shepard
The Fantasy Hall of Fame edited by Robert Silverberg
The Innamorati by Midori Snyder
Conjunctions: 39, The New Wave Fabulists edited by Peter Straub
City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer
The Secret Service by Wendy Walker
The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe

You wouldn't go far wrong to include the entire Ballantine Adult Fantasy series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballantine_...). I've read them all, and most of them are well deserving.

FYI, Jeff VanderMeer did a similar sort of thing a few years back over on the Night Shade discussion boards. It will be interesting to see how this go-around compares.

Message edited by its author, Jan 25, 2008, 8:47am.

The Initiate Brother by Sean Russell
Gatherer of Clouds by Sean Russell

Wow, okay. That's going to take awhile for me to add in.

I don't consider myself a fantasy fan, and don't use the tag. If I had to pick a favorite it would be The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny.

But we have a better tool than a poll of The Green Dragon posters. Tags!

LT's top 200 raw fantasy books are:

1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (7601/18088)
2. Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone by J.K. Rowling (7597/26951)
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (6933/25614)
4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (6695/24352)
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (6584/23434)
6. Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (6527/23335)
7. Harry Potter and the goblet of fire by J.K. Rowling (6443/23346)
8. The fellowship of the ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (4912/10475)
9. The lord of the rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (4862/13190)
10. The two towers : being the second part of The lord of the… by J.R.R. Tolkien (4660/9865)
11. The return of the king : being the third part of The lord… by J.R.R. Tolkien (4552/9510)
12. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (3948/7870)
13. Harry Potter and the deathly hallows by J.K. Rowling (3590/15185)
14. The golden compass by Philip Pullman (3215/8147)
15. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (3161/8221)
16. American gods : a novel by Neil Gaiman (3025/9323)
17. The chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (2713/9094)
18. Good omens by Neil Gaiman (2684/8425)
19. The amber spyglass by Philip Pullman (2511/5877)
20. The lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (2505/7127)
21. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (2484/7228)
22. The subtle knife by Philip Pullman (2462/6267)
23. A game of thrones by George R.R. Martin (2339/4576)
24. Stardust by Neil Gaiman (2314/5113)
25. The colour of magic by Terry Pratchett (2196/4912)
26. Eragon by Christopher Paolini (2112/5384)
27. The mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (2036/4783)
28. The princess bride: S. Morgenstern's classic tale of true… by William Goldman (1980/5141)
29. American gods : a novel by Neil Gaiman (1960/0)
30. The magician's nephew by C. S. Lewis (1903/4616)
31. The eye of the world by Robert Jordan (1864/3508)
32. A clash of kings by George R.R. Martin (1832/3631)
33. A wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (1819/3012)
34. A storm of swords by George R.R. Martin (1809/3215)
35. A wrinkle in time by Madeleine L'Engle (1796/7169)
36. The voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis (1741/3970)
37. Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis (1724/4040)
38. The horse and his boy by C. S. Lewis (1719/4112)
39. The silver chair by C. S. Lewis (1686/3869)
40. Equal rites : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett (1676/3563)
41. The last battle by C. S. Lewis (1670/3799)
42. The light fantastic by Terry Pratchett (1665/3738)
43. Mort : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett (1624/3573)
44. Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West… by Gregory Maguire (1618/7943)
45. The great hunt by Robert Jordan (1539/2928)
46. Guards! guards! by Terry Pratchett (1526/3379)
47. Small gods : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett (1459/3094)
48. Wyrd sisters by Terry Pratchett (1440/3271)
49. The once and future king by T. H. White (1389/3878)
50. The dragon reborn by Robert Jordan (1377/2737)
51. A feast for crows by George R.R. Martin (1365/2863)
52. Reaper man by Terry Pratchett (1344/2966)
53. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (1342/2990)
54. The shadow rising by Robert Jordan (1321/2709)
55. Going postal : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett (1308/3020)
56. Night watch by Terry Pratchett (1308/3151)
57. The fires of heaven by Robert Jordan (1305/2560)
58. Soul music : a novel of discworld by Terry Pratchett (1302/2788)
59. Pyramids : the book of going forth by Terry Pratchett (1297/2867)
60. The fifth elephant : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett (1292/2526)
61. Coraline by Neil Gaiman (1290/4090)
62. Lords and ladies : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett (1282/2604)
63. Feet of clay : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett (1276/2697)
64. The tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (1276/2113)
65. Men at arms : a novel of discworld by Terry Pratchett (1272/2756)
66. Eldest by Christopher Paolini (1272/3381)
67. Lord of chaos by Robert Jordan (1269/2583)
68. The truth : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett (1268/2731)
69. Witches abroad by Terry Pratchett (1260/2591)
70. Sourcery by Terry Pratchett (1258/2801)
71. Thud! by Terry Pratchett (1246/2853)
72. Jingo : a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett (1243/2618)
73. Carpe jugulum : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett (1240/2624)
74. Maskerade : a novel of Discworld series by Terry Pratchett (1234/2602)
75. Thief of time : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett (1223/2794)
76. A crown of swords by Robert Jordan (1211/2463)
77. Monstrous regiment : a novel of discworld by Terry Pratchett (1208/2649)
78. Unfinished tales of Numenor and Middle-earth by J.R.R. Tolkien (1200/2279)
79. The farthest shore by Ursula K. Le Guin (1195/1940)
80. Moving pictures by Terry Pratchett (1170/2622)
81. Assassin's apprentice by Robin Hobb (1168/1998)
82. Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett (1162/2438)
83. Smoke and mirrors : short fictions and illusions by Neil Gaiman (1154/3449)
84. The last continent : a discworld novel by Terry Pratchett (1137/2339)
85. The path of daggers by Robert Jordan (1129/2287)
86. Sabriel by Garth Nix (1109/2243)
87. Pawn of prophecy by David Eddings (1091/1862)
88. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (1088/2013)
89. Winter's heart by Robert Jordan (1077/2256)
90. The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (1052/2477)
91. The gunslinger by Stephen King (1036/3740)
92. Kushiel's dart by Jacqueline Carey (1033/1752)
93. Castle of wizardry by David Eddings (1027/1602)
94. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (1026/3260)
95. Eric by Terry Pratchett (1012/2218)
96. The last unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (1003/1570)
97. Enchanters' end game by David Eddings (991/1602)
98. A swiftly tilting planet by Madeleine L'Engle (988/2992)
99. The neverending story by Michael Ende (983/2108)
100. Guardians of the west by David Eddings (983/1535)
101. The hero and the crown by Robin McKinley (980/1590)
102. Lord Foul's Bane (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the… by Stephen R. Donaldson (978/1552)
103. Wizard's first rule by Terry Goodkind (978/1928)
104. The sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks (976/1719)
105. Queen of sorcery by David Eddings (975/1654)
106. Crossroads of twilight by Robert Jordan (973/2016)
107. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (972/1509)
108. A wind in the door by Madeleine L'Engle (958/2939)
109. Magician's gambit by David Eddings (956/1618)
110. Assassin's quest by Robin Hobb (948/1683)
111. Royal assassin by Robin Hobb (942/1730)
112. Howl's moving castle by Diana Wynne Jones (925/1701)
113. Temeraire by Naomi Novik (916/1454)
114. King of the Murgos by David Eddings (903/1461)
115. The dragonbone chair by Tad Williams (899/1487)
116. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (896/1238)
117. A hat full of sky by Terry Pratchett (884/2046)
118. Demon lord of Karanda by David Eddings (881/1438)
119. Lirael, daughter of the Clayr by Garth Nix (869/1725)
120. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey (866/2096)
121. The book of three by Lloyd Alexander (858/1451)
122. Over sea, under stone by Susan Cooper (852/1473)
123. Abhorsen by Garth Nix (837/1546)
124. Sorceress of Darshiva by David Eddings (837/1403)
125. The grey king by Susan Cooper (828/1441)
126. The book of lost tales by J.R.R. Tolkien (825/1370)
127. The seeress of Kell by David Eddings (822/1387)
128. The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander (815/1325)
129. Belgarath the sorcerer by David Eddings (810/1300)
130. Redwall by Brian Jacques (798/1882)
131. Fantastic beasts and where to find them by J.K. Rowling (797/2054)
132. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (796/2306)
133. Silverthorn by Raymond E. Feist (790/1437)
134. The illearth war by Stephen R. Donaldson (788/1253)
135. The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents by Terry Pratchett (788/1659)
136. Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey (783/1807)
137. The curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (783/1146)
138. Tehanu : the last book of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (781/1270)
139. The diamond throne by David Eddings (772/1155)
140. The summer tree by Guy Gavriel Kay (765/1080)
141. Greenwitch by Susan Cooper (762/1287)
142. Ship of magic by Robin Hobb (752/1278)
143. Kushiel's chosen by Jacqueline Carey (750/1338)
144. Alanna : the first adventure by Tamora Pierce (748/1417)
145. The power that preserves by Stephen R. Donaldson (746/1210)
146. A darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E. Feist (744/1343)
147. Silver on the tree by Susan Cooper (736/1277)
148. Stone of tears by Terry Goodkind (735/1425)
149. The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks (732/1316)
150. Stone of farewell by Tad Williams (728/1287)
151. Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey (724/1174)
152. Fool's errand by Robin Hobb (719/1256)
153. Beauty : a retelling of the story of Beauty & the beast by Robin McKinley (718/1431)
154. The high king by Lloyd Alexander (716/1257)
155. Knife of dreams by Robert Jordan (712/1661)
156. The ruby knight by David Eddings (706/1098)
157. Arrows of the queen by Mercedes Lackey (706/1129)
158. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud (706/1537)
159. The castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander (694/1128)
160. Blood of the fold by Terry Goodkind (688/1359)
161. To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams (684/1163)
162. Polgara the sorceress by David Eddings (684/1207)
163. Kushiel's avatar by Jacqueline Carey (677/1231)
164. The wandering fire by Guy Gavriel Kay (671/920)
165. The sapphire rose by David Eddings (668/1059)
166. A spell for chameleon by Piers Anthony (666/1186)
167. Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander (662/1106)
168. Throne of jade by Naomi Novik (661/1085)
169. Paladin of souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (654/1011)
170. Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance Chronicles, Vol. 1) by Margaret Weis (648/1163)
171. Magic's price by Mercedes Lackey (642/1127)
172. The darkest road by Guy Gavriel Kay (642/890)
173. The mad ship by Robin Hobb (642/1104)
174. The golden fool by Robin Hobb (639/1194)
175. Magic's promise by Mercedes Lackey (624/1050)
176. Valdemar: Heralds of Valdemar 03 - Arrow's Fall by Mercedes Lackey (624/1019)
177. Arrow's flight by Mercedes Lackey (622/1011)
178. Dealing with dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (620/985)
179. Spindle's end by Robin McKinley (614/1073)
180. Magic kingdom for sale--sold! by Terry Brooks (612/1008)
181. The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay (611/935)
182. A song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay (603/797)
183. The wishsong of Shannara by Terry Brooks (602/1143)
184. The mirror of her dreams by Stephen R. Donaldson (598/860)
185. The one tree by Stephen R. Donaldson (596/965)
186. The wounded land by Stephen R. Donaldson (584/986)
187. Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny (575/661)
188. Domes of fire by David Eddings (574/953)
189. White gold wielder by Stephen R. Donaldson (570/939)
190. Black powder war by Naomi Novik (564/940)
191. By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey (554/912)
192. Deerskin by Robin McKinley (552/878)
193. Swordspoint : a novel by Ellen Kushner (550/733)
194. A man rides through by Stephen R. Donaldson (540/766)
195. Legends : short novels by the masters of modern fantasy by Robert Silverberg (531/601)
196. Deadhouse gates by Steven Erikson (530/565)
197. Winds of fate by Mercedes Lackey (526/934)
198. The forgotten beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip (508/678)
199. The King of Elfland's daughter by Lord Dunsany (462/580)
200. Legends II : new short novels by the masters of modern… by Robert Silverberg (406/400)

>169 ACK! Yes, I know. It was one of the first things I looked at.

Can you delete the list please?

It's clear that there's a ways to go to get to 1001 books, so here's a selection of my 8-out-of-10s:

Cold Hand in Mine by Robert Aickman
Giles Goat-Boy by John Barth
The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs
Brittle Innings by Michael Bishop
Who Made Stevie Crye? by Michael Bishop
Tithe by Holly Black
Land of Dreams by James Blaylock
Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite
Lord Horror by David Britton
Jhereg by Steven Brust (first in the ongoing Vlad series)
Domnei by James Branch Cabell
Dead Girls / Dead Boys / Dead Things by Richard Calder
Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino
Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey
Gilligan's Wake by Tom Carson
Burning Your Boats by Angela Carter
The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. by Robert Coover
Khaled by Marion F. Crawford
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
A Secret History by Mary Gentle (first in the 4 book Ash series)
She by H. Rider Haggard
Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand
Viriconium by M. John Harrison (4 conected books)
The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson
The Arabian Nightmare by Robert Irwin
American Goliath by Harvey Jacobs
Humpty Dumpty: An Oval by Damon Knight
Fata Morgana by William Kotzwinkle
The Bear Went Over the Mountain by William Kotzwinkle
The Great Bagarozy by Helmut Krausser
The Other Side by Alfred Kubin
The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton (first in the 3 book Hall Family Chronicles series)
Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, J.S.P.S. by Jeremy Leven
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft
The Shadow Over Innsmouth and Other Stories of Horror by H. P. Lovecraft
The Age of Wire and String by Ben Marcus
Song for the Basilisk by Patricia A. McKillip
Once on a Time by A. A. MIlne
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Dragon Path by Kenneth Morris
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
Buddha's Little Finger by Victor Pelevin
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
V. by Thomas Pynchon
The Antipope by Robert Rankin (first in the 5 book Brentford trilogy series)
Malpertuis by Jean Ray
Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
A Short, Sharp Shock by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie
All the Names by Jose Saramago
A Handbook of American Prayer by Lucius Shepard
Poseidonis by Clark Ashton Smith
Resume With Monsters by William Browning Spencer
Zod Wallop by William Browning Spencer
Larque on the Wing by Nancy Springer
Trash Sex Magic by Jennifer Stevenson
Perfect Circle by Sean Stewart
The High House by James Stoddard
Jack Faust by Michael Swanwick
The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick
The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber
The Dying Earth by Jack Vance (first in the 4 book Dying Earth series)
Illuminatus trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea (3 book series)
The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
Unicorn Variations by Roger Zelazny

Here are some books that I haven't gotten to yet, but, for one reason or another, should probably be included.
The Fermata by Nicholson Baker
Cities of the Red Night by William S. Burroughs
Aegypt by John Crowley (first in the 4 book Aegypt series)
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Penguin Island by Anatole France
The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse
Night and the City by Gerald Kersh
Om, the Secret of Ahbor Valley by Talbot Mundy
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolph Erich Raspe
Day of the Minotaur by Thomas Burnett Swann
Bloodstone by Karl Edward Wagner (first in the 4 book Kane series)
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Sinai Tapestry by Edward Whittemore (first in the 4 book Jerusalem Quartet series)
Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright

I couldn't get some of the touchstone links to work properly. Sorry about that - it wasn't for lack of trying.

Some of my recommendations aren't strongly tagged as Fantasy in the tag cloud, bearing instead such tags as Surreal, Experimental, Postmodern, Existential, Magic Realism, Metafiction, etc. Not every book has to have an apprentice wizard protagonist or an endless MacGuffin quest to be considered fantasy! :)

Finally, I noticed a couple of author typos in the spreadsheet - Caroll, Lewis should be Carroll, Lewis and Marukami, Haruki should be Murakami, Haruki.

This should keep you busy! :)

Honestly, too busy.

First, I check each book I'm not familiar with against the tag cloud and if fantasy isn't at least semi-prominent, I don't include it.

Also, I see several duplicates.

Lastly, I'm sorry, but those lists are just too huge. Can you narrow them down to your top 25 or so that are not already on the list, please?

Message edited by its author, Jan 25, 2008, 5:53pm.

Morphy, you are a gem for taking this on. I appreciate your work, girl, and am looking forward to the votin',

Hi Everyone,

I'm not sure if it's too late or not but just in case I had a few books to add that I don't think have been mentioned yet.

The Sword of Truth Series
Terry Goodkind
My two personal favourites
Wizards First Rule (sorry touchstone not working) & Temple of the Winds

The Axis Trilogy
Sara Douglass

Battleaxe
Enchanter
Starman

There were three more books in that series but I didn't enjoy them as much.

And finally...

David & Leigh Eddings
The Redemption of Althalus

Thanks

Danielle

Portrait Of Mrs Charbuque by Jeffrey Ford
Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford
Virconium series by M. John Harrison.
Tales Of The Dying Earth by Jack Vance
Facts Of Life by Graham Joyce
The Stress Of Her Regard by Tim Powers
Outside The Dog Museum by Jonathan Carroll
Soldier In The Mist series by Gene Wolfe
Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin.
The Complete Enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt
Aegypt series by John Crowley.
Ash by Mary Gentle
The Architecture Of Desire by Mary Gentle.
The White Bird Of Kinship series by Richard Cowper.
Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp
Kaeti And Company by Keith Roberts
Black Juice by Margo Lanagan
The Pavilion Of Frozen Women by S.P. Somtow
John the Balladeer by Manly Wade Wellman
Magic for beginners by Kelly Link
Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler
City of Saints And Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer

That'll do for the time being.

FYI, I'm going to close the list for nominations tomorrow, Thursday, January 31, 2008 so I can get started on the voting process. If you have additional recommendations, please get them in before then. Thanks!

Our Lady Of Darkness by Fritz Leiber

Hopefully there's still time. This is such a great idea.

There's so many already listed that are favourites. Others I nominate for inclusion and couldn't find above are:

*The Changeover by Margaret Mahy - YA fantasy (NZ author)
*The Halfmen of O by Maurice Gee - YA fantasy (NZ author)
*Under the Mountain also by Maurice Gee - YA fantasy (NZ author)
*The King of the Copper Mountains - by Paul Biegel Children's fantasy (Dutch? author)

Also,
*The Unlikely Ones by Mary Brown
* Jhereg by Steven Brust (first in the ongoing Vlad series - wasn't sure if had been counted or not yet)
*Five Hundred Years After by Steven Brust - same fictional universe and world as above, different character, era and completely different writing style as a tribute to Alexander Dumas. Fantastic fantasy. (The trilogy is The Viscount of Adrilankha - a subset of the 5 book Khaavren series)

**Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold - Second in the Chalion duology and my favourite of the two

*and not traditional fantasy, but has rabbit mythology and folklore:
Watership Down by Richard Adams

Usual author touchstone issues where they've had previously combined names. Hopefully that doesn't count against them.

Message edited by its author, Jan 30, 2008, 7:32am.

I think Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by you know who
Also The Song of the Wanderer by Bruce Coville
And Into the land of Unicorns by Bruce Coville
and that is all but these are some really great books.

The Navigator Kings trilogy by Garry Kilworth
Shadow-Hawk by Garry Kilworth. A fantasy set in 19th century Borneo.
The Affirmation by Christopher Priest.
The Glamour by Christopher Priest.
Dream Archipelago by Christopher Priest
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson
Was by Geoff Ryman
Sea-Kings Of Mars by Leight Brackett (sword and planet)

The next two are probably weird fiction but with enough fantasy content to count I think -
The King In Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
The Mark Of The Beast And Other Fantastical Tales by Rudyard Kipling

The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane by Robert E. Howard

It doesn't look like anyone's mentioned the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan yet, so I'll throw those out there. They're children's fantasy, and I was very impressed with the first three. (The rest of the series is not yet available in North America). The first book is The Ruins of Gorlan.

Is it too late to put in my two cents? Because I would like to nominate the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. There are 4 books out to date (Furies of Calderon, Academ's Fury, Cursor's Fury, and Captain's Fury). They have all been books most excellent.

Also, I saw on your list that you had Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. Macavoy. That book has a companion novel/sequel called Twisting the rope: Casadh an t'Sugain.....anywho, just thought that I would mention that.

If it's still possible to add to your list could I suggest the two series by Kate Forsyth starting with Dragonclaw and The Tower of Ravens.

The burning bridge by John Flananagan

The Stolen Child by Keith Donahue. Definitely add that one.

I can't always remember the particular books I've loved, but I do have a list of authors who'se every work I want to absorb. It goes way back in time to Wells,Verne, Burroughs and Howard to present day Wurts, Hobb, Rawn, Kerr etc. and I still have so much to read...

Ok I tried to read all the entries so there wouldn't be any repeats on my list but I only got half way through so hopefully I won't just be repeating other people's suggestions here.

The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin
Orsinian Tales by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
The Line Between by Peter S. Beagle
A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle

Message edited by its author, Mar 16, 2008, 4:22pm.

Pern books by Anne McCaffrey

Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E Feist & Janny Wurts

Seventh Sword series by Dave Duncan

so when do you close out nominations?

I recently read Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr which is the start of a series, primarily for young adults. I liked Marr's take on the faerie world.

The Twilight Saga should also get a nod since it seems to be a popular sell these days....although I am currently listening to it in my car and I don't understand the draw. Personally I don't think that it sends a very good message to teenage girls....its all about a girl being obsessed with a guy.

Technically they are already closed. However, I will take any nominations up to the point of the last survey.

No-one has yet mentioned Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy series,
including Lord Darcy Investigates and Too Many Magicians
Olaf Stapledon tends to fall under science fiction, but many aspects of his Last and First Men, Star Maker, Sirius and Odd John seem like fantasy.
I note someone mentioned my novel Jaguar Princess
Just out of curiosity (this is not a nomination, since the following are my books) did anyone mention the Ratha series (fantasy about big cats?) Ratha's Creature, Clan Ground, Ratha and Thistle-chaser and Ratha's Challenge.
CB

Also, Diana Paxton's Brisingamen and Tim Power's
The Drawing of the Dark - about a magic beer!

My TBR list just exploded.

how about:

Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Everlost by Neil Shusterman
Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Nightseer by Laurell K. Hamilton
The Gilded Chain by Dave Duncan.