What Every Fantasy Fan Should Read (?)

I know it's always subject to debate, but I've been curious for a while now about what books every fantasy fan should read. The kind of thing people look at you askance and say "You haven't read *that*?!"

Obviously, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and Earthsea would top the list. Maybe a smattering of Grimm, Perrault, and Andersen's fairy tales. Lewis Carroll's Alice stories. L. Frank Baum's Oz. Peter Pan. Maybe Harry Potter.

Contemporary or classic, obscure or popular--what are your must-read fantasy books?

I agree with Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and Earthsea. But I would also say Stardust, from Neil Gaiman, most of his work is a definite must read. Certainly the Harry Potter books. And Howl's Moving Castle from Diane Wynne Jones.

It's funny, but I dislike several of those series quite a lot. Particularly LotR and Harry Potter--did not enjoy them *at all*, and probably would have been turned off fantasy forever if they had been the first things I tried to read.

I haven't read Earthsea, but if I had thought that all fantasy was going to be like LotR or (ugh!) Narnia, I wouldn't have read any more.

1001 Fantasy

Is the list of 1001 books (lots of series') that the Green Dragon members thought were the key fantasy titles to have read in yoru life.

Tolkein got the most votes (sort by tags to see this) followed by Naria, Beowolf, Alice, HP, Earthsea, Odyssey, ... have al ook for yourself.

To some degree it's a reflection of the recognition factor of the titles, rather than genuine contribution to the field perhaps, but then that's always part of the variable weights different people apply to different factors.

Personally I think you have to at least try Stephen Donaldson and Guy Gavriel Kay to be a fantasy fan.
But I love LOTR and Narnia.

In the beginning was... The epic of Gilgamesh, this is the classic among the classics, the first fantasy written story that has survived! Just kidding.

I agree with LOTR because it is so much identified as the first great fantasy novel. Many people would also recommend The Chronicles of the Dragonlance.

It all depends on whether you are a roots seeker and give a try to everything fantasy-related such as fairy tales, myths or pre-modern authors like Lord Dunsany or prefer the best known fantasy. I suppose that when it comes to hard-core fans you just give a try to everything.

In my opinion, you MUST read Brandon Sanderson. He's a genius.

Hmm. I think the OP was looking for stories/books that would be included in a fictional generally-approved basic library of Fantasy, rather than personal faves. Looking at it objectively, I'd suggest the following:

- Jorge Luis Borges' story Tlön, Uqbar and Orbis Tertius
- Shirley Jackson's story The Lottery
- Roger Zelazny's Amber Chronicles (the first five books)
- Some Fafhrd & Grey Mouser tales by Fritz Leiber
- Terry Pratchett: maybe Small gods, Pyramids, Soul music or one of the witches books.
- Robert Paul Holdstock's Mythago wood

Personally, I'd love to see the following included, though they might be more debatable (I am a "roots seeker", as elwen puts it):

- Jack Vance's Lyonesse Trilogy
- Jack Vance's Tales of the dying earth
- Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar tapestry trilogy
- a little Clark Ashton Smith; something from Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos; and a few of Lord Dunsany's stories
- and yes: ancient epics: Gilgamesh, Ilias, Aeneid, Beowulf, the Táin. Medieval Arthurian and Karolingian romances. Other poems as well: Alfred Lord Tennyson's The lady of Shalott, for instance.
- Walpole's The castle of Otranto? Some Gothic novel, at any rate
- and maybe even Sheri S. Tepper's Beauty, though I don't like that one all that much

Or if you'd want to include good stuff to draw people into the genre:

- Tim Powers' The Anubis Gates
- Brian Sanderson, as suggested by goddessladyj

Will Harry Potter always be a part of the Fantasy Lexicon? I already think that he is fading... If not to get through the movies, i don't see the phenomena as popular as when it first occured. Not as endearing to the generations as Tolkien.

After Tolkien, I think you have Jordan and The Wheel of Time, Martin and The Song of Ice and Fire the Sword of Truth series by Goodking (which I have only ready the first book of and don't plan to read another) and Malazon by Erikson as a group that would provide a canon of Fantasy

Historically speaking, let's not forget Robert E. Howard's Conan, or Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels.

I don't think that Gaiman will hold up as everyone feels he will.

From an epic standpoint, I can see Jordon being placed on the list, though I don't want it on my list either.

At least the first three books of Piers Anthony's Xanth series I might include from the humorist in me.

I am shocked that nobody has mentioned David Eddings's Belgariad. If someone totally new to the genre asks me where to start, this is the first book I'd recommend.

Belgariad is a good epic addition. Five books, very much fantasy, very YA

#13--I loved the Belgariad when I was in my early teens. So yeah, if the person new to the genre is in his/her early-to-mid teens, the Belgariad would work. But I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to an adult new to the genre. It's good, but certainly not the absolute most sophisticated of series.

And that's why this is a hard question to answer! Many of the books that really got us hooked on the genre are teen books. But are they really the books EVERY fantasy fan should read? Or just the ones who are starting out on the genre as actual teens?

I think my introduction to the fantasy genre was with the Narnia books. I think the primary ones that really got me hooked after that were The Hobbit, The Dark is Rising series, The Prydain Chronicles and a little later on, the Xanth books.

Honestly, I personally really, really dislike even the idea that there ARE books that you "have to/must" read in order to be a fantasy fan. I think it's all very personal, and if something doesn't appeal to you you shouldn't have to force yourself just for the sake of meeting some arbitrary standard.

^^Yes, that, too. Fantasy is really a very diverse genre in a lot of ways, and what I might like to read is not necessarily what you or you or you would like to read...and there's nothing wrong with that, really! There are subgenres of fantasy that I'm all about, and subgenres that interest me not at all.

I don't think we want a 100 best of list or 1001 list. Just some essentials that you say, 'oh that is fantasy' when someone wants to know what the fuss is all about.

Perhaps when you break it down into Genres and subgenres you get a feel for what is the ultimate example

We have quest (which comprises so much of the entire genre)and heroic... I am working on what else is really not quest at the moment as I write this and think that if I stare at this much longer my mind will need to go on a quest... So maybe someone else can chime in.

Well, I don't believe that these books are requirements for being a fantasy fan, there are many subgenre's to the fantasy genre such as: steampunk, gearpunk, epic fantasy, saga's, world creation, fictional history, etc. that it is impossible to satisfy all these different fanbases. However, as I look at Fantasy as a whole I can find some books that everyone will at least have heard of because of their great fame and popularity.

Obviously there is JRR Tolkein, and right behind him I believe is Robert Jordan who transformed the original fantasy structure of JRRT into an epic tale. Although I absolutely hate her books, Anne McAffrey is a must. I've read one of her books all the way through and tried to get through many more but it was just too hard. GRR Martin must be mentioned as he really created the gritty reality style of fantasy. Steven Erikson's Malazan should be mentioned here as well. Piers Anthony is also a great writer.

We can also mention some new writers that are garnering some huge attention. I think the best young author right now is Brandon Sanderson a wonderful writer. He is joined by authors such as Joe Abercrombie, Pat Rothfuss, and Neil Gaiman who can reassure us that the fantasy genre will keep being renewed with great titles.

There is no one book that is superfluous, it is the whole genre that needs to be respected.

Someone who I forgot to mention is Terry Pratchett who should also be mentioned for his great work.

I agree that there shouldn't be a "must read" list as tastes really do vary, but there are books or authors that you'll find that most fantasy fans have read or plan on reading (Tolkien, Lewis, Eddings, Jordan, Martin, LeGuin). Then there are books I'll recommend to anyone who reads fantasy like Robin Hobb's Six Duchies books (I'd like to think that Hobb's in the 1st list too, but not sure bout that), Karen Miller's Kingmaker/Kingbreaker duology & Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn books - but thats just personal opinion :)

I think of a "must read" list less as a "if you're a real fan, you'll read these books", but rather more of a "seminal works that are key to understanding the genre" list, if that makes sense.

Not that I'm super well-read in the fantasy genre--I really only became a real fan of the genre in the past few years, though I'd long been a fan of particular authors--but such a list (in my mind) would include the likes of the following; many, if not most, having been previously mentioned:

Robert E. Howard (Conan)
Vance (Dying Earth)
Mervyn Peake (Gormenghast)
Tolkien (LotR)
Le Guin (Earthsea)
Zelazny (Amber)
Donaldson (Thomas Covenant)
Terry Brooks (Shanarra)
Glen Cook (Black Company)
Eddings (Belgariad)
Gene Wolfe (Book of the New Sun)
Robert Jordan (WoT)
George R. R. Martin (ASoIaF)
Erikson (Malazan)

The problem with such a list is that, while older works are easy to point to and say "this is an important piece of the genre", you have an explosion of titles in the 80s and 90s where it gets harded to narrow in on the Really Important Ones. At that point, it's probably just a matter of personal preference.

I would love to be able to go a century into the future and see what (if any) works from the past 25 years or so are still considered to be important pillars of the genre.

I wonder if the major Fantasy editors (the ones for the magazines) have ever done such a list in their blogs. Couldn't really trust the publishers too much because there might be a slant to push their books.

Hi,

I work in a library and when I am asked to recommend fantasy for teenagers I always suggest David Eddings, Belgariad series. This is because I feel it is a good introduction to the fantasy genre for teenagers.

Cheers

If you like fantasy, especially but not only if you're female, try Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot. It's the first book in a very rewarding series about two girls living in magical Great Britain.

Double post deleted

I loathe a lot of the 'seminal' authors mentioned in this thread, and I am in general not a fan of the high fantasy/epic fantasy sub genre. If a book contains elves, they had better be very funny elves. That doesn't make me any less of a fantasy reader. But because many of the early fantasy works were high fantasy, that continues to define the genre more than fx. urban fantasy, which is what I mostly read.
What I consider 'must-reads' isn't the same as what I'd expect others to have read. There is very little I consider must reads to be frank.

I think it is mostly a matter of what cultural reference you expect others to have - which books can I make a reference to, and expect to be understood, in the general populace. Very few, if I am to judge.

Dracula and Frankenstein are books I wouldn't expect many to have read, but they would be recognized, and the plot known to some degree.
From childhood most everybody are familiar with some Roald Dahl, the Narnia books, Astrid Lindgren, Diana Wynne Jones, The Borrowers - all depending on age obviously.
There is Tolkien as many have mentioned.
If you consider magical fantasy a subgenre of fantasy, then I'd also expect people to have read Gabrial Garcia Marquez 100 years of solitude, and Isabel Allende The house of the spirits.

Then there is all sorts of regional books, Danish or Scandinavian books, that danes may have read, but very few here would know.

I have to agree that there could never be a list that EVERY fantasy fan should read. Tastes differ widely. I can't imagine that the witty and extremely gory The lies of locke lamora would appeal to the same readership as the witty and gentle Sorcery and Cecilia, although I expect there are readers out there open-minded enough to appreaciate both.

But. To balance out all the trad epic writers mentioned above, here are a few writers of character-driven fantasy whose books have stayed on my shelves through the years:

swordspoint by ellen kushner
the silent tower by barbara hambly
the thief by megan whalen turner
the lens of the world by r a macavoy
the curse of the mistwraith by janny wurts
fortress in the eye of time by c j cherryh

I have to agree with the many people above who have said that there aren't books that all fantasy fans must read "must read." Though, to answer the question, I would also say The Lord of the Rings, which has been mentioned many times. I also would put Harry Potter on the list. I think it will last past all the movies because of the sheer amount of fans and people whom they appeal to. The third on my list would be His Dark Materials. I understand the controversy surrounding these books, but I feel they are wonderful stories, much more appealing to me than Narnia.

We've just done something of this sort in the Sci Fi group, and I find it interesting that just at a general, cultural sort of level, I seem to have a much harder time picking out the 'classics' of fantasy (despite having read more of it) than I do sci fi.

That is, the field of science fiction seems to have a number of works that are widely recognized as being 'foundational' or 'classic' or 'seminal' in some fashion - a lot of the nominations look the same, and it was fairly easy to start making a voted checklist. A lot of people read the same core of books.

That seems to not be quite the case with fantasy. There are some - Narnia, Tolkien, and now HP - that are, but by and large it doesn't seem to have the same sort of 'these books are the legacy of these books' feeling to me.

I'm curious about whether others feel the same way - does fantasy have as quantifiable a 'legacy'? If not, why the difference? Is it because of the age of the genres, maybe?

I love JRRT and GG Kay, find Jordan totally unreadable. Tastes vary. For the well-read fantasy fan, I'd include UKL's The Beginning Place alongside the Earthsea books. I'd throw in some Patricia McKillip, maybe the Riddlemaster trilogy or The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. Gene Wolfe's Castleview is tremendous fun. Little, Big deserves a place, as does The Worm Ouroboros if we're looking at early sources. For younger readers I would add the Prydain chronicles, Mary Stewart's Merlin series, The Once and Future King, George MacDonald's Curdie books, and Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet. And don't forget the animal protagonists: Watership Down, Duncton Hill. Peter Beagle, MZ Bradley, the list goes on. Do you consider Winter's Tale to be fantasy? The Eyre Affair?

I haven't kept up with the latest entries in the field, so I appreciate hearing about some new names.

I don't think that there is a must read list for all fantasy fans. Taste vary widely and so does the genre of fantasy.

Certainly The Lord of the Rings is a classic and I think that the Harry Potter series will become one. But I have noticed that many new books don't stay on bookstore shelves for long these days and some books I can olnly get if I happen to know an author I like has a new book out and I special order it.

Will there be a next generation of "classic" fantasy books when books don't stay in print long enough for the next generation of readers to discover them?

The 100 best Fantasy, or 100 Fantasy books for your library... Sounds like another plan with lots of discussion

Reading all these posts and all the discussion, it's no surprise to me there is a list of 1001 Fantasy novels must read...:)

To put in my two cents:

The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Gormenghast, Narnia, Conan, Earthsea, Lyonesse, The Demon princes, The chronicles of Thomas covenant, Peter Pan survived so much well trough time... everybody knows about them, so I guess you could call them the canon of Fantasy. I know I am forgetting a title and maybe more titles, I am sure of it. But certainly, these are the backbone of Fantasy. The other authors will have to prove their quality for now. Will their series, their work survive? How many people will know about them as we know now about Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, H.G. Wells, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert E. Howard and Jules Verne?

By the way.. I think J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Tanith Lee, Diana Wynne Jones, Robert Jordan, Raymond E. Feist, Robin Hobb, G.R.R. Martin, Steven Erikson, Juliet Marillier and many others I might forget right now, stand a fair chance... but who's to say if we remember their stories?

And let's not forget some local authors who lean in to fantasy... Bram Stoker..., Astrid Lindgren (let's not forget the Brothers Lionheart), Tonke Dragt (Yeah, she's Dutch, her books are not new and no, I don't know if her books are translated but they should be), the fairytales from the brothers Grimm or mother Goose (Perreault) and of course Hans Christian Andersen.

Edit: oh got I am ranting.. it's those to white wines. I shouldn't be behind a computer in the middle of the night people sorry ...(here it's 1:28 am)Let's get to bed *blushing*

The Belgariad by, David Eddings is the first book my librarian suggested after reading Harry Potter --Oh by the way I was about 41 at the time---so really they are for any age!And it got me hooked on fantasy. My personal must reads
Neil Gaiman
Terry Prattchett
Terry Brooks
Anne & Todd McCaffrey

Oh I could go on but you get the picture.There are alot of good fantasy writers out there right now and it will be interesting to see in 10-20 years who's books become classics!

Now that David Eddings is gone and we will not get any more, does his writing move towards the classic? When it first came out I stayed away from his novels thinking they weren't for me, but then one day I broke down and read the first.

I since have reread the original 5 book series at least three times, and the second 5 book series at least twice.

Winter of fire by Sherryl Jordan is a great book. It is my all time favorite book of all books. It is hard to come by, but if you ever do I highly highly recommend you read it!!

Also Terry Brooks books are a great selection.