These books have transported scores of readers from the Shire, to Westeros and to mid-20th century China<\/p>\n
When you make a purchase using links on our site, The Week may earn a commission. All reviews are written independently by our editorial team.<\/p>\n
Fantasy literature has a long history of beckoning readers to escape into fleshed-out magical worlds, where wizards and dragons are the norm. Over the years, several titles have established themselves as pinnacles of fantasy fiction, molding the genre into the multifaceted entity it is today. Here are the best fantasy books of all time.<\/p>\n
The first entry published in C. S. Lewis\u2019 seven-volume \u201cChronicles of Narnia\u201d has drawn in a legion of fans across decades, said Time. The series was the \u201cliterary spark that ignited dozens of contemporary fantasies,\u201d in which a child \u201csuddenly discovers that magic exists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.<\/p>\n
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n
There have always been \u201cfraught times,\u201d and there have always been \u201cthose whose mastery of the art of storytelling\u201d has helped us understand how \u201cpowerfully stories shape the world,\u201d fantasy author N. K. Jemisin said at Time. Lewis is undoubtedly one of those greats who \u201csought to comfort children with faith.\u201d\u2019 ($11, Harper Collins, Amazon)<\/p>\n
When it comes to fantasy world-building, J. R .R. Tolkien set a standard with Middle Earth. Starting as a sequel to his novel \u201cThe Hobbit,\u201d the book evolved into one of the most recognizable and celebrated fantasy series of all time.<\/p>\n
The world of elves, hobbits, dragons and wizards has a dedicated fanbase, many of who are Tolkien scholars. The author created a \u201cgreat work of literature\u201d that has the \u201cpower to engage an immense range of readers\u201d and \u201cmost importantly, engage them in fundamentally different ways than its predecessors, contemporaries or imitators,\u201d English literature scholar Michael D.C. Drout said at Lit Hub. ($26, Harper Collins, Amazon)<\/p>\n
The fantasy genre, like other speculative fiction, is male-dominated. But there have been more than a fair share of women writing amazing fantasy books. Ursula K. Le Guin\u2019s canon is a master class in what women can do in fantasy literature.<\/p>\n
The author\u2019s \u201cA Wizard of Earthsea\u201d challenges readers to \u201csee the tropes and themes of a familiar genre in a way that doesn\u2019t line up with the history of the canon,\u201d said Lit Reactor. The world she creates with Earthsea feels \u201cpopulated and alive in the way that the best fictional worlds always do,\u201d but it also \u201cdoesn\u2019t feel overly precious.\u201d A \u201cWizard of Earthsea\u201d is \u201csmart, conscientious and morally responsible,\u201d but also a \u201cdude fights a dragon!\u201d ($20, Harper Collins, Amazon)<\/p>\n
Two years before a bespectacled boy named Harry Potter took young-adult fantasy by storm, Philip Pullman\u2019s \u201cThe Golden Compass\u201d was making a name for itself as a classic of the subgenre. While both are \u201cwildly popular,\u201d only J. K. Rowling\u2019s series \u201cinspired a theme park,\u201d The Atlantic said.<\/p>\n
Still, Pullman\u2019s legacy endures. After more than 30 years, his books \u201cretain an idiosyncratic spikiness,\u201d said The Atlantic. While Rowling\u2019s work has a \u201cglossy, optimized feel\u201d and is \u201cengineered for your comfort,\u201d Pullman\u2019s epic doesn\u2019t \u201cleach into the cultural groundwater quite so readily.\u201d The author\u2019s abilities as a storyteller are \u201cstupendous,\u201d and his stories \u201cflood you.\u201d ($13, Penguin Random House, Amazon)<\/p>\n
Another master world builder is Robin Hobb, the pen name of Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden. If you enjoy Tolkien\u2019s Middle Earth or George R. R. Martin\u2019s Westeros, then you\u2019ll be an \u201cinstant fan of the Realm of the Elderlings,\u201d said BookTrib.<\/p>\n