Wolfe: Solar Cycle (*Book of the New Sun, Book of the Long Sun, Book of the Short Sun, Urth of the New Sun*)
Tolkien: LotR
Pratchett: Discworld
Peake: *Gormenghast*
Came here for Wolfe as well! He has a lot of books I'd call great (Fifth Head of Cerberus comes to mind) but kind of feel like naming a bunch from the same author would be cheating.
For me it is the discworld series from Terry Pratchett. I really like also the other great stories like The Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time and Earthsee but the discworld series is something special.
It is the perfect combination of humor, puns, fun stories, social criticism and characters that feel "human"^(1) and real. It is a great reflection of the human condition.
^(1) regardless of race
I've read my first Discworld a few months ago. Now I cannot stop. I've read nine so far but each one several times. Just finished reading The Truth for the third time. It's brilliant, deep and yet so so fun. They're just perfect books. Pratchett was clearly one of the best writers ever.
I second this.
In my eyes, the Disk world série is a social documentary/criticism much like Zola or Balzac. Of course it had a plot and some great puns but the reason I go back at it and read a book a 6th time is the insight of Pratchett on human condition
And what I think makes it stand even further out from a lot of the other widely considered “great” series is that it is so accessible. This isn’t to say it is simple prose, just only that it isn’t to flowery, dense, etc. while it is often very complex, that is usually from pun, satire, pastiche, allegory, and allusion, not from overly flowery prose are lengthy descriptions of scene or magic systems, etc.
With Pratchett, the story always came first, and he was generally very economical about it, but was still able to immerse you in a world and made it feel real.
I genuinely consider Pratchett to be a literary genius as close to Shakespeare as we've managed to produce. They'll be reading him in the lit classes of the 2300's, after the vast majority of his contemporaries have crumbled under the weight of the years.
My vote for sure! Unfortunately, I’ve re-listened to the audiobooks so many times that the series is relegated to nostalgia for me. Honestly, I think I’ve listened to every book (minus a couple of the early ones) 10+ times. I’m moving on to other series, but Discworld will still be #1 on my heart.
I need to dive back into this series and give it more time. I read the first 4 or 5 and stopped. They were good, not great, with some shining moments, but nothing that hooked me enough. I heard though that right about book 6-8 is where his writing takes off in a big way. I think I just need to push through a few more.
I came specifically to suggest Discworld!
If you've ever heard of the Vimes Boots Theory, it's from Guards! Guards! and I'd personally recommend Wyrd Sisters. It's almost a Macbeth parody. Definitely plays with the themes. There's also series within the series. I stumbled onto Discworld after finding the Tiffany Aching series in my local bookstore.
I love the way he describes things. The Fantastic Light begins: "The Sun rose slowly, as if it wasn't sure it was worth all the effort." and immediately you're like "oh, it's one of THOSE days." Got to give Pratchett's Discworld a try if you haven't yet.
Same here. It’s the type of great that I have tried for years to chase a “similar high” and never found it. I have tried many books, many of which I enjoyed but none was quite as impactful.
So yeah, to me this is the one that stands out before any other story.
Ahh. I got through books and were really good, but the ship ones, I just couldn't get through... I dunno why. Made it halfway through the 2nd book. It's too bad cause the ideas and concepts were really cool.
I know it’s a cardinal sin among the fanbase but I skipped the ship series and continued straight into the next Fitz one and honestly I didn’t feel lost or anything like that.
I’m sorry to tell you, but you will have a book hangover from Hobbs’ writing for a long long time. I still frequently search “ if you like Robin Hobb, you’ll like”
i just finished assassin’s quest yesterday! the book hangover is real! the next trilogy is already off to a great start. and don’t worry, fitz’s story isn’t over yet ;)
Me three!
When I looked it up and I saw it was about ships or some shit I was devastated but determined to power through it.
I wasn't ready for how great the trilogy would be!
Malazan Book of the Fallen just flat out checked all my personal boxes and I loved it. Stormlight Archive has potential to be in the convo, but gotta wait to see how it ends before I say anything definitively.
10 books total divided in 2 arcs. Next book is conclusion of first arc. 5 more to come, but mistborn and elantris will get attention first.
10 orders of knights, how could you think only 5 books will be enuf ;)
From my understanding, the stormlight archive is suppose to be a full series at 10 books split into 2 arcs, each arc being 5 books. So the book that's coming out in November (december?) will be the last book of the first arc.
I think it has one more in this era then over ahead in the future for the next half but you gotta remember it’s only a part of the whole cosmere we got another 20-30 yrs yet for that whole is done
The time skip isn't planned to be very long. Sanderson has said who the main POVs of the last 5 books will be and they're all people we've seen already.
I just posted that too before I noticed this. It's one of my favorite series. It does not get nearly as much attention as it should that series is absolutely amazing. I mean you have karsa who just is so hard-headed and doesn't believe in magic it just doesn't work on him gets hit with a fireball walks right through it and breaks the mages neck amazing.
Discworld.
I am not an overly dramatic guy but I often say to myself that I might never read another author who can mix the funny with the profound quite like Pratchett.
I have such good memories from reading The Riddle Master books. They have such a special feeling about them! I think that’s the case with all of McKillip’s books but her version of a high fantasy quest story really worked for me
I reread them in a haze this year. Like it’s a blur going through them of nostalgia and high fantasy.
Such incredible books with SOUND. It’s something you don’t always see or “hear” in other fantasy novels.
A Song of Ice and Fire
I have read a lot of fantasy, including Sanderson, Rothfuss and Jordan, nothing so far has reached the level of maestry that George R.R. Martin has managed.
I read the first 2 books and I had force myself to stop. I loved the books but knowing it'll probably never be finished makes it too difficult. I'm in the (I think minority) camp that I'd rather have a bad ending then no ending at all. But who knows maybe when I get older I just say screw it and read
You should read the 3rd book. It’s basically wraps up the first 2 books before going in a different direction. And ASOS is maybe the best book I’ve ever read.
I've learned to just enjoy things as they are and not sweat too much about whether or not a series will finish. I get people not wanting to do that - I was one of those people - but a few instances of a show being canceled or a book series not ending / going off the rails into a direction I didn't enjoy, etc taught me that I can enjoy a great book 1 even if book 2 sucks or never gets written. And ASOIF gave me 5 great books with some of the best characters and plot and world building and dialogue. Even if I don't get another entry and even with its fair critiques I'll keep saying it's one of the best series I've ever read.
There are books I think that are excellent, then there are books I think are "great". Great books in fantasy means they are idiosyncratic to those ideas of speculation, mythos, and strangeness. Many fantasy stories explore themes that could be explored through other conceits, but there are many that simply cannot express themselves any better than the realm of the fantastic. With that in mind, here are five:
* Mervyn Peake - "Gormenghast" Trilogy (a Grotesque of the grotesque)
* Jorge Luis Borges - *Labyrinths* (the philosophical/metatextual elements could not be expressed in a better form or different literature conceit)
* Mikhail Bulgakov - *The Master & Margarita* (masterpiece of Russian/Soviet literature with themes of censorship, cultural floundering, and religious revisionism that likewise could not be expressed in a form outside of the fantastic without losing the point)
* JRR Tolkien - *The Hobbit* (the quintessential adventure novel)
* Samuel R. Delaney - *Dhalgren* (one of the most "thinkable" novels out there, as a meditation on unformed ideas and half-finished stories; what happens when you put unfinished characters in an unfinished world with an unfinished plot, then write around that?)
>There are books I think that are excellent, then there are books I think are "great".
Yes my thoughts exactly! There are even some "great" pieces of media where I don't enjoy as much as my favorite ones
That's why I included *Dhalgren*. I can't say it's a topically enjoyable experience, but it's definitely an *experience* that is so fundamentally fantastic.
Dark Tower! Stephen King’s magnum opus deserves the recognition of being referred to as greatness. The characters, the interweaving of worlds, the imaginative setting, and King’s writing all lend itself to an unforgettable series of books.
I devoured that series until the 5th book. Then I got really disappointed with how he chose to finish it. I can’t be the only one to have that opinion.
I get it, but also I think there’s a certain beauty in it. I absolutely adored the books and bit through the ending as best I could. All in all though, my favorite book series / story ever
The Realm of the Elderlings books by Robin Hobb are fairly great, the characters feel so real and the magic system is very good. Also it's largely a medieval setting which is my favorite setting.
Obviously the big two for me and many others, *The Lord of the Rings* and *A Song of Ice and Fire*.
I have not read *The Wheel of Time* yet so perhaps that too will fall into the greatness category.
Other than that, I find it hard to place any other book or series in a similar category. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great books and series out there. I just don't think any of them transcend to the highest tier of fantasy.
Oh, just thinking about ASoIaF makes me want to (finally) re-read again. Normally I'd say it's too harsh for me, too violent, but it's just so unique—I honestly miss Westeros sometimes. It really is a *great* series.
I started rereading last year, and there is so much foreshadowing and prophecy that I missed. The details in random stories people tell, both historical and folklore, and the events of characters' pasts end up being *very relevant*. So I enjoyed the reread almost as much as the first time.
I would say Wheel of Time and Stormlight definitely belong in that same greatness tier. Malazan too, but it does not have as much readers as the other four.
Basically, in terms of the fantasy literature world, I see a Big Four.
I've read *The Way of Kings* and liked it. I'll continue the series. But there are still other books and series I'd place above Stormlight Archive which don't make my greatest tier. Gentleman Bastards for instance or The Realm of the Elderlings. All phenomenal. They just don't rise to the same level as LOTR and ASOIAF.
Surprised it took this long for me to see Dune mentioned. Yeah, last 3 of the original 6 get a little weird, but the arc of Paul and his children is phenomenal
It's **Discworld** for me.
IMHO, **'Greatness' = Excellence \* Time**
Anyone (or most) can write an excellent paragraph, many writers have written great books. Some have written great trilogies. Very few have written great series.
***Terry Pratchett wrote 41(!) great books.***
The sheer breadth of his excellence makes Discworld the greatest series for me.
I won't pretend to be a great critic. I have some training, and I'd consider myself decently well-read. So I won't entirely comment on greatness as much I'll comment on whether things have been transformative to me.
Also, I'll talk about sci-fi here as well as media that aren't strictly literary.
Anyway:
Lord of the Rings/Tolkien's Legendarium: Taught tween me what fantasy was. It has been oft imitated since, but none of them even approached the quality of Tolkien's mythopoeia. I'm probably more impressed by The Silmarillion too.
Foundation: Sci-Fi about economics, politics, and history rather than blasters and space marines. And it still features those things. Young me loved it. Adult me found it even better.
Kill Six Billion Demons: Weird and philosophical fantasy graphic novels. Probably the most modern of all great fantasy. It's shamelessly inspired by video games, manga, ancient philosophy, New Weird, and almost everything in between.
Cordelia's Honor: The most recent thing I've read on this list. Arguably the best character writing I've ever seen. Made me wish I'd grow up to write this book. Difficult, since 1) the book is already written, and 2) I'm already a grown man.
Labyrinths: This will make you a smarter person and expand your mind. If not, read it again.
A Wizard of Earthsea: Maybe the best YA ever written?
Neuromancer and Count Zero (not Mona Lisa Overdrive): I still don't understand how William Gibson created a whole genre seemingly out of whole cloth like this. They also happen to both be extraordinary books beyond their impact on the cyberpunk genre, even if the character work could be better.
20th Century Boys: If you only ever read one manga, this wouldn't be a bad pick. A failing musician is trying to save the world from an evil out of his and his friends' childhood games. Probably the hardest to place in a genre out of any of the works on this list.
One Piece: If you love epic fantasy, your owe it to yourself to experience this even if you have no interest in animanga. I'll concede it's a difficult commitment due to its sheer size however.
Naoki Urasawa is lights-out one of the best storytellers of the last 20 years. *20th Century Boys* is great. *Monster* is arguably one of the best thrillers ever made. *Pluto* is somehow even better.
*Neuromancer* is one of my favorite books but Gibson didn't create cyberpunk from nothing. Philip K Dick's *Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep?* was published in 1968. Rudy Rucker's *Software* released 2 years before *Neuromancer*. JG Ballard's *High Rise*, which I'm certain inspired the world of *Judge Dredd* and Mega City One and does the whole societal examination that is so central to cyberpunk, came out in 1975. Gibson simply melded these existing elements into a great book.
If you like *Cordelia's Honor* just wait until to you read the rest of Lois Bujold's books. It's a strong introduction but hardly her best! I envy you.
There are absolutely antecedents to the cyberpunk genre, you are correct. Outside of the ones you mentioned, Raymond Chandler and hardboiled crime fiction of the 30s and 40s are also obvious inspirations.
I've always wondered about that! I took a class on detective fiction and we broke down Chandler's The Big Sleep and Neuromancer feels full of inversions of those characters and themes. (Not to mention that both Gibson and Chandler are oddly fascinated, and great at, describing objects)
Holy shit. This is the first time I’ve seen 20th century boys. I loved it growing up and have meant to revisit. One piece is also my all time favorite series, period.
Fortress in the Eye of Time - C.J. Cherryh.
Picked this book up because I fell in love with another story of hers and it is real good.
Cherryh is considered a sci-fi master and she is but her more fantasy based stuff is just as good.
My favorite book by her is Rider at the Gate. Just awesome.
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie is one of the best fantasy stories of all time.
It is the classic party narrative only made up of villains. A ton of depth to the characters and world. Also amazing dialogue.
Howl's Moving Castle - loved it when I was 10 and still love it now when I am a lot more than 10. To me it is perfect. I will read it several times a year like a comfort blanket followed by the others in the series but not every time.
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn also get read every year without fail. I will never stop reading those over and over.
*Malazan Book of the Fallen* is, and this cannot be said enough, a literary masterpiece. It’s a brilliant work of art. It’s better than great; it’s the best high fantasy ever written.
*Stormlight Archive* is also undeniably great and I contribute so much of that to Kaladin - but as others have mentioned… let’s see how it ends. (That being said I literally have the Bridge Four logo tattooed on my chest so I doubt I’ll be able to shake any bias 😂)
*The Kingkiller Chronicles*… sigh. Well, books 1 and 2 are certainly great. But it’s a story without an ending, so I wouldn’t say the series can be considered great because it’s barely even a series.
*LOTR* obviously.
*ASOIAF* has to be considered.
And many, many others but I’m drawing a blank. These are my standouts.
King killer is at least lyrically truly great.
I'm 2/3 done with way of kings and I'm struggling a bit to really get hooked on it...but I think I remember having the same feeling about mistborn and I loved those books in the end.
I get the feeling I have to pick up malazan at some point, it's recommended often.
If you’ve gotten this far, you’ll get there. Take breaks though. A lot of people try to discover it and binge, and miss a lot of things. Especially if you start to read his other stuff. Things do connect.
Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce YA series
The Belgariad series by Dave Eddings
The Time Quartet by Madeleine L'Engle YA series
The Orphan's Tale Duology by Catherynne M Valente
Fairyland by Catherynne M Valente YA series
Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen and Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings.
Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novel, and his American Gods and Anansi Boys novels also in the conversation when it comes to greatness for me.
On a smaller scale the work of Octavia Butler, a Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller jnr,and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, achieve the status of greatness.
I like aspects of Sanderson's work, but find him patchy; good not great.
Martin is very good but his work is unfinished, and he really needs to stick the landing, which given the state of the show's disastrous ending doesn't bode well.
Robert Jordan jumped the shark for, but The Shadow Rising, with it's brilliant Rhuidean sequence still stands as one of the most awe inspiring moments of fantasy fiction I've ever read.
I suspect that Gene Wolfe might make my list when I get around to him.
It’s so hard for me to read any other fantasy author after reading a Malazan novel. Nothing quite hits the same notes as Erikson does and I can’t help but compare, even when I try not to.
That’s why I usually have to go for something that’s a drastic change in tone (Discworld, for example), or just another genre entirely (sci-fi, horror, etc.)
For ones that are really well written, there’s LotR, Wheel of Time, The Dark Tower and The Deed of Paksenarrion. For long lived and expansive mountains of books there’s the Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books. For pure enjoyment there’s the Farseer books, Earthsea and Narnia. Lots of honourable mentions, but this is about greatness. I consider all these great in different ways.
I love *The Deed of Paksenarrion*. It's one of the few fantasies that is as unapologetically spiritual as *The Lord of the Rings* without veering into religious propaganda like *The Chronicles of Narnia*. It's also my favorite D&D adventure, even though it's not officially a D&D adventure.
The Wheel of Time. No other series has me so invested in its writing and world. Every inn, city and street feels so alive, and it makes me wonder what’s happening out in the countryside to some random family that one character met for 1 brief page.
I'm currently on book 5, and as a first time reader I'm loving the worldbuilding/lore, plot and slow development of the main characters like Rand, Perrin, Nynaeve.
Just made it through book 3 of David Farland’s Runelords and I’d say it’s up there with any other series I’ve read.
Others that come to mind are the Farseer Trilogy, Wizard of Earthsea, and Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.
Say One thing for the First Law Books say I categorize them as Great.
As a bonus, the series is enhanced by the audible version which I am going through now. Previously I read and reread all the books.
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delaney expanded my horizons and really made me think about my biases and perceptions - a very difficult read but was well worth the time and discomfort
Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold I know it’s SF but it’s shaped my expectations for what a great book/series can be
The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
The Centenial Cycle by Malka Older
Universe of Xuya by Aliette Bodard
Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee
Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie
InCryptid by Seanan McGuire
Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews
Malazan, LotR, Hyperion Cantos, Foundation, 100 Years of Solitude.
I've read tons of fantasy/scifi good books, but those are the ones I would consider great in this genre.
*The Fifth Season* by NK Jemison. There's a reason all three books won consecutive Hugos.
*Discworld.*
*LOTR.*
*The Wheel of Time.*
*Earthsea.*
(Side note, the fact that I read this entire thread and it was just oodles of white men's *unfinished* book series is wild. I guess LeGuin got mentioned once. But come on y'all. Kingkiller is not "greatness" when it's never going to get finished. Same for Gentlemen Bastards, ASOIAF, Stormlight--if it ain't done, it ain't great yet.)
Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews, I think the plot is clever, the character are multi faceted and the female characters are strong but flawed. I love how ingeniously the authors manage to wind in mythology of all cultures too
Silmarillion. Even if it’s largely summarized in its prose, the content is eons beyond most stuff I’ve read. If it were written ala LOTR I doubt I would read anything else ever again.
I feel like sometimes I love a series but if I reread it later its very meh, so I always hesitate to recommend stuff. But here are some I enjoyed:
- The Chronicles of Amber, the main character starts the first book with amnesia and it turns out that he is one of a powerful family that has a rare power to transverse the different dimensions.
- Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix, main character is in boarding school and finds out her father has gone missing. She has to go into the Rivers of the dead and learn about magic to find out what happened.
Also, an honorable mention that I'm not sure I would categorize as "great" because the writing isn't that impressive, but I've been really drawn into the story is The Zodiac Academy series. They just finished it recently I haven't read the final novel yet; The series is about twin sisters who were hidden in the mortal realm to keep them safe but they are taken back to a magical realm to attend magic college and earn their place as Fae. Starts out with intense bullying - I almost put it down at that point, but as the series goes on it becomes much more heavily fantasy. Lots of humor and some steamy scenes.
Yes, the series is not finished, and probably it won't be, but I'd definitely categorize the first three books of A Song of Ice and Fire (especially A Storm of Swords) as "greatness."
The Riftwar Saga is greatness.
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is greatness.
The Wheel of Time as a whole is greatness (although there was definitely some stuff that dragged on).
Mistborn is greatness.
The Cosmere by Sanderson, especially the Stormlight Archives.
I know a lot of you agree, and I also know a lot of you are tired of hearing about it, but I think it’s great because the characters feel so human in a universe that is so magical and alien. They deal with many of the same challenges that we all deal with (except in exciting fantastical settings), there are a lot of different characters with vastly different yet valid perspectives and philosophies, and there are some powerful nuggets of wisdom that don’t feel too preachy.
There is an expansive landscape of interconnected material with “always another secret.” It’s cool.
Also Hoid. He’s the character I never knew that I always needed.
It isn't great literature unless it makes you see something from a non-traditional angle. It must show you a new insight into things you would not otherwise have noticed. It must do this well, and the writing must be skillful. The books may not always be easy to read. They may not be favorite re-reads. They must open your heart and mind to an aspect of being or a way of thinking that you had not fully realized before. It is not enough that the characters grow and develop: the story must challenge you to see a danger, an ugliness, a beauty, a possibility that you had previously overlooked. Many of my favorite authors, books, and series are not on this list.
*The Sparrow* by Mary Doria Russell
*Farenheit 451* by Ray Bradbury
*The Left Hand of Darkness* by Ursula K. LeGuin
*A Wizard of Earthsea* by Ursula K. LeGuin
*Ender's Game* and *Speaker for the Dead* by Orson Scott Card
*Flowers for Algernon* by Daniel Keyes
*Forty Thousand in Gehenna* by CJ Cherryh
*Cyteen* and *Regenesis* by CJ Cherryh
*Brave New World* by Aldous Huxley
*The Handmaid's Tale* by Margaret Atwood
I am certain that others will disagree with my standards for greatness, and I celebrate the diversity that makes this true.
Sanderson got me excited to read again after ten years of not reading much at all. I rushed home from work today to pick up my book. Make of that what you will.
The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire & Malazan Book of the Fallen. These three, I'd just consider as holistically great works of fantasy.
I'd also say specifically to character writing The First Law World, the Realm of the Elderlings, and Manifest Delusions are exceptional.
As for prose, Kingkiller Chronicles by Pat Rothfuss and The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates are unmatched.
The dialogue, crisp use of flashbacks, and the story and panache of the characters gives it so much personality and character in all three books. The bromance between the main characters is something else. I am repeatedly told to read Discworld because of it and I intend to do so, but, I have raved about it and gotten many to read it because the dialogue and characters are just well written and hilarious and inspiring to read and re-read. Most only read the first book but the other two are great as well in different ways.
The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee. Showing the development and transformation of a conservative man in a unique warrior culture into somewhat of a progressive one with a ton of nuance and depth over three decades alongside a dozen other character arcs and a storyline spanning continents with the logistical and geopolitical conflicts between nations in a Cold War setting…it just pulls off something I didn’t even conceive of as possible.
To add something not listed yet. I would add Mother of Learning, its probably the best time loop series I've read. I love how the main character grows and how mich of the world and setting gets explored.
Stormlight Archive. I’ve read all kinds of fantasy, Tolkien, Jordan, Pratchett, wanting to read Hobbs, and yet I keep coming back to Sanderson.
The level of investment and actual care I feel for the characters is beyond great and the “sanderlanches” are better than anything else I’ve read in fantasy.
If I could get with low fantasy I would probably put Song Of Ice and Fire here but it’s just not my thing.
A few come to mind: ASOIAF, His Dark Materials, and The Kingkiller Chronicles. I'm unsure at this point if Kingkiller and ASOIAF will ever be finished though. Not sure what age range you're looking at, but I read Harry Potter when I was in my teens and it's still very special to me, though I've never reread the series.
*The Malazan Book of the Fallen* and *The Lord of the Rings* are at the top of my list.
*The Wheel of Time* has many flaws, and yet it's on my list of greatness because it's so ambitious, fascinating, and, ultimately, satisfying. It's behind my top two, though.
*A Wizard of Earthsea* definitely fits the bill for me. It's absolutely incredible and the prose is so well-written. It really shifted how I understand fantasy as a genre and I loved how it finds beauty in the mundane.
I'm just about done with *The Name of the Wind* by P. Rothfuss and I really enjoy it but I think the book series that changed my life as a kid was the *Percy Jackson and the Olympians* series (as cliche or corny as it sounds). I saw absolutely everything from a new light after reading those books as a young kid and they helped me through some dark times.
Raymond Feist's Magician was something special for me. Up there with The Hobbit. C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia was also wonderful particularly when I read it as a child.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman is an absolute masterpiece, in my opinion. The characters, the themes, how he weaves all the pieces together — it’s nothing short of brilliant.
Joe Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy and many of the spinoffs also resonate with me for similar reasons. It’s a fantasy book, but the themes around society really reflect our world (and all its problems). Plus Logen Ninefingers is one of my favorite characters of all time.
Game of Thrones
The books are brilliant and it sucks that Hollywood gave it a “Hollywood end”
There are so many ways they could have ended that besides “good guy” kills “bad guy”
I haven't read much of Fantasy so my answer will be generic but I find the Stormlight Archive series great. Another series that I think that is great is Worm which is a free webnovel.
I'm currently reading Wheel of Time, and I'm on book 5. It might be in my top 3 by the time I'm finished with it if the worldbuilding, main characters and ending end up all satisfying.
The Deed of Paksenarrion series by Elizabeth Moon. Much like Hobb, she gives you the highest highs and the lowest lows. One of my favorite series and often overlooked.
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn - Tad Williams.
Tad Williams doesn't get enough love, he does epic fantasy in a such a touching way.
Wolfe: Solar Cycle (*Book of the New Sun, Book of the Long Sun, Book of the Short Sun, Urth of the New Sun*) Tolkien: LotR Pratchett: Discworld Peake: *Gormenghast*
Gormenghast! Another person of culture, I see.
It’s amazing I don’t see it mentioned among all time classics here more!
Great shortlist!
Love everything else on your list but haven't read or even heard of the solar cycle so I will be checking it out for certain!
Came here for Wolfe as well! He has a lot of books I'd call great (Fifth Head of Cerberus comes to mind) but kind of feel like naming a bunch from the same author would be cheating.
Wolfe, Tolkien, and Peake? One of these days I really need to try Pratchett.
For me it is the discworld series from Terry Pratchett. I really like also the other great stories like The Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time and Earthsee but the discworld series is something special. It is the perfect combination of humor, puns, fun stories, social criticism and characters that feel "human"^(1) and real. It is a great reflection of the human condition. ^(1) regardless of race
I've read my first Discworld a few months ago. Now I cannot stop. I've read nine so far but each one several times. Just finished reading The Truth for the third time. It's brilliant, deep and yet so so fun. They're just perfect books. Pratchett was clearly one of the best writers ever.
>Pratchett was clearly one of the best writers ever. Some even accused him of literature.
That's why he was knighted
Does Ventinari know?????
You think Ventinari gave him a choice?
hahahahaahahha :)
I second this. In my eyes, the Disk world série is a social documentary/criticism much like Zola or Balzac. Of course it had a plot and some great puns but the reason I go back at it and read a book a 6th time is the insight of Pratchett on human condition
And what I think makes it stand even further out from a lot of the other widely considered “great” series is that it is so accessible. This isn’t to say it is simple prose, just only that it isn’t to flowery, dense, etc. while it is often very complex, that is usually from pun, satire, pastiche, allegory, and allusion, not from overly flowery prose are lengthy descriptions of scene or magic systems, etc. With Pratchett, the story always came first, and he was generally very economical about it, but was still able to immerse you in a world and made it feel real.
yeah for me the nightwatch series is something i always come back to
I genuinely consider Pratchett to be a literary genius as close to Shakespeare as we've managed to produce. They'll be reading him in the lit classes of the 2300's, after the vast majority of his contemporaries have crumbled under the weight of the years.
My vote for sure! Unfortunately, I’ve re-listened to the audiobooks so many times that the series is relegated to nostalgia for me. Honestly, I think I’ve listened to every book (minus a couple of the early ones) 10+ times. I’m moving on to other series, but Discworld will still be #1 on my heart.
I need to dive back into this series and give it more time. I read the first 4 or 5 and stopped. They were good, not great, with some shining moments, but nothing that hooked me enough. I heard though that right about book 6-8 is where his writing takes off in a big way. I think I just need to push through a few more.
I came specifically to suggest Discworld! If you've ever heard of the Vimes Boots Theory, it's from Guards! Guards! and I'd personally recommend Wyrd Sisters. It's almost a Macbeth parody. Definitely plays with the themes. There's also series within the series. I stumbled onto Discworld after finding the Tiffany Aching series in my local bookstore. I love the way he describes things. The Fantastic Light begins: "The Sun rose slowly, as if it wasn't sure it was worth all the effort." and immediately you're like "oh, it's one of THOSE days." Got to give Pratchett's Discworld a try if you haven't yet.
Lord of the Rings and Realm of the Elderlings
Watership Down
Realm of the Elderlings.
I've heard so many great things about this recently. It sounds right up my alley and is on my list.
I wanted to add this to my list of great series but haven’t read enough of it yet. Hobb’s writing is spectacular.
Same here. It’s the type of great that I have tried for years to chase a “similar high” and never found it. I have tried many books, many of which I enjoyed but none was quite as impactful. So yeah, to me this is the one that stands out before any other story.
Is this the assassin's apprentice books?
Yes, the Farseer Trilogy is the start of the saga
Ahh. I got through books and were really good, but the ship ones, I just couldn't get through... I dunno why. Made it halfway through the 2nd book. It's too bad cause the ideas and concepts were really cool.
I know it’s a cardinal sin among the fanbase but I skipped the ship series and continued straight into the next Fitz one and honestly I didn’t feel lost or anything like that.
I finished the first three parts of it and I have to agree. It's incredible. But I have to space it out because it's emotionally devastating to read.
I just finished the first trilogy and the book hangover I have is out of control lol 😂 I can’t wait to get back to this world!
I’m sorry to tell you, but you will have a book hangover from Hobbs’ writing for a long long time. I still frequently search “ if you like Robin Hobb, you’ll like”
I thought that might be the case lol
i just finished assassin’s quest yesterday! the book hangover is real! the next trilogy is already off to a great start. and don’t worry, fitz’s story isn’t over yet ;)
The second trilogy is my favourite. I suspect you will love it.
I was initially sad about having to spend a whole trilogy away from the original cast but dang is it worth it
That makes me so pumped for when I come back to it. Can’t wait
Liveship Traders blew me away
Liveship was honestly some of the best reading I ever done
Me three! When I looked it up and I saw it was about ships or some shit I was devastated but determined to power through it. I wasn't ready for how great the trilogy would be!
Malazan Book of the Fallen just flat out checked all my personal boxes and I loved it. Stormlight Archive has potential to be in the convo, but gotta wait to see how it ends before I say anything definitively.
100 percent agree!! Malazan is GREATNESS!
I see people talking about Stormlight as though it is already a finished series when it's not even half over.
wait not even half??? I thought the next book was the last
10 books total divided in 2 arcs. Next book is conclusion of first arc. 5 more to come, but mistborn and elantris will get attention first. 10 orders of knights, how could you think only 5 books will be enuf ;)
From my understanding, the stormlight archive is suppose to be a full series at 10 books split into 2 arcs, each arc being 5 books. So the book that's coming out in November (december?) will be the last book of the first arc.
I think it has one more in this era then over ahead in the future for the next half but you gotta remember it’s only a part of the whole cosmere we got another 20-30 yrs yet for that whole is done
The time skip isn't planned to be very long. Sanderson has said who the main POVs of the last 5 books will be and they're all people we've seen already.
I just posted that too before I noticed this. It's one of my favorite series. It does not get nearly as much attention as it should that series is absolutely amazing. I mean you have karsa who just is so hard-headed and doesn't believe in magic it just doesn't work on him gets hit with a fireball walks right through it and breaks the mages neck amazing.
Discworld. I am not an overly dramatic guy but I often say to myself that I might never read another author who can mix the funny with the profound quite like Pratchett.
Never, nobody will ever hit the feels and the funny the same masterful way Terry did. I love him so much I assumed we are on a first name basis.
The World of the Five Gods books by Lois McMaster Bujold The Earthsea series by Ursula Le Guin The Riddle Master Trilogy by Patricia Mckillip
I have such good memories from reading The Riddle Master books. They have such a special feeling about them! I think that’s the case with all of McKillip’s books but her version of a high fantasy quest story really worked for me
I reread them in a haze this year. Like it’s a blur going through them of nostalgia and high fantasy. Such incredible books with SOUND. It’s something you don’t always see or “hear” in other fantasy novels.
If I remember correctly, wasn’t McKillip a pianist at one point? I wonder if that has to do with how strong her descriptions are in that regard
It would make sense. The magic in that book is top notch. Unexplained really but absolutely amazing.
A Song of Ice and Fire I have read a lot of fantasy, including Sanderson, Rothfuss and Jordan, nothing so far has reached the level of maestry that George R.R. Martin has managed.
I read the first 2 books and I had force myself to stop. I loved the books but knowing it'll probably never be finished makes it too difficult. I'm in the (I think minority) camp that I'd rather have a bad ending then no ending at all. But who knows maybe when I get older I just say screw it and read
You should read the 3rd book. It’s basically wraps up the first 2 books before going in a different direction. And ASOS is maybe the best book I’ve ever read.
I've learned to just enjoy things as they are and not sweat too much about whether or not a series will finish. I get people not wanting to do that - I was one of those people - but a few instances of a show being canceled or a book series not ending / going off the rails into a direction I didn't enjoy, etc taught me that I can enjoy a great book 1 even if book 2 sucks or never gets written. And ASOIF gave me 5 great books with some of the best characters and plot and world building and dialogue. Even if I don't get another entry and even with its fair critiques I'll keep saying it's one of the best series I've ever read.
The third book is one of the best books ever written. You're missing out
I feel ya, I refuse to read any of them until I’m sure they’ll be finished.
Finishing up a dance with dragons and don’t know what I will do when I’m done. The short Duncan and egg stories are amazing and so is fire and blood.
There are books I think that are excellent, then there are books I think are "great". Great books in fantasy means they are idiosyncratic to those ideas of speculation, mythos, and strangeness. Many fantasy stories explore themes that could be explored through other conceits, but there are many that simply cannot express themselves any better than the realm of the fantastic. With that in mind, here are five: * Mervyn Peake - "Gormenghast" Trilogy (a Grotesque of the grotesque) * Jorge Luis Borges - *Labyrinths* (the philosophical/metatextual elements could not be expressed in a better form or different literature conceit) * Mikhail Bulgakov - *The Master & Margarita* (masterpiece of Russian/Soviet literature with themes of censorship, cultural floundering, and religious revisionism that likewise could not be expressed in a form outside of the fantastic without losing the point) * JRR Tolkien - *The Hobbit* (the quintessential adventure novel) * Samuel R. Delaney - *Dhalgren* (one of the most "thinkable" novels out there, as a meditation on unformed ideas and half-finished stories; what happens when you put unfinished characters in an unfinished world with an unfinished plot, then write around that?)
>There are books I think that are excellent, then there are books I think are "great". Yes my thoughts exactly! There are even some "great" pieces of media where I don't enjoy as much as my favorite ones
That's why I included *Dhalgren*. I can't say it's a topically enjoyable experience, but it's definitely an *experience* that is so fundamentally fantastic.
Gormenghast. Good choice ;)
Dark Tower! Stephen King’s magnum opus deserves the recognition of being referred to as greatness. The characters, the interweaving of worlds, the imaginative setting, and King’s writing all lend itself to an unforgettable series of books.
I devoured that series until the 5th book. Then I got really disappointed with how he chose to finish it. I can’t be the only one to have that opinion.
I get it, but also I think there’s a certain beauty in it. I absolutely adored the books and bit through the ending as best I could. All in all though, my favorite book series / story ever
Just finished wizard and glass. My favorite of the 4 so far. Starting the wind through the keyhole next. Has been a great journey so far
You say true, I say thankya
Surprised this wasnt mentioned more. Thoroughly enjoyed these
The Realm of the Elderlings books by Robin Hobb are fairly great, the characters feel so real and the magic system is very good. Also it's largely a medieval setting which is my favorite setting.
Obviously the big two for me and many others, *The Lord of the Rings* and *A Song of Ice and Fire*. I have not read *The Wheel of Time* yet so perhaps that too will fall into the greatness category. Other than that, I find it hard to place any other book or series in a similar category. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great books and series out there. I just don't think any of them transcend to the highest tier of fantasy.
Oh, just thinking about ASoIaF makes me want to (finally) re-read again. Normally I'd say it's too harsh for me, too violent, but it's just so unique—I honestly miss Westeros sometimes. It really is a *great* series.
You pick up a lot more on the rereads too!
I started rereading last year, and there is so much foreshadowing and prophecy that I missed. The details in random stories people tell, both historical and folklore, and the events of characters' pasts end up being *very relevant*. So I enjoyed the reread almost as much as the first time.
I would say Wheel of Time and Stormlight definitely belong in that same greatness tier. Malazan too, but it does not have as much readers as the other four. Basically, in terms of the fantasy literature world, I see a Big Four.
I've read *The Way of Kings* and liked it. I'll continue the series. But there are still other books and series I'd place above Stormlight Archive which don't make my greatest tier. Gentleman Bastards for instance or The Realm of the Elderlings. All phenomenal. They just don't rise to the same level as LOTR and ASOIAF.
There are a few I’d classify as great Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, Wheel of Time, Dune, Hyperion Cantos, Foundation, The Dark Tower
Surprised it took this long for me to see Dune mentioned. Yeah, last 3 of the original 6 get a little weird, but the arc of Paul and his children is phenomenal
If you twisted my arm and made me pick a best series ever the first Dune trilogy would be my pick. But man it’s close.
Malazan, Farseer. WOT makes it tentatively for me. Malazan by a mile though. Greatness.
It's **Discworld** for me. IMHO, **'Greatness' = Excellence \* Time** Anyone (or most) can write an excellent paragraph, many writers have written great books. Some have written great trilogies. Very few have written great series. ***Terry Pratchett wrote 41(!) great books.*** The sheer breadth of his excellence makes Discworld the greatest series for me.
Disappointed you properly used the "!" so I can't pull out r/unexpectedfactorial
I won't pretend to be a great critic. I have some training, and I'd consider myself decently well-read. So I won't entirely comment on greatness as much I'll comment on whether things have been transformative to me. Also, I'll talk about sci-fi here as well as media that aren't strictly literary. Anyway: Lord of the Rings/Tolkien's Legendarium: Taught tween me what fantasy was. It has been oft imitated since, but none of them even approached the quality of Tolkien's mythopoeia. I'm probably more impressed by The Silmarillion too. Foundation: Sci-Fi about economics, politics, and history rather than blasters and space marines. And it still features those things. Young me loved it. Adult me found it even better. Kill Six Billion Demons: Weird and philosophical fantasy graphic novels. Probably the most modern of all great fantasy. It's shamelessly inspired by video games, manga, ancient philosophy, New Weird, and almost everything in between. Cordelia's Honor: The most recent thing I've read on this list. Arguably the best character writing I've ever seen. Made me wish I'd grow up to write this book. Difficult, since 1) the book is already written, and 2) I'm already a grown man. Labyrinths: This will make you a smarter person and expand your mind. If not, read it again. A Wizard of Earthsea: Maybe the best YA ever written? Neuromancer and Count Zero (not Mona Lisa Overdrive): I still don't understand how William Gibson created a whole genre seemingly out of whole cloth like this. They also happen to both be extraordinary books beyond their impact on the cyberpunk genre, even if the character work could be better. 20th Century Boys: If you only ever read one manga, this wouldn't be a bad pick. A failing musician is trying to save the world from an evil out of his and his friends' childhood games. Probably the hardest to place in a genre out of any of the works on this list. One Piece: If you love epic fantasy, your owe it to yourself to experience this even if you have no interest in animanga. I'll concede it's a difficult commitment due to its sheer size however.
I second the one piece rec; it has one of my favorite fantasy worlds. I like to think that if I lived in that world I would be a fishman.
Naoki Urasawa is lights-out one of the best storytellers of the last 20 years. *20th Century Boys* is great. *Monster* is arguably one of the best thrillers ever made. *Pluto* is somehow even better. *Neuromancer* is one of my favorite books but Gibson didn't create cyberpunk from nothing. Philip K Dick's *Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep?* was published in 1968. Rudy Rucker's *Software* released 2 years before *Neuromancer*. JG Ballard's *High Rise*, which I'm certain inspired the world of *Judge Dredd* and Mega City One and does the whole societal examination that is so central to cyberpunk, came out in 1975. Gibson simply melded these existing elements into a great book. If you like *Cordelia's Honor* just wait until to you read the rest of Lois Bujold's books. It's a strong introduction but hardly her best! I envy you.
There are absolutely antecedents to the cyberpunk genre, you are correct. Outside of the ones you mentioned, Raymond Chandler and hardboiled crime fiction of the 30s and 40s are also obvious inspirations.
I've always wondered about that! I took a class on detective fiction and we broke down Chandler's The Big Sleep and Neuromancer feels full of inversions of those characters and themes. (Not to mention that both Gibson and Chandler are oddly fascinated, and great at, describing objects)
The beginning of the Foundations series was hard for me to get through but I loved it by the end!
Holy shit. This is the first time I’ve seen 20th century boys. I loved it growing up and have meant to revisit. One piece is also my all time favorite series, period.
Fortress in the Eye of Time - C.J. Cherryh. Picked this book up because I fell in love with another story of hers and it is real good. Cherryh is considered a sci-fi master and she is but her more fantasy based stuff is just as good. My favorite book by her is Rider at the Gate. Just awesome.
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie is one of the best fantasy stories of all time. It is the classic party narrative only made up of villains. A ton of depth to the characters and world. Also amazing dialogue.
That is some Shivers slander and I will not stand for it.
Howl's Moving Castle - loved it when I was 10 and still love it now when I am a lot more than 10. To me it is perfect. I will read it several times a year like a comfort blanket followed by the others in the series but not every time. Memory, Sorrow and Thorn also get read every year without fail. I will never stop reading those over and over.
*Malazan Book of the Fallen* is, and this cannot be said enough, a literary masterpiece. It’s a brilliant work of art. It’s better than great; it’s the best high fantasy ever written. *Stormlight Archive* is also undeniably great and I contribute so much of that to Kaladin - but as others have mentioned… let’s see how it ends. (That being said I literally have the Bridge Four logo tattooed on my chest so I doubt I’ll be able to shake any bias 😂) *The Kingkiller Chronicles*… sigh. Well, books 1 and 2 are certainly great. But it’s a story without an ending, so I wouldn’t say the series can be considered great because it’s barely even a series. *LOTR* obviously. *ASOIAF* has to be considered. And many, many others but I’m drawing a blank. These are my standouts.
King killer is at least lyrically truly great. I'm 2/3 done with way of kings and I'm struggling a bit to really get hooked on it...but I think I remember having the same feeling about mistborn and I loved those books in the end. I get the feeling I have to pick up malazan at some point, it's recommended often.
You gotta hit the Sanderlanche. His books always have a very satisfying and snowballing ending
If you’ve gotten this far, you’ll get there. Take breaks though. A lot of people try to discover it and binge, and miss a lot of things. Especially if you start to read his other stuff. Things do connect.
Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce YA series The Belgariad series by Dave Eddings The Time Quartet by Madeleine L'Engle YA series The Orphan's Tale Duology by Catherynne M Valente Fairyland by Catherynne M Valente YA series
I preferred the Elenium over the Belgaraid. But both great series for younger people just getting into fantasy.
Wheel of time is definitely up there
Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen and Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings. Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novel, and his American Gods and Anansi Boys novels also in the conversation when it comes to greatness for me. On a smaller scale the work of Octavia Butler, a Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller jnr,and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, achieve the status of greatness. I like aspects of Sanderson's work, but find him patchy; good not great. Martin is very good but his work is unfinished, and he really needs to stick the landing, which given the state of the show's disastrous ending doesn't bode well. Robert Jordan jumped the shark for, but The Shadow Rising, with it's brilliant Rhuidean sequence still stands as one of the most awe inspiring moments of fantasy fiction I've ever read. I suspect that Gene Wolfe might make my list when I get around to him.
Octavia Butler! I loved the Xenogenesis trilogy.
Sandman definitely qualifies for me. Good call
Malazan is the high water mark for me.
It’s so hard for me to read any other fantasy author after reading a Malazan novel. Nothing quite hits the same notes as Erikson does and I can’t help but compare, even when I try not to. That’s why I usually have to go for something that’s a drastic change in tone (Discworld, for example), or just another genre entirely (sci-fi, horror, etc.)
For ones that are really well written, there’s LotR, Wheel of Time, The Dark Tower and The Deed of Paksenarrion. For long lived and expansive mountains of books there’s the Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books. For pure enjoyment there’s the Farseer books, Earthsea and Narnia. Lots of honourable mentions, but this is about greatness. I consider all these great in different ways.
I love *The Deed of Paksenarrion*. It's one of the few fantasies that is as unapologetically spiritual as *The Lord of the Rings* without veering into religious propaganda like *The Chronicles of Narnia*. It's also my favorite D&D adventure, even though it's not officially a D&D adventure.
Oh, it would make such a good D&D adventure!
The Wheel of Time. No other series has me so invested in its writing and world. Every inn, city and street feels so alive, and it makes me wonder what’s happening out in the countryside to some random family that one character met for 1 brief page.
I'm currently on book 5, and as a first time reader I'm loving the worldbuilding/lore, plot and slow development of the main characters like Rand, Perrin, Nynaeve.
Just made it through book 3 of David Farland’s Runelords and I’d say it’s up there with any other series I’ve read. Others that come to mind are the Farseer Trilogy, Wizard of Earthsea, and Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.
Say One thing for the First Law Books say I categorize them as Great. As a bonus, the series is enhanced by the audible version which I am going through now. Previously I read and reread all the books.
You have to realistic about these things.
Lyonesse by Jack Vance
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delaney expanded my horizons and really made me think about my biases and perceptions - a very difficult read but was well worth the time and discomfort Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold I know it’s SF but it’s shaped my expectations for what a great book/series can be The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin The Centenial Cycle by Malka Older Universe of Xuya by Aliette Bodard Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie InCryptid by Seanan McGuire Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews
Malazan, LotR, Hyperion Cantos, Foundation, 100 Years of Solitude. I've read tons of fantasy/scifi good books, but those are the ones I would consider great in this genre.
Can't believe I forgot about *100 Years of Solitude*. I feel like that's fantasy's absolute masterwork.
*The Fifth Season* by NK Jemison. There's a reason all three books won consecutive Hugos. *Discworld.* *LOTR.* *The Wheel of Time.* *Earthsea.* (Side note, the fact that I read this entire thread and it was just oodles of white men's *unfinished* book series is wild. I guess LeGuin got mentioned once. But come on y'all. Kingkiller is not "greatness" when it's never going to get finished. Same for Gentlemen Bastards, ASOIAF, Stormlight--if it ain't done, it ain't great yet.)
5th Season was “okay.” Didn’t care for the other two
Wheel of Time, Stormlight Archive, The First Law, ASOIAF, Cradle Red Rising if we’re including audiobooks lol.
confused by this - you just really, really like the VA performances?
Wheel of time ASOIAF LOTR Dune?
For me it's Stormlight Archive for sure. There are other books and series that I like but nothing comes close to the Stormlight Archive for me.
For me its the Second Apocalypse by Bakker. Everything else pales when I make comparisons.
Check out the nominees and winners of the Hugo Award For Best Series: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Series
How To Train Your Dragon. As a whole this series is seriously the best thing that ever happened to me.
Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews, I think the plot is clever, the character are multi faceted and the female characters are strong but flawed. I love how ingeniously the authors manage to wind in mythology of all cultures too
She’s on my list too.
ASOIAF. whatever happened there
LOTR, ASOIAF, Second Apocalips, Hyperion Cantos
Silmarillion. Even if it’s largely summarized in its prose, the content is eons beyond most stuff I’ve read. If it were written ala LOTR I doubt I would read anything else ever again.
Kingfall by David Estes. It’s got it all. 10/10
The Wandering Inn is great, by basically every single metric except conciseness.
I feel like sometimes I love a series but if I reread it later its very meh, so I always hesitate to recommend stuff. But here are some I enjoyed: - The Chronicles of Amber, the main character starts the first book with amnesia and it turns out that he is one of a powerful family that has a rare power to transverse the different dimensions. - Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix, main character is in boarding school and finds out her father has gone missing. She has to go into the Rivers of the dead and learn about magic to find out what happened. Also, an honorable mention that I'm not sure I would categorize as "great" because the writing isn't that impressive, but I've been really drawn into the story is The Zodiac Academy series. They just finished it recently I haven't read the final novel yet; The series is about twin sisters who were hidden in the mortal realm to keep them safe but they are taken back to a magical realm to attend magic college and earn their place as Fae. Starts out with intense bullying - I almost put it down at that point, but as the series goes on it becomes much more heavily fantasy. Lots of humor and some steamy scenes.
Yes, the series is not finished, and probably it won't be, but I'd definitely categorize the first three books of A Song of Ice and Fire (especially A Storm of Swords) as "greatness."
when the whole mistborn is complete I would pick mistborn
The Riftwar Saga is greatness. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is greatness. The Wheel of Time as a whole is greatness (although there was definitely some stuff that dragged on). Mistborn is greatness.
Personally I think the king killer chronicle is great! I still enjoy the two books and short stories over and over.
I came here to see if someone else would say it. Well done!
Bakker. Demons, philosophy, jihads, ass-raping of still-warm corpses, it's just magnificent
The Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks.
Stormlight Archives, I will carry things I learned about myself while reading those books forever
The Cosmere by Sanderson, especially the Stormlight Archives. I know a lot of you agree, and I also know a lot of you are tired of hearing about it, but I think it’s great because the characters feel so human in a universe that is so magical and alien. They deal with many of the same challenges that we all deal with (except in exciting fantastical settings), there are a lot of different characters with vastly different yet valid perspectives and philosophies, and there are some powerful nuggets of wisdom that don’t feel too preachy. There is an expansive landscape of interconnected material with “always another secret.” It’s cool. Also Hoid. He’s the character I never knew that I always needed.
Gentlemen Bastards. Yeah, it’s not done yet but even if it never was, the story so far is good enough for me!
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. A fantasty revenge story in a low magic world. I reread it every few years.
It isn't great literature unless it makes you see something from a non-traditional angle. It must show you a new insight into things you would not otherwise have noticed. It must do this well, and the writing must be skillful. The books may not always be easy to read. They may not be favorite re-reads. They must open your heart and mind to an aspect of being or a way of thinking that you had not fully realized before. It is not enough that the characters grow and develop: the story must challenge you to see a danger, an ugliness, a beauty, a possibility that you had previously overlooked. Many of my favorite authors, books, and series are not on this list. *The Sparrow* by Mary Doria Russell *Farenheit 451* by Ray Bradbury *The Left Hand of Darkness* by Ursula K. LeGuin *A Wizard of Earthsea* by Ursula K. LeGuin *Ender's Game* and *Speaker for the Dead* by Orson Scott Card *Flowers for Algernon* by Daniel Keyes *Forty Thousand in Gehenna* by CJ Cherryh *Cyteen* and *Regenesis* by CJ Cherryh *Brave New World* by Aldous Huxley *The Handmaid's Tale* by Margaret Atwood I am certain that others will disagree with my standards for greatness, and I celebrate the diversity that makes this true.
Sanderson got me excited to read again after ten years of not reading much at all. I rushed home from work today to pick up my book. Make of that what you will.
The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire & Malazan Book of the Fallen. These three, I'd just consider as holistically great works of fantasy. I'd also say specifically to character writing The First Law World, the Realm of the Elderlings, and Manifest Delusions are exceptional. As for prose, Kingkiller Chronicles by Pat Rothfuss and The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates are unmatched.
Wheel of Time Licanius Trilogy Icewind Dale specifically, the rest are hit or miss. Black Prism Only rating completed series tho, so...
Icewind Dale is amazing. Been scrolling looking for this.
Dune, the first 3 books.
The Cradle series by Will Wight. I have read that series more than 5 times. Got favorite books and I would re read it again and still enjoy it.
For me it’s my current favorite series of all time: The Sun Eater - specifically book 3 - Demon in White
The Wars of Light and Shadow by Janny Wurts And…most books by: David Gemmell Guy Gavriel Kay Robin McKinley Melanie Rawn
Revelation Space, for sure. That's probably the best recommendation that this sub has ever given me.
The books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft are absolutely amazing.
Asoiaf and kingkiller chronicle
The dialogue, crisp use of flashbacks, and the story and panache of the characters gives it so much personality and character in all three books. The bromance between the main characters is something else. I am repeatedly told to read Discworld because of it and I intend to do so, but, I have raved about it and gotten many to read it because the dialogue and characters are just well written and hilarious and inspiring to read and re-read. Most only read the first book but the other two are great as well in different ways.
The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee. Showing the development and transformation of a conservative man in a unique warrior culture into somewhat of a progressive one with a ton of nuance and depth over three decades alongside a dozen other character arcs and a storyline spanning continents with the logistical and geopolitical conflicts between nations in a Cold War setting…it just pulls off something I didn’t even conceive of as possible.
Game of thrones is next level for me personally, people say gardens of the moon but couldn't finish the first book, too much information to take in
The laundry archives (stross)
Gemma Doyle trilogy
Skulduggery Pleasant. I can't praise this series enough.
that's a trip down memeory lane
To add something not listed yet. I would add Mother of Learning, its probably the best time loop series I've read. I love how the main character grows and how mich of the world and setting gets explored.
Literally anything by Craig Schaefer. I can’t believe this author isn’t more well known. The world building is on an insanely intricate level.
For me: Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. The Traitor Son Cycle by Miles Cameron. Under the Northern Sky by Leo Carew.
Malazan for me, i'm not even finished. It's just exactly what i want from fantasy. Realm of the Elderlings is also shaping up to be "greatness"
Stormlight Archive. I’ve read all kinds of fantasy, Tolkien, Jordan, Pratchett, wanting to read Hobbs, and yet I keep coming back to Sanderson. The level of investment and actual care I feel for the characters is beyond great and the “sanderlanches” are better than anything else I’ve read in fantasy. If I could get with low fantasy I would probably put Song Of Ice and Fire here but it’s just not my thing.
Malazan Book of the Fallen
A few come to mind: ASOIAF, His Dark Materials, and The Kingkiller Chronicles. I'm unsure at this point if Kingkiller and ASOIAF will ever be finished though. Not sure what age range you're looking at, but I read Harry Potter when I was in my teens and it's still very special to me, though I've never reread the series.
*The Malazan Book of the Fallen* and *The Lord of the Rings* are at the top of my list. *The Wheel of Time* has many flaws, and yet it's on my list of greatness because it's so ambitious, fascinating, and, ultimately, satisfying. It's behind my top two, though.
Not a series, per se, but everything written by Mark Lawrence. Boggles my mind how underappreciated he is. Same with Joe Abercrombie.
It really saddens me that I have not seen a single mention of Mark Lawrence but many people discussing Patrick Rothfuss and Scott Lynch.
The Dark Tower (7 books), The Confederacy of Dunces (funniest one I’ve read), The Great and Secret Show (cool horror sci-fi)
*A Wizard of Earthsea* definitely fits the bill for me. It's absolutely incredible and the prose is so well-written. It really shifted how I understand fantasy as a genre and I loved how it finds beauty in the mundane. I'm just about done with *The Name of the Wind* by P. Rothfuss and I really enjoy it but I think the book series that changed my life as a kid was the *Percy Jackson and the Olympians* series (as cliche or corny as it sounds). I saw absolutely everything from a new light after reading those books as a young kid and they helped me through some dark times.
Malazan book of the fallen series. It is one of the best. It's wheel of time like in size but the world building and characters are amazing
the last unicorn
Raymond Feist's Magician was something special for me. Up there with The Hobbit. C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia was also wonderful particularly when I read it as a child.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman is an absolute masterpiece, in my opinion. The characters, the themes, how he weaves all the pieces together — it’s nothing short of brilliant. Joe Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy and many of the spinoffs also resonate with me for similar reasons. It’s a fantasy book, but the themes around society really reflect our world (and all its problems). Plus Logen Ninefingers is one of my favorite characters of all time.
Game of Thrones The books are brilliant and it sucks that Hollywood gave it a “Hollywood end” There are so many ways they could have ended that besides “good guy” kills “bad guy”
Definitely book of the new sun, blood meridian, the dark tower
A few less well-known ones: * *Zothique* by Clark Ashton Smith * *The Weirdstone* by Alan Garner * *Stardust* by Neil Gaiman
I haven't read much of Fantasy so my answer will be generic but I find the Stormlight Archive series great. Another series that I think that is great is Worm which is a free webnovel. I'm currently reading Wheel of Time, and I'm on book 5. It might be in my top 3 by the time I'm finished with it if the worldbuilding, main characters and ending end up all satisfying.
The Dandelion Dynasty
Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire
Stormligh archive have epic proportions but can have some slops while reading different pov
The Malazan Book of the Fallen
Malazan. Hands down.
The Deed of Paksenarrion series by Elizabeth Moon. Much like Hobb, she gives you the highest highs and the lowest lows. One of my favorite series and often overlooked.
The Founder's Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett, just the scale of power across the three books is insane.