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Best Fantasy Books
Fantasy literature is the literature of the impossible made believable. Its roots are ancient — in myth, folktale, epic, and romance — but the modern genre was largely invented by J.R.R. Tolkien, whose Middle-earth gave millions of readers a fully realised secondary world to inhabit. C.S. Lewis, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Terry Pratchett extended and complicated the genre, which has since expanded to encompass dark fantasy, urban fantasy, epic fantasy, and literary fantasy that resists easy categorisation. At its best, fantasy is not escape from reality but a means of seeing it more clearly.
50 titles ranked · Scored across 40+ editorial sources
#1
literary-fiction
Midnight's Children
Salman Rushdie· 1981
★Nobel Prize in Literature★Booker Prize
Editorial Score100/100
#2
literary-fiction
Lincoln in the Bardo
George Saunders· 2017
★Booker Prize
Editorial Score100/100
#3
literary-fiction
The Mermaid of Black Conch
Monique Roffey· 2020
★Women's Prize for Fiction★Costa Book Award
Editorial Score100/100
#4
fantasy
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke· 2020
★Women's Prize for Fiction
Editorial Score94/100
#5
literary-fiction
The Tiger's Wife
Téa Obreht· 2011
★Women's Prize for Fiction
Editorial Score85/100
#6
fantasy
American Gods
Neil Gaiman· 2002
★Hugo Award★Bram Stoker Award
Editorial Score79/100
#7
fantasy
The Obelisk Gate
N.K. Jemisin· 2017
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score78/100
#8
fantasy
The Stone Sky
N.K. Jemisin· 2018
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score78/100
#9
fantasy
The Fifth Season
N.K. Jemisin· 2016
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score78/100
#10
fantasy
Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros· 2023
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score75/100
#11
literary-fiction
The Famished Road
Ben Okri· 1991
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score74/100
#12
fantasy
Circe
Madeline Miller· 2018
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score72/100
#13
short-stories
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges· 1944
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score71/100
#14
literary-fiction
The House of the Spirits
Isabel Allende· 1982
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score71/100
#15
adventure
Watership Down
Richard Adams· 1972
★Carnegie Medal
Editorial Score70/100
#16
historical-fiction
The Song of Achilles
Madeline Miller· 2012
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score70/100
#17
literary-fiction
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel García Márquez· 1982
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score69/100
#18
literary-fiction
The Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov· 1967
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score69/100
#19
fantasy
The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern· 2011
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score69/100
#20
fantasy
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas· 2015
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score68/100
#21
fantasy
The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman· 2009
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score68/100
#22
literary-fiction
Among Others
Jo Walton· 2012
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score67/100
#23
fantasy
Paladin of Souls
Lois McMaster Bujold· 2004
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score66/100
#24
historical-fiction
The Years of Rice and Salt
Kim Stanley Robinson· 2003
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score66/100
#25
young-adult
Skellig
David Almond· 1998
★Carnegie Medal
Editorial Score65/100
#26
fantasy
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
J.K. Rowling· 2001
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score65/100
#27
fantasy
The Poppy War
R.F. Kuang· 2018
Goodreads Choice Award
Editorial Score64/100
#28
childrens
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe
Penelope Lively· 1973
★Carnegie Medal
Editorial Score61/100
#29
fantasy
Tehanu
Ursula K. Le Guin· 1991
★Nebula Award
Editorial Score60/100
#30
science-fiction
Dune
Frank Herbert· 1966
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score60/100
#31
science-fiction
The Claw of the Conciliator
Gene Wolfe· 1982
★Nebula Award
Editorial Score57/100
#32
fantasy
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Susanna Clarke· 2005
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score55/100
#33
science-fiction
Lord of Light
Roger Zelazny· 1968
★Hugo Award
Editorial Score55/100
#34
literary-fiction
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll· 1865
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#35
literary-fiction
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
L. Frank Baum· 1899
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#36
literary-fiction
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson· 1880
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100
#37
literary-fiction
The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli· 1515
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#38
literary-fiction
Анна Каренина
Лев Толстой· 1876
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#39
literary-fiction
The Princess and the Goblin
George MacDonald· 1872
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#40
literary-fiction
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking Glass
Lewis Carroll· 1889
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#41
literary-fiction
Nineteen Eighty-Four
George Orwell· 1949
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#42
literary-fiction
The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien· 1937
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#43
literary-fiction
Peter Pan
J. M. Barrie· 1911
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#44
literary-fiction
Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-Vingts Jours
Jules Verne· 1872
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#45
literary-fiction
The wood beyond the world
William Morris· 1894
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score55/100
#46
literary-fiction
The Gunslinger
Stephen King· 1976
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#47
literary-fiction
Rose Madder
Stephen King· 1995
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#48
science-fiction
Eaters of the Dead
Michael Crichton· 1976
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#49
science-fiction
Beast Quest
Adam Blade· 2007
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score55/100
#50
fantasy
Amulet
Kazu Kibuishi· 2008
Library Journal
Editorial Score55/100