THE TOP 10
1. The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
2. The Hour of the Dragon / Conan Series (Robert E. Howard)
3. Small Gods (Terry Pratchett)
4. A Song of Ice and Fire (George R.R. Martin) (preliminarily)
5. Deadhouse Gates (Steven Erikson)
6. Harry Potter Series (J.K. Rowling) (preliminarily)
7. Good Omens (Terry Pratchett / Neil Gaiman)
8. First Chronicles of Amber (Roger Zelazny)
9. Elric Series (Michael Moorcock)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser Series (Fritz Leiber)
Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
Dragonflight (Anne McCaffrey)
Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle)
Spell for Chameleon / The Source of Magic / Castle Roogna (Piers Anthony)
War for the Oaks (Emma Bull)
The Weirdstone (Alan Garner)
Kane Series (Karl Edward Wagner)
NOVELS ALSO BY…
The Silmarillion (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Discworld (several volumes) (Terry Pratchett)
One of the interesting results of putting together these lists last year was my discovery that, quite contrary to my own personal belief, I was far more deeply read in the field of science fiction than I was in the field of fantasy. (Hence the shorter list.)
In fact, you’ll notice that the Top 10 list only contains nine entries. That isn’t a typo. That’s because none of the Honorable Mentions I list seem to quite justify a position on that list. They aren’t quite in the same league. (To be fair, the science fiction list only had nine entries on it until late last year when Egan’s Diaspora finally filled the last spot.)
You may also note that several incomplete fantasy series have been preliminarily placed on the Top 10 list. Their placement is, of course, based solely on the books released to date, and this placement could certainly change based on future releases. (For example, I tentatively placed Michael Kube-McDowell’s Trigon Disunity trilogy on the Top 10 List of Science Fiction Novels based on the outstanding quality of the first two volumes, only to drop him back down to the Honorable Mentions list after a relatively weak conclusion.)
It is also notable that there is an inconsistency on how volumes within a series are handled. Why are Pratchett’s Small Gods and Erikson’s Deadhouse Gates singled out on the list, while J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire are grouped collectively? Why is Howard’s The Hour of the Dragon given particular note as part of the series of Conan stories?
Walt, would you like to field this one?
“Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes.”
Just discovered your site, indirectly from Rick Stump’s Don’t Split the Party. I like your list, on a “bigger picture” sense, how much do you think age impacts these kinds of lists? My list starts in the ’70s, born in ’71 and an early reader, “Top 10” sometimes seems synonymous with “formative.” Are they the “best” or are they what led you into the genre? I’d like think I can be objective, but, even though I know what I love wasn’t “first” it was first for me.