The 99 Greatest Works of Fantasy Fiction
Fantasy is sometimes considered the less reputable sister of science fiction. But fantastic fiction has had an honourable place in literature since the first stories were written, long before the invention of science fiction.
The works cited on this Greatest Fantasy Fiction list have been selected based on the same research and surveys that helped create The Greatest Literature of All Time list and our other Greatest lists.
This list focuses on major standalone works—such as novels, novellas, plays and story collections. Science fiction series and individual short stories may be found on separate lists.
Latest update: November 11, 2024
c.800–1400
One Thousand and One Nights
Anonymous, Persia
Story collection, also known as Arabian Nights, includes "Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni", "The Tale of the Three Apples", "The Barber's Tale of Himself", and others.
1485
Le Morte d'Arthur
by Thomas Malory, England
Novel, also known as The Death of Arturo
1605
Investiture of the Gods
by Xu Zhonglin, China
Novel, also known as The Creation of the Gods or Tales of the Teahouse Retold
1611
The Tempest
Play
A favourite play. Not exactly sure why. It doesn't present many of the elements generally admired in drama. No great tragedy. Not much scintillating wit. Little realism. A fantastic plot and several fantasy characters, which.... Critique • Quotes • Text • Buy
1786
Vathek
by William Beckford, England
Novel
1812–1857
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Story collection, also known as
Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales or
Children's and Household Tales, includes stories "Cinderella", "Little Red Cap", "Hansel and Gretel", "Rapunzel", "Snow White", "Rumpelstiltskin", "Tom Thumb", and others.
Take "The Frog Prince". It's about a beautiful princess who kisses a frog to turn it into a handsome prince, right? Wrong. The princess is a petulant, promise-breaking brat who tries to get rid of the frog by smashing.... Critique • Quotes • Text • Buy
1827
Flowers in a Mirror
by Li Ruzhen, China
Novel
1843
A Christmas Carol
Novella
Everyone knows the story of A Christmas Carol, if not from reading Charles Dickens, then from incessant showings of the many film versions, especially at the holiday season. And everyone thinks they know the moral.... Critique • Quotes • Text • At the movies • Buy
1858
Phantastes
by George MacDonald, Scotland
Novel
1865
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, England
Novel
1871
Through the Looking-Glass
by Lewis Carroll, England
Novella, also known as Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There
1872
Fairy Tales and Stories
by Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark
Story collection
1887
She
by H. Rider Haggard, England
Novel
1891
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde, Ireland
Novel
Everyone knows the central conceit of The Picture of Dorian Gray: a beautiful young man remains unblemished by age, while his painted portrait, hidden from public sight, grows older and corrupted by moral degradation.... Critique • Quotes • At the movies • Buy
1896
The Well at the World's End
by William Morris, England
Novel
1897
Dracula
Novel
The first part of Dracula, when Britisher Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to inform his firm's mysterious client about its purchase of real estate in London on his behalf, has got to be some of the most entrancing.... Critique • Quotes • Text • At the movies • Buy
1900
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum, United States
Novella, also known as The Wizard of Oz
1907
The Willows
by Algernon Blackwood, England
Novella
With a few exceptions, I dislike the kind of horror and fantasy that's in your face—tales that start with incredible, supernatural phenomena and then keep building on it, getting wilder and wilder. It just seems...well.... Critique • Quotes • Buy
1915
Herland
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, United States
Novel
1922
The Worm Ouroboros
by E.R. Eddison, England
Novel
1924
The King of Elfland's Daughter
by Lord Dunsany, Ireland
Novel
1937
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
by J.R.R. Tolkien, England
Novel
1938
The Sword in the Stone
by T.H. White, England
Novel
1946
Titus Groan
by Mervyn Peake, England
Novel
1950
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
by C.S. Lewis, England
Novel
Let's deal with the religious aspect of the Narnia works right off the top. The idea that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) and its successive novels present a Christian allegory is raised by both detractors and.... Critique • Quotes • Buy
The Dying Earth
by Jack Vance, United States
Story collection
1952
Travel Light
by Naomi Mitchison, England
Novel
1954
Conan the Barbarian
by Robert E. Howard, United States
Story collection
1954–1955
Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien, England
Novel
1958
The Once and Future King
by T.H. White, England
Novel
1962
Something Wicked This Way Comes
by Ray Bradbury, United States
Novel
A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle, United States
Novel
1965
Dune
by Frank Herbert, United States
Novel
Dune's timing was perfect. Launched in the mid-sixties around the beginning of the modern environmental movement, Frank Herbert's ecology-conscious science fiction novel and its many sequels and adaptation.... Critique • Quotes • At the movies • Buy
1967
The Master and Margarita
by Mikhail Bulgakov, Russia
Novel
1968
The Last Unicorn
by Peter S. Beagle, United States
Novel
Dragonflight
by Anne McCaffrey, United States
Novel
1968–2001
A Wizard of Earthsea
Novel
The story of the sorcerer's apprentice is retold many times in mythology and fantasy. It goes like this: a seemingly ordinary young lad discovers he has an odd paranormal ability, becomes a novice wizard or magician.... Critique • Quotes • At the movies • Buy
1970
Swords and Deviltry
by Fritz Leiber, United States
Story collection
Nine Princes in Amber
by Roger Zelazny, United States
Novel
1972
Watership Down
by Richard Adams, England
Novel
1973
The Dark Is Rising
by Susan Cooper, England
Novel
The Princess Bride
by William Goldman, United States
Novel
1976
The Riddle-Master of Hed
by Patricia A. McKillip, United States
Novel
Interview With the Vampire
by Anne Rice, United States
Novel
1977
The Sword of Shannara
by Terry Brooks, United States
Novel
Lord Foul’s Bane
by Stephen R. Donaldson, United States
Novel
1978
The Stand
by Stephen King, United States
Novel
1979
Kindred
by Octavia E. Butler, United States
Novel
1980
The Book of the New Sun
by Gene Wolfe, United States
Novel includes four volumes The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, and The Citadel of the Autarch.
1981
Little, Big
by John Crowley, United States
Novel
1982
The Elfstones of Shannara
by Terry Brooks, United States
Novel
Magician
by Raymond E. Feist, United States
Novel
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
by Stephen King, United States
Novel
1983
The Mists of Avalon
by Marion Zimmer Bradley, United States
Novel
The Anubis Gates
by Tim Powers, United States
Novel
1984
The Summer Tree
by Guy Gavriel Kay, Canada
Novel
Mythago Wood
by Robert Holdstock, England
Novel
Fire and Hemlock
by Diane Wynne Jones, England
Novel
Dragons of Autumn Twilight
by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, United States
Novel
1985
Perfume
by Patrick Suskind, Germany
Novel
1986
Replay
by Ken Grimwood, United States
Novel
Howl's Moving Castle
by Diana Wynne Jones, England
Novel
1987
War for the Oaks
by Emma Bull, United States
Novel
1990
The Eye of the World
by Robert Jordan, United States
Novel
Tigana
by Guy Gavriel Kay, Canada
Novel
Good Omens
by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, England
Novel
1991
Outlander
by Diane Gabaldon, United States
Novel
1995
Assassin's Apprentice
by Robin Hobb, United States
Novel
The Prestige
by Christopher Priest, England
Novel
Northern Lights
by Philip Pullman, England
Novel, also known as The Golden Compass
1996
Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman, England
Novel
A Game of Thrones
by George R.R. Martin, United States
Novel
1997
Ella Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine, United States
Novel
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
by J.K. Rowling, England
Novel
1998
Stardust
by Neil Gaiman, England
Novel
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
by J.K. Rowling, England
Novel
2000
Perdido Street Station
by China China, England
Novel
2001
American Gods
by Neil Gaiman, England
Novel
2002
Coraline
by Neil Gaiman, England
Novella
Eragon
by Christopher Paolini, United States
Novel
2004
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
by Susanna Clarke, England
Novel
2005
Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer, United States
Novel
2007
The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss, United States
Novel
2008
The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman, England
Novel
Graceling
by Kristin Cashore, United States
Novel
2009
The City & the City
by China Miéville, England
Novel
The Magicians
by Lev Grossman, United States
Novel
2010
Who Fears Death
by Nnedi Okorafor, United States
Novel series
The Way of Kings
by Brandon Sanderson, United States
Novel
2011
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
by Catherynne M. Valente, United States
Novel
Among Others
by Jo Walton, Wales / Canada
Novel
2015
The Devourers
by Indra Das, India
Novel
2015
The Fifth Seaason
by N.K. Jemisin, United States
Novel.
2016
The Paper Managerie and Other Stories
by Ken Liu, United States
Story collection
Every Heart a Doorway
by Seanan McGuire, United States
Novella
2017
The Changeling
by Victor LaValle, United States
Novel
2018
Children of Blood and Bone
by Tomi Adeyemi, United States
Novel
Circe
by Madeline Miller, United States
Novel
2019
This Is How You Lose the Time War
by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, Canada and United States
Novella
