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What are some of your favorite fantasy novels?

Argus Skyhawk

Argus Skyhawk

Commodore
Commodore
Some that are among my favorites:

"Fire and Hemlock" by Dianna Wynne Jones
"A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle
"The Giver" by Lowis Lowry
"Eyes of the Dragon" by Stephen King
"Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by C.S.Lewis (and yeah, the rest of the series)
"The Hobbit" by J.R.R.Tolkien (and yes, the sequel involving Frodo)
Some obscure novels by J.K.Rowling that you have probably never heard of.

Yes, I DO read adult fantasy too. Somehow it just didn't make the list.
 
The Hobbit and LOTR; Tolkien.
His Dark Materials; Pullman.
The Bartimaeus Trilogy; Stroud.
The Chronicles of Narnia; Lewis.
Harry Potter; Rowling.
Inheritance; Paolini.
Wicked, Son of a Witch; Maguire.
A Wizard of Earthsea; Le Guin.
 
The Lord of the Rings
The Silmarillion
The Hobbit

...and the Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, I suppose.
 
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"The Magician's Nephew" by C.S. Lewis (Book 1 of The Chronicles of Narnia)
"Over Sea, Under Stone" by Susan Cooper (Book 1 of The Dark is Rising Sequence)
"The Crystal Shard" by R.A. Salvatore (Book IV of The Drizzt Chronicles)
"A Wizard Alone" by Dianne Duane (Book Six of Young Wizardry)
"Many Waters" by Madaleine L'Engle (Book 4 of the Time Quintet)
"Black House" by Stephen King (the sequel to "The Talisman")
"Guardians of the Freedom" by Irene Radford (Book 5 of Merlin's Descendants)
"Elfstones of Shannara" by Terry Brooks (Book 2 of The Sword of Shannara Trilogy)
"Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel" by Susanna Clarke
"The Wall and The Wing" by Laura Ruby

Edit: I made a mistake; "A Wizard's Dilemma" is actually Book 5. I meant to put "A Wizard Alone" as my recommendation.
 
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Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist
Empire Trilogy by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts
Chronicles of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. I know she considers the novels to be sci-fi, but they work better as fantasy for me. There are some individual novels that I'd be willing to classify as sci-fi, though, like Dragonsdawn.
Chronicles of Prydain by Alexander Lloyd
Andrakis Trilogy by Tony Shillitoe
Discworld by Terry Pratchett
 
I like the first one I ever read, "The Sword of Shannara" by Terry Brooks... even if years later it is so painfully obvious that it is merely a rewrite of Lord of the Rings...
 
Roughly in order:

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Stand by Stephen King
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchet
Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Tomb of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
Tehanu by Ursuala K. Le Guin

Oh...and the rest of the Harry Potter books.
 
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Me too for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Clarke, His Dark Materials by Pullman, the original Earthsea trilogy by Ursula Leguin and Tolkien's LOTR.

But I want to add T.H. White's Once and Future King and Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast and Titus Groan.

And in a lighter vein, Thorne Smith, Christopher Moore and Jasper Fforde's books are delightful.

Diana Wynne Jones is even better than J.K. Rowling!
 
Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay, particularly "Tigana" and "A Song for Arbonne".

Oh, and the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy by Tad Williams.
 
Just the best:

Tolkien's The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales
Kay's A Song for Arbonne and The Last Light of the Sun (he's unquestionably the best living writer of fantasy, hands down)
Moorcock's Elric series
Kurtz's Deryni stuff
Donaldson's First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Zimmer Bradley's Firebrand

Guilty pleasure:

Anything by Mercedes Lackey

Most overrated:

Anything by Andre Norton (and, frankly, most of fantasy's grand dames), David Eddings, Dennis McKiernan or Terry Brooks (though I've heard he's improved immensely since The Sword of Sha Na Na)

Rowling's style really, really grates on my nerves
 
The Deed Of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. I also still have a soft spot for Eddings' Belgariad, which I reread several times in elementary school.


Marian
 
Terry Pratchett's Discworld. (even Pyramids)
Good Omens by Gaimen and Pratchett
some books about some boy wizard with a scar by some bird with two initials...
 
Another recommendation of George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire. This is the only fantasy series I really enjoy (sci-fi guy). More of a political series than a series with tired old Tolkien riffs.
 
CaptainWacky said:
No one has mentioned the Song Of Ice And Fire series by George R. R. Martin. SO I WILL.
Click to expand...
Damn right you will. This series has pretty much ruined epic fantasy for me, because nothing is ever even half as good. Oh Dance, when will you come to me. . . I have waited oh so ever long.
 
These are just some in no particular order:

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Books of Arthurian Legend:
Le Morte de Arthur by Mallory
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
The Knight Trilogy by Peter David
I. Knight Life
II. Once Knight Only
III. Fall of Knight

The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin
I. A Wizard of Earthsea
II. The Tombs of Atuan
III. The Farthest Shore
IV. Tehanu
V. Tales from Earthsea

The Word and the Void Trilogy by Terry Brooks
I. Running with the Demon
II. A Knight of the Word
III. Angel Fire East

I really don't like the fact that Brooks has decided to fold this trilogy into his Shannara series. However as I have not read the Shannara series, this opinion may change once I do.

The Magic Kingdom of Landover series by Terry Brooks
I. Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold
II. The Black Unicorn
III. Wizard at Large
IV. The Tangle Box
V. Witches Brew

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
I.The Magician's Nephew
II. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
III. The Horse and his Boy
IV. Prince Caspian
V. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
VI. The Silver Chair
VII. The Last Battle

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
I. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers/Philosphers Stone
II. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
III. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
IV. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
V. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
VI. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
VII. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The list goes on and on. Fantasy is second only to Science Fiction in my mind when it comes to reading.
 
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