4.54 avg rating — 727,303 ratings

"The second and more influential of the two heralds of the modern era of fantasy, The Lord of the Rings’ influence on fantasy can’t be understated. It defined the genre to such an extent that fantasy novels are judged by how much they either resemble or set themselves off against The Lord of the Rings. At its release it was the first truly commercially successful fantasy novel for adults and blew the doors wide open for future authors to get in. Peter Jackson’s early 2000’s live action adaptation of The Lord of the Rings helped the fantasy genre once again regain its popularity and prominence in the public consciousness."

3.83 avg rating — 5,492 ratings

"Three Hearts and Three Lions introduces the idea of the holy paladin, a devout knight fighting for law and justice, into the imagination of the fantasy world. While knights and warriors were featured in earlier work, even some with magical powers, it was thanks to the influence of Three Hearts and Three Lions that knights who championed the ideas of law and piety came back in vogue and that this archetype became separate from those warriors who used martial prowess and cunning to achieve their goals. Furthermore it set up the groundwork for the struggle of the forces of law versus the forces of chaos which many later works would play with in their own extend, most notable of which are Dungeons & Dragons which used it as a basis for the idea of alignment and Warhammer (both in its Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40.000 settings) in which it forms the basis for the great cosmic struggle."

4.02 avg rating — 1,462,907 ratings

4.02 avg rating — 117,580 ratings

3.99 avg rating — 433,365 ratings

"The popularity of the fantastical and absurdist Alice's Adventures in Wonderland opened the door for more absurd high concept stories and influenced many of the writers of such stories during its 150 year long existence. The character of Alice as a brave and headstrong heroine has been inspiring similar female characters in fantasy to take up more active roles, although it would be a while before this came into fruition. Both the 1951 and 2010 Disney adaptations of Alice in Wonderland have helped continue its enduring legacy."

4.24 avg rating — 3,126,852 ratings

"The first of the two novels that would herald in the modern era of fantasy, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is one of the most important works in the genre. The novel’s combination of typical fairytale creatures (such as talking animals & witches) with creatures from Greek mythology (such as centaurs & faun) allowed the latter to become more commonplace in the wider space of fantasy, which up to this point had been dominated by creatures from Norse and mediaeval myth. While the sub-genre of portal fantasy had existed long before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe many modern writers such as J. K. Rowling still attribute C. S. Lewis’ seminal work as their primary influence."

3.93 avg rating — 1,014 ratings

"The Book of Wonder has been a major influence on many of the writers we will discuss later down the timeline including Tolkien, Lovecraft, and Le Guin. The book also debuted the fantasy staple of the Gnoll, although later interpretations mostly just borrowed its name."

4.47 avg rating — 11,307,696 ratings

"One of the most popular series in the Contemporary fantasy genre."

4.30 avg rating — 4,426,201 ratings

3.32 avg rating — 16,355 ratings

"The Vampyre can be considered the forefather of the vampire genre, bringing a relatively obscure monster into the cultural imaginations of the 18th century and influencing other authors such as Bram Stoker who would further help flesh out the vampire in Dracula (1897). While comparatively weak by today’s vampire standards, Lord Ruthven provides the essential elements of what a modern vampire is: a gentleman, an immortal, and a ravenous bloodsucking monster."

3.50 avg rating — 344,570 ratings

"While earlier stories such as those of the Iliad (1581) and the Epic of Gilgamesh (2100 BC) contain many of the aspects which we would nowadays identify as elements of the fantasy genre it is Beowulf which I believed was first written by its author for entertainment reasons only, instead of as a rerecording of perceived history. Beowulf perfectly and archetypically displays the many trappings for which the genre would become known for. Beowulf serves as a jumping off point from which most of the fantasy genre descends and can still be read as a prime and still somewhat unique example of the genre today."

4.11 avg rating — 1,620 ratings

"Robert E. Howard established the sword & sorcery sub-genre with his short stories, with the Conan the Barbarian series (1932–1969) being his seminal work. The character of Conan has played an important role in defining several fantasy archetypes. The most obvious of these is that of the barbarian, which still bears his name. But a more surprisingly archetype that Conan influenced is that of the fantasy thief which takes many of its typical mannerisms from Conan, such as their reliance on lockpicking and general brooding demeanour. I picked the story of The Tower of the Elephant from the Conan the Barbarian series (1932–1969) series as it is the most critically acclaimed of Conan's stories and serves as a great example of how Conan would influence fantasy barbarian and thieves."

3.70 avg rating — 5,076 ratings

"The Worm Ouroboros stands apart as one of the most beautifully written fantasy literature ever. E. R. Eddison’s usage of prose and language set an example which many later authors would attempt to follow."

3.88 avg rating — 30,931 ratings

"As one of the first successful novels inspired by The Lord of the Rings (1955), Elric of Melniboné shows the next phase in the development of the fantasy genre. The novel’s cursed blade “Stormbringer” helped to popularise the trope of cursed magical swords in the fantasy genre. With the help of “Stormbringer” the book explored themes of addiction and if it's worth it to sacrifice one’s humanity for justified revenge."

4.34 avg rating — 2,694 ratings

"As one of the older works of literature which was purposely written to be a piece of entertaining (although allegorical) fiction which bears all the requirements of the fantasy genre, it is not hard to see why Journey to the West deserves its place in the fantasy canon. But what gives it an edge over other books from its time is its enduring popularity and influence on east Asian fantasy. Adaptations are still made regularly and one of these, the famous manga Dragon Ball (1984–1995), went on to spawn an massively influential franchise of its own."

3.71 avg rating — 1,572 ratings

"An important entry in the Sword and sorcery genre and an important female voice in this genre."

4.01 avg rating — 358,194 ratings

"While it is nowadays considered the little sister of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) and The Lord of the Rings (1955) by some literary scholars, A Wizard of Earthsea was sadly underestimated at the time of its release as just a children’s novel. A Wizard of Earthsea is also one of the first major fantasy novels to feature a protagonist of colour. The novel explores themes of taoist philosophy, mortality, and becoming whole. Its idea of “True names” has become a common trope in the fantasy genre (and even in the sci-fi cyberpunk genre), especially in those stories concerned with dealing with demonic and fey creatures. "

3.99 avg rating — 420,146 ratings

"With a tiny print run of just slightly over five hundred copies, few would believe that The Colour of Magic would end up becoming one of the genre’s greats and spawned the Discworld franchise (1983–2015); a book series which now has more than forty entries. The novel itself provides a loving spoof on the genre which is still relatable to readers today while also providing a wellspring of creative and absurd new ideas."

3.93 avg rating — 54,381 ratings

"The Black Company shows, despite containing scenes of some of the most disgusting crimes against humanity that exist, a more egalitarian fantasy world in which women are just as capable as men, with the company having enough female soldiers to fill their own regiment and both of the company’s female patrons being highly skilled warriors themselves. The novel also serves as one of the rare instances in which we follow an entire organisation, rather than a single hero or party, offering a welcome departure from the genre’s usual point of view."

3.93 avg rating — 23,573 ratings

"Titus Groan stands as an excellent example of dark fantasy with its oppressive fantasy and powerful prose. The novel inspired many later fantasy writers including China Miéville, writer of Perdido Street Station (2000), Christopher Paolini, writer of Eragon (2003), George R. R. Martin, writer of A Game of Thrones (1996), and Michael Moorcock, writer of Elric of Melniboné (1972)."

3.42 avg rating — 885 ratings

"The Well of the Unicorn serves as a prime example of the concept of worldbuilding, with its inner politics, personal drama, and internally consistent world. It also shows an exploration of how the genre can be used to get the audience to think about higher concepts such as what defines political power and what it means to be free. However some of its ideas about “Might makes Right” might be a bit problematic in our current political climate so readers should keep that in mind as they make their way through the story."

3.89 avg rating — 28,302 ratings

"The Sword in the Stone is in a league of its own with the way it balances historical authenticity, Arthurian legends, and comedy. It forms a strong introduction into the Arthurian legends, on which a lot of the fantasy genre’s tropes are based, while also helping to enhance the drama of the later part of the legends by showing the innocent origins of our tragic hero. The 1963 Disney animation film, while one of the weaker works of the prestigious studio, has helped with the novel's staying power, serving as a visual reminder and drawing people back to the original work."

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 508,589 ratings

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz continues much of the work that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) had done thirty five years prior, but slightly turned back the absurdism of Alice and added more classical fairy tale elements, such as wizards and witches, to the mix. It also adds an American spin to the genre with elements such as the mechanical Tin man and the New York-like Emerald City. The 1939 Wizard of Oz movie would go on to become a cinematic classic and popularise the usage of colour in movie production."

3.36 avg rating — 181 ratings

"An important entry in the Dark fantasy genre."

3.76 avg rating — 4,980 ratings

"At the Earth’s Core was one of the first novels to bring prehistoric creatures into the fantasy setting. The idea of a subterranean world which almost feels alien from our own has become a popular trope in the fantasy genre as well and Iron mole-like drilling machines have become a common sight in art, although this primarily took hold in visual media such as in animation and comics."

4.10 avg rating — 987,859 ratings

"An important entry in the Mythic fiction genre."

3.78 avg rating — 107,829 ratings

"An important entry in the Historical fantasy genre."

3.77 avg rating — 101,366 ratings

"The Sword of Shannara’s setting and the nature of the titular weapon make the book stand out from what came before. With its post-nuclear holocaust setting it shows that even after such a tragic event takes place there can still be positivity, beauty, and life. This was especially important when the book came out as back then most of its readers still saw nuclear holocaust as a real posibilty for the future. It also used this event to provide a reasonable explanation for the presence of other humanoid races which most books in the genre would simply just handwave away as “god(s) did it”. The commercial success of The Sword of Shannara proved that the success of The Lord of the Rings (1955) was not just a fluke and helped reinvigorate the genre."

4.19 avg rating — 588,734 ratings

"The Eye of the World is the first novel of the Wheel of Time series (1990–2013) which explores the dynamic of how power is to be used responsibly. The book brings themes of Asian mythology and culture to the mostly western-centric mythology genre. The story itself is an almost perfect example of what has become the typical fantasy story."

3.96 avg rating — 1,929,950 ratings

"An important entry in the High fantasy genre."

4.38 avg rating — 4,308 ratings

4.31 avg rating — 3,405,493 ratings

"One of the most popular series in the Mythic fiction genre."

4.14 avg rating — 128,548 ratings

"An important entry in the Anthropomorphic fantasy genre."

3.98 avg rating — 75,090 ratings

"Set in a world of magic and steampunk, Perdido Street Station provides a distant setting from the usual fantasy novel. The world explores a rather more modern setting with many unique creatures not found anywhere else. Perdido Street Station and its two sequels, The Scar (2002) & Iron Council (2004), were the first successful entries in the New Weird movement and allowed the movement to enter the public consciousness. The three books together, known as the Bas-Lag Cycle (2000–2004), even gave rise to the movement’s name through the book's introductions by M. John Harrison."

4.10 avg rating — 243,950 ratings

"The Blood of Elves is the first standalone novel in the The Witcher series (2007–2018). The story takes place in an uniquely Polish setting, providing the fantasy genre with an infusion of slavic influences. While originally published exclusively in Polish, the book attracted a cult following across central and eastern Europe before being able to attract the interest of global audiences. This wouldn’t come until the success of the Polish videogame developer CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher video game trilogy (2007–2015). The CD Projekt Red trilogy helped the book series slowly gain more prestige in the global perception and together made The Witcher a household name in the genre. In 2019 Netflix released a successful live-action show based on The Witcher, renewing interest in the series and further segmenting its position into popular. The success of the three media interpretations and of Matthew Mercer’s popular web series Critical Role’s heavily Witcher inspired Bloodhunter character are beginning to form a new archetype in the fantasy genre: The magically enhanced monster-hunter. While the archetype lacks a name as of now, its popularity is already noticeable with it forming the basis for Dungeon & Dragons 5th edition’s unofficial fourteenth character class option.
"

4.09 avg rating — 504,166 ratings

"An important entry in the Anthropomorphic fantasy genre."

4.03 avg rating — 372,852 ratings

"Peter and Wendy introduces more modern elements to the worlds of fantasy, such as pirates and native Americans, but still keeps the setting of its story in a distinctly non-contemporary fantasy world. By doing this it begins to diversify what is possible with fantasy settings and gives future writers more breathing space to explore their concepts. As a play it is still performed all across the world one hundred years later. The 1953 Disney movie is considered one of the studio’s classics and set the precedent of how the character of Peter Pan would appear in future appearances. Outside of art it introduced the Wendy house or playhouse which children still play with to this day."

4.35 avg rating — 2,397 ratings

3.92 avg rating — 1,923 ratings

"Standing early in the development of the fantasy genre, the King of the Golden River still bears many of the elements of earlier fairy tales. However the story began the formation of the fantasy genre by being written that, rather than being based on any oral tradition, drawing upon earlier fairy tales and myths to tell its own story."

4.03 avg rating — 41,067 ratings

"The Princess and the Goblin continued the trend of the fantasy genre to slowly distance itself from the fairy tale genre which The King of the Golden River (1851) started. Intensifying the complexity of the plots and making the characters more well-rounded than before, The Princess and the Goblin would serve as an inspiration to both the young J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Tolkien and Lewis would together go on to revolutionise the fantasy genre, and would through turn the creatures known as Goblins into a staple of the fantasy genre."

3.97 avg rating — 376,580 ratings

"An important series in the Contemporary fantasy genre."

4.45 avg rating — 2,717,827 ratings

"A Game of Thrones brings a dark and refreshing twist to the fantasy genre by focusing on the complex web of plots and skullduggery of court politics primarily based on those of England’s Wars of the Roses period. With its many plots it offers a bird’s eye view of the world the story takes place in, allowing us to see a rich history behind most of the book’s events. The HBO live-action Game of Thrones series (2011–2019) gave a new boost to the popularity of the fantasy genre and its success led to the greenlighting of several other live-action shows based on popular fantasy series. Through the show’s popularity A Game of Thrones influenced culture as through the introduction of the term sexposition (exposition during sex), the name Khaleesi as a popular girl’s name (despite this being just a title for Daenerys Targaryen), and the naming of several newly discovered animals.
"

4.13 avg rating — 39,767 ratings

3.91 avg rating — 420 ratings

"An important entry in the Hard fantasy genre."

4.50 avg rating — 6,969 ratings

3.81 avg rating — 5,486 ratings

"An important entry in the Hard fantasy genre."

4.29 avg rating — 188,717 ratings

"An important series in the Dark fantasy genre."

3.65 avg rating — 11,942 ratings

"The Throne of the Crescent Moon shows us a fantasy setting taking place in a Middle-Eastern inspired setting. The book provides the genre with influences from Middle-Eastern mythology and folklore written by a writer of Arabic descent. The book has been nominated for several prestigious fantasy awards including the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the 2012 Nebula Award for Best Novel and won the 2013 Locus Award for Best First Novel."

3.86 avg rating — 28,139 ratings

"Edith Nesbit serves as one of the first female authors in the timeline of the fantasy genre and brings it with Five Children and It into the contemporary world. The story of the Psammead serves as an archetypal “know what you wish for” story in a similar fashion as those about genies, but keeps the consequences of the wishes and the creature itself relatively harmless."

4.07 avg rating — 111,335 ratings

"An important entry in the Historical fantasy genre."

4.50 avg rating — 8,734 ratings

3.45 avg rating — 30,679 ratings

"Written by Jamaican writer Marlon James, the novel takes a break from the fantasy genre’s usual Eurocentric settings to instead tell a story influenced by African history and mythology. Its usage of the traditional antisemetic were-hyna can be seen as problematic by some readers, but this more likely stems from the writer’s lack of cultural context than because of malice. The book is notable for its queer cast of characters and especially its gay main character. Black Leopard, Red Wolf was nominated for the 2019 American National Book Award for Fiction and was named one of the top ten books of 2019 by The Washington Post."

4.25 avg rating — 5,430 ratings

"An important entry in the Portal fantasy genre that helped re-popularise the genre in the 21st century."

4.49 avg rating — 64,728 ratings