What are the best fantasy books ever written? I have spent quite some time thinking about this question and have come to the conclusion not to publish a top ten or other kind of list of my favorite fantasy books right now. The main reason for this is that the list would consist almost completely out of books from my Best Fantasy Series list. Any additions to the list would mostly likely be books from other series written by some of the authors in my Best Fantasy Authors list.
I have come to the conclusion that, at this point in time, a list of Best Fantasy Books would not contain much new information and that therefore the creation of such a list would serve no purpose.
Of course there are great fantasy books that are not part of a series. Good examples are Tigana, written by Guy Gavriel Kay, which is a great book that would definitely be on this list, and the brilliant The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Another good book is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. However, this book is the first in his Kingkiller Chronicle series and, although the rest of the series has not been published yet, should not be seen as a stand-alone book.
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I will examine my bookshelves and try to come up with a list of my favorite fantasy books. Please leave a comment to refresh my memory or to point me in the direction of some great stand-alone fantasy books I haven’t read yet!
In the mean time, if you are looking for good fantasy books to read, you can check out the page containing what I believe to be the Best Fantasy Series .
A short update on the planned television series of Game of Thrones, the pilot that was created, the actors involved and the timeline.
Everyone interested enough in fantasy to visit this website will have heard of and probably have read The Song of Ice & Fire series by George R.R. Martin. It is one of my favourite series and hearing over a year ago that plans were being made to turn it into a television series was fantastic. And when hearing that HBO, involved in many of the best television series ever made, was interested in making it one of their original series, I was in nirvana!
Most of the time, when news is too good te be true it isn’t true. However, by the end of 2008 HBO announced that they had ordered a pilot for A Game of Thrones, the first book of A Song of Ice & Fire.
Actors were cast and several high-profile names were revealed throughout 2009, with the biggest name being that of Sean Bean who plays the role of Ned Stark in the pilot.
For more information, like other actors involved, see IMDB.
In November 2009 filming of this pilot was wrapped in Morocco and now we will have to see if HBO is impressed by it or not. HBO is expected to take the decision on whether or not to order a full season of Game of Thrones around March 2010.
I will keep you updated in case of news. In the mean time, let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Update: Game of Thrones television series confirmed by HBO.
I have added a page discussing the Best Fantasy Series to the site. It is an overview of what I believe to be the best fantasy series ever written. When starting this list I intended to make a Top 10 of fantasy series. However, I came up with more than ten series I really liked and wanted to include so it became a Top 12.
Note that I created this list firstly based on my opinion of these series and secondly on my view of how influential the series have been. Of course I haven’t read all fantasy series out there and my preference for high (or epic) fantasy will have influenced my selection.
Many of you will be fans of one or more of these series and claim they should be higher up the list while saying that other series shouldn’t even be on the list. Tastes differ but let me you if you disagree with the list and I might reconsider.
Welcome to Focus on Fantasy! Here you will find an overview of what I believe to be the best series, books, authors , movies, TV series and games in the genre of fantasy.
I will regularly add more reviews of fantasy series, books, their authors, movies, TV series and games. I will also post updates on any news that might be of interest to you and add other content related to the fantasy genre.
Of course I hope you will find my reviews usefull and that you agree with my views and opinions but if you don’t, please let me know and comment on my posts.
If anything I hope that this website will stimulate you to dive deeper in the world of fantasy books, series, movies and games and will therefore increase your focus on fantasy.
A lot of types or genres of fantasy can be distinguished. The categorization of the genres is often not clear but vague and/ or overlapping. Also several names are used to describe the same or similar fantasy genres.
Below an overview of the main types of fantasy as I would categorize them. It is by no means a complete list of fantasy genres but I think that most people would agree that it contains the main genres and could be used to classify almost all fantasy books and series. As indicated before, the exact definition and categorization of the genres is often unclear and different views on it exist. Therefore, my interpretation of the different genres may be up for debate.
High Fantasy / Epic Fantasy
High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy are sometimes discussed as separate types but I consider them to be the same.
This type of fantasy is characterized by stories that are happening on an epic scale in a world completely different from our own. Strange beings, great battles and lots of magic.
Most of the popular fantasy series and books are part of this category with the best know example of course being The Lord of the Rings.
Heroic Fantasy
This category of fantasy almost always revolves around the typical story of a young boy who turn out to be a great hero.
It can be seen as a subgenre of high fantasy. Many if not most high fantasy stories have such elements but some books/ series completely revolve around it.
Closely related is Sword & Sorcery genre, which I consider to be a more extreme version of Heroic Fantasy. A good example of Sword & Sorcery is Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian.
Low Fantasy
Low Fantasy is probably the most vague category of fantasy. To me, Low Fantasy stories are set in a relatively normal world, containing some fantasy elements. Magic is most of the time on the background (dormant) and when it does play a role it is more subtle compared to high fantasy.
A Song of Ice & Fire I would consider to be High Fantasy, but the series also has elements of Low Fantasy as fantasy is not the main focus of the series and magic only pops up every now and then.
Historical Fantasy
Fantasy set in a historical setting, not in a thought-up fantasy world. Of course the story may not follow actual historical events but it uses a period from our past, often the Dark Ages, as the setting for a book. Fantasy elements, like dragons and wizards, are then added.
The story of King Arthur is an example of this genre.
Humorous Fantasy
Fantasy with a comedy twist. Books in this category not only contain humoristic stories set in fantasy realms but they are often also a parody or satire of “real fantasy” books, series or movies.
Several authors have picked fantasy as the setting for their humorous books with Terry Pratchett and his Discworld novels as the best-known example.
Dark Fantasy
Fantasy in which scary creatures like werewolves and vampires are the main or important characters. This type of fantasy is closely related to the horror genre which is why it is sometimes difficult to draw a line as to what is fantasy and what is not.
Examples of dark fantasy is The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, the movie Pan’s Labyrinth or the computer game Diablo.
Contemporary Fantasy
Fantasy in a modern-day setting, with the story at least partly happening in our real, contemporary world.
Clearly, the best-known example of this genre is the Harry Potter series but several popular movies and TV series are made in this genre, like the Twilight movies and the True Blood television series. The vampire theme is a modern setting is especially popular these days.
Science Fantasy
Stories that contain a mix of fantasy and science fiction elements. Often the evil side has powerful weapons while the characters on the good side are in touch with the earth or their inner selves and can use some form of magic.
One could argue that Shannara is related to this genre as the background story of this series clearly involve science. It is also a popular them for computer games, like Warhammer.
I hope this overview has created some clarity in the field of fantasy. Let me know if you have any additions or don’t agree with the distinctions made.
You may expect the list of best fantasy authors to consist of those brilliant minds that created the Best Fantasy Series. And guess what: you are right. However, you will see that order of this list is somewhat different.
I did take into account the influence of the author on the fantasy genre and the number of books written but my main focus was on writing style and skills. So please judge me too harshely right away when you find out that the great Tolkien is not number one in this list…
