A new page has been added to this site, discussing the best computer/ console games related to the genre of fantasy. It is an overview of what I believe to be the best and most influential fantasy games ever made.
While not all games have a strict link with fantasy as we know it from books and movies, several clearly are based on the classical form of fantasy with elves, goblins and the lot. Game characters are likely to have special abilities, like being able to fly, superstrenght and other powers. Also, games are often set in imaginary worlds with creatures such zombies, orcs, elves and vampires that either are playable characters or enemies.
The list of course contains games like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy but also several games you may not have thought of.
Over the years quite a few animated fantasy movies have been produced, varying from cartoon and anime styled movies to puppet extravaganzas. When listing my favorite fantasy movies I decided not to include these animated movies but to dedicate a specific post to it. This, because these kind of movies are often quite different from ‘regular’ fantasy movies, have a different vibe (especially Anime movies) or are focused on a younger audience.
Within the genre of animated movies there are many, many differences in type and style of animation, making it difficult to compare the movies. Therefore, instead of a top 5 of the best animated fantasy movies ever made, below the movies I really liked and/or were very influential in no particular order.
Spirited Away
Japan has a long history in fantasy telling and in portraying fantasy in cartoon series and movies in a style called Anime. It is a style loved by many, including myself, but others hate it.
Spirited Away, also known as “Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi” is one of the highlights of this genre. Having won many prices, including an Oscar, and ranked number 54 in the best movies list of IMDB, the movie tells the story of a young girl who finds herself in a environment filled with ghosts and spirits, has to save her parents who have been turned into pigs.
Directed by the great Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away is beautifully made, has an interesting and intense storyline and contains drama, action and humor: a great movie.
Princess Mononoke
Princes Mononoke, Mononoke-hime in Japanese, is another fantastic Anime movie that was also written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
Produced in the late nineties, the movie is about a young boy who saves his town from a monstrous boar but gets infected with a demonic disease and is therefore exiled. He goes looking for a cure and finds himself in a struggle between the habitants of a mining town and a group of forest people and animals lead by princess Mononoke.
I liked Princess Mononoke a bit less than Spirited Away, it is also listed a bit loweron IMDB, but it is still a very good movie.
The Dark Crystal
One of the many fantasy movies from the eighties, The Dark Crystal uses a completely different form of animation that the other animated movies in this list: puppetry. Puppet masters Jim Henson and Frank Oz created this fantastic movie in 1983, telling the story of birdlike monsters that cruelly rule a planet filled with strange and mysterious creatures. One of those starts on a quest to find a crystal and stand up against the evil oppressors.
The Dark Crystal is beautfully made and tells a classic fantasy story in a unique setting and is therefore a must-see.
Alice in Wonderland
Probably not the first title you think of but Alice in Wonderland is indeed a fantasy movie.
Based on the book of Lewis Carroll, Disney made the cartoon movie in 1951 which is seen by many as one of the best Disney movies ever. The story is of course very famous: little Alice falls into a rabbit hole and enters a magic world with strange beings and gets involved in bizarre situations. Eventually, she has to escape from the queen of harts.
A new Alice in Wonderland movie (not animated but with real people like Johnny Depp) came out in early 2010.
Shrek
You might consider it an odd one out in this list but I believe that the Shrek movies can be seen as part of the fantasy genre. As we all know, they tell the story of the ogre Shrek who is forced out of his swamp and marries the princess of Far Far Away who also turns out to be an ogre. Most if not all characters in the movies come straight from fairy tales.
Personally I find the movies hilarious and although it is questionable if they are really fantasy movies, Shrek is simply to good to pass over in this list.
So far my favorite animated fantasy movies. If you don’t agree with some of the movies in this list or if you any additions then please share your opinion with the rest of us!
After comparing the television series Hecules and Xena in a previous post, I figured it would be interesting to create a listing of the best fantasy television series. However, this turned out to be quite difficult. Where there have been quite a few good and successful fantasy movies, fantasy television as a genre has never been as popular as for example the science fiction genre, which had great and long running series like Star Trek, Babylon 5 and Stargate.
You will see that there is only short list of possible contenders for the title of best fantasy television series that I can come up with, as in my view only a few fantasy television series stand out enough to qualify for the title of the best television series. However, I have good hope that around this time next year, a new contender will be around.
I have created a page about the best fantasy movies ever. It contains a listing of my favourite fantasy movies. As with fantasy in written form, fantasy movies come in many different styles. I have a preference for epic/ high fantasy which also shows in this list but I didn’t only pick movies from this type of fantasy. I have simply included and ranked those fantasy movies that I like best and believe to be the most important in the genre.
Of course I included movies like Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia and Conan the Barbarian but you may come across movies you haven’t seen yet or have never heard of. If I have left out a movie that you think should definitely be included then let me know!
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 .
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 of these series and claim it should be number one while saying that other series shouldn’t even be on the list.
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…
Click here to go to the Best Fantasy Authors…