Time‘s 100 Best Fantasy Books

Time magazine has released a list of the “100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time“, curated by Time editors and a panel of authors consisting of Tomi Adeyemi, Cassandra Clare, Diana Gabaldon, Neil Gaiman, N.K. Jemisin, Marlon James, George R.R. Martin, and Sabaa Tahir.

The list is presented in chronological order, starting with 9th-century The Arabian Nights and ending with Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez (Page Street), released January 2020.

For the full list and an article by Jemisin “On the Timeless Power of Fantasy”, see the Time website.


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3 thoughts on “Time‘s 100 Best Fantasy Books

  • October 15, 2020 at 4:32 pm
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    The list was interesting and contained many of the authors and works I expected to see. There were, though, some glaring omissions. I did not see the Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake, Lyonesse by Jack Vance, Grendel by John Gardner, Little big by John Crowley, Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn, The Dreamstone, by C. J Cherryh, Tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber, The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson, Where is the Bird of Fire by Thomas Burnett Swann, The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas, or Tales of Neveryon by Samuel R. Delany. Of course, different people will have different opinions, but why list multiple works by single authors (often within the same series of books) when clearly there are other authors and works deserving inclusion on the list?

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  • October 20, 2020 at 2:40 pm
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    Agreed. The list would have been much more productive – in terms of introducing readers to diverse writers – if limited to one book per author. Instead of two books by J.K. Rowling, two by LeGuin, two by Pullman, two by L’Engle – and so on, two by two by two throughout the list – we could have added “Night’s Master” by Tanith Lee, or “Nine Princes in Amber” by Roger Zelazny, or even “The Porpoise” by Mark Haddon.

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  • October 25, 2020 at 11:21 am
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    The Stand. The Dark Tower. On a Pale Horse. Weaveworld. The Talisman.

    Reply

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