I have a love/hate relationship with fantasy. I tend to gravitate towards coming of age stories set in interesting foreign lands. Perhaps some mountains, a river or two, an ocean, cities, docks, taverns, shops, trails, and waypoints. There should also be a world map inside the front or back cover – or both – of the book. I enjoy the slow and somewhat tormented development of primary characters mixed with nuanced and realistic magic systems. If I wonder to myself about the magic system – whether it might actually be possible – then it’s a good book. What I won’t put up with is wandering aimlessly through an eons long timeline and history of elves. Elves don’t interest me. Sure, the story can incorporate elves, but if they’re the primary thrust, I lose interest.
My favorite fantasy series is The Kingkiller Chronicals by Patrick Rothfuss. Patrick has completed the first two books of his trilogy (The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear) and it is, hands down, at the top of my list. I’m also making my way through The Belgariad series by David Eddings. I’ve so far read Pawn of Prophecy and Queen of Sorcery, which I’ve enjoyed. Both of these series follow young boys who are growing to become something of warriors. Both stories contain threats and character flaws. I can relate to both stories and they interest me. They seem real. I feel like I might somehow find myself alongside the characters. Plotting. Planning. Traveling. The idea of this appeals to me. Even if there’s fantasy-related magic involved, there’s enough realism for me to hook into and think about for a while to come.
It’s not easy finding good fantasy series. I’ve had a lifetime of searching and on so many occasions, when I’ve felt I’ve landed on something, a negative review or an uninteresting first page has thrown me off. I, like so many others, have had bad experiences with giving up on books, so I’m somewhat sensitive to whether or not I’ll truly appreciate where I invest my time. This is, of course, what we all face. How are we to know which series will be our next favorite? It’s an impossible question to answer until we’ve read them all. Or a fair number of them.
The issue I face has really gone on long enough and being the type of person I am (with a healthy amount of self-inflicted torture), I decided that it might be beneficial and much more time-efficient to go straight to the source. If I enjoy what a certain author writes, wouldn’t it behoove me to learn what that author enjoys? What’s inspires him or her? What he or she recommends? Luckily, the author I had in mind wrote his very own blog post covering this very topic. I should have known.
Back in 2011, Patrick Rothfuss shared a list of his favorite books on his blog. A list of book recommendations, if you will. A reader (Ben) wrote in and asked if Patrick would kindly recommend books that are worthy of reading. In Ben’s message to Patrick, the tone was very similar to the tone of the post I’m currently writing. Basically, it was like, “Help me. I’m at a loss. What should I read? What would you read in my position?” In response, Patrick offered the fantasy (and some sci-fi) book list many of us have been waiting for. And because I’m terrified of Patrick removing his post from the internet, I thought I’d share the list here. At least on my own website, I can keep an eye on it. This type of thing is worth money.
With all that said, I present to you Patrick Rothfuss’ list of favorite fantasy/science-fiction novels. These are in no particular order. Enjoy, and if you have any to add, please do in the comment section below. I’ll surely be digging through this list for the rest of my life.
The Best Fantasy & Science-Fiction Novels
Top Favorites
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
The Last Unicorn By Peter S. Beagle
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Stranger In a Strange Land Robert Heinlein
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Dragonriders Of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
Dune by Frank Herbert
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
The Discworld books by Terry Pratchett
The Chronicles of Amber–Roger Zelazny
Brave New World–Aldous Huxley
Wizard of Earthsea By Le Guin
Sandman – Neil Gaiman
The Fisher King Trilogy by Tim Powers
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy by Douglas Adams
The Riddlemaster of Hed series by Patricia McKillip
Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath by H.P Lovecraft
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
1984 – by George Orwell
Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson
Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare
The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, by Barry Hughart
The Princess Bride – William Goldman
The Bloody Chamber – Angela Carter
Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
The Odyssey by Homer
The Last Herald-Mage trilogy – Mercedes Lackey
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
River World Series – Phillip Jose Farmer
One Thousand and One Nights
Riftwar Saga by Feist
The Dark Tower series – Stephen King
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams
Belgariad series by David Eddings
Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson
Michael Ende – The Neverending Story
The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
The Shannara Trilogy – Terry Brooks
Runners Up
The Farseer Trilogy – Robin Hobb
Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais
Only Forward by Michael Marshal Smith
A Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter M Miller
Pretty much Anything by Christopher Moore
Time Enough for Love – Robert Heinlein
Stardust – Neil Gaiman
His Dark Materials – Phillip Pullman
Black Company Series – Glen Cook
Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
Lud in Mist – Hope Mirrlees
The Red Magician – Lisa Goldstein
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
A Wrinke In Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Death is a Lonely Business by Ray Bradbury
Declare- Tim Powers
Legend- David Gemmel
Icewind Dale Trilogy – R.A. Salvatore
Harry Potter by Rowling (Mostly the first four)
Beowulf
Yet to be Read
The Doomsday Book – Connie Willis
Fafhrd & Gray Mouser books – Fritz Leiber
Watership Down – Richard Adams
The Gormenghast series – Mervyn Peake
Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham
The Glass Book of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
A Song of Ice and Fire – Martin (Yeah Yeah. I know. I’ve been busy…)
The Forever War – by Joe Haldeman
House of Leaves – Mark Z Danielewski
The Mote in God’s Eye – Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Nova – Samuel R. Delaney
Dhalgren – Samuel R. Delany
The Uplift Trilogy – David Brin (I’ve only read one so far…)
The Hollows series – Kim Harrison
The Fionavar Tapestry – Guy Gavriel Kay
The Vorkosigan Saga – Lois McMaster Bujold
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin
Conan stories – Robert E. Howard
Little, Big – John Crowley
Lensman Series – E.E. “Doc” Smith
Malazan Books of the Fallen – Steven Erikson
Wheel of Time – Jordan and Sanderson (I’ve only read the first two)
Tripod Trilogy – Samuel Youd
Flatland – Edwin A. Abbott
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Here’s a quick update to my situation. Because of Patrick Rothfuss’ list of book recommendations on his blog (or right here, above), I decided to go ahead and read The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. The first book is called Assassin’s Apprentice and it’s quite good so far. It eerily reminds me of Patrick’s own work, so I wonder if it influenced him in his writing of The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear. It’s a coming of age story about a boy named Fitz. I’ve only read one fifth of the book so far, so I’ll update this post to let you know how it’s going. I believe it was a good choice though and I’m excited to continue reading the remaining books in the trilogy. And from what I’ve learned, there are many more books pertaining to this character that continue on after the initial trilogy.
After I’m finished with this one, I’ll begin with The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Patrick raves about that series, so I’d love to sink my teeth into it.