My Top 5 Fantasy Books

These are some of the best fantasy books of all time. I can’t put them in order, so please don’t ask.

I’ll start with the least surprising.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

A classic for fantasy lovers and the inspiration behind many modern-day fantasies. The world of Middle Earth was influenced heavily by Tolkien’s faith as well as his love of mythology and languages (being an English language and literature professor).

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

For those looking for something a little less daunting than the 1,200+ page tome that is The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is comparatively short at 366 pages. This is also a lighter read, written in a more adventurous tone than the serious mood you’ll find in The Lord of the Rings.

Not to say that it’ll make you feel any more intelligent than the above-mentioned, especially when you take into account that Tolkien wrote this as a children’s book (stares out vaguely into space wondering what happened to our collective vocabulary).

Tolkien wrote this book first (and the events take place just before Frodo’s journey in The Lord of the Rings). He later went back and tried to rewrite The Hobbit to read more like The Lord of the Rings but gave up around chapter three, conceding that it just wasn’t The Hobbit anymore (if only the movies would have heeded this lesson).

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

I don’t know where to start with this one. The level of creativity needed to drive the plot forward with a sensible character that actually makes good decisions and thinks things through is just astounding.

Add to that oceans made up of non-liquid material, twelve moons corresponding to those twelve unique oceans, a talking rat, a wish-granting dragon, a sentient zombie-like being, and a narrator who’s lost his senses, and you have a brilliantly unique story that reads like a modern fairy tale.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

Shannon Chakraborty may be better known for her Daevabad trilogy (which I also loved), but my first taste of her writing was The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi—a tale of a brazen female pirate coming out of retirement for one final job.

Men find it easier to believe they have been swindled by a witch than outwitted by a woman.

“For this scribe has read a great many of these accounts and taken away another lesson: that to be a woman is to have your story misremembered. Discarded. Twisted.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Humorous, adventurous, and witty—The Princess Bride is told as a story within a story. On the outside, it’s the story of a man resurrecting his favorite, albeit obscure, childhood story, only to find that his father had only read him the best parts.

A such, he sets out to rewrite it, cutting out the tiresome histories and lineages. That’s enough to make any writer envious: an ingenious narrative device that allows him to cut out transitions and simply skip ahead to the action.

Epic sword fights, poison, rodents of unusual size, and a sinister plot for murder uncovered. What’s not to love?

This was my personal list of some of my favorite fantasy books. Many of these are also great young adult fantasy books, and they're all clean (no spice).

Thanks for reading!

Janine Eaby is the author of Beyond the Water’s Edge—a fantasy book series influenced by her faith, love of nature, and desire for adventure. Ideal for fans of portal fantasies to other worlds, like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.