Top Ten Fantasy Books I Should Read

Writers (and readers) are always looking for more fiction to consume – but sometimes, books fall through the cracks of my To-Be-Read list. In this Top Ten List, I look at the fantasy novels I’d really like to read (and can’t believe I haven’t read already).

1. Lirael (Garth Nix)

I routinely call myself a rather passionate Garth Nix fan, and yet somehow, I’ve never read past Sabriel in his Old Kingdom series. It’s moving up higher on my TBR list.

 

2. The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman)

An epic fantasy series (His Dark Materials) that even saw a theatrical release – and sadly, I haven’t even read the first book. In fact, I don’t known anything about the series, except something about an armored battle polar bear – which is enough to convince me to read this.

 

3. The Gunslinger (Stephen King)

I’ll admit something I feel terrible about – I’ve never read a King novel. As a writer, I feel that’s probably shameful, but his name has always carried connotations of horror (and I don’t get enjoyment from being scared). But his 1980s fantasy epic, The Dark Tower, is supposedly one of the best – and after the 2003 rewrite, King says it should be more accessible to new readers now.

 

4. The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)

Ouch. Another shameful secret of mine – I’ve never actually completed Tolkien’s epic. I’ve come close, several times, but then something happens and I lose interest or put the book down. Then I always feel compelled the re-read the whole thing again – from the Hobbit onwards. One day….

 

 

5. Legend (Marie Lu)

Pulling some urban fantasy/dystopians onto the list now – I’ve heard a fair amount about the Legend series, and I’d like to investigate further.

 

6. Divergent (Vernoica Roth)

Continuing the dystopian trend, I’d like to read the (seemingly divisive) series that’s already made it to film. It’s probably closer to Sci-Fi genre, but I consider it more urban fantasy (based on the film, at least).

 

7. The Aftermath (D.J. Molles)

As far as post-apocalyptic zombie-killing urban-fantasies go, I rather enjoyed the first installment (The Remaining), but somehow never continued the series.

 

8. Vampire Academy (Richelle Mead)

I don’t usually go for paranormal romance or vampires as a whole, but when a series like Vampire Academy has thousands (maybe millions) of fans shouting its praises (and a movie), I should probably pay attention.

 

9. The Angel Experiment (James Patterson)

I’ve heard of the Maximum Ride series, but have never read anything from James Patterson before. This seems like a good place to start.

 

10. The 5th Wave (Rick Yancey)

And rounding out the list is another dystopian that’s definitely more sci-fi than fantasy, but in any case, I’m including it on my list after seeing some incredible reviews from my Twitter friends. I haven’t read a good alien invasion novel in a while – here’s hoping 5th Wave breaks that drought.

 

 

 

Did I miss anything? Are there books you think I should read ASAP? Leave a comment below!

Thanks for reading!