Top 20 Fantasy Books of All-Time
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2024
- The final video in the "Top 100 fantasy books of all time according to my viewers" series. A couple months ago I asked my viewers to submit their picks for best fantasy book of all time and got 500+ responses, and I uploaded a series of 5 videos going over all the picks. If you want to watch the other 4 videos in this series, click here: • Top 100 Fantasy Books ...
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥: (I get a commission when you use the links)
📚 Pick my next book on Patreon: / mattsfantasybookreviews
👕 Merch store: matts-fantasy-book-reviews.pr...
🎧 Free Audible trial: www.audibletrial.com/matt
📗 View/buy my favorite books: www.amazon.com/shop/mattsfant...
𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬:
💻 Discord: / discord
🐦 Twitter: / mattbookreviews
📖 Goodreads: / mattsfantasybookreview
📱 Facebook: / mattsfantasybookreviews
𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:
The Fellowship of The Ring: amzn.to/3O6LK7Q
The Well of Ascension: amzn.to/3XK4opt
Sword of Kaigen: amzn.to/3XPkXAs
Before They Are Hanged: amzn.to/3rlZPFM
A Clash of Kings: amzn.to/43odCJ7
Oathbringer: amzn.to/46M7q0g
A Memory of Light: amzn.to/3rnTNnU
Memories of Ice: amzn.to/3DsfO85
The Hobbit: amzn.to/3Oa4lQu
Jade Legacy: amzn.to/3O8vkfb
The Blade Itself: amzn.to/3JRTKam
The Hero of Ages: amzn.to/44E6FVh
A Game of Thrones: amzn.to/44BBry8
The Lies of Locke Lamora: amzn.to/3XKYGUi
The Final Empire: amzn.to/3NFDpqo
Last Argument of Kings: amzn.to/44m3tOv
The Name of the Wind: amzn.to/44HbQ6L
Words of Radiance: amzn.to/3NQQg94
The Way Of Kings: amzn.to/43tyUVW
A Storm of Swords: amzn.to/46KzL7b
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐌𝐞:
💌 mattsfantasybookreviews@gmail.com
𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:
• Welcome to Nev's Book ...
/ 75673728
𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭:
Camera: amzn.to/40kJyMS
Lighting: amzn.to/3L5bSOW
Microphone: amzn.to/3UHWg78
Kindle: amzn.to/3KJ1J9l
Kindle Case: amzn.to/40lbrV8
Kindle Page Turner: amzn.to/3KMI3Bx
Kindle Holder: amzn.to/3MOE3mu
#fantasybooks #bookreview #bestbooks #fantasybooks #booktube #booktuber #books #bookstagram #bookworm #booklover #booknerd #bookish #book #reading #read #booktubers 
Развлечения
𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝟏𝟎𝟎:
(#1 w/ 175 votes) A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords (George R.R. Martin)
(#2 w/ 169 votes) The Stormlight Archive: The Way Of Kings (Brandon Sanderson)
(#3 w/ 156 votes) The Stormlight Archive: Words of Radiance (Brandon Sanderson)
(#4 w/ 131 votes) The Kingkiller Chronicle: The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss)
(#5 w/ 113 votes) The First Law: Last Argument of Kings (Joe Abercrombie)
(#6 w/ 104 votes) Mistborn: The Final Empire (Brandon Sanderson)
(#7 w/ 96 votes) Gentleman Bastard: The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)
(#8 w/ 93 votes) A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones (George R.R. Martin)
(#9 w/ 85 votes) Mistborn: The Hero of Ages (Brandon Sanderson)
(#10 w/ 63 votes) The First Law: The Blade Itself (Joe Abercrombie)
(#11 w/ 60 votes) The Green Bone Saga: Jade Legacy (Fonda Lee)
(#11 w/ 60 votes) Middle-Earth: The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
(#13 w/ 59 votes) Malazan: Memories of Ice (Steven Erikson)
(#14 w/ 58 votes) The Wheel of Time: A Memory of Light (Robert Jordan / Brandon Sanderson)
(#15 w/ 50 votes) The Stormlight Archive: Oathbringer (Brandon Sanderson)
(#16 w/ 49 votes) A Song of Ice and Fire: A Clash of Kings (George R.R. Martin)
(#16 w/ 49 votes) The First Law: Before They Are Hanged (Joe Abercrombie)
(#18 w/ 45 votes) : Sword of Kaigen (M.L. Wang)
(#18 w/ 45 votes) Mistborn: The Well of Ascension (Brandon Sanderson)
(#20 w/ 44 votes) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
(#21 w/ 43 votes) The Wheel of Time: The Shadow Rising (Robert Jordan)
(#22 w/ 42 votes) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
(#23 w/ 41 votes) The First Law: The Heroes (Joe Abercrombie)
(#24 w/ 39 votes) Cosmere: Warbreaker (Brandon Sanderson)
(#25 w/ 38 votes) The Faithful and the Fallen: Ruin (John Gwynne)
(#26 w/ 37 votes) Malazan: Deadhouse Gates (Steven Erikson)
(#26 w/ 37 votes) The Kingkiller Chronicle: The Wise Man’s Fear (Patrick Rothfuss)
(#28 w/ 36 votes) Malazan: The Crippled God (Steven Erikson)
(#28 w/ 36 votes) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
(#30 w/ 34 votes) The Band: Kings of the Wyld (Nicholas Eames)
(#31 w/ 33 votes) The Realm of the Eldelrings: Ship of Destiny (Robin Hobb)
(#32 w/ 32 votes) The First Law: The Wisdom of Crowds (Joe Abercrombie)
(#32 w/ 32 votes) The Faithful and the Fallen: Wrath (John Gwynne)
(#34 w/ 30 votes) Malazan: The Bonehunters (Steven Erikson)
(#35 w/ 29 votes) Dune: Dune (Frank Herbert)
(#36 w/ 28 votes) The Realm of the Eldelrings: Assassin's Apprentice (Robin Hobb)
(#37 w/ 27 votes) The Realm of the Eldelrings: Royal Assassin (Robin Hobb)
(#37 w/ 27 votes) The Green Bone Saga: Jade City (Fonda Lee)
(#39 w/ 26 votes) Discworld: Guards! Guards! (Terry Pratchett)
(#40 w/ 25 votes) The Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt (Robert Jordan)
(#41 w/ 24 votes) The First Law: The Trouble with Peace (Joe Abercrombie)
(#42 w/ 24 votes) The First Law: Best Served Cold (Joe Abercrombie)
(#43 w/ 23 votes) A Song of Ice and Fire: A Dance with Dragons (George R.R. Martin)
(#43 w/ 23 votes) The Dresden Files: Changes (Jim Butcher)
(#43 w/ 23 votes) Malazan: Gardens of the Moon (Steven Erikson)
(#43 w/ 23 votes) The Realm of the Eldelrings: Ship of Magic (Robin Hobb)
(#43 w/ 23 votes) The Bloodsworn Trilogy: The Shadow of the Gods (John Gwynne)
(#48 w/ 21 votes) The Realm of the Eldelrings: Assassin's Fate (Robin Hobb)
(#48 w/ 21 votes) The Realm of the Eldelrings: Fool’s Fate (Robin Hobb)
(#48 w/ 21 votes) Malazan: Midnight Tides (Steven Erikson)
(#48 w/ 21 votes) The Stormlight Archive: Rhythm of War (Brandon Sanderson)
(#48 w/ 21 votes) Discworld: Small Gods (Terry Pratchett)
(#53 w/ 20 votes) A Song of Ice and Fire: A Feast For Crows (George R.R. Martin)
(#53 w/ 20 votes) Harry Potter: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling)
(#55 w/ 19 votes) Empire of the Vampire : Empire of the Vampire (Jay Kristoff)
(#55 w/ 19 votes) The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three (Stephen King)
(#57 w/ 18 votes) The First Law: A Little Hatred (Joe Abercrombie)
(#57 w/ 18 votes) The Faithful and the Fallen: Malice (John Gwynne)
(#57 w/ 18 votes) Harry Potter: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
(#60 w/ 17 votes) The Earthsea Cycle: A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K. Le Guin)
(#61 w/ 16 votes) The Broken Earth: The Fifth Season (N.K. Jemisin)
(#61 w/ 16 votes) The Wheel of Time: The Gathering Storm (Robert Jordan / Brandon Sanderson)
(#61 w/ 16 votes) Red Rising: Golden Son (Pierce Brown)
(#61 w/ 16 votes) The Green Bone Saga: Jade War (Fonda Lee)
(#61 w/ 16 votes) The Wheel of Time: The Dragon Reborn (Robert Jordan)
(#61 w/ 16 votes) The Silmarillion (J.R.R. Tolkien)
(#67 w/ 15 votes) Elantris (Brandon Sanderson)
(#67 w/ 15 votes) The Realm of the Eldelrings: Fool's Errand (Robin Hobb)
(#67 w/ 15 votes) Red Rising: Morning Star (Pierce Brown)
(#67 w/ 15 votes) Red Rising: Red Rising (Pierce Brown)
(#71 w/ 14 votes) Raven's Shadow: Blood Song (Anthony Ryan)
(#71 w/ 14 votes) The Wheel of Time: Lord of Chaos (Robert Jordan)
(#71 w/ 14 votes) Piranesi (Susanna Clarke)
(#71 w/ 14 votes) Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn: The Dragonbone Chair (Tad Williams)
(#71 w/ 14 votes) The Dandelion Dynasty: The Grace of Kings (Ken Liu)
(#71 w/ 14 votes) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis)
(#71 w/ 14 votes) The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass (Stephen King)
(#71 w/ 14 votes) Harry Potter: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling)
(#71 w/ 14 votes) American Gods (Neil Gaiman)
(#80 w/ 13 votes) The Riftwar Saga: Magician (Raymond E. Feist)
(#81 w/ 12 votes) Powder Mage: Promise of Blood (Brian McClellan)
(#81 w/ 12 votes) The Wheel of Time: The Fires of Heaven (Robert Jordan)
(#81 w/ 12 votes) The Burning: The Rage of Dragons (Evan Winter)
(#81 w/ 12 votes) The Bloodsworn Trilogy: The Hunger of the Gods (John Gwynne)
(#85 w/ 11 votes) The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World (Robert Jordan)
(#85 w/ 11 votes) Harry Potter: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)
(#87 w/ 10 votes) The First Law: Red Country (Joe Abercrombie)
(#87 w/ 10 votes) The Emperor's Soul (Brandon Sanderson)
(#87 w/ 10 votes) The Realm of the Eldelrings: The Mad Ship (Robin Hobb)
(#87 w/ 10 votes) The Witcher: The Last Wish (Andrzej Sapkowski)
(#91 w/ 9 votes) The Sun Eater: Empire of Silence (Christopher Ruocchio)
(#91 w/ 9 votes) The Wheel of Time: Knife of Dreams (Robert Jordan)
(#91 w/ 9 votes) Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman)
(#91 w/ 9 votes) Discworld: Night Watch (Terry Pratchett)
(#91 w/ 9 votes) Cradle: Reaper (Will Wight)
(#91 w/ 9 votes) Malazan: Reaper’s Gale (Steven Erikson)
(#91 w/ 9 votes) Cradle: Wintersteel (Will Wight)
(#98 w/ 8 votes) The Witcher: Baptism of Fire (Andrzej Sapkowski)
(#98 w/ 8 votes) Legends and Lattes (Travis Baldree)
(#98 w/ 8 votes) Strange & Norrell: Jonathan Strange & Mr.Norrell (Susanna Clarke)
22:54
the story was about kal and i lovvve how every time he fall stad up again i mean he is man who last every thing idk what to say but thats why i love it
Wow. Ur amazing!
Good job Rythm of War isn't there. That book was badddddd.
The Way of Kings is my favorite book of all time. I do like it better than Words of Radience. The setup is just amazing. Kaladin's progression in this book alone is phenomenal. The way that Sanderson let's you get to know Kaladin's character, morals, and values, his work ethic, his leadership skills, and the way that he completely transforms bridge 4, is absolutely inspirational. I only read this book last year, and it already gives me a wonderful sense of nostalgia whenever I think of it.
This series doesn't just try to sell you a noble, white knight type of protagonist that fits the bill just because the story says so. It takes you through Kaladin's journey and makes you believe it. You fall in love with Kaladin as the members of bridge 4 do.
It also just does a great job of setting up the characters and world for a truly epic fantasy story. The initial discovery, excitement and emotions when being introduced to this world and the characters are just stronger for me in this first book.
Yup, totally agree.
Agreed. It just takes a loooonnngg time to do it all.
Yeah the slowburn in the way of kings is so weirdly satisfying and the payoff is INCREDIBLE
I'm in the minority here, but Well of Ascension is my favorite Mistborn book.
I enjoyed the whole Siege of Luthadel and especially the battle of luthadel with the koloss attacking among many other parts.
Mine too!
Same here!
Same!
Mine as well. Loved it.
Words of Radiance is definitely the better book. But The Way of Kings is my favorite book of all time. I’ll never forget the last 200 pages
The character arc of Kaladin is what makes the way of kings so good. Words of radiance has the best ending and midpoint of the four, because of the fights with the assassin in white, but for me a great character arc can make a story extra special.
To be honest i dont get why people love the arc that much. For me it was kinda boring because everything bout kaladin in Wok happened like the reader expected it to happen from page 1.
@@leude9984 i didn't expect a thing. That sounds like a unique experience to you that you found kals arc in wok predictable, i couldn't disagree more.
Way of kings - it builds up to an ending that surpasses anything Sanderson has done in terms of pacing and emotions. The redemption arc was sublime. The build up is very slow and a bit dry but you need it to have an ending that impactful. Sublime
Yeah the ending is absolutely perfect in my opinion.
Awesome list! Happy to be a viewer, Discord community member, and Patreon that helped shape this list. Very cool that A Storm of Swords topped this list and there was a little bit of a different take on things in this #20-#1 ranking than what I’ve also seen out there.
Very well deserved to A Storm of Swords, which was and always be my vote for the best fantasy novel.
Think the voting system and famous-name-recall (vs individual LoTR books) is what lead The Hobbit to be submitted so much
I'd like to hear these top favorite scifi books too. Need to go back and watch more... I'm on book 5 of Red Rising saga and loving it. Also reading Sun Eater and loving it. Keep up the good content!
Probably a decent number of people who have read WoK, but not WoR yet (which may account for the discrepancy).
Agreed with Fellowship at the top for the series. I really love that opening half of the book especially.
I think the reason readers put the first books of some of the series over later books (like Final Empire over Hero of Ages or Way of Kings over Words of Radiance) is because the first book is what introduced the reader to that world, the characters, magic etc -- you can't have an amazing journey without taking that first step. Maybe I'm wrong but that's my take. Great content as always, thanks for the work!
Makes sense. And thank you!
I'll put Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, in particular The High King, up against almost anything. An aspect that's lost with a lot of works 'flat out writing'. That's why I can only like Sanderson up to a point his writing is fairly pedestrian. Character work? Great. Plots? Good/great. His writing? For the most part? Meh. But, I'm a Character driven reader, so i can still enjoy him, but he's just so wordy.
For lotr i just genuinely loved the starting of the adventure feel. Same reason i rate The Hobbit above lotr since it got more of an adventure vibe to it, and lotr is more epic scale as it goes along.
I love this rank. Thanks for your Channel. A lot of surprises. Cheers Matt
It’s interesting to see how these lists change for different RUclipsrs (I don’t mean this as a negative). My guess is your subscribers like books similar to your personal favs… which makes sense. It’s a good list, but too Sanderson heavy for me(I do like him, but would probably sub in Gwynn, Tad Williams, Robb and more). I am not a J Abercrombie book fan though I tried, lol, but the rest here that I have read I do like a good bit.
Started a RUclips channel just to share how much I truly love Name of the Wind. It lives in a special place in my heart. My favorite book of all time. I don’t care the trilogy isn’t finished. I’m thankful I have the first book forever.
Love the take!
I have Way of Kings ahead of Words of Radiance myself. And for the reason most people have issues with it. I loved the slow build; Sanderson squeezed so much world building and character work into this book and it was a great start to one of my favorite series of all time. With all the build up, when Kaladin charged over the bridge to save Dalinar it was just fantastic; and for me that is one of the top moments in fantasy.
Loved that moment too! Goosebumps!!
Robin Hobb not being in the top 20 is a crime.
This is unbelievable to me
Awesome as always. Starting Blade Itself today so it was cool to see it at #10.
Enjoy the ride - it's a fun one!
I’m still alive
@@Trish.Norman Excited to find out what that means!
@@Trish.Norman Got it!
I love the Stormlight archive and personally my favourite is Way of Kings in terms of pure enjoyment and diving into the world and that incredible sanderlanche - obviously words of radiance is also incredible so whilst I may not think Way of Kings is strictly better I have it higher
Yeah that makes sense.
Great series Matt!
I think the reason why some first books were ranked higher than the later books (like Mistborn and Way of Kings being ranked higher than their sequels), is because some people may have read those first books, loved them, but still never continued the series. Also some people have the mentallity that the first book is "better" because that's where the series started. But I agree with you, it doesn't make much sense in the case of those series.
Btw, great video series! I loved watching all the videos and seeing where the ones I voted for got ranked.
Yeah that makes sense. And thanks for the kind words!
This was such a fun series of vids! I really wish I had read ASoIaF before being spoiled on so much from the show. I’ve read almost all of these by now except for the Name of the Wind-I’ll get to that one eventually when I’ve forgotten more of the First Binding!
LOL. I think you'll like Name of the Wind, regardless of when you read it!
Wooo Name of the Wind! 💯 Also I do prefer Way of Kings to Words of Radiance, the main reason being that Kaladin is an 11/10 character and we get more of him in that book
Great list from a great community of people I who tend to agree a lot with. A few books on the list I would put lower than others in their series, but it is great to see what people connect with. Definately a few on this top 20 I need to get to ASAP.
I would say I am one of those who like Well of Ascension top out of the 3 Mistborns and Way of Kings over Words of Radiance. WoR is where I decided to leave the series until book 5. It just got too out there for what I was looking for, but still liked it a lot. WoR really hit everything right for me, but I will agree that the conclusions of books 1 and 3 were preferable to 2.
Yeah, I wonder if I will feel the same way as you whenever I get around to a re-read of Mistborn. I suspect I may.
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews i might be one of the weird ones who REALLY like Elend the what is going on with the city. Plus, Tindwyl and Sazed are maybe my favorite subplot in the series.
Currently still reading The Sword of Kaigen and I’m really enjoying the journey so far. Hope we can hear your opinions on it. 😊
These videos were fantastic Matt!
Thanks so much!
Lowkey think Well of Ascension is my favorite Mistborn
The ending of Hero of Ages is maybe the best thing Sanderson has written, but I re-read the series last year and the first half of HoA kinda dragged whereas I thought the entirety of WoA was consistently good
My buddy recently read WoA and was texting me reactions as he finished it, and the ending of that book elicits reactions more than any other i've read and I love it for that
Would’ve been disappointed if Storm wasn’t first, no fiction book (let alone fantasy book) that I’ve read even comes close imho
I genuinely can’t believe that jade legacy is the highest rated in the series. I liked it but I think it went to far into a different direction than the other books. Although if she wouldn’t have done the time jumps it would’ve been a 5 book series
Yeah, agreed on it going longer. George RR Martin wanted to do time jumps but decided against it. If he did the time jumps ASOIAF would be over by now!
I was surprised to see no Brent Weeks. I know the last Lightbringer is highly divisive, but I find with people I've spoken to a high degree of coincidence of Sanderson and Weeks love. I really appreciate the series. My audible wishlist has grown by a few more
A Storm of Swords is my all time favorite book by a mile and a half!!! I may be in the minority, but I absolutely love Roy Dotrice’s reading of the ASoIaF audiobooks. It’s what got me into audiobooks and while I agree that Pacey’s narration of the First Law books is the greatest performance of a fantasy audiobook, I’ll always remember hearing Roy read that prologue from A Game of Thrones and thinking that it was just absolutely amazing.
A Storm of Swords fully deserved the first spot 💚.
You spoiled the whole video for me😭
Spoiler :-(
Spoiler alert dip shit!!!
Don't hop into a video's comment section and expect to not get comments and spoilers on the content of said video, LOL
@@paulmiller2807 the LOL at the end wasn't needed and makes you sound like a pretentious jerk. Just my two cents.
When you started this video series I commented that I thought there would be at least 25 books combined from 4 different series: Wheel of Time, First Law, Malazan and the Cosmere. There ended up being 34. A 3rd of the top 100 from 4 series, lol.
Cosmere had 10 make it onto the list. Wheel of Time and First Law each had 9. And Malazan had 7. Realm of the Elderlings had 8; but that's not one of my top 5 favorite series like the other 4.
LOL that's crazy.
Wow, it’s crazy that 18 of the 20 greatest fantasy-a genre dating to the beginning of the written tradition-books came out in the last 30 years!
I love TWoK over WoR. WoK is my favorite Stormlight books and Words might be my least. It never felt like Kings was a slow book, I was intrigued by the 3 prologues and when reading Kaladin and Shallan's pov chapters it just felt like a fresh breath of air. I love the world of Roshar and it can only be introduced for the first time once. Kaladin might be my favorite fantasy character and learning his backstory was an amazing experience.
I don't care much for Shallan and while I enjoyed her backstory it just didn't hit the same as Kaladin and Dalinar's (although still better than Eshonai/Venli) This book had some memorable moments for sure such as: "Honor is dead but I'll see what I can do" and "The words Kaladin!" but I didn't care for the final fight. It just became very samey to me after a while. I might be a bit too harsh on it and maybe a re-read will change my mind but this where I'm at now.
I agree. Words of Radiance is by far my least favorite SA book. Oathbringer is my favorite. And for the same reason as you. I hate Shallan. Anything from her pov I don't like. I think Egwene from WOT is the only protag I hate more. The book is still great but it being "her book" kills it for me
@@LordNovaPrime1 Wow thats crazy because Egg is my favorite protagonist from WoT (tied with Rand).
Just goes to show how varied and nuanced people's preferences can be
@@burhanqureshi3087 very true. You can sync up so much on an opinion of a character or book and then the next book it's totally different. There's so many things that can influence it that it makes sense. And it's funny too because while we both dislike Shallan all it would take for me to change my opinion on her is for her to have a lot of progression on dealing with her split personalities. I don't find it interesting and she's done a lot of dumb things trying to cover it up and whatnot. But outside of that I don't mind her. And for you it could be something different that you don't like. Egwene on the other hand. I hate everything about her lol she's my least favorite character in media history not just books. So you're right. Lots of variables and variance.
I actually kind of agree with the idea that A Clash of Kings isn’t as enjoyable as A Game of Thrones. A lot of people say that the first book was boring because it was all setup. I think much the opposite in that the first book had me at the very edge of my seat and the second just expanded off of that. I don’t really know how else to say it but I remember the first book being far more enjoyable. And of course book 3 blows everything else out the water.
I personally think it's the way the voting worked that is the cause of The Hobbit and Way of Kings being higher than their counterparts, because you're not voting for your single favourite fantasy book of all time but instead a number of your favourite fantasy books you can do things like put in that book you loved from your childhood (The Hobbit) or that book you've only read the first in the series so far and was really good but just haven't got the rest of the series yet (The Way of Kings) thus leading to them getting more votes while not necessarily being better
I benchmark everything based on ASOIAF too. And honestly it's almost impossible to beat. George has an insanely high standard for his stories, characters, twists and internal logic that it's hard to find something written with the same level of commitment. That's why it's the benchmark for me.
The best genre writing that has ever been done.
@@stevencooney3347 honestly yes
A few surprises in the top 25 but the list was in general indicative of what has been popular reading in the last decade or so with some classic titles holding their own.
Agreed!
Matt I’m also less of a huge LOTR fan than many others, but I only agree to an extent that others like it mainly due to nostalgia - Tolkien is almost-inarguably the greatest prose writer in the history of the genre, and for a lot of people prose is one of the main factors in deciding how ‘good’ a book is (not necessarily how much they enjoyed it). Combine that with top 2 worldbuilding in the history of fantasy after Malazan and I think it makes complete sense that so many people have it in their top few series, although I agree that nostalgia probably plays a part as well.
But then the same can be said about the others are on there cause they are newly released. It’s a bit presumptuous to say the best fantasy books have all been released in last 10 years, and nothing earlier compares, just ridiculous.
I think what happened with The Hobbit vs. The Lord of the Rings might be part of what happened with the Discworld series, at least for me when I was filling out the survey. Sometimes a series really hits you, but - well- individual books *in* that series might hit different people differently, and then you have a split vote. It was hard for me to pick which Discworld books I wanted to include, and I wanted to list things *other* than Discworld too, so I only picked a few even though technically some books I left off might have ranked higher than some books from other series I chose to include.
As for The Way of Kings - with the way your voting worked, I could see it winning out simply by way of some people putting it on their list when they hadn’t yet read the next book in the series!
Yeah makes sense!
Matt, I believe The Way of Kings is ranked higher bc it is THE Kaladin story (plus there is no Shallon)
I actually rate Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates above Memories of Ice, but when I see that cover, brings back memories
ur so awesome Mat.Thanks for this !!!
Words of Radiance is better but as a fellow that went through depression for years im one of those who put The Way of Kings above Words of Radiance,subjectively !!! :)
Were you a big fan of Rhythm of War?
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews Of course. I love Kaladin, Navani and Venli 🙏
R. o. w is my 2nd favourite stormlight Book. 😁
Hopefully next year Winds of Winter tops this list. I'm not giving up yet lol.
I'm one that likes The Way of Kings the best of The Stormlight books. I'm a sucker for background stories on a flawed character that leads to a redemption. Also the opening scene with Sveth is one of the best opening scenes ever.
Agree Wok overall is very strong. I remember WoR because of the scene everyone knows about dropping into the duel, but I can't really remember the book. Meanwhile Kaladin not giving up in WoK remains vivid and the real highlight of all 4 books. If some prefer Dalinar then it makes sense why some would prefer 3. But Wok stands out as a book that was created over a long period of time, while each following book felt like they were time-crunched. If you compare Row to Wok directly without 2 and 3 it's hard to even view them as the same series.
Glad A Memory of Light is on here, but I'm disappointed it's not way higher.
I’m an voracious reader of non-fiction books, and haven’t read Fantasy/Sci-Fi fiction in many years. Focusing on more logical information has stifled My creative juices and I find it difficult to conjure imagination while reading fiction?! Tips to transition to fiction reading or feedback is warmly welcome?
Hi Robert! Just dive in and don't think too hard about it! It should be a relaxing experience!
I love The Hobbit for, when I was a kid haha but I am shocked it is so high!
Yeah, completely shocked me!
I agree about Oathbringer having an ending problem. It was just too much in my opinion.
Too Marvel
I am a huge fan of A Feast For Crows getting to know Cersei's character has been a highlight of my enjoyment for ASOIAF
Yeah I loved that part as well.
I used to reread asoiaf so much and I love the books, but I haven't reread them since the show came out. I wanted to read them again after the show finished, but the last seasons just left a bad taste, which is such a shame. Maybe I will get back to them again, because I know they are definitely deserving of the spots they have on this list.
Yeah, my experience is the identical same one as yours.
Nothing like Abercrombie! & Stormlight was such a huge GRIND for me i gave up after the second book .. Abercrombie, Hobb, Erikson & Martin.
Also, there will be people who read WoK but not WoR and wanted to vote for it, so first books in a series will always be a little favored in that regard (its why DhG and MoI placed so high too I think).
Makes sense!
The Way of Kings for me is totally the nostalgia thing you mentioned. Logically, i know the Words of Radiance is the better book. But The Way of Kimgs is the best to me.
I watched the Lord of the Rings movies and The Hobbit movies before ever reading the books. I just started reading the books, or I should say listening to the books on Audible for the first time a week or two ago. I am 42 years old. I just made it through the two towers and I honestly think I do like The Hobbit more than either of the other two books so far but I do like all three books and I like Fellowship more than two towers but again all three are great books. I agree with everyone here that The Hobbit, in my opinion, is the best book. It's a complete tale in one book.
How well do you remember books that you have read? I have a very hard time with this. I remember that I either enjoyed it or not, some about the characters but not a ton about the plot.
I remember them very well, but I think that in large part is due to me talking about the books I've read so much on RUclips that it trains my brain to remember them better than I otherwise would.
I actually write down my own little review and thoughts and rate them. Helps me think about the books too. Sounds corny as I write it…but surprisingly fun for me anyway, lol.
I definitely did not do ANY reading on my honeymoon. I love reading, but that's not a "bring a book" type of vacation.
I mean, we were on a beach for 10 days - lots of relaxing in between the fun stuff!
I’m glad that the number 1 spot didn’t go to a Sanderson book
I think The Way of Kings is better than Words of Radiance. The second book Shallan stuff is not as interesting to me as it was in WoR. Also, WoR power escalation at the end turned me off a bit. Too superhero-like. Plus I just loved being in the new world with Way of Kings and learning things for the first time. Excellent world building.
Because of the structure of the voting, a higher position in the list does not necessarily represent that any particular person thinks that book is better than a book in a lower position in the list. A book that is the best book in the world for N people but only "OK" for most people will likely be fairly low (or absent) while a book that is "really good" for many people will have a much higher position -- even if none of those people would rate that second book as their favorite of all time.
So, for instance, if many people really like "The Hobbit", it's entirely possible that a large portion will have liked one or more books of LotR more and that another large portion will have liked any number of other books more. But because of the memory of "The Hobbit" it will end up on more lists than any of those (arguably better) books.
If this were done in some form of iterative A/B testing (like what Pub Meeple does for its rank-ordering tool) with the subscribers voting on each pairing one at a time, the results would inevitably be much different.
Note that I say this as someone who voted (IIRC) for exactly one of the books on this entire 100 book list. Of the books here that I've read, I consider some to be quite good, some to be almost unreadable, and many to be fine reads that I have no desire to ever revisit. (De gustibus non est disputandum.)
> But because of the memory of "The Hobbit" it will end up on more lists than any of those (arguably better) books.
I disagree with that argument. The Hobbit is genuinely better than Lotr, in my opinion.
(i also voted on only a few of these list. Three of my lists didn't even make the videos because the more popular booktube series i haven't read are more widelly known and voted by people that participated here).
So glad storm of swords get properly respected here. I love the Stormlight Archive and the cosmere, but in terms of pure artistry, there is no better fantasy book out there. Storm of Swords is the best genre fiction book ever written, period.
12:00 Unlike a lot of you i didn't read The Hobbit as a kid but as young adult and i still loved it. I'm not a native english speaker though. Tolkien *was* my first introduction into english written fantasy (as opposed to just reading fantasy translated into or written in my language) and i loved his writing and storytelling.
Seems pretty logical to me why first in the series is rated higher and quite simply could be that the higher percentage of people who read have only read maybe the 1st installment of a series hence why it ranks highest. Considering readers in general dont count for a vast majority of the population and lower still is avid readers who would complete book series. Well thats my take on it anyway
Yeah that makes sense!
We have arrived!
Hey Matt where do you get those greenscreens that go over the book covers?
videezy dot com
I think a lot of diehard lord of the rings fans love the council of elrond chapter in the fellowship of the ring, which could be why it's higher than the other two books
Does that cover of Lies of Locke Lamora, the first book of a series, seriously introduce the author as the "Author of the third book in this series"? That seems kind of silly.
LOL I never saw that before. That is hilarious.
I understand why people love ASOIAF. I really do. I certainly enjoy them as well. But to me there is just so much bloat in them that I just can’t put them this high. Every time I read one of Bran’s dreams or we swap back to Danarys POV, I just want to get back to our main story and characters. I think for some people it’s not going to bother them, but honestly nothing in the books so far has made me feel like the inclusion of these two characters was all that important and it’s a huge chunk of the books.
That’s funny cuz I always thought the general consensus was that TWOK is better than WOR but I guess that shows the circles we run in can change our perceptions of reality. I personally just found the way the series went in words of radiance was definitely not my cup of tea. The ending to words of radiance is why I’m still hesitant to pick up oathbringer
Yeah I could see that!
23:00 honestly I’ve only read the first two, but the ending of the second book got a bit too messy for me and so I enjoyed the first better
I think Jade War was a fantastic sequel and I’m surprised it wasn’t higher. Really excited to read some of the others on this list
I think it is just a small part of the reason why Words of Radiance isnt the highest SA book but there are a lot of people (myself included) that absolutely hate Shallan and WoR being her book in a sense makes them like it less. For instance, for me personally WoR is my LEAST favorite SA book.
Yeah makes sense.
For me the way of kings is the best in the series eventhough words of Radiance is also great
Shallan is annoying, and so the reason why I like The Way of Kings more than Words of Radiance is that Shallan plays a much smaller part in The Way of Kings. Sanderson is bad at making characters funny or scientifically/philosophically intelligent, and he tries to do both with Shallan
😅 I wouldn’t even have name of the wind in my top 100, nothing much actually happens in it, the plot doesn’t progress. There’s some decent books, but I wouldn’t agree that every greatest book in fantasy has only being released in last 10 years of so, there’s books I’ve read in 80s and 90s that I’d put before many.
hi Matt
The reason that The Way of Kings, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Final Empire had better results than their sequels is (I believe), because people enjoy the whole series and can't decide on one, so they go for the first book
I loved those 3 books but for me Words of Radiance, Return of the King and Hero of Ages are better than their first book
Yeah makes sense, thanks!
The best i can say about The Last Kingdom is that I read it.
ASOIAF is the best fantasy series of all time. A Game of Thrones is the first and only book so far I have thrown against the wall.
It’s the first fantasy book that made me cry multiple times and I am not a huge crier and most importantly it divide my fantasy reading into before and after. Especially first three books are pure perfection.
The Way of Kings is my favourite book in this series because of Kaladin. I fell in love with this character and his journey. Discovering his life and its difficulties and challenges made this book my favourite. I realise it’s unpopular opinion as WoR is everybody’s favourite but I can’t agree with them here.
LOL - Love that you threw it against a wall!
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews Well, I’m not very proud of myself but what the author did! I mean a certain death was hard to accept and understand. I’m still mourning 😉
The reason why the way of kings is higher is because more people have read it compared to the later books, same for mistborn trilogy
Books 3 and 4 are nowhere near as good as Wok.
Sword and sorcery as a genre is criminally underrepresented in this list. Nothing by Howard, Lieber, or Moorcock?
The right book won. ASOW is definitely the best book I've ever read. Not just *fantasy* book. THE best book.
Well of Ascension had the best twists in the trilogy.
The Crippled god vs A storm of swords. How wud u rate these 2?
The Crippled God is my favorite all-time book. So...that one.
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews can it be enjoyed without reading preceding malazan novels?
@@anilmlalwani Nope, you have to read the 10 books in order!
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews That's not fair :)
I’m on 2nd book right now. Finished Gardens of the Moon last night. Well worth to start first 9 before The Crippled God, lol.
4.5 stars for LotR is way too high for me 😅
There’s some good books, but saying 20 best ever is a bit subjective and pushing it.
20 best according to my viewers. It IS subjective.
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews the age range of viewers would be interesting cross reference
More people have read Way of Kinds then the other two…leading to higher rating
Was there no Guy Gavriel Kay on this whole entire list or did i just miss it??
There wasn't any.
Wow. Talk about recency bias (except for Tolkien). The fact soooo many Sanderson & Abercrombie novels made the list tells me this is a multiple input result. Still, entertaining video.
I think what you see here is most of my viewers being a bit younger and never have read those older books (besides Tolkien).
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews Agreed and Tolkien is essentially the MJ of fantasy for many. I'm biased in that I'm not one of them. I feel similarly regarding Sanderson who I think adds a lot of filler to his work which could be left off w/ no loss of impact. Even Abercrombie (who I really like) has a penchant for self-indulgence and falling in love with his dialogue (even when it's essentially just people talking to be talking - See Nikola Koska in every story he's in).
Younger readers are big on labeling and being extremely opinionated on 'fantasy done right' which equates to it being done the way someone they like does it. I like variety and different approaches. I also have the perspective of being older and having read a lot more of the old and new.
Jade War was my favourite GBS book :')
The Lord of the Rings is one volume, one story. It was the publisher at the time who published it as a trilogy because there was a paper shortage and the book was so long. Tolkien had nothing to do with the title names of the trilogy. It should be rated as one book, not thee. It is number one on my list; nothing else comes close.
Regardless of what Tolkien intended, it was most certainly published as individual books.
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews Same sort of happened with Dumas Three Musketeers. It is more popular known as a trilogy due to abridged translated versions. Even through the french works have more books in the series.
I need to read a song of ice and fire still smh 🤦♂
YES YOU DO!
My kinda video 😃❤
I really want to read The Sword of Keegan.
I have read many of the books on your list but I find any list without a book by Guy Gavriel Kay or Charles De Lint on it is fatally flawed. You seem entranced by thousand page tomes and I understand somewhat their appeal. But I think you should try to break from that. Quantity does not also indicate quality. You also seem to restrict your "fantasy" to D&D and Sword and Sorcery a lot. There are other types of fantasy out there that are original, unique and artistic triumphs. Lastly, it seems that you have fallen prey to a kind of "group think ". Equating popularity with quality. There is not necessarily a cause and effect relationship involved with those two.
Really? I actually very much prefered before they are hanged over the blade itself. Haven't read the rest yet.
You need to do yourself a favor and read the next one!
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews that's the plan!
You should have veto power on this list. The Hobbit clearly does not belong there 😮😮
Wow hm, this list makes clear for me that this community is not for me.