Top Ten Tuesday: Fantasy Novels

Published on by Margaret

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For the rules see her blog.

The topic this week is a Genre Freebie and I’ve chosen the following ten fantasy novels, all of which I’ve read. There are many more I could have included – these are just the ones that came to my mind at the moment, not necessarily the top ten, but ten that I have enjoyed.

  • Rivers of London – urban fantasy set in the real world of London. It’s a mix of reality and the supernatural, a magical reading experience, and a fast-paced police procedural of a very different kind. 
  • A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire,1) by George R R Martin, an epic fantasy novel  set in a grim and violent world full of tragedy, betrayals and battles; a tale of good versus evil in which family, duty, and honour are in conflict.
  • The Ladies of Grace and Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke as fantastical as Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, a collection full of fantasy stories of deep dark woods, paths leading to houses that seemingly move locations, ladies who are never what they appear to be, princesses, owls, and above all fairies, including the Raven King.
  • Northern Lights by Philip Pullman, the first book in his trilogy His Dark Materials, set in a universe similar to ours, but different. It’s all so beautifully described that you are convinced of the reality of this universe. 
  • The Library of the Dead by T L Huchu set in a future or alternative Edinburgh, with a wealth of dark secrets in its underground. 
  • Movalwar by Benjamin Cornelius who is my friend’s great-nephew (aged 11 when he wrote his book). It’s about two eleven year-old boys, Alfie and Ben and their exciting and dangerous journey to save the fate of two worlds.
  • The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale, an extraordinary, magical and wonderful book that captivated me, a book set mainly in 1917 whilst the First World War was taking its toll of humanity, leaving despair and tragedy in its wake. It’s a blend of historical fiction and magic realism.
  • Yesterday by Felicity Yap about a world where memory for everyone over the age of eighteen is limited for 70% of people to just one day (the Monos) whilst the rest (the Duos) have two days of memory. Each day everyone has to write down their actions, thoughts and feelings in their iDiaries and then memorise the ‘facts’. But are these ‘facts’ reliable?
  • The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley, that blends historical events with flights of fancy to plunge readers into a strange and magical past, where time, destiny, genius ‘and a clockwork octopus’ collide.
  • The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. There are ogres, deadly pixies,  evil monks who keep a dreadful beast underground, Saxons – Wistan, a warrior and a young boy, and Sir Gawain entrusted by King Arthur to slay Querig, a she-dragon roaming the land, who by her breath has spread the mist of forgetfulness.

29 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Fantasy Novels”

  3. I count Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell as one of my top 10 fantasy reads of ALL time (and I read a LOT of SFF fiction!) – but I’ve still not managed to get started on The Ladies of Grace and Adieu. Really need to fix that!

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    1. Yesterday is an interesting book but I did have to suspend my disbelief, especially towards the end of the book, which I found farcical and rather annoying. It was one twist too far for me. And I couldn’t really get over the fact of how much time you would have to spend writing everything down and then learning what you had done and thought each day.

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  7. I thought Rivers of London was a very interesting mix of fantasy and police procedural, Margaret; I was glad to see it here. For me, the thing about fantasy is that it can take all sorts of forms, so it’s quite a diverse genre. There are a few here that interest me….

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    1. When I looked at the books I included I was surprised by how many different types of fantasy there are – urban fantasy was a new type for me. I suppose they are sub-genres.

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  8. Oh, now I didn’t realise The Buried Giant was quite that interesting. Good, as it’s been sitting on my TBR mountain for yonks. I want to look up The Library of the Dead as that sounds rather good.

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  15. I’ve read the first three of Game of Thrones but haven’t continued in a long time. I probably wouldn’t even remember the book version of events lol I own The Library of the Dead but I totally thought it was middle grade? Maybe it’s just the cover of my book (which is different from yours) and made me think that. So I haven’t picked it up. Great list!

    My TTT: https://www.mollysbooknook.com/top-ten-tuesday-5-books-to-a-better-you/

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  16. I read less Fantasy than Science Fiction and more crime fiction than either one of those. I have read three of the Rivers of London series and I need to read more. I read the Harry Potter novels. The one here I would most like to try is Yesterday by Felicity Yap.

    Thanks for visiting my blog and checking out my Top Ten post.
    TracyK @ Bitter Tea and Mystery

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