What is the single best fantasy novel of all time?

[Dioltach]

A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula le Guin.

Besides several of the others that have already been mentioned, of course. And not mentioning new ones, like Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper, Red Country by Joe Abercrombie and The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks.

 

[gorice]

If we're talking most influential, it's obviously The Lord of the Rings - nothing else comes remotely close to its cultural impact...except Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but that hasn't had anything like the same impact on the genre itself. Distant runners up would be Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Wizard of Oz, and A Game of Thrones.

But my personal pick would be Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay.

Fantasy is a funny genre - even though I love playing games with a fantasy setting, I find a lot of it hard to read, and I think it is a very idiosyncratic taste. There are books being cited in this thread that I couldn't even finish (e.g. The Name of the Wind), and I bet others will say the same of Tigana, even though I love it. I can't think of another genre where you will get so many books that are loved and hated in equal measure.

Tigana's pretty damn good. I'm going to be a hipster and say The King of Elfland's Daughter, though.

Also, I thought Magician was trash. The Empire trilogy was a guilty pleasure, though. What ever happened to Janny Wurts?

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Honorable mentions (not chosen as the ONE)

Magicians by Lev Grossman
Changes by Jim Butcher
The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
The (Marvelous) Land of Oz by L Frank Baum

 

[wicked cool]

Honorable mentions (not chosen as the ONE)

Magicians by Lev Grossman
Changes by Jim Butcher
The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
The (Marvelous) Land of Oz by L Frank Baum

Game of thrones
Followed by name of the wind

Neither will ever be finished

 

[ilgatto]

Jack Vance, the Lyonesse trilogy

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Game of thrones
Followed by name of the wind

Neither will ever be finished

Song of Ice and Fire will be finished, just not by GRRM (I expect Brandon Sanderson lol)

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

For me, The Lord of the Rings (which is a unitary work).

That would probably be my answer, though I can also see it being disqualified, no matter Tolkien's intention.

A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula le Guin.

This one is also a serious contender. It's got magic, real magic, beauty, and depth.

I'm going to be a hipster and say The King of Elfland's Daughter, though.

Another strong choice. Dunsany's language is gorgeous. And like the previous two, has layers of meaning and was vastly influential.

I went through my Goodreads read list to see if I had any stronger choices than these three in my five-star reviews, and no, not really. Though I get a chuckle that past Ralif ranked the Eye of Argon as a five-star read. I guess you could say that it does amaze its readers...

 

[Zardnaar]

Song of Ice and Fire will be finished, just not by GRRM (I expect Brandon Sanderson lol)

That's kinda my take as well.

Sanderson has the reputation to do it.

 

[Longfingers]

Knights of Dark Renown by David Gemmell

 

[Zardnaar]

Knights of Dark Renown by David Gemmell

Ooo thats a good one.

Eddings and Feist were really popular here looks like no one cares now lol. Been a while since I've read Gemmell the siptressi ones iirc.