Finding Time's Top 100 Fantasy Novels at The Windsor Public Library
On October 15th, Time Magazine released a list of The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time, compiled by Time staff in collaboration with heavyweight authors Tomi Adeyemi, Cassandra Clare, Diana Gabaldon, Neil Gaiman, Marlon James, N.K. Jemisin, George R.R. Martin and Sabaa Tahir.
(It’s worth noting that every one of these authors appears on this list at least once, although the accompanying piece How We Chose The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time claims that “panelists did not nominate their own works.”)
With titles ranging from children’s (Through the Looking-Glass) to young adult (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) to Rated R (Outlander), this all-encompassing list features a diverse cast of characters, authors, and release dates. Starting at The Arabian Nights, released circa 1315, the ranking moves chronologically through childhood favourites, source material for Hollywood blockbusters, and little-known hidden gems to culminate with two very recent releases - Elatsoe (Darcie Little Badger) and Woven in Moonlight (Isabel Ibanez), both of which were released this year.
But this blog isn’t about judging the merit of the list.
After skimming through it, I became interested in how many of these I’ve already read, and how many I own (11 and 14 respectively). The next logical step was to figure out how to get my hands on the rest. Checking out the library seemed like a good starting point, but I would need to record what I found in my research. And so began the spreadsheet.
Using The Windsor Public Library’s (WPL) Online Catalogue, I searched for each title, and made note of which formats (if any) each book is available in, saving the links to each for later reference.
While many, many of these books are the first in their series, there are also a number of entries which will make the most sense if read after their predecessors, so I had to take note of these as well. Including prerequisites, the list then expands to about 148 books total (although 29 of those are in the Discworld series, which were released before The Wee Free Men, but aren’t necessarily ‘prequels’).
Out of mere curiosity, I also wanted to take note of the length of each book. While this doesn’t really have any bearing on anything, I wanted to see the range in book length. The shortest entry, for those also curious, is Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, with a total of 96 pages, according to Goodreads. The longest is George R.R. Martin’s A Storm of Swords, coming in at 1177 pages. In total the 100 best fantasy books of all time feature 40,191 pages of magical fun (not including prequels).
But back to the main point of this exercise - how many of these 100 novels can I find at WPL in either ebook, audio book, or physical book formats? 83
A respectable number! Means there are only 17 books I’ll need to purchase myself (or request that WPL purchase) in order to get through the whole collection.
Scroll through the complete list below for links and information related to each book, and download the free spreadsheet version to track your own progress.
📱= eBook | 🎧 = Audio Book | 📖 = Physical Book
The Arabian Nights (1315)
Anonymous
📖
Pages: 1049
Le Morte D'Arthur (1485)
Thomas Malory
🎧
Pages: 512
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
Lewis Carroll
📖🎧📱
Pages: 96
Through the Looking-Glass (1871)
Lewis Carroll
📖📱
Pages: 143
Prerequisites:
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
Five Children and It (1902)
E. Nesbit
🎧📱
Pages: 237
Ozma of Oz (1907)
L. Frank Baum
📖
Pages:126
Prerequisites:
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)
Mary Poppins (1934)
P.L. Travers
📖📱
Pages: 209
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (1950)
C.S. Lewis
📖🎧📱
Pages: 206
The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952)
Amos Tutola
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 125
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
C.S. Lewis
🎧📱
Pages: 248
Prerequisites:
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)
Prince Caspian (1951)
The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
J.R.R. Tolkien
📖🎧📱
Pages: 527
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1954)
Amos Tutuola
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 174
The Two Towers (1954)
J.R.R. Tolkien
📖🎧📱
Pages: 447
Prerequisites:
The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
The Return of the King (1955)
J.R.R. Tolkien
📖🎧📱
Pages: 385
Prerequisites:
The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
The Two Towers (1954)
A Hero Born (1957)
Jin Yong
📖
Pages: 395
The Once and Future King (1958)
T.H. White
📖🎧
Pages: 639
James and the Giant Peach (1961)
Roald Dahl
📖🎧📱
Pages:146
The Phantom Tollbooth (1961)
Norton Juster
📖🎧
Pages: 256
A Wrinkle in Time (1962)
Madeleine L'Engle
📖🎧
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 218
The Wandering Unicorn (1965)
Manuel Mujica Lainez
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 322
Dragonflight (1968)
Anne McCaffrey
📱
Pages: 299
The Last Unicorn (1968)
Peter S. Beagle
📖
Pages: 299
A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)
Ursula K. Le Guin
📖
Pages: 183
The Crystal Cave (1970)
Mary Stewart
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 494
The Tombs of Atuan (1970)
Ursula K. Le Guin
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 180
Prerequisites:
A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)
Watership Down (1972)
Richard Adams
📖🎧
Pages: 478
The Dark is Rising (1973)
Susan Cooper
📖
Pages: 272
Prerequisites:
Over Sea, Under Stone (1965)
The Princess Bride (1973)
William Goldman
📖📱
Pages: 456
Tuck Everlasting (1975)
Natalie Babbitt
📖
Pages: 148
A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978)
Madeleine L'Engle
📖
Pages: 278
Prerequisites:
A Wrinkle in Time (1962)
A Wind in the Door (1973)
The Bloody Chamber (1979)
Angela Carter
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 128
The BFG (1982)
Roald Dahl
📖📱
Pages: 199
Alanna: The First Adventure (1983)
Tamora Pierce
🎧
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 274
Howl's Moving Castle (1986)
Diana Wynne Jones
📖🎧
Pages: 329
Redwall (1986)
Brian Jacques
📖🎧
Pages: 352
Swordspoint (1987)
Ellen Kushner
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 329
The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988)
Diana Wynne Jones
📱
Pages: 240
Pre-Requisites:
Charmed Life (1977)
The Eye of the World (1990)
Robert Jordan
📖🎧📱
Pages: 814
Good Omens (1990)
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
📖🎧📱
Pages: 491
Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990)
Salman Rushdie
📖
Pages: 224
Outlander (1991)
Diana Gabaldon
📖🎧📱
Pages: 850
Tigana (1990)
Guy Gavriel Kay
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 676
The Golden Compass (1995)
Phillip Pullman
📖🎧
Pages: 399
Neverwhere (1996)
Neil Gaiman
📖📱
Pages: 370
Ella Enchanted (1997)
Gail Carson Levine
📖🎧📱
Pages: 232
The Subtle Knife (1997)
Philip Pullman
📖🎧
Pages: 370
Prerequisites:
The Golden Compass (1995)
Brown Girl in the Ring (1998)
Nalo Hopkinson
📖
Pages: 250
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
J.K. Rowling
📖🎧📱
Pages:435
Prerequisites:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
Spindle's End (2000)
Robin McKinley
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 354
A Storm of Swords (2000)
George R.R. Martin
📖🎧📱
Pages: 1177
Prerequisites:
A Game of Thrones (1996)
A Clash of Kings (1998)
American Gods (2001)
Neil Gaiman
📖
Pages: 635
The Wee Free Men (2004)
The Wee Free Men
📖📱
Pages: 375
Prerequisites:
The Color of Magic (1983)
The Light Fantastic (1986)
Equal Rites (1987)
Mort (1987)
Sourcery (1988)
Wyrd Sisters (1988)
Pyramids (1989)
Guards! Guards! (1989)
Eric (1990)
Moving Pictures (1990)
Death and What Comes Next (2002)
Reaper Man (1991)
Witches Abroad (1991)
Small Gods (1992)
Theatre of Cruelty (1993)
Men at Arms (1993)
Soul Music (1994)
Troll Bridge (1992)
Interesting Times (1994)
Maskerade (1995)
Feet of Clay (1996)
Hogfather (1996)
Jingo (1997)
The Last Continent (1998)
The Sea and the Little Fishes (1998)
Carpe Jugulum (1998)
The Fifth Elephant (1999)
The Truth (2000)
Thief of Time (2001)
The Last Hero (2001)
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (2001)
Night Watch (2002)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2006)
J.K. Rowling
📖🎧📱
Pages: 652
Prerequisites:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006)
Brandon Sanderson
📖🎧📱
Pages: 676
The Name of the Wind (2007)
Patrick Rothfuss
📖🎧📱
Pages: 662
City of Glass (2009)
Cassandra Clare
📖
Pages: 541
Prerequisites:
City of Bones (2007)
City of Ashes (2008)
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2009)
Grace Lin
📖
Pages: 278
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (2010)
N.K. Jemisin
📖📱
Pages: 427
Who Fears Death (2010)
Nnedi Okoafor
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 386
Akata Witch (2011)
Nnedi Okoafor
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 349
The Night Circus (2011)
Erin Morgenstern
📖🎧📱
Pages: 391
The Song of Achilles (2011)
Madeline Miller
📖📱
Pages: 252
Angelfall (2012)
Susan Ee
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 288
A Stranger in Olondria (2013)
Sofia Samatar
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 299
The Bone Clocks (2014)
David Mtchell
📖🎧📱
Pages: 624
The Buried Giant (2015)
Kazudo Ishiguro
📖📱
Pages: 317
An Ember in the Ashes (2015)
Sabaa Tahir
📖
Pages: 446
The Fifth Season (2015)
N.K. Jemisin
📖
Pages: 468
Get in Trouble (2015)
Kelly Link
📖
Pages: 336
The Grace of Kings (2015)
Ken Liu
📖
Pages: 640
Shadowshaper (2015)
Daniel Jose Older
📖📱
Pages: 297
Six of Crows (2015)
Leigh Bardugo
📖📱
Pages: 465
The Wrath & The Dawn (2015)
Renee Ahdieh
📖
Pages: 404
All the Birds in the Sky (2016)
Charlie Jane Anders
📖
Pages: 313
A Torch Against the Night (2016)
Sabaa Tahir
📖🎧
Pages: 452
Prerequisites:
An Ember in the Ashes (2016)
The Wall of Storms (2016)
Ken Liu
📖
Pages: 880
Prerequisites:
The Grace of Kings (2015)
Beasts Made of Night (2017)
Tochi Onyebuchi
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 304
The Black Tides of Heaven (2017)
Neon Yang
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 236
The Changeling (2017)
Victor LaValle
📖📱
Pages: 431
Jade City (2017)
Finda Lee
📱
Pages: 560
The Stone Sky (2017)
N.K. Jemisin
📖📱
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 416
Prerequisites:
The Fifth Season (2015)
The Obelisk Gate (2016)
Aru Shah and the End of Time (2018)
Roshani Chokshi
📖
Pages: 355
Blanca & Roja (2018)
Anna-Marie Mclemore
📖
Pages: 375
Children of Blood and Bone (2018)
Tomi Adeyemi
📖🎧
Pages: 544
Circe (2018)
Madeline Miller
📖📱
Pages: 393
Empire of Sand (2018)
Tasha Suri
📖
Pages: 496
The Poppy War (2018)
R.F. Kuang
📖📱
Pages: 644
Song of Blood and Stone (2015)
L. Penelope
📖📱
Pages: 528
Trail of Lightning (2018)
Trail of Lightning
📖📱
Pages: 287
Witchmark (2018)
C.L. Polk
📖
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 318
Black Leopard, Red Wolf (2019)
Marlon James
📖🎧📱
Pages: 364
Children of Virtue and Vengeance (2019)
Tomi Adeyemi
📖🎧
Pages: 404
Prerequisites:
Children of Blood and Bone (2018)
The Dragon Republic (2019)
R.F. Kuang
📖
Pages: 658
Prerequisites:
The Poppy War (2018)
Gods of Jade and Shadow (2019)
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
📖
Pages: 338
Pet (2019)
Akwaeke Emezi
📖
Pages: 208
Queen of the Conquered (2019)
Kacen Callender
📱
Pages: 400
The Rage of Dragons (2019)
Evan Winter
📖
Pages: 544
We Hunt the Flame (2019)
Hafsah Faizal
📖
Pages: 472
Elatsoe (2020)
Darcie Little Badger
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 368
Woven in Moonlight (2020)
Isabel Ibanez
❌ Not Available at WPL
Pages: 384
Cover photo courtesy of Nitin Arya via Pexels
Please note that I am not affiliated with Windsor Public Library, and the information published above is subject to change.
Notice an error? Drop me a line!
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