top of page

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

📖

Available at WPL

Pages: 1049

 

Le Morte D'Arthur (1485)

Thomas Malory

🎧

Available at WPL

Pages: 512

 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

Lewis Carroll

📖🎧📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 96

 

Through the Looking-Glass (1871)

Lewis Carroll

📖📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 143

Prerequisites:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

 

Five Children and It (1902)

E. Nesbit

🎧📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 237

 

Ozma of Oz (1907)

L. Frank Baum

📖

Available at WPL

Pages:126

Prerequisites:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)

The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)

 

Mary Poppins (1934)

P.L. Travers

📖📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 209

 

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (1950)

C.S. Lewis

📖🎧📱

Available at WPL

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

🎧📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 248

Prerequisites:

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)

Prince Caspian (1951)

 

The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)

J.R.R. Tolkien

📖🎧📱

Available at WPL

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

📖🎧📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 447

Prerequisites:

The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)

 

The Return of the King (1955)

J.R.R. Tolkien

📖🎧📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 385

Prerequisites:

The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)

The Two Towers (1954)

 

A Hero Born (1957)

Jin Yong

📖

Available at WPL

Pages: 395

 

The Once and Future King (1958)

T.H. White

📖🎧

Available at WPL

Pages: 639

 

James and the Giant Peach (1961)

Roald Dahl

📖🎧📱

Available at WPL

Pages:146

 

The Phantom Tollbooth (1961)

Norton Juster

📖🎧

Available at WPL

Pages: 256

 

A Wrinkle in Time (1962)

Madeleine L'Engle

📖🎧

Available at WPL

❌ Not Available at WPL

Pages: 218

 

The Wandering Unicorn (1965)

Manuel Mujica Lainez

❌ Not Available at WPL

Pages: 322

 

Dragonflight (1968)

Anne McCaffrey

📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 299

 

The Last Unicorn (1968)

Peter S. Beagle

📖

Available at WPL

Pages: 299

 

A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)

Ursula K. Le Guin

📖

Available at WPL

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

📖🎧

Available at WPL

Pages: 478

 

The Dark is Rising (1973)

Susan Cooper

📖

Available at WPL

Pages: 272

Prerequisites:

Over Sea, Under Stone (1965)

 

The Princess Bride (1973)

William Goldman

📖📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 456

 

Tuck Everlasting (1975)

Natalie Babbitt

📖

Available at WPL

Pages: 148

 

A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978)

Madeleine L'Engle

📖

Available at WPL

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

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 199

 

Alanna: The First Adventure (1983)

Tamora Pierce

🎧

Available at WPL

❌ Not Available at WPL

Pages: 274

 

Howl's Moving Castle (1986)

Diana Wynne Jones

📖🎧

Available at WPL

Pages: 329

 

Redwall (1986)

Brian Jacques

📖🎧

Available at WPL

Pages: 352

 

Swordspoint (1987)

Ellen Kushner

❌ Not Available at WPL

Pages: 329

 

The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988)

Diana Wynne Jones

📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 240

Pre-Requisites:

Charmed Life (1977)

 

The Eye of the World (1990)

Robert Jordan

📖🎧📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 814

 

Good Omens (1990)

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

📖🎧📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 491

 

Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990)

Salman Rushdie

📖

Available at WPL

Pages: 224

 

Outlander (1991)

Diana Gabaldon

📖🎧📱

Available at WPL

Pages: 850

 

Tigana (1990)

Guy Gavriel Kay

❌ Not Available at WPL

Pages: 676

 

The Golden Compass (1995)

Phillip Pullman

📖🎧

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 399

 

Neverwhere (1996)

Neil Gaiman

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 370

 

Ella Enchanted (1997)

Gail Carson Levine

📖🎧📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 232

 

The Subtle Knife (1997)

Philip Pullman

📖🎧

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 370

Prerequisites:

The Golden Compass (1995)

 

Brown Girl in the Ring (1998)

Nalo Hopkinson

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 250

 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)

J.K. Rowling

📖🎧📱

✅ Available at WPL

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

📖🎧📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 1177

Prerequisites:

A Game of Thrones (1996)

A Clash of Kings (1998)

 

American Gods (2001)

Neil Gaiman

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 635

 

The Wee Free Men (2004)

The Wee Free Men

📖📱

Available at WPL

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

📖🎧📱

✅ Available at WPL

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

📖🎧📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 676

 

The Name of the Wind (2007)

Patrick Rothfuss

📖🎧📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 662

 

City of Glass (2009)

Cassandra Clare

📖

Available at WPL

Pages: 541

Prerequisites:

City of Bones (2007)

City of Ashes (2008)

 

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2009)

Grace Lin

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 278

 

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (2010)

N.K. Jemisin

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

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

📖🎧📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 391

 

The Song of Achilles (2011)

Madeline Miller

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

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

📖🎧📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 624

 

The Buried Giant (2015)

Kazudo Ishiguro

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 317

 

An Ember in the Ashes (2015)

Sabaa Tahir

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 446

 

The Fifth Season (2015)

N.K. Jemisin

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 468

 

Get in Trouble (2015)

Kelly Link

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 336

 

The Grace of Kings (2015)

Ken Liu

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 640

 

Shadowshaper (2015)

Daniel Jose Older

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 297

 

Six of Crows (2015)

Leigh Bardugo

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 465

 

The Wrath & The Dawn (2015)

Renee Ahdieh

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 404

 

All the Birds in the Sky (2016)

Charlie Jane Anders

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 313

 

A Torch Against the Night (2016)

Sabaa Tahir

📖🎧

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 452

Prerequisites:

An Ember in the Ashes (2016)

 

The Wall of Storms (2016)

Ken Liu

📖

✅ Available at WPL

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

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 431

 

Jade City (2017)

Finda Lee

📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 560

 

The Stone Sky (2017)

N.K. Jemisin

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

❌ 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

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 355

 

Blanca & Roja (2018)

Anna-Marie Mclemore

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 375

 

Children of Blood and Bone (2018)

Tomi Adeyemi

📖🎧

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 544

 

Circe (2018)

Madeline Miller

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 393

 

Empire of Sand (2018)

Tasha Suri

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 496

 

The Poppy War (2018)

R.F. Kuang

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 644

 

Song of Blood and Stone (2015)

L. Penelope

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 528

 

Trail of Lightning (2018)

Trail of Lightning

📖📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 287

 

Witchmark (2018)

C.L. Polk

📖

✅ Available at WPL

❌ Not Available at WPL

Pages: 318

 

Black Leopard, Red Wolf (2019)

Marlon James

📖🎧📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 364

 

Children of Virtue and Vengeance (2019)

Tomi Adeyemi

📖🎧

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 404

Prerequisites:

Children of Blood and Bone (2018)

 

The Dragon Republic (2019)

R.F. Kuang

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 658

Prerequisites:

The Poppy War (2018)

 

Gods of Jade and Shadow (2019)

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 338

 

Pet (2019)

Akwaeke Emezi

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 208

 

Queen of the Conquered (2019)

Kacen Callender

📱

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 400

 

The Rage of Dragons (2019)

Evan Winter

📖

✅ Available at WPL

Pages: 544

 

We Hunt the Flame (2019)

Hafsah Faizal

📖

✅ Available at WPL

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!

Recent Posts
Blog Categories
bottom of page