Greatest Fantasy Authors of All Time

The Top Ten
1 J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973), known by his pen name J. R. R. Tolkien, was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor who is best known as the author of the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

He is the master of both modern and archaic fantasy, and most of the monsters and themes from the books, films and video games we play today are from his books.

The father of the modern fantasy genre, Professor Tolkien's world of Middle-Earth is the best fictional world ever created and will never be surpassed. He gave us not one but several new languages (and all with proper rules and history), a multitude of memorable characters, and the greatest, most epic of tales ever told. JK Rowling's Harry Potter is nothing compared to this magnificent masterpiece of literature.

2 J. K. Rowling

An author which owns the strong points of back story, hidden details, character connection, and so much more. The Harry Potter series really is like nothing else.
It contains a unique, strong feel throughout all the books, especially the later ones which is the work of writing on a certain level few authors posses. The Half Blood Prince is arguably the best book. It dives deep into the complex stories of characters like Tom Riddle, Severus Snape, Dumbledore, and others, giving us information and development to characters few could dream of. Books like Half Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows etc are books I could not begin to imagine not being on this earth.
The Harry Potter series isn't just adventure; It's a thrilling, romantic, mysterious, comedic, action-packed journey too. This Author has it all.

3 Brandon Sanderson

One of the hardest working Authors out there today. He is a master or creating a world but his true strength is developing characters with depth that readers can't help but be invested in. If you are looking up any list of great authors his name should be on it regardless of genre. The length of his stories may be intimidating to some but the ease of which you will flow through his work will amaze you. If you haven't read any of his work yet, stop reading this and go start. Mistborn is a great place to start!

4 George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin), also known as George R. R. Martin, is an American author known for his epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, which was later adapted into the famous HBO series Game of Thrones.

Still have a deck of cards lying around from Game of Thrones. Good game from the tales of 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. It is fun and interesting though kind of odd in appearance it has heart and magic or something. Great!

I love historical fantasy (fantastorical fiction) and G. R. R. Martin is my greatest inspiration.

The Genius who came up with Game of Thrones...no one can beat this man

5 C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, broadcaster, lecturer, and Christian apologist... read more

I don't know what we would be without The Chronicles of Narnia. Seriously. We wouldn't be looking for worlds behind the wardrobe; we wouldn't be entranced by paintings of the sea, we would never have tried on the magic rings, we never would have met Aslan.

Narnia is a place no common mine can think of! It clears that sir Lewis wasnt some common man. He was extraordinary because extraordinary things happen to extraordinary people

One of the 20th century founders along with Tolkien. Don't just try Narnia though
,there are others like 'Perelandra' and ' The Screwtape letters.

6 Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett (1948-2015) was an English author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for writing the comic fantasy book series Discworld.

So much wisdom hidden in his humor. If you don't like being told off. Just enjoy the ride.

There is much to learn from the Turtle and Discworld unwinds nearly the whole advantage. Well thought out!

7 Rick Riordan Richard Russell Riordan Jr. (born June 5, 1964) is an American author. He is known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. His books have been translated into 42 languages and sold more than 30 million copies in the US. 20th Century Fox has adapted the first two books of his Percy Jackson... read more

He my bae. I wish I was him. I was so close to meeting him, but then HE HAD TO MOVE!
He is still my favorite author.

Post by M.B Despain

I love the books and the movies. He also should be higher.

He is great and PJATO is classic especially with the new spinoffs Heroes of Olympus and the Trails of Apollo! Yeet go Percabeth!

8 Ursula K. Le Guin

A Wizard of Earthsea is influential and still astounding to find. Wish there is more courage to familiarize with it, this author does good with it. Normal can find as the top fantasy authors list from searching. Has a nice surprise in that segment of writing.

If you haven't read Left Hand of Darkness consider yourself under educated.

9 Robert Jordan James Oliver Rigney Jr. (1948-2007), better known by his pen name Robert Jordan, was an American author known for writing the epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time. He was also known for writing stories about Conan the Barbarian, and for writing other books with different pseudonyms. He died from cardiac... read more

Jordan at #16...really!? Jordan has made such an impact on the genre and has left such a legacy behind, which that alone should place him higher. Jordan is #1 in my opinion, but at the very least should be in the top 5! He is easily better than Lewis, Rowling, Pratchett, Hobb, Anthony, Salvatore (though I love the Dark Elf series), Feist, Riordan, and Moorcock.!

WoT may be my favorite epic fantasy. Either that or Storm Light. Regardless he helped inspire the author for storm light. I do wish he could have finished the series and all the books he had planned for after the main story on Randland.

10 Lloyd Alexander Lloyd Chudley Alexander (1924-2007) was an American author of fantasy novels for children and young adults. His most famous work is the fantasy series The Chronicles of Prydain (which was later adapted into the 1985 Disney film The Black Cauldron, which has also earned a reputation for being one of... read more
The Contenders
11 Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and fighter pilot. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide.

15. The Enormous Crocodile
14. Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator
13. The Minpins
12. The Magic Finger
11. The Giraffe And The Pelly And Me
10. Georges Marvelous Medicine
9. Esio Trot
8. The Twits
7. The BFG
6. James And The Giant Peach
5. The Witches
4. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Danny The Champion Of The World
2. Matilda
1. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Remember, this is my opinion! Don't hat on my opinion!

Just look at what he's written. Seriously.

12 Patrick Rothfuss

Wish it didn't take a decade to write a book but I have no doubt it's gonna be 10/10 whenever it comes out.

Rothfuss and Robin Hobb. Really good reads, hope they continue the books.

13 Robert E. Howard

Conan the Barbarian is a staple of modern times television, the collection of the stories have charm within - possible why is in second rank. Uncertain of the other novels but Conan can be recognizable right away, good work from that.

Most visceral, gripping fiction ever! Especially for boys and men- no 'chick lit' here!

14 Raymond Feist

One of my favorite authors of all time and I am as they say late to the party. His ability to capture the imagination while keeping a dark undertone is incredible. Not to mention his ability to keep continuity with his book series that span several time skips is impressive to say the least.

Such a complex and interwoven set of stories that slowly bring an entire universe to life. Magical writing in every sense.

He is by far the best fantasy Author of all time.
Magician is just awesome.

15 David Eddings

Best fantasy writer ever in my humble opinion ! The belgaried series was life life changing for me ! I started reading them when I was 15 and I am 50 now and still read them .

16 Stephen King Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. Many of his most well-known novels include Carrie, It, The Shinning, The Stand, Misery, The Dark Tower series, and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, which was later... read more
17 Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne was a French novelist, poet, and playwright best known for his adventure novels and his profound influence on the literary genre of science fiction.

Have read the Novel name as 'The Golden Volcano' write of Jules Verne which is neat but kind of drastic at the end their prize goes to the ocean. Also another of classic towards modern is 'White Fang' written of Jack London. These encompass a lot of key points in nature of imagination and somewhat hold relevance despite time passages supposing. A good read, yeah could be.

"Journey to the Center of the Earth", "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", "Around the World in Eighty Days", need I say more.

18 Robin Hobb

Should be in top 5. Fantastic author and recognised widely as one of the greats.

The series about Fitz and the Fool is one of the best. Outstanding writer that captivates the reader from beginning to end,

A really good author. Should be higher on the list.

19 Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and films.

He should be in the top ten. He's a legend.

20 Joe Abercrombie

Joe outstanding. He visits the dark side of characters like no other.

21 L. Frank Baum

Haven't read much of him, but from what I've read I REALLY like. Be sure to search out and read his animal tales,

22 Steven Erikson

Amazing author...one of the largest new expansive sagas of these times from is the Malazan one. Gardens of the Moon reminds one of school. It is a place of gather and draw on reason to name a few of things folks can play there. Awesome writings, hope will continue.

23 R.A. Salvatore

He was the first author my youngest son read for enjoyment. I was relieved as I read everything my kids did and I enjoyed his works as well.

24 David Gemmell

One of my earliest forays into fantasy, he writes battle scenes and self doubt better than any other.

25 Terry Brooks

Love the running with the demon series wish he had written more books.

8Load More
PSearch List