Greatest Fantasy Authors of All Time

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The Top Ten

1 J. R. R. Tolkien 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.

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.

I'm one of the biggest Lord of the Rings fans of all time. No joke. Tolkien is amazing! - Alpha101

Tolkien is father of fantasy modern

I like smaug

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2 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. - iliescu

3 Brandon Sanderson

This man is a diabolical genius. It's criminal how good his writing is. I can't read anything else now; he's spoiled the rest of the world of books for me.

New, but he will soon eclipse the greatest

He is above them all.

The Mistborn series is some of the few fantasy novels that do not mind being around. A smart author, well written literature from. - iliescu

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4 C. S. Lewis

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.

Never read the books, but I've seen 2 of the movies. Maybe I should check him out. - Alpha101

Books were good but movies were terrible

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

5 J. K. Rowling

This author am closest to in writing style according to some test from a while ago. I never seen anything wrong with Harry Potter so then good for J.K. Rowling for the cool adventures in Science Fiction. - iliescu

She is the best author ever known to history

Rowling = next Tolkien

I love you JK Rowling. How dare you write some awesome books and make me cry

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6 George R. R. Martin 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! - iliescu

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

7 Terry Pratchett 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.

He is just great - Aleksei

The greatest

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

Terry Prachett is one of gems in literature.

8 Rick Riordan Rick Riordan

Only thing that I can say is : he's amazing he is amazing he IS amazing and perfect and perfect and perfect

Amazing author. Why isn't he higher on the list?

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

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

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9 Jules Verne 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. - iliescu

10 Raymond Feist

God in the genre

The Contenders

11 Robert Jordan 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.

The Wheel of Time: Long, Engaging, and Epic.

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.!

Why he's all the way down here?! He wrote Wot which better than pj and harry pottr combined - Themattster12

12 R.A. Salvatore
13 Stephen King 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.
14 Michael Moorcock Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock is an English author of science fiction and fantasy. He is best known for his series of books centering around the fictional character Elric of Melniboné.

Told beautiful stories that were individual masterpieces linked together

15 Piers Anthony
16 Robin Hobb
17 Christopher Paolini

Your books are my geywey ignasia! - Swiftdawn

THE INHERITENCE CYCLE= MY ENTIRE LIFE. "Atra Gulai un ilian tauthr ono un atra ono waise skolir fra rauthr" (sorry the accents aren't there) "Let Luck and happiness follow you and may you be shielded from misfortune" Christopher Paolini, your books are my "gedwey ignasia" - Swiftdawn

18 Wolfgang Hohlbein
19 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. - iliescu

20 Steven Erikson
21 Fritz Leiber
22 Terry Brooks
23 Philip Pullman
24 Gary K. Wolf
25 Markus Heitz
26 Diana Wynne Jones

Castle In The Air is one of the only books I will continue re-reading over the years.

27 H.P. Lovecraft H.P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. Virtually unknown and published only in pulp magazines before he died in poverty, he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century ...read more.
28 Stephen R. Donaldson
29 Tad Williams
30 Taran Matharu

The summoner series is so good - sjd

31 Roger Zelazny
32 David Eddings
33 Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen didn't write about fantasy, he wrote about survival and the wilderness. get your facts right.

34 Bernhard Hennen
35 Alyson Noel
36 Jeff Smith
37 Roald Dahl 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!

38 John Flanagan

Pure awesomeness

39 Andrzej Sapkowski
40 Lloyd Alexander 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.
41 Peter S. Beagle
42 Brian Jacques
43 Neil Gaiman Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and films.
44 Tove Jansson
45 L. Frank Baum
46 Joe Abercrombie
47 Patrick Rothfuss
48 Jim Butcher
49 Cornelia Funke
50 Susanna Clarke
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