All the bibliophiles out there, who want to enter the world of fantasy novels, it can be unnerving at times by just looking at the sheer number of fantasy novels out there for consumption. We always are in a constant state of complete cluelessness about where to start and what to read next. Most of our knowledge about fantasy novels are limited to harry potter and song of ice and fire (game of thrones). And fundamentally, neither our time nor our patience is unlimited. So, I’ll be writing this article to try and simplify the process of plunging into the fantasy world head first.
Below's the link to the excel sheet, which I have meticulously created, containing the list of best-known fantasy novels based on their average Goodreads score (collective wisdom is better than individual opinions, right?). This should provide an idea of the good fantasy books out there and helps you decide which one to start with or read next. I personally use this as a tracking sheet for the fantasy novels I read.
Why would one need this file?
Standalone fantasy novels are a rarity. Since there are so many subgenres and even greater number of books, it becomes next to impossible for an individual to read everything and form a holistic opinion. Collective wisdom is better for the exact same reason. With collective wisdom, the outliers are smoothened out to give an objective picture of how good a book is (if at all it’s possible to be objective).
Next, whenever you ask friends for a suggestion, his subjectivity comes into play. They might be biased by their favorite authors, style, likings, last novel read, etc. An individual’s opinions keep changing from time to time as he gains exposure. Also, they will not only be influenced by what they have read, a huge portion of their opinion will also be based on what they have not read! After all, how can one know how good something is when they haven't read it!
This sheet has all the information (average rating, the number of books in the series, author name, etc.) one might need to make an initial opinion of a book/series and decide on how to plan his reading. I’ll constantly update the sheet with more books and additional information about those books to make it more robust over time. Who knows, I may even expand to other genres in the future.
Let me know in the comments section about the books I have missed, so I can add them to the list. Also, mention any other information I can add to the sheet to make it more versatile. Hope it's helpful.
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