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My Top Fifty Favorite Novels

Important to note is that A) this is a favorites list, rather than a what I think are the best list (so the books here are what are emotionally important to me (there's a lot of childhood-significant Rick Riordan in there), as well as the prose, characters, stories, and worldbuilding I simply vibe with); and B) this list WILL be in constant motion (ie, expect the order to wildly change as time goes on and I read new stuff). You have been warned.

For some of these, I kinda stretch the definition of a novel, such as with Beowulf and Homer's works since those aren't really books in our modern sense. Basically any piece of story-based/fictional literature that's longer than like 50 pages, I'm gonna consider a book. Within reason.

All of these are books I enjoyed, though from about place 35 and up are books I LOVE. So just because a book isn't in the top ten doesn't mean I didn't absolutely adore it. I've read a LOT of books.

Also, you may notice there are many books by the same authors on here. I'm gradually fixing that by reading a wider range of book.

But hey, it's a good indication of who my favorite authors are.

  1. Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin
  2. To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams
  3. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
  4. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
  5. The Navigator's Children by Tad Williams
  6. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
  7. The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
  8. Into the Narrowdark by Tad Williams
  9. Empire of Grass by Tad Williams
  10. The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
  11. The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams
  12. A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
  13. A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
  14. The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
  15. A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
  16. Unsong by Scott Alexander (the webnovel version)
  17. The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien
  18. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
  19. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  20. The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
  21. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
  22. Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams
  23. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
  24. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
  25. Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
  26. Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
  27. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
  28. Beowulf by Unknown (translation by Seamus Heaney)
  29. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
  30. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
  31. (The) Odyssey by Homer
  32. (The) Iliad by Homer
  33. Dune by Frank Herbert
  34. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
  35. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
  36. Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
  37. Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
  38. Brothers of the Wind by Tad Williams
  39. Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey
  40. The Heart of What Was Lost by Tad Williams
  41. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
  42. Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
  43. Cibola Burn by James S. A. Corey
  44. The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
  45. The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
  46. The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
  47. Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
  48. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
  49. Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey
  50. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan