CBG Fantasy Book Rankings

[Raelifin]

Neverwhere (Gaiman) - 9
Anansi Boys (Gaiman) - 6

[Steel General]

Song of Ice & Fire - 8
Lord of the Rings - 9 (only because it "set the standard")
Wheel of Time - 6

Not sure if we can list others or not, but I will...

Chronicles of the Black Company - 8
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (1st Set) - 6
Riftwar Saga - 7

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Song of Ice & Fire - 8
Lord of the Rings - 9 (only because it "set the standard")
Wheel of Time - 6

Not sure if we can list others or not, but I will...

Chronicles of the Black Company - 8
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (1st Set) - 6
Riftwar Saga - 7

You can sure add series we've missed SG. Those are all actually on the list already (check below the table for the complete list). Items only appear on the table when at least 3 people have voted for them, so that a single vote doesn't skew the results.

[Acrimone]

Of the ones listed on the table:

His Dark Materials - 3
American Gods/Anansi Boys - 7
Elric Saga - 6
Riftwar Saga - 5
The Dark Tower - 7
The Lord of the Rings - 9
Conan - 5
Dragon Riders of Pern - 6
Harry Potter - 5
The Tempest - 10
Frankenstein - 7
Dragonlance - 9 (first six), 6 (total franchise)
The Odyssey - 9
The Chronicles of Narnia - 7
Beowulf - 7
The Vampire Chronicles - 5
Earthsea - 5
Drizzt Saga - 6 (the first three), 4 (the entire saga)
Epic of Gilgamesh - 7
The Iliad - 10
Xanth series - 7
The Sword of Truth - 1
Shannara series - 2

Others that come to mind, some of which are on the bottom list, though like many others here I am not going to go raid the bookshelves... for I would be typing all day, and several of which need to be added to the list:

Simlmarillion - 10
Conrad Stargard Series (Frankowski) - 5 (but terribly fun)
Paksenarrion Books (Moon) - 9
Initiate Brother/Gatherer of Clouds (Russell) - 10
Flattery Series (Russell, 2x2book series) - 8
Swansea Trilogy (Russell) - 7
Coldfire Trilogy (Friedman) - 7
Farseer books (Hobb) - 8
Oath of Empire Series (Harlan) - 8
Runelords Books (Farland) - 7
Transformation (Berg?  Bergen?) - 8
Raven's Strike/Raven's Shadow (Briggs) - 6
Caledon of the Mists et seq. (Harris) - 7
Videssos Cycle (Turtledove) - 8
Mists of Avalon (Zimmer-Bradley) - 9
Malazan Book of the Fallen (Erikson) - 7
Chronicles of the Black Company (Cook) - 8
Dracula (Stoker) - 7
The Hobbit - 9

Note: List updated to reflect information retrieved from the spoiler-boxed list in the first post

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Hey guys, thanks for the votes. I'll finish updating tomorrow.

It's helpful for those with many votes to please copy the bottom (spoilered) list, so that the votes are in order by author, rather than my having search for the author. :)

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Oh yeah, and we're evaluating all related works together. So things like Silmarrilion, Hobbit, and LotR are treated like any other series, as a single vote for all of them (for those that voted separately I averaged their votes).

[Steel General]

I completely missed the list below the table... *note to self, read posts more closely*

and I have a couple of additional votes;

Chronicles of Amber (Zelazny) - 7
Lord of Light (Zelazny) - 9
Creatures of Light & Darkness (Zelazny) - 8

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Updated with Acrimone.

Acrimone:

I can't add this to the list without knowing the author, and I can't google the author for such a general title.
Transformation (Berg? Bergen?) - 8

Flattery Series (Russell, 2x2book series) - 8
What's the actual name of the series?

Wikipedia lists the following book series for Sean Russell:
Initiate Brother, Moontide and Magic Rise, The River into Darkness, Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner, and Swan's War

[Acrimone]

Howdy!  Sorry about the vagueness.

The Sean Russel "Flattery Series" is actually two 2-book series: Moontide and Magic Rise, and the River into Darkness.  They're essentially one story, so if *I* were running the poll (which I'm not, I realize) I'd put the entry as "Moontide and Magic Rise/River Into Darkness".

The others really deserve separate entries -- they aren't set in the same world at all.  "The Initiate Brother" is a proto-Asian fantasy series composed of two books -- The Initiate Brother and Gatherer of Clouds.  And the Swan's War trilogy is what I was thinking about above when I typed "Swansea".  That was just a mistake of memory, as I was typing my list on the fly.

Let me go look on the shelf for Transformation.

(rummages) (sound of falling books)

Here it is.

"Transformation", by Carol Berg. Published by Roc, 2000.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Thanks Acrimone. I've updated the votes with that information.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Latest votes:

Fire Thief Trilogy 3
Neverwhere 8

I really wanted to like the Fire Thief, being a story about Prometheus--but it was just too kiddie. I can dig a children's book like Harry Potter or Narnia, but not if it's written down with lots of childish asides.

Neverwhere was very lively, though I loved Stardust even more.

[Ishmayl-Retired]

Coldfire Trilogy (Friendman) - 7 (Can't believe I forgot about this

Runelord Series (Farland) - 7

[Advachiel]

I'm just copying and pasting this list and deleting the ones I have not read.  Some of these I have not read in a long time, and I'm going from memory, is that O.K.?

Xanth series - 7
John Anthony Bellairs - The Face in the Frost - 9 (I'm glad other people have read this)
Black, Holly - The Spiderwick Chronicles - 5
James Herbert Brennan - Faerie Wars - 6
Brooks, Terry - Shannara series - 4
Stephen Brust - Vlad Taltos - 8
L. G. Burbank - Lords of Darkness - 4
C. J. Cherryh - Forge of Heaven - 7
Stephen R. Donaldson - Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - 6
Sara Douglass - Wayfarer Redemption Sextet - 8
David Eddings - Belgariad - 5
Erikson, Steven - Malzan Book of the Fallen - 5
Farland, David - The Runelords - 6
Gaiman, Neil - American Gods/Anansi Boys - 6
Goodkind, Terry - The Sword of Truth - 4
Simon Hawke - Dark Sun: Tribe of One - 7
Howard, Robert - Conan - 7
Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time - 8
Ursula LeGuin - Earthsea  - 7
C.S. Lewis - Chronicles of Narnia - 5
George R.R. Martin - Song of Ice and Fire - 7 (so far)
Terry Prachett - Discworld - 7
Rice, Anne - The Vampire Chronicles - 5
Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter - 5
Salvatore, R.A. - Drizzt Saga - 4
Sanderson, Brandon - Elantris - 6
Tolkien, J.R.R. - The Lord of the Rings and other Middle Earth - 8
Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow, Thorn - 9
Gene Wolfe - Long Sun - 7
Zelazny, Roger - Chronicles of Amber - 7 (love the series, hated the ending)
Zelazny, Roger - Lords of Light - 6

Unmentioned thus far:
Robert Jordan - Conan Chronicles - 8 (The definitive Conan stories, imo)
David Eddings - The Mallorean - 4

[Acrimone]

You know, I was thinking.... this may be the single best list of fantasy works to be found on the net.  GOOD JOB PHOENIX!!!!

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Updated with Advachiel. Thanks for the votes (and putting them in order really did make it easier, thanks).