The stand alone part is difficult. Most fantasy comes in a series.
Eye of the World is the first in a series, but it stands on its own. You can tell Robert Jordan was not certain he would write more books.
The Hobbit is an obvious choice, but I suppose it is too main stream
Few_Cricket597 on
True Night Falls
VerdeAzul74 on
The Maze in the Heart of the Castle by Dorothy Gilman
Dost_is_a_word on
Anything by Dave Duncan.
Theopholus on
Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker. It’s a stand alone but if you like it, he has a bunch more similar kinds of books.
KiaraTurtle on
What are some non fantasy books you like? (Or other media you enjoy?) it would be helpful to have a sense of your tastes to give a good rec as there’s just so much variety of fantasy out there
KingBretwald on
The Princess Bride by William Goldman.
DrPrMel on
David Gemmell. Try Legend by him and then go from there.
cinder7usa on
The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks. It was the first in a trilogy, but it’s great as a stand-alone novel. It’s one of my all time favorites.
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. You can read this by itself. And, if you like it, you can follow it by reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Mnudge on
The Hobbit.
JuniorEnvironment850 on
Honestly? Standalone? Doesn’t get much better than The Hobbit.
But not super mainstream? Just read Kushiel’s Dart. It’s technically the start of a trilogy, but it could totally stand-alone.
I unfortunately can no longer recommend the most important fantasy novel of my own life which is The Mists of Avalon. The author was revealed to be an absolute monster.
13 Comments
The stand alone part is difficult. Most fantasy comes in a series.
Eye of the World is the first in a series, but it stands on its own. You can tell Robert Jordan was not certain he would write more books.
The Hobbit is an obvious choice, but I suppose it is too main stream
True Night Falls
The Maze in the Heart of the Castle by Dorothy Gilman
Anything by Dave Duncan.
Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker. It’s a stand alone but if you like it, he has a bunch more similar kinds of books.
What are some non fantasy books you like? (Or other media you enjoy?) it would be helpful to have a sense of your tastes to give a good rec as there’s just so much variety of fantasy out there
The Princess Bride by William Goldman.
David Gemmell. Try Legend by him and then go from there.
The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks. It was the first in a trilogy, but it’s great as a stand-alone novel. It’s one of my all time favorites.
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. You can read this by itself. And, if you like it, you can follow it by reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The Hobbit.
Honestly? Standalone? Doesn’t get much better than The Hobbit.
But not super mainstream? Just read Kushiel’s Dart. It’s technically the start of a trilogy, but it could totally stand-alone.
I unfortunately can no longer recommend the most important fantasy novel of my own life which is The Mists of Avalon. The author was revealed to be an absolute monster.
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
King Killer books with Kvothe