Top 8 Fantasy Writers of All Time

Wizards, Warlocks, Dragons, Demons, Villains and Hero's, the best fantasy writers know how to make these characters come alive in our imaginations. These fantasy writers involve us in the story, keep us turning the page until the end and then make us want to read more of their work. I love fantasy novels that can transport me to another time or place. These are my picks for top 8 fantasy writers of all time.

#8- Patrick Rothfuss
If you haven't heard of him, go to your local library and check out the book The Name of the Wind. Once you read it, I promise you will be hooked on this incredible fantasy writer. The Name of the Wind is Rothfuss' debut novel and first in The Kingkiller Chronicle. It is followed by The Wise Man's Fear which was released in 2008. The original title of The Kingkiller Chronicle was The Song of Flame and Thunder. An excerpt from it won the Writers of the Future science fiction and fantasy contest in 2002.

#7- J.R.R. Tolkien
He gave us The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and made elves, dwarves, hobbits and wizards come alive. He created Middle Earth and the children that inhabit it. If you haven't read J.R.R. Tolkien, you are missing out on one of the best fantasy writers of all time. I recommend starting with The Hobbit.

#6- Stephen R. Donaldson
Although, I fell in love with Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, it wasn't until I read Donaldson's Mordant's Need series that I became a fantasy fiction fan. Mordant's Need is compromised of two novels, The Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through. I recommend just about anything this fantasy writer puts out. If you are a fantasy fiction fan then you want to check out this author.

#5- Neil Gaiman
You knew he was going to make it on my list of top 8 fantasy writers of all time. If you didn't, then you didn't read an earlier article of mine where I recommended my favorite works by Mr. Gaiman. American Gods, Neverwhere and Anansi Boys are just a few of the novels I recommend.

#4- Terry Brooks
Brooks offers something for every fantasy reader. You want dark fantasy check out The Word & Void series, epic fantasy the Shannara novels, or perhaps something light hearted, then you should check out the Landover series. I recommend starting out with the original Shannara trilogy, The Sword of Shannara (In the Shadow of the Warlock, The Druids' Keep, and The Secret of the Sword),The Elfstones of Shannara and The Wishsong of Shannara.

#3- Stephen King
The Dark Tower series! Need I say more? Okay, I guess I must. The Dark Tower series was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in five installments between 1977 and 1981. In 1982, the first book The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger was produced in hardback with art by Michael Whelan. Since then the series has been expanded into seven novels and in 2009 King said that he would be another novel added to The Dark Tower series.

#2- Robert Jordan
The Wheel of Time series holds 12 novels which were completed before Robert Jordan's untimely passing in 2007. There will be two more books added to the epic saga of the Wheel of Time which will be completed by Brandon Sanderson. Jordan was working on these books before he passed away. The Wheel of Time starts off with the book, The Eye of the World, where we are introduced to a new world that is being fought over by light and shadow. The series is a must-read for any fantasy fiction lover.

#1- Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was first published in 1865 and was read by both Oscar Wilde and Queen Victoria. Lewis Carroll makes the top of the list because Alice's Adventures in Wonderland have never been out of print, have been published in over 125 languages and has successfully crossed over to other media such as theater and film. Carroll, who was born under the name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, created a timeless fantasy novel, it's sequel Through the Looking Glass and the literary nonsense poems "Jabberwocky" and "The Hunting of the Snark".