My TOP 10 Standalone Fantasy! 

Top ten lists are agonizing, which is why you do indeed get to make your own rules, John! I love that you included A Midsummer Night's Dream here -- I've had a lot of fun teaching it over the years, and you're right that it should be seen. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell definitely belongs on this sort of list, in my opinion, and so does Piranesi, so I'm glad you broke the rules for Susanna Clarke. Hooray for American Gods! Along with Piranesi, I plan to teach American Gods, among other things, in my fantasy novels course next semester. It's an excellent book for generating loads of discussion. And absolutely yes to The Hobbit, which always transports me to the comfort of the Shire and the perils of the greater world of Middle-Earth. Excellent list!

Shakespeare definitely deserves to be a top ten standalone! A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream is fantasy, paving the way ahead for some many others with fantastical stories to tell. I also didn’t see Good Omens coming, but Huzzah! It is a clever and witty book. Love it!

Excellent list! I still haven’t watched the Good Omens adaptation, but I’ve read the book twice-before and after my brother read and reread my copy 10 times. 😂 It is your list, and I’m glad you gave it your own spin! 😊

Loved the list, I support your #10! I too am a Shakespeare Nerd and it is a fantasy tale. Thank you for these lists, they add to my and my husbands TBR list and we could not be happier adding to them! We love yuor channel and are catching up on your backlist of videos.

Not sure if you've come across them yet, or if anyone else has told you, but Middlegame is part of a series now! A second book, Seasonal Fears came out in 2022 and Tidal Creatures is out either this month or next (depending on where you are). Apparently there are plans for fourth and fifth books too.

I love the #10 audible, when you pulled out the chonker it definitely caught me off guard. I am going to be reading #1 starting December 1, you convinced me.

I can't believe you haven't blown up yet. This video was really entertaining and immediately got me hooked on this channel. bold choice to have Warbreaker in your top ten (I haven't read it yet, but I love Sanderson, so I'm excited to get to it). Keep up the good work, because I will definitely be a guaranteed viewer. 😁

If, like me, you love “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” by all means check out the 1968 film version starring Diana Rigg, Helen Mirren, Judy Dench, Ian Holm, and other members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and directed by Peter Hall. The production values aren’t the greatest, but the acting is superb. It’s currently available on RU-vid.

In my book, Guy Gavriel Kay is perhaps the best standalone writer: I seriously have a hard time picking between «A Song for Arbonne» and «Under Heaven» as my personal favorite!

Great vid! I really need to try Good Omens and Jonathan Strange. I haven’t read too many standalones but I did love Song of Achilles and the Adrian Tchaikovsky novella Ogres dearly

John this was awesome! Weaveworld is definitely on my list to read. I’ve become a huge fan of Barker. Good Omens is so good!!

Oh wow, I wasn't expecting some of these but I love how diverse this list is!! Addie LaRue, Piranesi and American Gods are all faves of mine as well and books I really want to reread sooner rather than later. And I love Seanan McGuire's books so I don't know why I haven't read Middlegame yet! I think there's a companion sequel out now, right? Also, I have only watched the Good Omens show and now I am hesitant to go back to the source material because I loved that version of the story so much haha. Great list, thanks for sharing!!

Loved American Gods, and a Shakespeare fan myself, though haven't read them all yet. Piranesi is a December read for me. Great list John. -Cheers 🤘🏼

That's the funny thing about rules, they break easily. Piranesi is so good! Definitely one of my favourites as well!!!

Great video. I'm always glad to see appreciation for Weaveworld

Great! i have in my bedside table Weaveworld and Jonathan Strange. American Gods is amazing and of course The Hobbit is a cornerstone of the genre. very interested in Piranesi too. Good video!

Glad I found this channel. Subbed!

A great list, I mean to get to a lot of these. I remember playing Egeus in a high school play for A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Sir, I will never groan at you for suggesting Shakespeare. Also glad to see you mentioned my favorite fantasy novel American Gods. Keep up the good work my friend!

Theater Geeks Unite! You can never go wrong with Shakespeare. I was so glad to see Addie LaRue on your list. It's one of my favorite novels but it's been hit or miss by a bunch of reviewers I really respect. The only book on your list that I haven't read was Clive Barker's. I may have to check it out.

Ok, Jonathan Strange, Piranesi and American Gods are moving far up my tbr! I've been thinking about books to fill out my reading plans for the next couple of months so this is great. Addie Larue! First Schwab book I read and loved it. My one big criticism is that I would have liked more of the world to be explored through Addie's eyes in the flashbacks. Unless I remember wrong we only got to see France and Italy.

I am an actor and I have been in Midsummer (Peter Quince) and I would not have thought about including it, well done! I guess Tempest could fall into play!

Standalone fantasy favorites of mine include Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and Jonathan Strange..., which is my most favorite of all. Happy Thanksgiving.

ha, I think I said that line in Midsummer's Night Dream! I wish I remembered more about Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrrell. I remember loving it. Piranesi is making my top 10 this year.

War breaker is one of my favourites and I have the same edition. Such a great read!

LOVE American Gods! Glad to see it on this list. No eye rolling for Midsummer Night’s Dream either. I dig Billy Shakes. It also helped get me a job once. Ask me about that sometime 😂

I can't argue with the Hobbit, even if it's part of a larger tapestry - could say that for Lord of the Rings too since it's really one book, but it's easier to read the Hobbit without tLotR than vise versa. I loved the grandeur of Weave World, though most of the details are forgotten now I do remember: the odd bird murmuration of destiny, the Carpet Tapestry, getting raped by a evil shadow woman, and a ghost of an angel being fought in the desert remains of Eden. What an imagination! I haven't read Clive's horror, but there's plenty of horror in his fantasy, have you ever read his Abarat series? It may never be finished at the rate he's going, but it's such a well realized portal fantasy land, illustrated by his oil paintings. Love Piranesi (speaking of murmurations!), and a Midsummer Night's Dream (looking forward to it's appearance in the Sandman show, hopefully), and the Good Omens adaptation (though season 2 venture beyond the book was disappointing). I have the others on my shelf waiting for me (save for Middle Game, which I never heard of, but sounds cool). I pick: 10 Peter Pan - James Barrie 9 StarDust - Neil Gaiman 8 Coraline - Neil Gaiman 7 WeaveWorld - Clive Barker 6 Pan's Labyrinth - there's a novelization of the movie by Cornella Funke that's wonderful, 5 Piranesi - Susanna Clarke 4 the Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle 3 The Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin 2 the Neverending Story - Michael Ende 1 The Silmarillion - JRR Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien and Guy Gavriel Kay. I can't prove it, but I think I'd work on it's own for one determined, though some might want to stop short of the last section to not spoil tLotR. If you can claim the Hobbit, I can do this! 😇

Ah yes, the famous 10 heads of Mount Rushmore

Currently reading Good omens, and have to say I’m 100 pages in and struggling with it. Find myself getting confused by the random characters that show up and just generally what’s going on. Worth it to push through?

I will be a little loose too with my suggestions. I don't know if "Boy's Life" by McCammon could be considered fantasy. And "The Terror", by Simmons, same thing, but I nominate them. "Watership Down". "The Mists of Avalon". "Eaters of the Dead" by Michael Crichton. That movie the 13th Warrior was based on that I'm pretty sure. Not sure how "Life of Pi" is classified. I heard people talking about "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld" and I found it in a used books store and it was weird. Read like a fable or mythology. And last, I found this collection of a few books in one volume by this guy Richard Brautigan, whom I never heard of and one of the stories "The Hawkline Monster" was totally awesome and weird. One of my favorites now. No complaints about your list. I was an English major. I prefer Shakespeare's tragedies.

I gotta say, I didn't have "Shakespeare" in the betting pool! Great list, but it's time for you to read some GGK to blow up this list!

Interesting you felt Piranesi fantasy had a bit of science fiction. For me it read like literary surrealist fiction similar to Kobo Abe. One of the best fantasy novels out there! Great pick!

Thank you for Shakespeare (I played Ariel in the Tempest in high school -- 1979 -- and that too has magical genre bending facets) and The Hobbit, two of my all time favorites! Brand new to your channel and glad to be here, signed, a fellow "old softy".

I got a recommendation! “Jitterbug Perfume” by Tom Robbins. Calling it fantasy might be a stretch but there are definitely very fantasy concepts in it and at its core is a romance that spans a thousand years. If you like word-smithing and unique prose he’ll open up a whole new world. He’s a verbal break-dancer.

Intrigued by Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Not one that has immediately landed on my Wish List but one I've seen on the bookstore shelves. As for The Hobbit. Ashamedly I've not read it despite having a copy in the house 😮. Perhaps I should stop procrastinating and dive in 🤔.

Some of my fantasy stand alone favorites are: Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson Thornhedge by T Kingfisher Driftwood by Marie Brennan The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky and Witch King by Martha Wells

I adore Shakespeare! Twelfth Night is my personal favorite. Also, Middlegame by Seanan McGuire is book 1 in a series. There are 2 other books out.

Some of my favourites are the Hobbit, Piranesi, Lions of Al-Rassan and Under Heaven are duking it out for my favourite GGK, Adrian Tchaikovsky's Guns of the Dawn and KJ Parker's Folding Knife. Folding Knife felt like I was reading about Glokta's Italian cousin. And Guns of the Dawn read like Bernard Cornwell writing a Jane Austen novel. Flintlock Fantasy with a strong female lead and Tchaikovsky wants to write a sequel and i wish he did.

How are you doing mr John. Thank you for your wonderful cultural channel. I chose one of books you mentioned main theme and author biography briefly here it’s. First of all I looked up for meaning of standalone in book means all story and character acrs are complete there are no loose end . Gillian Flynn Stephen king gone girl are two examples of this . Standalone is equivalent feature film has final ending. American gods won several awards such as Hugo award for best novel , locus award for best fantasy novel , nebula award for best novel. Plot summary about shadow is ex convict who released from prison three days early when his wife Laura is killed in car accident . Shadow is devastated by her death , is distraught to learn that she died alongside his best friend robble , with whom she been having affair. It’s blend of American fantasy , various stands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on mysterious and raciturn shadow.there are several adaptations of this novel in dark horse comic based on novel . Television too television developed novel into television series in 2017 . Music power metal band blind guardian wrote song titled secrets of American gods based on novel on their album 2022 the god machine.

As someone who had the Hobbit a mandatory reading in high school but did not like it.... I must disagree with "everyone should read it". 😂😂😂 And thanks for the reminder that I must stop forgetting to read Good Omens!

To be honest, I'm more inclined to read standalone horror and science fiction, but these books spring to mind: Erin Morgenstern The Night Circus Clive Barker The Thief Of Always Mike Jefferies Shadows In The Watchgate Markus Zusak The Book Thief Neil Gaiman Stardust Funnily enough, I have chosen David and Leigh Eddings The Redemption Of Althalus to read sometime this year, despite having bought it as soon as it was published in 2000. I'm fed up dusting it!

Good list though I've tried to read the hobbit several times and just can't get through it.

I believe I own about seven of the ten books mentioned here. But I offer no excuse as to why I haven't read them yet 🤨 (other than that they stand in a very looooong line, lol) I read a book this year that no one I know, booktube or not, has heard of, and it's Power in the Blood by Greg Matthews. I still consider it a stand alone fantasy, even though it's labeled more historical fiction or western. But if one of the characters has "Carrie-like" powers and sort of drives the plot -- I call it fantasy. Anyways, it's probably considered my #1 or 2 top fave this year, and wanted to share here.

Midsummer's is my favourite shakespere

Nice to see the American Gods love. One of my favorites.

With the exception of the Hobbit ( really a prequel to the LOTR) I have not read anything on your list. I have seen a few Shakespearean Theater productions but never Midsummer’s Night Dream. I tried to think of any fantasy stand-alone I enjoyed and I came up with only 2 titles. Most recently Between Two Fires and Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle. It is a Quartet but so emotionally draining I am done at one. It is historical fantasy and wonderful. You will enjoy Manda’s Scott’s prose. I am stopping at the first book because who runs a marathon more than once?

Pls any recommendations what first fantacy book i buy. standalone . Cause i never read books before.😅

I’ll forgive you for including Shakespeare because… well… he’s Shakespeare. 😆 It’s about time a booktuber included The Bard in a list. ♥️ I did a “booktubers recommend standalones” video a while ago, and there’s pleasantly little overlap - even more standalones to read! 😀 I’d suggest you do yourself a favour & add my 2023 BotY to your list: The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jiminez. 😍

Just started this video and had to laugh at starting with Shakespeare!

Stand alone fantasy is tough. The Hobbit of course is mine.

Huh … I couldn’t think of 10 fantasy stand alone books. Fantasy stand alones are harder to find than you think. Here are 10 stand alones off the top of my head that aren’t limited to fantasy but are pretty good. LOL Misery Project Hail Mary 1984 The Hobbit Coraline Nocturnal The Book Thief Swan Song A Gentleman in Moscow Tress of the Emerald Sea Happy Weekend! ~Twainy

why does everyone forget the princess bride?

you remind me of john sheridan