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!

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.

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 YouTube.

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. 😁

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!

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!

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

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!!!

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!!

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.

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!!

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!

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

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!

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.

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

Glad I found this channel. Subbed!