Fantasy fiction is best known for its giant, door-stopping series that come in trilogies or longer. Of course, not everyone wants to embark on a ten-book project. And even if you love series, sometimes it’s nice to read a standalone story that provides a satisfying resolution within a single book. With that in mind, I’ve set out to provide a list of ten fantasy stories that have all the thrills of a series but stand alone as a single volume.
The first thing I should note is that this list is for novel-length works only, although there are tons of great fantasy novellas out there. I also decided that I was only going to list one book by each individual author, which meant making some tough decisions (especially when it comes to Neil Gaiman’s writing). Finally, I wanted each of these books to be a true standalone with no sequel on the way. That means no Goblin Emperor or Elantris! Even with those limitations, I found plenty of standalone fantasy stories I love—enough that I struggled to cap this list at ten. Shout out to some stories that almost made it on here: The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Roses and Rot by Kat Howard, and The Steel Seraglio by Linda, Louise, and Mike Carey.
Some of the entries on this list are well-known bestsellers; others, not as much. I hope that everyone who reads this will find at least one book that’s new to them.
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
When I set out to create this list, I knew The Last Unicorn had to be on it—it is my favorite of all classic fantasy novels. With its lyrical writing, The Last Unicorn sweeps me away into its timeless story of a unicorn who fears she may be the last of her kind and sets out on a journey to find others. While Peter S. Beagle has returned to this world with some short stories and a novelette, The Last Unicorn remains a standalone novel.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a modern-day classic—one that’s even received an adaptation from the BBC. The story follows two Regency-era magicians who are prophesized to bring magic back to England. The two start out as mentor and student but are soon at odds, and their rivalry threatens to destroy them. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a huge tome of a novel, but I enjoyed every moment of it. Clarke writes in the style of nineteenth-century authors such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, and her narration brims with sly humor. The use of footnotes is simply delightful, with asides that range from commentary on the characters and events to stories-within-stories. It’s a fiendishly clever novel that fully deserves its high renown.
The Devourers by Indra Das
I nearly quit reading The Devourers early on, but I’m so glad I didn’t. In modern-day Kolkata, India, Alok encounters a man who claims to be half werewolf and who has a set of mysterious texts he needs transcribed. From these texts arises the dark story of shapeshifters in Mughal India. The Devourers centers around the rape of a human woman by a male shapeshifter, and the brutality of that section had me struggling with the story. But then the narration is handed squarely to the woman, Cyrah, whose anger and determination make her voice unforgettable. The Devourers is a story about monsters and the monstrous ways we can treat each other, but it’s also a story that insists on holding its characters accountable for their actions. Finally, The Devourers happens to be one of the queerest stories I’ve ever read, embracing fluidity of gender and sexuality.
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman are both fantastic authors whose work sparkles with humor and humanity. I’m sure most people reading this are familiar with both Gaiman and Pratchett, and I have no doubt that Gaiman’s American Gods makes many people’s list of best standalone fantasy novels. But the authorial team-up of Gaiman and Pratchett is a match made in literary heaven, and as a result, I’ve read Good Omens more times than I can count. The end of the world is nigh, and someone’s misplaced the Antichrist. Can you imagine a more hilarious take on the end of the world? I sure can’t.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
Sadly, I had never read this fantasy classic until last year. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld tells the tale of Sybel, an isolated wizard who lives alone with her menagerie of powerful and magical creatures. Then Sybel finds herself raising the secret son of a king, and her quiet life collides with the world of powerful men. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld explores themes of forgiveness, revenge, love, and power. It’s also exquisitely written and has the feel of an original fairy tale, with all the emotional strength of the very best fables and legends.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Sunshine is one of my all-time favorite books, and I go back to it whenever I need a comfort read. Sunshine needs a break from working at the family bakery and heads out to her grandma’s cabin in the woods. Alone. At night. Which is unwise in a world where humans are barely hanging on in the fight against vampires… I don’t know what I love most about Sunshine, because there’s just so much about it that’s great. McKinley writes Sunshine’s narration in the first person, unleashing a stream of consciousness that’s both hilarious and deeply personal. Perhaps because of that, we see the world she creates only in glimpses, but you know there’s plenty more going on beneath the surface. Sunshine herself is a heroine both flawed and courageous who’s only beginning to learn the extent of her own power.
Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
What happens when Christian missionaries go to fairyland to convert the fae? It could be the start of a comedy, but in the highly capable hands of Jeannette Ng, it becomes a haunting Gothic fantasy tale. Catherine Helston pursues her missionary brother to the fairy realm of Arcadia and encounters a world where everything she takes for granted, from physics to faith, is questioned. Under the Pendulum Sun is a disconcerting read, with Catherine constantly in peril of falling under the sway of Arcadia’s insanity. Intricate and thoughtful, Under the Pendulum Sun is a book whose depths I’ve yet to fully explore.
Ariah by B.R. Sanders
After reading Foz Meadows’ glowing review, I rushed to find a copy of Ariah, a coming-of-age story that’s a spiritual sibling to The Goblin Emperor. Ariah did not disappoint. I immediately fell under the spell of this immersive story about home, love, identity, and family. In this intensely character-focused novel, the young elf Ariah is a shaper, with the ability to feel others’ emotions…but Ariah often gets so lost in the feelings of others that he loses himself. Over the course of the story, Ariah struggles with himself, his place in society, and his growing knowledge of both the complexity and injustice of the world he lives in.
Iron Cast by Destiny Soria
I’ve read quite a few books where magic is tied to artistic creation, but the young adult novel Iron Cast outshines all the rest. This Prohibition era-inspired fantasy imagines a world where certain people can use the arts to cast magic but all acts of magic are banned. Best friends Ada and Corinne perform at an illegal club, a sort of magical speakeasy, but also run cons to make ends meet. When Ada gets arrested and confined to an asylum, it’s only the beginning of the duo’s troubles. Iron Cast presents a luscious setting and an emotionally-laden plot that kept me on the edge of my seat. Perhaps most of all, I adore Iron Cast’s focus on female friendship, something which can be all too scarce in fantasy novels.
City of Bones by Martha Wells
Martha Wells has recently entered the spotlight with her delightful, award-winning science fiction novella All Systems Red, but she’s also got a fabulous backlist. City of Bones wars with Death of the Necromancer for my favorite Martha Wells novel, but City of Bones undoubtedly wins the place of “Best Standalone by Martha Wells.” The post-apocalyptic fantasy world displays the author’s characteristic imagination, and the plot never fails to keep me gripped to the page. Khat, our protagonist, works as a relics trader and treasure hunter to keep himself afloat in a city where he’s a non-citizen. When an expedition hires him on as a guide, he finds himself involved in a search for a relic of unprecedented power.
Originally published in December 2018.
Sarah Waites has been reading science fiction and fantasy for as long as she can remember. Her book blog, The Illustrated Page, reviews SFF books through a queer feminist lens. You can follow her on Twitter.
Great tips, thanks!
This list is incomplete. Tigana has to be #1.
I haven’t yet read City of Bones, but love love love Martha Well’s stand-alone Wheel of the Infinite
PS. Apologies for apostrophe misplacement! s/b Wells’ Wheel of the Infinite …
The Legend of Nightfall by Mickey Zucker Reichert is a good stand-alone. The ending is fantastic. There is a sequel called The Return of Nightfall but both books stand on their own so you don’t have to read it.
Gloriana by Michael Moorcock.
The Reluctant Devil by Miranda Seymour.
The Wood Wife by Terri Windling.
The Eye of Night, Pauline J Alama.
The Goblin Emperor Katherine Addison (I know you mentioned it in passing, but I think it deserves its own spot)
The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern
First few off the top of my head, I’m sure there’s more.
@3 I came here to say the same thing.
Also I’d add Uprooted by Naomi Novak and The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie to my favourite standalone list.
Have to add Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins.
War for the Oaks, by Emma Bull.
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny and the Face in the Frost by John Bellairs hve to feature in the list of great one-off fantasy novels.
All of John M. Ford’s fantasies are standalone because he was a hero. I personally love The Last Hot Time the most.
@8: Seconded! I really enjoyed Uprooted and am currently reading Spinning Silver – as far as I can tell at this point, both of them are total stand-alone knockouts. (Haven’t read The Raven Tower yet, but I raced through Ancillary Justice and thought it was fascinating, so that one’s been on my list.)
I also love Sharon Shinn’s The Shape-Changer’s Wife, even though I’d say a few things make it recognizable as an early effort of hers.
R. A. MacAvoy’s The Grey Horse is a wonderful singleton set in Ireland during the 1880s.
Great post! Some good ones there. My favorites:
Little, Big and Engine Summer – John Crowley
Land of Dreams – James Blaylock
Sleeping in Flame – Jonathan Carroll
An Alien Light – Nancy Kress
@11: Bellairs sent ~half of a sequel to The Face in the Frost to his editor; NESFA printed it decades later, but it was never finished so tFitF probably counts.
@7: as our host notes, there’s a sequel to The Goblin Emperor (scheduled for next June according to Amazon).
Most of Tim Powers’ work is one-offs. I was especially impressed by Declare, although a German correspondent tells me he gets resistance activity during World War II badly wrong; as a beer lover I have a sentimental fondness for The Drawing of the Dark, although I haven’t read it in decades and don’t know whether it suffers by comparison with later work — it was his first novel not done for the unlamented Laser Books.
A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark (Harry Connolly) is on my TBR; I read Game of Cages and was so repelled I haven’t touched any of the other Twenty Palaces books, but this came highly recommended as a one-off that replaces brute force with a combination of negotiation and cunning.
The Dragon Waiting, John M. Ford. This is a masterpiece which bears mentioning at every opportunity.
Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks, by contrast, is just enormous fun.
John Crowley, Little, Big.
Jo Walton: any of Among Others, Lent, or Or What You Will.
Reindeer Moon by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas is in my opinion criminally overlooked — an empathetic immersion in Neolithic life
Retina’s Song by David Eddings.
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
Terry Pratchett is my all-time favorite author, but I have to say that Good Omens is one of the most boring books I ever read. I gave up 2/3 of the way through. I don’t know if it was Gaiman’s influence or the subject matter, but something made it just horrendously boring to me. I would make the suggestion for a stand-alone Pratchett book to read Nation, which is in my personal top ten books. I can’t really make a recommendation for Gaiman, though, as I have only read short stories by him, no other novels.
Lots of other Patricia A McKillip books could go on this list too – The Book of Atrix Wolfe, The Bell at Sealey Head, Od Magic, Alphabet of Thorn, Ombria in Shadow and Song for the Basilisk are all standalones and they’re all wonderful.
The Earth Witch, by Lousie Lawrence (this was a YA written before YA was a thing). It’s a good book to read in October.
@19 AndrewHB–typo alert: Regina’s Song.
I read and profited from this post and the comments the first time it was published. I am hardly ever willing to read series, so I greatly appreciate the suggestions for good standalones. @21 Callie–I agree, McKillip wrote a slew of great standalone fantasies. My personal favorite is Od Magic, which is in a way about the power of (kind) empathy and listening. @16 CHip, yes, A Key, an Egg, and an Unfortunate Remark is indeed a book where the hero (a woman “well into her sixties,” yay!) has put away her stakes and silver bullets and keeps her city, Seattle, safe nonviolently.
In addition to McKillip, I will again mention Lanagan’s beautifully written selkie story, The Brides of Rollrock Island, and Ibbotson’s fun children’s fantasy novels: my favorite is Island of the Aunts.
A. Lee Martinez has a long string of stand-alone novels that are all big fun. My faves of his are:
“Divine Misfortune” – a couple decides that to get ahead in the world, they should get in favor with a deity. They choose Luka, the raccoon-headed god of luck. They don’t realize that means he’ll be moving in their house and eating their food. Nor do they realize that he brings with him the attention of an ancient and implacable enemy.
“The Automatic Detective” – a Noir mystery with a sentient robot as the hard-boiled detective.
@kat_dandi Neverwhere!
@gingerbug. I’ll try it!
Hmmmm……seems to be quite backordered at my local library. I suppose that’s a good recommendation, too!
This is a really great list, including the sneaky sideways recommendations for other books like The Goblin Emperor and Death of the Necromancer, and the recommendations from the comments are great too.
There are several new to me, but of the books I know, I can’t see a single one I disagree with in either the main list or the comments.
For those who love Martha Wells’ writing, but haven’t read City of Bones, do it now! It’s one of her best books.
So many of my favorites listed, especially Little, Big, Among Others, Uprooted and Spinning Silver.
But we need to add Islandia, and The Armor of Light (because Shakespeare and theatre save the world in the latter).
I love many of these, particularly most recently, Under the Pendulum Sun, which is insanely good. Here’s four I might have also included in the list:
Brian Aldiss – The Malacia Tapestry
John Crowley – Little, Big
Jo Walton – Among Others
Ursula L Guin – Lavinia
I’m aching to re-read Fritz Leiber’s Our Lady of Darkness and don’t have a copy at hand. I mostly prefer his science fiction to his fantasy, but this one killed me.
If you think of religious science fiction as fantasy, as I do*, you could do worse than Philip K. Dick’s The Transmigration of Timothy Archer. It’s in a cluster of works which is in no sense a series, all of which stand alone. This one stands out for me.
And I always think of John Barnes’ One for the Morning Glory. So different from his other work, which I also mostly love.
*Sometimes. I wouldn’t put Robert J. Sawyer in that bag, for instance, or Dune.
We shouldn´t forget
Tad Williams – War of the Flowers
@10 Emma Bull’s Territory is also great. Also Kage Maker’s The Bird of the River. Margaret Mahy’s The Changeover. Katharine Brigg:’s Hobberdy Dick and Kate Crackernuts. Elizabeth Pope’s The Perilous Gard.
Sorry, that’s Kage Baker.
Mention of Kate Crackernuts reminds me that most of de Lint has one of two common settings (earlier works start in Ottawa, later in the made-up Newford), but aside from Jack the Giant Killer / Drink Down the Moon (which include elements of the Kate Crackernuts story) there are few connections and no real sequence among them (and the two above are short enough that they were later published in one volume.) They may see a bit old-hat now that everybody is doing contemporary urban fantasy — but he was one of the people inventing it 30-40 years ago.