The 100 best fantasy novels by women

No. 11 on this list. The Wonderful Adventures of Nils · Selma Lagerlöf · 1906

On Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, with a Wikipedia article in 39 languages. Commissioned as a geography reader for Swedish schools, it is a national classic in Sweden and a children's classic worldwide, though rarely on university syllabi.

No. 12 on this list. Penelopiad · Margaret Atwood · 2005

The Penelopiad appears regularly on feminist literature syllabi, myth-retelling courses, and contemporary women's fiction reading lists, benefiting from its position in the Canongate Myths series and Atwood's towering reputation. It has not achieved the universal curricular penetration of Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, placing it in established rather than major canon territory.

No. 13 on this list. Circe · Madeline Miller · 2019

Ranked by literary regard among eligible works in the current catalogue. This position reflects the available catalogue evidence.

No. 14 on this list. Nights at the Circus · Angela Carter · 1984

Nights at the Circus appears regularly in postmodern fiction and British women's writing courses and features on university syllabi in the UK, US, and Australia, though it is not as universally taught as Beloved or Midnight's Children. It is Carter's most frequently assigned novel and a standard entry point to her work. No major 'great novels' list universally includes it, but it appears on many contemporary-fiction reading lists.

No. 15 on this list. The Magic Toyshop · Angela Carter · 1967

The Magic Toyshop is taught regularly in British postmodern and feminist literature courses as Carter's first major novel and an early exemplar of feminist Gothic fiction. It is less ubiquitous on syllabi than The Bloody Chamber or Nights at the Circus but occupies a secure place in courses on women's writing and postmodern British fiction. No data signals found in database; score based on established literary reputation.

No. 16 on this list. Eva Luna · Isabel Allende · 1987

Eva Luna opens her story the way her mother opened hers: with an act of reinvention. Born in the back room of a house full of mummies and Latin books, daughter of an Indian who never looked at the sky and a red-haired woman abandoned at a river mission, Eva discovers early that words are currency. She carries this knowledge through a succession of households—each one stranger than the last—as a child servant, a factory worker, a fugitive, and eventually a writer of telenovelas. Running parallel is the story of Rolf Carlé, an Austrian exile who grows up in a German mountain colony and becomes a documentary filmmaker drawn toward the political violence simmering beneath his adopted country's surface. Allende structures the novel like the Arabian Nights she keeps invoking: episodes nest inside episodes, each character telling their own story inside Eva's. The prose is sensory and accumulative—jungles steam, mummies smell of dried flowers, a dead woman's hair is braided with gold—and Allende moves between comedy and violence with the ease of a practiced oral storyteller. By the time Eva sits down to write the script that gives Rolf a way into the guerrilla story he has been chasing, the novel's two currents have merged into a single argument: that to survive in a continent given to disappearances and strongmen, you must first become the author of your own life.

No. 17 on this list. A Wrinkle in Time · Madeleine L'Engle · 1962

Taught in schools: Common Core text exemplars (Appendix B) (US), CSEC English B – Caribbean Examinations Council

A standard text in American elementary and middle school curricula for decades, consistently appearing on required reading lists and library recommendation lists nationwide. Won the Newbery Medal in 1963, the most prestigious prize in American children's literature. Its place in the canon of children's science fantasy is secure, though it sits below the level of high school or university syllabi staples.

No. 18 on this list. The City We Became · N.K. Jemisin · 2020

Hugo nominee. One of the most prominent urban fantasies of the 2020s. Jemisin's reputation carries weight.

No. 19 on this list. Primeval and Other Times · Olga Tokarczuk · 1996

Appears on 22 university syllabi (33rd percentile in Open Syllabus), with Wikipedia articles in 5 languages. Not yet a fixture of world literature courses, though its visibility has increased steadily since Tokarczuk's 2018 Nobel Prize brought her backlist into English-language classrooms.

No. 20 on this list. The Riddle-Master of Hed · Patricia A. McKillip · 1976

World Fantasy Award winner. A beloved classic among fantasy readers who value prose craft.

No. 21 on this list. Carpentaria · Alexis Wright · 2006

Winner of the 2007 Miles Franklin Award, Australia's most prestigious literary prize. Taught in Australian literature and postcolonial studies courses but not widely assigned outside that context. An important book in Australian and Indigenous literatures, not yet a global curriculum fixture.

No. 22 on this list. Howl's Moving Castle · Diana Wynne Jones · 1986

Howl's Moving Castle holds a strong canonical position within children's and young adult fantasy, consistently appearing on recommended reading lists and 'essential fantasy' compilations. It is not widely taught in academic syllabi — university course appearances are limited compared to works like The Hobbit or A Wrinkle in Time — but it occupies a near-universal place in the reading histories of fantasy readers who grew up in the 1980s through 2000s. The 2004 Studio Ghibli film adaptation extended its recognition considerably beyond the reading public.

No. 23 on this list. Her Body and Other Parties · Carmen Maria Machado · 2017

Appears on 235 university syllabi according to Open Syllabus, placing it in the 59th percentile—strong for a 2017 debut collection. Taught primarily in contemporary fiction, queer literature, and creative writing courses. Wikipedia article exists with a dedicated Reception section. Too recent to have achieved canonical status, but its syllabi trajectory suggests staying power in the short story and gender studies curricula.

No. 24 on this list. Frontier · Can Xue · 2008

Taught in courses on Chinese avant-garde and experimental world fiction, published by Open Letter, though her readership stays small.

No. 25 on this list. The City of Brass · S.A. Chakraborty · 2017

Part of the wave of non-European-inspired fantasy. Widely read and critically praised.

No. 26 on this list. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld · Patricia McKillip · 1974

No syllabus data appears in the Open Syllabus Project, and the book lacks broad presence in university literature curricula. Within fantasy studies, it holds classic status as the inaugural World Fantasy Award winner (1975) and appears on genre-specific reading lists. Outside the fantasy canon, it remains a specialist text rather than a broadly assigned work.

No. 27 on this list. The Bear and the Nightingale · Katherine Arden · 2017

Bestseller, part of the Slavic-inspired fantasy wave. Widely loved.

No. 28 on this list. Gideon the Ninth · Tamsyn Muir · 2019

Hugo and Nebula finalist. A defining work of 2010s genre fiction with a devoted fanbase.

No. 29 on this list. Lud-in-the-Mist · Hope Mirrlees · 1926

A rediscovered classic, championed by Neil Gaiman and others. Increasingly recognized as a masterwork of fantasy.

No. 30 on this list. The Books of Jacob · Olga Tokarczuk · 2014

Appears on 12 university syllabi so far (27th percentile) and has a Wikipedia article in 11 languages — modest numbers that reflect how recently the English translation arrived (2021) rather than a lack of stature. Its Nobel-winning author and 2022 International Booker win are already pulling it onto world-literature syllabi.