Top Ten Fantasy Novels (stories, series, trilogies, chronicles) of all time.

There is nothing like settling into a great read. The hunger felt as you anticipate the time alone with your book nestled in your palms as you curl up on your favorite couch... or sit in your own world on a busy commuter train... or while waiting for your doctor to call you into her office is almost insatiable. But there is no more satisfying a novel as a good Fantasy. Talk about being taken away from the everyday...

Here are my favorites:

1 - The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien - The prequel to the mega-trilogy, The Lord Of The Rings. The story of Bilbo Baggins and his unwanted adventures. "In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit."

2 - The Lord Of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien - The greatest fantasy trilogy ever written. Bar none. A classic tale of Good vs. Evil.

3 - The Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan - "The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again."

4 - The Earthsea Trilogy, Ursula K. Le Guin - Story of an archipelago ruled by magic.

5 - The Sword of Truth Series, Terry Goodkind - A very complex world with complex characters. Great read, nonetheless.

6 - The Chronicles of Amber, Roger Zelazny - Sword and sorcery at its best.

7 - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever - Stephen Donaldson - This was a surprise to me that immediately while reading took a favorite spot in my bookcase.

8 - The Princess Bride, William Goldman - A funny, witty, swashbuckling tale full of fun.

9 - The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis - No surprises here... I knew even before I read them that these would be classics destined to greatness as evidenced by the major motion pictures made based on them.

10 - The Once and Future King, T.H. White - Four Classic Arthurian Legends - my favorite, "The Sword in the Stone."