Ender's Game has too many potential children actor so I'll have to pass on it (kids are almost impossible to direct properly) but Young Goodman Brown and a couple of Mohiro Kitoh's could work very well as movies.
Anyway, thanks allot and keep em coming.

 

Lovecraft's The Tomb.

William Gibson's Red Star, Winter Orbit. Or maybe Dogfight.

J. G. Ballard's The Overloaded Man. (This one, in particular, could make for a very powerful short if done right).

Jim (jbern) recently published an anthology of short stories Horror, Humor, and Heroes. His story Lieutenant Armchair would make a nice film, but would delve into some special effects. (Military strikes against giant insects).

 

Any chance of your putting this up on the internet after you've finished?

 

Arc Light by Eric L. Harry

Great novel about series of fuck ups that leads to semi major nuclear war between Russia and the US.
Hard to find though, I had to order mine offline, used copy, looks perfect to me, best 8 dollars I spent in the longest time.

 

Earth Abides:

George R Stewart

Written and set in the 1940's/50's, a pandemic wipes out most of humanity, and the few survivors must build a new society in a world that is rapidly changing due to the absence of man.

Interesting and well thought-out book

The Postman, David Brin:

Taking place in a post-nuclear America overthrown by hyper-survivalists, It talks about the power of legend and the meaning of humanity.

Dies the Fire series, by S.M. Stirling.

in 1996, the laws of physics have been altered by an unknown force. Everything stops working. Guns, cars, trains, etc. Tech level reaches medieval.

A good "What if" and touches on the practicalities of survival if modern society fails, as well as how fact and legend can become distorted.


Battlestar Galactica (New series)

A decadent "Western" civilization is hit by a surprise nuclear attack. Well written and acted.

 

This x 100. They're making a movie based off that book too.

The Stand is not only one of the greatest books ever in this genre but in the horror genre and in general.

Edit: Ack, I just noticed the last response to this thread was a necro, my mistake.

 

Top 25 Fantasy Books

Here's a web page i found that has what this guy considers the best Fantasy. The list is pretty good, half of them I have alreadh read, and the rest have been added to my list. The creator of this list also gives a great review of each book, including recommendations of similar books.

They also have lists of top 10 fantasy books for women, children, and top 10 science fiction.

Here's the Link: http://www.bestfantasybooks.com/top25-fantasy-books.php

And the quick list:
Top 25 Best Fantasy Book List
#1: A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire) (George R.R. Martin)
#2: Gardens of the Moon (The Malazan Book of the Fallen) (Steven Erikson)
#3: The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss)
#4: Tigana (Guy Gaveriel Kay)
#5: The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
#6: The Blade Itself (Joe Abercrombie)
#7: The Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan)
#8: The Farseer (Robin Hobb)
#9: The Darkness That Comes Before (R. Scott Bakker)
#10: Mythago Wood (Robert Holdstock)
#11: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Susanna Clarke)
#12: His Dark Materials (Phillip Pullman)
#13: The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)
#14: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (Stephen Donaldson)
#15: American Gods (Neil Gaiman)
#16: The Earthsea Cycle (Ursula Le Guin)
#17: The Abhorsen Trilogy (Garth Nix)
#18: Sword of Shadows (J. V. Jones)
#19: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn (Tad Williams)
#20: Acacia (David Anthony Durham)
#21: Magician (Raymond Feist)
#22: Heroes Die (Mathew Stover)
#23: The Dark Tower Boxed (Stephen King)
#24: The Dresden Files (Jim Butcher)
#25: Chronicles of Amber (Roger Zelazny)


Halfway through Gardens of the Moon, and that book fucking rules. It's a fantasy-military epic, with gods (done well, sort of in a roman gods way), great characters, great magic, and awesome action.


Edit
I've now included the Great Fantasy book list, the books that almost made the top 25, as well as the Good Fantasy book list.

Great Fantasy Books:
The Swan's War (Sean Russell)
Elantris (Brandon Sanderson)
The Second Sons (Jennifer Fallon)
Tales of the Otori (Lian Hearn)
Riddle of Stars (Patricia A. McKillip)
Shadowmarch (Tad Williams)
A Song For Abalion (Steven Lawhead)
Godless World trilogy (Brian Ruckley)
Boreal Moon trilogy (Julia May)
Crown of Stars saga (Kate Elliot)
Deathgate Cycle (Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman)
Oath of Empires saga (Thomas Harlan)
The Runelords (Dave Farland)
Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson)
Rise of Moontide and Magic (Sean Russell)
Tyrant and Kings (John Marco)
The Amtrack Wars (Patrick Tilley)
Sword-Dancer (Jennifer Roberson)
Furies of Calderon (Jim Butcher)
The Initiate Brother (Sean Russell)
The Sword, the Ring, and the Chalice (Deborah Chester)
Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)
A Curse of Chalion (Lois Mcmaster Bujold)
Daughter of the Empire (Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts)
Black Company (Glenn Cook)
The Seven Waters Trilogy (Juliet Marillier)
The Light Ages (Ian R. MacLeod)
Vampire Earth (E.E. Knight)
Ascendants of Astoria (James Barclay)
Kushiel's Dart (Jacqueline Carey)
Black Jewel (Anne Bishop)
Legend (David Gemmell)



Good Fantasy books:
Eyes of a God (John Marco)
Weavers of Saramyr (Chris Wooding )
Seven Sons (Curt Benjamin)
The Banned and the Banished (James Clemens)
War of the Flowers (Tad William)
Dragon Crown War Cycle (Michael A. Stackpole)
Age of Reason (Greg Keyes)
Shadow of a Lion (Mercedes Lackey, Dave Freer, Eric Flint)
Book of Words saga (J.V. Jones)
Aldebreshin Compass (Juliet E. Mckenna)
Saga of Recluse (L. E. Modesitt Jr.)
Wizards First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
The Sun Sword saga (Michelle West)
In Legend Born (Laura Resnick)

 

Wow this is awesome, I'll definitley be checking out a lot of these books. And the Malazan books only get better, the 2nd and 3rd books are absolutely amazing, and then the next books, while not quite as good in my opinion are still excellent reads. I am currently rereading the whole series because I just picked up Toll the Hounds

 

Haha, I was about to get angry if that wasn't on there. ^^

Thanks for the list, I'll definitely check these out.

 

I was going to say the same thing. Definitely one of the best.

 

I don't read a huge amount of fantasy, but this seems like a fine list. A few others deserve consideration as well, perhaps replacing one or more of the less genius entries (e.g., Wheel of Time):

Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion series
J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series
Glen Cook's The Black Company
Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun

The first in particular belongs on any list of top fantasy stories. Moorcock ranks with Tolkien as among the most influential fantasy writers.

 

I'm with Perspicacity here, for the most part - the Eternal Champion series was pretty awesome, not gonna lie there. And Earthsea should be higher - I loved that series.

Haven't yet checked out the Malazan series, although I've seen it fairly often. Is it worth the effort?

And where the FUCK is Terry Pratchett?

 

The Wizard of Earthsea is a good addition, even if it's terribly upsetting to a reader.

It's got an epic world, but the ending is just terribly dissapointing (though good in the literary sense).

 

The site bestfantasybooks.com is down.

I was looking for the other lists, as I assume some authors aren't mentioned here because they are on the top 10 for children (JKR).

And I really want to know which titles they rate as fantasy books for women. Marion Zimmer Bradley's series?

 

To some degree, I do as well, but I disagree with adding Rowling. While Potter is good, there is no way it belongs in top 25.

Jordan and Earthsea I'd swap places. And I'd throw Hobb the fuck off. Replace her with Jennifer Roberson's Sword Dancer Saga.

This. >_>

Not checked out Malazan either. Seems like too much reading to get caught up. >_>

Not sure if you'd classify it as Fantasy, but Mike Carey's Felix Castor series deserves a mention here as well.

 

I've got some new books to check out, I haven't found a good one in quite some time. Thanks for posting the list op.

 

Wow, I didn't realise that so many people had read the Malazan series. It's a personal favourite of mine. I've been faithfully following Erikson since Gardens of the Moon and loved it ever since.

I've heard a lot about Tad Williams but never actually got around to reading his stuff. Is it any good?​

 

Must just be me, but Name of the Wind seems overrated. Good book, don't get me wrong, and I'll gladly read the sequel, but give me Tolkien, Jordan, or Butcher any day.