The Lord of the Rings is often hailed as the greatest story/work of fiction ever but which other story/work of fiction comes closest to being as good, if not better than it?
Wednesday, 12 Mar 2025
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The aspect of LOTR that gives it so much credibility is the part of the legendarium that is outside the text itself. First Age, Second Age, Third Age, rulers, languages, myths, peoples, calendars, defeats and losses and bittersweet triumphs.
I can’t see how anything else can compare.
I don’t want to try comparing, but The Odyssey has to be up there.
Discworld by Pratchett. A fully fleshed out unique world with so many distinct cultures, cities, and lands. There are dozens of books in the series all full of wit, wisdom, compassion, and humor.
The Count of Monte Cristo.
It is an epic story about revenge but also has love, action, adventure, betrayal. It is my favorite book of all time.
Maybe Dune.
I was always a fan of science fiction so for me H. G. Wells comes very close. It’s a sign of its time so that adds to how endearing it is, but The Time Machine and First Men In The Moon are classics I revisit about every six weeks
Dune – the six books by Herbert
The Foundation Series – by Asimov + the Robot series
In fantasy- Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Edit: Discworld- by Terry Pratchett)
In Sci-Fi- Cyteen and related series by C.J. Cherryh
Earthsea.
Dune, I would argue it’s the only story that comes close in terms of worldbuilding and sheer depth. It’s often hard to read, but it is amazing.
Malazan Book of the Fallen!
Huge world written with great prose IMO and touched some great themes throughout the books.
Honourable mention to Victor Hugo. Les Miserables in particular is a masterpiece if you have a tolerance for its’ sheer density.
In fantasy it’s the top still, IMO.
The only two I’d rate near it are The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever. And the Chronicles of Amber, by Roger Zelazny. Both have incredible characters, concepts, and worldbuilding.
Personally, I have a couple:
Dune by Frank Herbert is just as thematically rich.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas is just as universal a story as LOTR.
Don Quijote de la Mancha by Cervantes not only was satirizing the Chivalry genre, but it both revolutionized the genre and invented the modern novel. That’s a level of influence that just may surpass Tolkien’s. Tropes that Tolkien was playing with in his contemporary literature were influenced directly by Cervantes (look no further than the Frodo/Quijote and Sam/Sancho parallel).
Hitchhikers guide series
The Wheel of Time – Robert Jordan
Jules Verne – From the Earth to the Moon, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues, Mysterious Island. The guy was ahead of his time.
Also, Patrick Rothfuss – Kingkiller Chronicles is amazing
Stephen Kings the Dark Tower series.
Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings.
The Osten Ard books by Tad Williams
I love LotR. Huge fan and it shaped some of my life. However, I’ve never seen it hailed as the “greatest work of fiction ever”. Much less often hailed as such. It has topped some favorite book surveys though.
Again, not trying to diminish LotR, but if we are talking “greatest work of fiction ever” then I would say’s works like Don Quixote, Count of Monte Cristo, and Moby Dick would score higher.
(Though this is all super subjective)
Definitely wouldn’t say better, but I had such a good time reading Wheel of Time that I have to mention it
Aside from passionate Lord Of the Rings fans, no one is saying this is the greatest work of fiction ever. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel is a comparable piece of work in terms of writing quality and style. It’s stylistically a more accomplished piece of work, I think.
I don’t think Lord of the Rings is often hailed as the greatest story/work of fiction ever. Greatest or most influential work of fantasy yes, but not fiction. You have the works of Shakespeare, Dickens, Odyssey, Iliad, War and Peace, Grapes of Wrath, etc that the majority of literary critics would place comfortably above Lord of the Rings.
Obviously Tolkien’s world building and scope were revolutionary at the time and set a standard for fantasy. But compared to all genres of fiction it isn’t really in that legendary upper echelon.
I love Lord of the Rings, but “often hailed as the greatest work of fiction ever” is absolutely absurd. Are you really putting Lord of the Rings above Shakespeare, Homer, Tolstoy, Steinbeck, Dante, or any of the many, many other great works of literature? There seems to be an increasing tendency among online Tolkien discussions to deify the books as “perfect,” but Tolkien’s writing (like most writing) has many flaws too (just off the top of my head I’d say it includes overly convoluted dialog, dense and at times obsessive detail that delays or interrupts the plot, a tendency for deux ex machina, characters that pop up without warning and then disappear, a near total lack of impactful female roles, an obsessive focus on bloodline, and an unquestioning acceptance of divine right of kings). Was LoTR one of the most influential fantasy novels of modern times, sure, but Tolkien himself would have been horrified to see his novels described as the “greater work of fiction ever.”
Lol, sure it is….
Malazan book of the fallen surpassed it for me. Love them both.
‘story’ is so broad. Much as I adore Tolkien I’m not going to say that LOTR is greater than, say, Austen’s *Emma*, because the authors’ aims are so utterly different.
A Song of Ice and Fire. I’m suprised I haven’t seen it listed yet