Best "second world" fantasy after J.R.R. Tolkien

Tolkien is with no doubt the king and creator of "second world" fantasy. "Second world" meaning stories, mostly epics, set in a completely fictional world with its own unique culture. But what of the post-Tolkien era authors?


Which is the best "second world" fantasy (series or novel) written after J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth epics.
1

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4.19 avg rating — 549,266 ratings
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4.31 avg rating — 309,992 ratings
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4.01 avg rating — 331,191 ratings
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9

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4.18 avg rating — 347,739 ratings
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10

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4.25 avg rating — 126,729 ratings
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11

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4.41 avg rating — 128,246 ratings
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12

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4.32 avg rating — 68,998 ratings
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13

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4.54 avg rating — 472,858 ratings
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14

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4.38 avg rating — 520,833 ratings
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15

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4.16 avg rating — 107,973 ratings
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16

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3.81 avg rating — 15,335 ratings
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17

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4.23 avg rating — 126,385 ratings
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18

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4.10 avg rating — 73,047 ratings
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19

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4.09 avg rating — 50,795 ratings
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20

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3.97 avg rating — 73,241 ratings
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21

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22

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4.16 avg rating — 122,631 ratings
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23

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3.99 avg rating — 47,196 ratings
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24

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3.95 avg rating — 53,107 ratings
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25

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4.17 avg rating — 45,468 ratings
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26

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3.77 avg rating — 98,424 ratings
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26

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3.86 avg rating — 122,540 ratings
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28

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4.47 avg rating — 3,654 ratings
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29

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4.35 avg rating — 8,349 ratings
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30

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4.04 avg rating — 20,781 ratings
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31

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4.32 avg rating — 13,766 ratings
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32

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3.94 avg rating — 87,802 ratings
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33

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4.19 avg rating — 36,725 ratings
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34

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4.07 avg rating — 469,515 ratings
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35

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4.23 avg rating — 71,678 ratings
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36

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3.96 avg rating — 360 ratings
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37

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4.15 avg rating — 171,499 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 15,242 ratings
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39

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3.83 avg rating — 15,250 ratings
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39

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4.10 avg rating — 75,695 ratings
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41

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4.21 avg rating — 265,855 ratings
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42

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4.13 avg rating — 123,788 ratings
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43

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3.83 avg rating — 22,056 ratings
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43

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4.39 avg rating — 51 ratings
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45

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4.13 avg rating — 13,244 ratings
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45

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4.30 avg rating — 5,320 ratings
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47

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3.93 avg rating — 32,819 ratings
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47

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3.94 avg rating — 19,095 ratings
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47

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4.07 avg rating — 49,181 ratings
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50

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4.12 avg rating — 5,877 ratings
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50

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4.02 avg rating — 6,709 ratings
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52

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4.09 avg rating — 22,369 ratings
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52

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3.93 avg rating — 125,027 ratings
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54

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4.46 avg rating — 4,801 ratings
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54

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3.63 avg rating — 10,938 ratings
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56

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4.22 avg rating — 37,978 ratings
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57

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3.97 avg rating — 28,964 ratings
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58

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4.10 avg rating — 50,223 ratings
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59

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4.21 avg rating — 55,532 ratings
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60

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3.61 avg rating — 704 ratings
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60

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 894 ratings
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60

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3.60 avg rating — 10 ratings
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60

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4.08 avg rating — 973 ratings
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60

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3.55 avg rating — 782 ratings
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60

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4.14 avg rating — 14 ratings
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60

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3.52 avg rating — 418 ratings
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60

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3.86 avg rating — 57 ratings
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60

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3.77 avg rating — 6,009 ratings
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60

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3.79 avg rating — 391 ratings
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60

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3.90 avg rating — 607 ratings
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60

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
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60

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4.18 avg rating — 1,806,670 ratings
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73

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4.23 avg rating — 101,051 ratings
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73

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4.02 avg rating — 2,708 ratings
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73

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
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73

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4.22 avg rating — 81 ratings
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73

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4.13 avg rating — 2,488 ratings
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73

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3.98 avg rating — 14,793 ratings
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73

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4.13 avg rating — 3,000 ratings
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73

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3.97 avg rating — 69 ratings
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73

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
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73

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3.80 avg rating — 10,643 ratings
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73

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4.60 avg rating — 35,378 ratings
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84

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4.08 avg rating — 6,945 ratings
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84

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3.80 avg rating — 948 ratings
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84

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4.03 avg rating — 2,395 ratings
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84

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3.87 avg rating — 577 ratings
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84

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4.21 avg rating — 68 ratings
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84

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4.25 avg rating — 1,368 ratings
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84

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3.93 avg rating — 51,395 ratings
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84

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3.94 avg rating — 12,337 ratings
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84

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4.33 avg rating — 660 ratings
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84

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4.17 avg rating — 13,067 ratings
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84

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4.12 avg rating — 40 ratings
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84

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
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84

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4.14 avg rating — 38,813 ratings
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84

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4.21 avg rating — 88,652 ratings
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98

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3.91 avg rating — 9,490 ratings
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98

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4.28 avg rating — 358 ratings
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98

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4.76 avg rating — 41 ratings
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150 books · 222 voters · list created May 6th, 2012 by Emil Karajić (votes) .
43 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Emil 392 books
34 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3378 books
861 friends
Bettie 15799 books
20 friends
Alessandra 2204 books
62 friends
Smc 35 books
0 friends
Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 546 books
366 friends
Libby 10289 books
63 friends
Heidi 227 books
1 friend

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-4 of 4 (4 new)

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Susanna - Censored by GoodReads I guess because none of us wanted to vote for it.

You could add it; it's easy to add books to lists. At the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes."


message 2: by Clay (new)

Clay I don't know if Shannara counts in this list. The concept of this list is a total fictional "second world" where as Shannara is supposed to be the far future of THIS world.


message 3: by Clay (new)

Clay Hmmm. You know, you are quite right. I found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-e... It gives references as well. Given that, I suppose that if TLOtR is being used as a baseline, then the Shannara books should qualify (Personally, I really liked the original Shanara trilogy, but could not get into the following books)


message 4: by Brent (new)

Brent Seabrook Conan came before Tolkien.


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