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The Best Fantasy Books of the 1960's

The Top Fantasy Written During the 1960's

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The Swinging 60's. The Space Race. Martin Luther King JR. Vietnam. JFK. The Beetles Woodstock. Bonnie and Clyde. The Sound of Music. The Jungle Book. 

The 60's is an era that we are all familiar with. It was a turbulent decade filled with events, personalities and concepts that are still so relevant almost 60 years later.

We can go for hours discussing the various aspects that were controversial and ground-breaking. But let's rather focus on the literature. 

The 1960s were a great decade for literary fantasy — it was a time when new writers were bringing new themes into the genre, and exploring old themes in radically new ways. 

It's no surprise that all this made a serious dent on the fantasy genre. And in fact, it did: some of the greatest authors published their seminal works in the 1960's. 

We have classics from the likes of Michael Moorcock, Roald Dahl, Andre Norton, Maurice Sendak, Susan Cooper and more… 

Our list of legendary fantasy novels could be much longer than it actually is! But we limit our selection to the Top 25 Best 25 Fantasy Books of the 1960's that you absolutely need to read.

Make sure to check out our other Best Fantasy Decade Lists:

Best Pre-Tolkien FantasyBest Early Modern Fantasy (1930's to 1950's)Best Fantasy Books of the 70's (fantasy finds complexity)Best Fantasy Books of the 80's (the golden age)Best Fantasy Books of the 90's (contemporary fantasy)

The ranking

3
Stormbringer

Stormbringer

by Moorcock, Michael

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5
The Dark Is Rising

The Dark Is Rising

by Cooper, Susan

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12
Pern Series

Pern Series

by Mccaffrey, Anne

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13
Elidor

Elidor

by Garner, Alan

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17
The Serpent

The Serpent

by Gaskell, Jane

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