Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! This is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where a new top ten list hits the web every week!

This week we have a great topic to explore …

Books I Could Reread Forever

Like everyone else, I have special books/series I find myself returning to every so often.  Stories which have withstood the test of time in my eyes and still connect with me after years or decades.  And this list are just a few of my favorites which I truly believe I can keep rereading throughout the rest of my life.

10. Promise of Blood

I came late to The Powder Mage world, but I made up for it in my quick love for anything to do with Brian McClellan’s world and his characters.  I’ve read almost all the short stories and novellas by the author, love the new trilogy set in this same world, and can already see this is a series I’ll be returning to for years to come.

Purchase Promise of Blood at Amazon

9. The Guns of the South

I’ve read a lot of alternate history books and a lot of Harry Turtledove books, but this is probably the best of both in my humble opinion.  Mixing time travel and alternate history, Turtledove weaves a compelling story which takes the horrible circumstances of the American War Between the States and turns it into a page-turning affair where historical figures come to life.  I have read this novel several times to this point and have enjoyed it every time.

Purchase The Guns of the South at Amazon

8. Foundation 

Sure, there are newer, flashier, more modern science fiction series out there these days, one where the writing of the author leaves Isaac Asimov in the dust, but for sure pleasure to read, I’ll pick The Foundation series over most of them.  These stories are just easy to read, have fun characters, and are never too preachy.

Purchase Foundation at Amazon 

7. The Complete Chronicles of Conan

Everyone who frequents this blog very much realizes I’m a huge fan of sword and sorcery.  My first love in the genre was Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories, and I find myself gravitating back to them more often these days, which is a trend I see increasing as the fantasy books out there either do not interest me or become far too serious.

Purchase The Complete Chronicles of Conan at Amazon 

6. Lord Foul’s Bane

Many hate this book/series.  Most dislike the main character, Thomas Covenant.  Some modern readers scream it is too similar to The Lord of the Rings.  Be that as it may, I have always been a fan of Donaldson’s first two Covenant series and will always be.  And, yeah, I hate the main character as much as the next person, but his story of redemption speaks to me, because I truly believe people can change.

Purchase Lord Foul’s Bane at Amazon 

5. Morigu

This series is unfinished (and probably always will be), but it still one of the best sword and sorcery stories out there for me personally.  Mixing brutality with old school elves and dwarves, this story of a world on the cusp of total destruction isn’t perfect, but it is damn good and is beloved by all its fans.  I can’t count how many times I’ve read it over the years, but I do know I’ll be reading it again and again.

Purchase Morigu: The Desecration at Amazon 

4. Dune

For me, this is probably the greatest science fiction series I’ve ever written and one that I will forgive almost anything.  Sure, the later books by Herbert drop off in quality and those written by others are just not the same, but the overall story is so compelling, so epic that every few years I feel myself pulled back into this universe to relive it all yet again.

Purchase Dune at Amazon

3. Darwath

Barbara Hambly is a fine author who has written many a compelling book, but for me this is the best series of them all with its apocalyptic fantasy setting and its cast of colorful, interesting characters from modern American (If you still consider late 1970s/ early 1980s America modern.) and an alien world beset by nightmarish creatures from legend.  A great read, though the sequels aren’t quite as good.

Purchase The Time Of The Dark at Amazon 

2. The Black Company

Glen Cook’s Black Company stories are timeless fantasy where grittiness is front-and-center.  Certainly in this day and age of grimdark, there are stories out there more gritty, more brutal, and more realistic, but none of those books have the same charm and entertainment value as a Glen Cook penned tale of Croaker and Lady, two of the best fantasy characters ever created.

Purchase The Black Company at Amazon

1.  The Lord of the Rings

As an old school fantasy reader, there was never any doubt that this timeless classic would be number one of the list.  I’ve always loved this story, returned to it over and over again, and always wish to be able to do so whenever I feel the longing to do so.  And when I say LoTR, please understand I mean The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, Unfinished Tales, and everything else Middle-Earth related from J.R.R. Tolkien, because they are all amazing.

Purchase The Lord of the Rings at Amazon

That is my list.  Agree?  Disagree?  Believe you have a book I should have included.  Let me know!