[Ivyn]

Besides Harry Potter--I thought I read that the Goblet of Fire sold 100 million copies world-wide, but I don't know how accurate that is or where I read it. Does anyone know where I can get statistics on the best-selling fantasy books/series?

This is just something that interests me, I'm obsessed with tracking the box-office statistics as well. :o

[Julian]

Intriguing question, but I suppose it's basically unanswerable. Someone would have had to keep track for a very long time...

On the other hand, I suspect a calculation could be made on the basis of the number of printed copies. It would take some work, though...

A rather uneducated guess would be that the bestselling fantasies are children's books. I'm thinking Alice's Adventures in Wonderland might well top that list. And it should include The Wind in the Willows.

But all that's dependent on whether you wish to accept these books as fantasy in the first place. (I would, but recognise the line's a blurred one - why not Winnie the Pooh, for example?)

If you're not, I'd probably put my money on The Lord of the Rings.

Not aware of any sites specifically dealing with this, by the way.

[Iskaral Pust]

I think the world's current bestseller is Stephen King.
Obviously he's more mainstream than fantasy; I honestly couldn't tell you much about fantasy bestsellers. I'm sure you'd be able to find current charts, bestsellers for each month, but for all time, records are unlikely to exist.
I'd say Lord of the Rings of Alice in Wonderland.

[JohnH]

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[Julian]

I think the world's current bestseller is (...)


But the interesting part of this question is that it's not about the current bestsellers. It's about the all time bestsellers.

Sure, Jordan sells lots. King sold more. That's a gaggle of givens.

But take a look at this:

http://www.ipl.org.ar/ref/QUE/FARQ/bestsellerFARQ.html

Have to admit, it doesn't seem all to convincing to me... But heh, there are books on this list I've never heard of. Authors I don't come close to remembering....

Hmm, what does "bestselling" mean? Should this be changed to "most read"?

[JohnH]

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[ChrisW]

I read somewhere that Feist had sold around twenty million books worldwide so he'd be right up there for fantasy authors but that's multiple series.

Individual book at a guess i'd say LotR counting it as one book and not a trilogy. WoT for an individual series. It has over 11 million copies imprint in North America alone.

It all depends on what your counting as Fantasy.

[allanon]

I heard that HP sold 250 million copies, which leaves the other books quite helpless, I think:)
LotR is with 100 million sold copies, as far as I know - not a bad result. From the current authors it has to be Jordan, followed by Brooks and Eddings.
I heard that Ludlum sold 900 million copies from his books, but I don't want to believe it :eek:

[Shayna]

Julian...

Quite the site you found there! I like looking at sites like these, so that I might get an idea of what books and authors are out there. Also which classics make it in the top 100 or so...and love to see what made it back in the other years(30s, 40s, ..... and up) I will definitely add this one to my list!! ;)

[xayaxos]

IMHO - The Bible ... but that's just me ;)