Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The hilarious tale of the hapless Arthur Dent, who embarks on a wild ride when his friend reveals that the Earth is about to be demolished to make way for an interstellar bypass. First in a series.

Piers Anthony, On a Pale Horse.
When Zane shoots Death, he learns, too late, that he must assume Death's place, speeding around the world on his pale horse and ending the lives of others. First in the Incarnations of Immortality series.

Robert Asprin, Another Fine Myth.
An unemployed magician's apprentice and a powerless demon set out on a quest to save the universe from a mage who wants to rule all dimensions. First in a series.

Peter Beagle, The Last Unicorn.
A unicorn, accompanied by a bumbling wizard, tries to discover whether she is the last of her kind.

Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Bloody Sun.
Jeff Kerwin thinks he’s a full-blooded Terran, but when he returns to the planet Darkover he learns that he has the psychic powers of the native Comyn. Part of a series.

David Brin, Startide Rising.
A Terran exploration vessel carrying a vital secret crashes on an uncharted water world, where her human & dolphin crew battle rebellion and a hostile environment. Part of the Uplift series.

Terry Brooks, The Sword of Shannara.
When Shea Ohmsford discovers that he is the only person who can defeat the evil Warlock Lord he embarks on a quest to find the fabled Sword of Shannara. First in a series.

Lois Bujold, Warrior's Apprentice.
Discharged from the Imperial Military Academy, Miles Vorkosigan commits treason by forming his own mercenary fleet. First in a series.

Octavia Butler, The Parable of the Sower.
In a future America on the verge of collapse, Lauren Olamina leaves her destroyed town seeking refuge and gains followers to her creed of community survival. First in a series.

Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game.
Ender Wiggin is sent to Battle School to learn to defend Earth against a race of insectlike aliens, but he soon realizes the training scenarios are more than just games. First in a series.

Isobelle Carmody, Obernewtyn.
In a world devastated by nuclear holocaust, a young woman is exiled to the isolated town of Obernewtyn because of the extraordinary abilities she possesses. First in the Obernewtyn Chronicles.

David Eddings, Pawn of Prophecy.
Garion, an orphaned farm boy, starts a quest in search of his destiny as foretold in a 7,000-year-old prophecy. First in the Belgariad series.

Jack Finney, Time and Again.
Simon Morley agrees to take part in a time travel experiment, but when the government asks him to do something that he fears may affect the present and future he concocts an ingenious solution. Sequel is From Time to Time.

Joe Haldeman, The Forever War.
A student drafted to wage war against the Taurans finds that when he returns home 27 years have passed on Earth, so he reenlists and finds himself fighting battle after battle as the centuries pass.

Harry Harrison, The Stainless Steel Rat.
Criminal mastermind Slippery Jim diGriz would much rather fly about the universe concocting profitable schemes, but instead he is drafted to help catch another supercriminal. First in a series.

Frank Herbert, Dune.
During a power struggle on the desert planet Arrakis, Paul Atreides is cast out into the harsh environment to die, but he meets a tribe of desert dwellers who form the basis of the army with which he plans to reclaim what's rightfully his. First in a series.

James P. Hogan, Bug Park.
Visionary teens Kevin and Taki realize that they can make millions from Bug Park, a nanotechnology entertainment park that employs direct neural interfacing, but a murderous saboteur forces them into a war of physics.

Robert Jordan, The Eye of the World.
During the Age of Prophecy, when the world and time hang in the balance, a group of young people set out from their small village to find the Eye of the World. First in the Wheel of Time series.

Annette Klause, Blood & Chocolate.
A teenage werewolf falls in love with a human but is unable to control her animal instincts.

Stephen King, The Eyes of the Dragon.
Pitted against an evil wizard and a would-be rival for the throne of his kingdom, Prince Peter makes a daring escape and rallies the forces of Good to fight for what is rightfully his.

Mercedes Lackey, Winds of Fate.
Elspeth, heir to the throne of Valdemar, seeks someone to teach her the use of magic to defend her kingdom. First in the Mage Winds series.

Ursula LeGuin, A Wizard of Earthsea.
An awkward boy becomes a wizard's apprentice and discovers his fate is more important than he ever dreamed possible. First in a series.

Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight.
A kitchen drudge named Lessa becomes a Dragon Rider & tries to save her world from the approaching Red Star. First in the Dragonriders of Pern series.

Patricia McKillip, The Riddle-Master of Hed.
When Morgon wins the crown of King Peven in a riddle contest he attracts the interest of Deth, the High One's harpist, and reluctantly leaves his home & family in order to discover the meaning of the three stars on his forehead. First in a trilogy.

Robin McKinley, Beauty.
Contrary to her name, Beauty is not the prettiest of her sisters, but she proves herself the most resourceful and courageous when she agrees to live in the Beast’s castle.

Elizabeth Moon, The Deed of Paksenarrion.
Paks refuses to obey her father's order to marry the local pig farmer, but instead joins the army and becomes a legendary hero. Trilogy in one volume.

Terry Pratchett, The Colour of Magic.
When Rincewind, a wizard whose spells never seem to work, is roped into acting as a tour guide for a four-eyed insurance salesman, chaos and mayhem follow. First in the Discworld series.

Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass.
Lyra and her daemon--a manifestation of her soul in animal form--travel to the far north to solve the disappearance of children said to have been stolen by the Gobblers. First in the series His Dark Materials.

R. A. Salvatore, The Dark Elf Trilogy.
The dark elf Drizzt flees the cruel city of his birth into the Underdark, where he relies on his unparalleled skill with scimitars to survive. After an encounter a spirit-wraith, he ventures to the Surface, where hope and rejection finally led him to Icewind Dale, his first true home. First 3 of a series.

Charles Sheffield, Putting up Roots.
Abandoned by his mother, Josh Kerrigan leaves Earth for Solferino, where he and his friends realize that a native lifeform is being threatened by developers. Part of the Jupiter series.

Robert Silverberg, Lord Valentine’s Castle.
The mind of Lord Valentine, ruler of Majipoor, is transferred by a usurper to the body of a juggler with no memory of his true identity. 1st in a series.

Christopher Stasheff, The Warlock in Spite of Himself.
Rod Gallowglass discovers that he can work magic on the lost Terran colony Gramarye & sets out to free his new world from a dictator. First in a series.

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring.
Frodo Baggins discovers that the Ring his uncle Bilbo gave him possesses great evil and must be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom before the Dark Lord can claim it and take over Middle Earth. First in the Lord of the Rings trilogy followed by The Two Towers & The Return of the King. The story of Bilbo's discovery of the Ring is told in The Hobbit.

Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickham, Dragon Wing.
Imprisoned for centuries in a labyrinth, the Patryn discover an escape route and send the emissary Haplo through it to learn what he can about the outside world. First in the Death Gate Cycle.

Tad Williams, The Dragonbone Chair.
Simon is a kitchen boy whose dreams of great deeds and heroic wars come true when the High King's death unleashes the evil power of the Storm King. First in the Memory, Sorrow & Thorn trilogy.

Gene Wolfe, The Shadow of the Torturer.
Severian, an apprentice torturer, is exiled for showing mercy to one of his “clients” and begins an
adventure-filled journey across a wintry Urth circling a dying sun. First in The Book of the New Sun.

Patricia Wrede, Mairelon the Magician.
A street waif is caught searching a magician's wagon and agrees to travel with him in order to learn magic. Sequel is Magician's Ward.

Timothy Zahn, Heir to the Empire.
Five years after they defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor, Princess Leia and Han Solo are married and Luke is a Jedi knight, and all are unaware that a warlord plans to reclaim the Empire. 1st in a trilogy.

Roger Zelazny, The Chronicles of Amber.
A man who awakens in an Earth hospital with no memory discovers that he has been exiled to the Shadows from the real world of Amber, where he is heir to the throne.