Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince)īy Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, first published 1943 This is pretty impressive for one book, given that less than 20 book series have sold more than that, and some of those series have hundreds of instalments.
The Hobbit sits in second place for best-selling single volume with an estimated 142 million copies sold. Additionally, many would dub it a series rather than a single volume, as that is how it is now sold. No surprises here, given its initial and enduring popularity, its status as a fantasy classic, and the recent resurgence in popularity due to the Peter Jackson films.Īlthough it is first on the list of best-selling single volumes, some older books and religious texts have been excluded due to unreliable sales figures (see footnote at the bottom of this post) so it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best-selling book ever published. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (counted on the Wikipedia list as one book rather than a series as “it was written by Tolkien as a single book”) comes out at the top of the best-selling single volumes list, with approximately 150 million books sold. This places them between 11 and 18 on the best-selling books list. Harry Potter books 2 through 7 also rank highly, with estimated sales of between 50 and 65 million each. The children’s horror series Goosebumps follows it in second place with an estimated 350 million copies sold of its 62 instalments. While Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone only takes fourth place for best-selling single volume at an estimated 107 million copies, the Harry Potter series as a whole tops the series list, with a whopping 450 million copies sold, making it the best-selling book series of all time. Some books have also been excluded from the list – see footnote at the bottom of this post) 1. (Bear in mind that the Wikipedia list I am drawing from will likely change in future, so this is a snapshot as at June 2016.
So this got me to thinking, what are the most popular fantasy books and series of all time, in terms of book sales? I thought I’d use the list to answer this question, compiling those fantasies that are estimated to have sold 50 million copies or more: And I’m not just talking about Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings… these two series undoubtedly dominate the top of the lists, but there are other fantasy books in the mix too. The other day I came across this Wikipedia article listing best-selling books, and as I scrolled through the list (which is based on estimated number of copies sold), it struck me that many of the titles listed – including the top 4 – are fantasy novels. Photo from Wikimedia ( CC BY-SA 2.0) – People waiting for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release
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