Fantasy is the home of the series. After all that worldbuilding, one volume isn’t enough, right? The vast canvas of most imagined worlds need two, three, four or more books in order to do it justice.

In many cases, this is true and there’s nothing like the deep and total immersion in an invented world with all its characters and knowing that, as a reader, you can stay under for a good, long, rewarding time.

On the other hand, sometimes we need the standalone novel, a single volume that is entire unto itself, when all is said and done at the close of that back cover. Here are some of our favourites.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Elegant, brittle, period perfect in its pitch, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is a gracious dream where magic, politics and ways of being intersect in a stately dance.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Swashbuckling, derring-do and adventures ahoy, and full of Gaiman charm, it has a melancholy side that adds to its wistfulness. It doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville. Fantasy? Science fiction? Fever dream? Perdido Street Station is dark and allusive, rich and pointed, sardonic and memorable.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. A lush and fragrant fantasy that transports readers in the best traditions of the genre.

To those of you who say that some of the single volumes we suggest above are monstrously long and could really be split into two or three books thereby invalidating our argument, we say ‘Maybe they could, maybe they could…’

All the best from the cloud!

Michael Pryor