For sheer brilliance of imagination of creating a mythical world of Middle Earth, complete with its own philology, written in magnificent language (not for nothing was Tolkien an Oxford Don), the 3 volume "The Lord of the Rings" along with its simpler prequel "The Hobbit", is an epic for all time.
Tolkien's friend, C.S.Lewis created the seven "Narnia" Chronicles, in the fantasy genre for children, but they can be interpreted at many levels.
The seven volume "Remembrance of Things Past" by Marcel Proust is a literary landmark both for its evocation of a bygone age & meticulous detailing of trivia dredged from the author's phenomenal memory.
Romain Rolland's fictionalised biography of Beethoven, spread over 4 volumes as "John Christopher" spans both France & Germany in its narrative flow. Though it gathered the Nobel Prize for Literature, some portions may appear dated now.
Paul Scott's "The Raj Quartet", comprises the most painful period of the British rule in India. The unique feature of this is the non-linear narrative utilised by Scott to relate the same central events through different viewpoints.
Lawrence Durrell's "The Alexandria Quartet" employs a similar technique in that the first three volumes present the same event as viewed through three different characters.
The four novels about the disciplinarian, magical, narcissistic nanny Mary Poppins continue to enthral children of all ages.
Rumer Godden, who in addition to her normal novels, wrote seven books about the inner life of dolls, created a niche for herself.
Mary Norton, who, because of her myopia in childhood, was inspired to imagine & create miniscule human beings called "The Borrowers" wrote five novels about the tiny ones.
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