ception ▁The ▁first ▁book , ▁Tit us ▁Gro an , ▁was ▁published ▁in ▁ 1 9 4 6 ▁to ▁ec static ▁reviews ▁and ▁the ▁series ▁has ▁continued ▁to ▁grow ▁in ▁its ▁critical ▁reputation ▁since ▁Pe ake ' s ▁death . ▁Contempor ary ▁review ers ▁pra ise ▁it ▁for ▁its ▁icon ic ▁imag ery ▁and ▁characters , ▁and ▁it ▁is ▁often ▁c ited ▁as ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁greatest ▁fant asy ▁nov els ▁of ▁all ▁time . ▁Anthony ▁Burg ess ▁called ▁the ▁series ▁uniqu ely ▁brilliant ▁and ▁stated ▁that ▁it ▁has ▁right fully ▁been ▁ha iled ▁as ▁modern ▁classic . ▁In ▁their ▁review ▁P unch ▁op ined ▁that ▁the ▁series ▁constit uted ▁" the ▁fin est ▁imag inary ▁fe at ▁in ▁the ▁English ▁novel ▁since ▁U ly ss es , ▁while ▁editor ▁Lang don ▁Jones ▁commented ▁that ▁it ▁was ▁the ▁sort ▁of ▁novel ▁that ▁one ▁remembered ▁for ▁the ▁rest ▁of ▁one ' s ▁life ▁and ▁that ▁he ▁felt ▁it ▁should ▁be ▁required ▁reading ▁in ▁secondary ▁schools . ▁The ▁Daily ▁Te legraph ▁has ▁described ▁Ste er pi ke ▁as ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁all - time ▁greatest ▁villa ins ▁in ▁western ▁literature . ▁ ▁Acc ol ades ▁ ▁G orm eng h ast ▁( nov el )   — ▁ 1 9 5 0 ▁Royal ▁Society ▁of ▁Liter ature ▁O nd a at je ▁Prize ▁ ▁G orm eng h ast ▁( nov el )   — ▁ 1 9 5 1 ▁Hein emann ▁Award ▁ ▁G orm eng h ast   — ▁# 6 ▁L ocus