Genre

The best Fantasy books

Secondary worlds with their own physics. Magic systems with rules. The dragons sometimes. The political economy of feudalism always.

97 reviews in this genre.

Highest-rated fantasy on the shelf

A Clash of Kings

by George R. R. Martin

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin 1998 review. Five claimants vie for the Iron Throne while a comet crosses the sky over Westeros. The middle volume of A Song of Ice and Fire and the one most committed Martin readers consider his peak.

A Game of Thrones

by George R. R. Martin

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin 1996 review. The book that rewrote what epic fantasy was allowed to do. Westeros, the Iron Throne, the deaths nobody saw coming. Required reading.

American Gods

by Neil Gaiman

American Gods by Neil Gaiman 2001 review. An ex-convict named Shadow takes a job as bodyguard to a strange man named Wednesday and learns the old gods of immigration are still here, dying slow. The defining American urban fantasy of the 2000s.

Mistborn: The Final Empire

by Brandon Sanderson

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson 2006 review. A street urchin named Vin discovers she can use magic by ingesting and burning metals, and a crew of thieves recruits her for the impossible: kill the immortal Lord Ruler.

The Fifth Season

by N. K. Jemisin

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin 2015 review. On a continent where seismic activity defines life, three women's stories converge as a fifth season begins. Hugo Best Novel 2016, the first volume of the Broken Earth trilogy, and the most important fantasy debut of the 2010s.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

by Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman 2013 review. A middle-aged man returns to his Sussex childhood home for a funeral and remembers something he had carefully forgotten. Late Gaiman at his most patient and most personal.

The Way of Kings

by Brandon Sanderson

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson 2010 review. On the storm-blasted continent of Roshar, an enslaved bridgeman, a disgraced scholar, and a young prince converge as the world races toward a forgotten war. The most ambitious epic fantasy debut since A Game of Thrones.

The Priory of the Orange Tree

by Samantha Shannon

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon 2019 review. A standalone epic fantasy across four kingdoms preparing for the return of a banished ancient dragon. Canonical contemporary literary epic fantasy.

The Cruel Prince

by Holly Black

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black 2018 review. Jude Duarte, a human raised in the High Court of Faerie, navigates Prince Cardan's cruel politics. Canonical contemporary YA romantasy.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf

by Marlon James

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James 2019 review. A hunter with a heightened sense of smell seeks a missing child across a sub-Saharan African fantasy continent. First Dark Star book.

A Storm of Swords

by George R. R. Martin

A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin 2000 review. The third Song of Ice and Fire novel and the structural series peak - the Red Wedding, the Purple Wedding, and the broader War of Five Kings reordering.

Vampires in the Lemon Grove

by Karen Russell

Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell 2013 review. Eight fabulist literary fantasy stories. Russell's second story collection after Swamplandia.

Children of Blood and Bone

by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi 2018 review. In a West-African-inspired fantasy kingdom, a young woman fights to restore magic to her people after the king has it eradicated. The YA fantasy debut that defined the late-2010s book-club moment.

Six of Crows

by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo 2015 review. A crew of six outcasts attempts an impossible heist in the corrupt city of Ketterdam. The YA fantasy heist novel that defined the contemporary Grishaverse and made Bardugo the major YA fantasy writer of her generation.

The Lightning Thief

by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan 2005 review. Percy Jackson, twelve, discovers he is the son of Poseidon and that someone has stolen Zeus's master lightning bolt. The first Percy Jackson novel and the middle-grade fantasy series that defined the post-Harry Potter mythological-YA register.

Circe

by Madeline Miller

Circe by Madeline Miller 2018 review. The witch-goddess of the Odyssey narrates her own life. Miller's second novel and the canonical contemporary feminist mythic re-telling.

The Song of Achilles

by Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 2011 review. The Trojan War retold from Patroclus's perspective, written by a classicist with the patience the source material deserves. The novel that defined the contemporary feminist mythic re-telling subgenre and rebuilt Miller's audience for Circe.

Babel

by R. F. Kuang

Babel by R. F. Kuang 2022 review. An alternate 1830s Oxford where the British Empire is powered by silver bars enchanted with the lost meaning between translated words. Nebula and Locus Award winner.

A Court of Mist and Fury

by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas 2016 review. The second ACOTAR book and the volume that broke the romantasy genre open. Feyre's recovery from Under the Mountain and the Night Court arc.

The Blade Itself

by Joe Abercrombie

Grimdark fantasy with a beating heart underneath the cynicism. Abercrombie writes the kind of characters you would cross a kingdom for.

Before They Are Hanged

by Joe Abercrombie

The second First Law novel. Three plot threads in three different countries, all going progressively worse. Abercrombie at his peak.

Last Argument Of Kings

by Joe Abercrombie

The final First Law book. Abercrombie sticks every landing he had been setting up for two books, and the result is bleak in the best way.

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide

by Douglas Adams

The collected Hitchhiker's books in one volume. If you have not read these, you have a treat ahead. If you have, you already know.

Shardik

by Richard Adams

Richard Adams's 1974 follow-up to Watership Down. A religious epic about a hunter and a giant bear. Difficult, devastating, deeply serious.

The Plague Dogs

by Richard Adams

Richard Adams's third novel. Two laboratory dogs escape in the Lake District. The book that broke me as a 12-year-old.

Karen Memory

by Elizabeth Bear

Elizabeth Bear's 2015 steampunk Western. A Pacific Northwest brothel, a young woman protagonist with the strongest first-person voice in recent SF, and one of the most enjoyable SF novels of its decade.

Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales

by Ray Bradbury

The career-spanning Ray Bradbury short fiction selection. As close to a complete introduction as a single volume gets.

Paladin of Souls

by Lois McMaster Bujold

Bujold's 2003 Hugo and Nebula double. The middle Chalion book. A middle-aged widow becomes the unexpected vessel of a god. One of the great fantasy novels of its decade.

The Curse of Chalion

by Lois McMaster Bujold

Lois McMaster Bujold's 2001 fantasy debut outside the Vorkosigan universe. A broken courtier in a Iberian-flavored fantasy kingdom, and a theology that actually works.

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy

by John Clute

John Clute and John Grant's 1997 reference work. The canonical fantasy encyclopedia. Still the right starting point for serious genre study.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow's 2003 debut. Reputation economies, post-scarcity Disneyland, and one of the cleanest near-future SF visions of its decade.

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy

by John Grant

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy edited by John Clute and John Grant 1997 review. The 1,049-page critical reference work that defined how the field thinks about itself.

The Midnight Library

by Matt Haig

A gorgeous concept executed with warmth and wit. The Midnight Library will make you think differently about the choices you have made - and the ones still ahead.

Fairy Tale

by Stephen King

Fairy Tale by Stephen King 2022 review. Charlie Reade inherits a Maine estate and discovers a portal to a fairy-tale world that has gone seriously wrong. Late-career King at his most generously narrative.

Tress of the Emerald Sea

by Brandon Sanderson

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson 2023 review. A young woman from a remote island sets out across treacherous spore seas to rescue the boy she loves from a sorceress. A standalone Cosmere novel that reads like a Princess Bride homage.

The Night Circus

by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 2011 review. A black-and-white circus open only from sunset to sunrise hosts a years-long competition between two young magicians. Canonical contemporary American literary fantasy.

Onyx Storm

by Rebecca Yarros

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros 2025 review. Third Empyrean novel and the volume that takes the war into its third year. Violet flies south. The fastest-selling adult novel in the past twenty years.

The Atlas Six

by Olivie Blake

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake 2022 review. Six powerful magicians are recruited for the Alexandrian Society. Only five will be initiated. The first Atlas trilogy book and the canonical BookTok-era dark academia romantasy.

Orange World

by Karen Russell

Orange World by Karen Russell 2019 review. Eight more fabulist literary fantasy stories. Russell's third story collection.

Fourth Wing

by Rebecca Yarros

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 2023 review. Violet Sorrengail, a fragile scribe, is forced into the brutal dragon-riding war college. The first book of the Empyrean series and the romantasy novel that defined the 2023-2024 BookTok moment.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 2015 review. A human huntress is taken to the faerie kingdom of Prythian after killing a wolf in the woods. The first ACOTAR book and the romantasy series that set the table for the genre's BookTok-era explosion.

Iron Flame

by Rebecca Yarros

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros 2023 review. The second Empyrean book picks up the morning after Fourth Wing's cliffhanger and runs eight hundred pages of war-college politics, signet escalation, and the slow-burn enemies-to-lovers payoff the audience came for.

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Highest-rated fantasy on the shelf

A Clash of Kings

A Game of Thrones

American Gods

Mistborn: The Final Empire

The Fifth Season

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Way of Kings

The Priory of the Orange Tree

The Cruel Prince

Black Leopard, Red Wolf

A Storm of Swords

Vampires in the Lemon Grove

Children of Blood and Bone

Six of Crows

The Lightning Thief

Circe

The Song of Achilles

Babel

A Court of Mist and Fury

The Blade Itself

Before They Are Hanged

Last Argument Of Kings

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide

Shardik

The Plague Dogs

Karen Memory

Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales

Paladin of Souls

The Curse of Chalion

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy

The Midnight Library

Fairy Tale

Tress of the Emerald Sea

The Night Circus

Onyx Storm

The Atlas Six

Orange World

Fourth Wing

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Iron Flame

The House in the Cerulean Sea

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Cinnabar Shadows

The Rise and Fall of a Dragonking

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

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