The Fantasy Books

bookLists

Best Fantasy Books of 2014

Best Fantasy Books of 2014

The year 2015 was a landmark moment for fantasy literature, delivering a dazzling array of novels that captured the imaginations of readers around the world. From sweeping epic sagas and...

Top 100 Fantasy Books

Top 100 Fantasy Books

This list continues directly from where  the Top 25 Best Fantasy List ends, starting from #26 and ending at #100 (yes, I know the list shows #1, but 1 = 26).Frankly, there are...

Good Fantasy Reads

Good Fantasy Reads

This section lists fantasy books that are definitely worth reading. While they aren't the best of the best, these books are still very enjoyable. If you've read all the books...

Top 25 Best Fantasy Books

Top 25 Best Fantasy Books

This is a list of books that are the crème de la crème of the fantasy genre. I've carefully chosen the top 25 fantasy books from hundreds of series and...

World Fantasy Award Winners

World Fantasy Award Winners

A list of all the books that have won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, from the first (1975) to the newest 2014.The award is given out for the...

Best Fantasy Books of 2014

Best Fantasy Books of 2014

These our our picks for the best fantasy books of 2014. 2014 was a phenomenal year for fantasy and there was a stack of highly anticipated book released by some of...

Top 25 Best Fantasy Books Since 2010

Top 25 Best Fantasy Books Since 2010

Sometimes you don't want to wade through older books when picking out your next selection of best fantasy to read. As impacting and awesome as some of the older 'greats'...

Best Fantasy Books of 2016

Best Fantasy Books of 2016

If you look at what's being released by the Big Six publishers, small press publishers, not to mention the hordes of indie fantasy releases, then there would be hundreds (maybe...

Best Fantasy Books of the 70's

Best Fantasy Books of the 70's

The 70's saw us Afro hairstyle, the Me generation, the continuation of the Cold War, the end of the Vietnam war, and death of the hippy trail.  It was also...

Best Fantasy Books of 2017

Best Fantasy Books of 2017

We are mid-swing into the 2017 year and so far there's been quite a few standout fantasy book releases by some big-hitting authors. April, particularly, was a strong month with...

Best Fantasy Books of 2017

Best Fantasy Books of 2017

The BestHere's my list of the best fantasy novels I've read in 2017. I'll be keeping this list updated from month to month with all the new releases coming out. ...

Best Fantasy Books of 2018

Best Fantasy Books of 2018

The finest works of fantasy literature have the ability to transport readers to distant realms, such as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth or Homer’s ancient Greece. In 2018, avid readers of fantasy...

Best Fantasy Books of 2015

Best Fantasy Books of 2015

The year 2015 was a landmark moment for fantasy literature, delivering a dazzling array of novels that captured the imaginations of readers around the world. From sweeping epic sagas and...

The Best Fantasy Books of the 1960's

The Best Fantasy Books of the 1960's

The Swinging 60's. The Space Race. Martin Luther King JR. Vietnam. JFK. The Beetles Woodstock. Bonnie and Clyde. The Sound of Music. The Jungle Book. The 60's is an era...

Top 25 Best Fantasy Books of the 90's

Top 25 Best Fantasy Books of the 90's

Ah the 90's. Bad fashion, bad hair and Nickelback.If fashion and hairstyles (and arguably music) took a hit, fantasy certainly did not. The 90's saw the emergence of some of...

Nominated Fantasy Books of 2018

Nominated Fantasy Books of 2018

Final round of nominees for best fantasy book in 2018. Here's the list of them.

Best Fantasy Books 2025

Best Fantasy Books 2025

Looking for your next fantasy obsession? This curated list highlights the Most Addictive Fantasy Books of 2025 — the stories readers are devouring, reviewing, and recommending nonstop. From high-stakes epics...

Top 10 Fantasy Books of 2017

Top 10 Fantasy Books of 2017

The BestHere's my list of the best fantasy novels I've read in 2017. I'll be keeping this list updated from month to month with all the new releases coming out. ...

Top 25 Fantasy Books of the 80's

Top 25 Fantasy Books of the 80's

The 80s wasn't just a period of Hammertime(!) and big hair. It was also a revolutionary decade for fantasy. a revolution in the marketplace that helped make fantasy the pop...

Top 25 Best Pre-Tolkein Fantasy Books

Top 25 Best Pre-Tolkein Fantasy Books

When writing any list detailing the best pre-Tolkien fantasy it is difficult, to say the least. I started creating this list quite easily...then the questions began: How do you determine what belongs...

books

City Of Stairs

City Of Stairs

Robert Jackson Bennett is one of the most talented writers in the genre but who has, for whatever reason, been mostly overlooked by the average reader. His best book (in...

Bennett, Robert Jackson
The Goblin Emperor

The Goblin Emperor

A powerful coming of age tale about a rejected half-goblin, half-elven prince who comes unexpectedly to power when an accident kills his father, the emperor, and half brothers. It's a...

Addison, Katherine
City Of Blades

City Of Blades

2014's City of Stairs was a remarkable read and was widely regarded by many critics as one of the best, if not the best, novel of 2014. Robert Jackson Bennett...

Bennett, Robert Jackson
Talion: Revenant

Talion: Revenant

List more than a few entries on this Top 100 list, Talion is a completely underrated fantasy book. Stackapole is a prolific author, writing everything from Star Wars novels, video...

Stackpole, Michael A.
Chronicle Of The Unhewn Throne

Chronicle Of The Unhewn Throne

One of the best fantasy books (this book and the sequel book too our best fantasy book of 2014 & 2015) is made even better by a perfect performance by...

Staveley, Brian
Elantris

Elantris

This fantasy fiction novel will suck you in. Elantris is one of the best standalone fantasy books in the genre. It's about addictive as chocolate and a whole lot healthier!...

Sanderson, Brandon
The Lightbringer

The Lightbringer

The Lightbringer is Brent Weeks best series so far. I was never that impressed with his Night Angel trilogy which was all action and setting but of little substance. However,...

Weeks, Brent
The Tombs Of Atuan

The Tombs Of Atuan

One of the Time 100 Best Fantasy Books Of All Time The Newbery Honor-winning second novel in the renowned Earthsea series from Ursula K. LeGuin. In this second novel in...

Guin, Ursula K. Le
The Prey Of Gods

The Prey Of Gods

*WINNER: 2017 Compton Crook Award!*WINNER: 2017 RT Booklovers Award (Science Fiction)!*A Wall Street Journal \"Summer Reading: One expert. One book\" pick for 2017!*The RT Book Reviews \"June 2017: Seal of...

Drayden, Nicky
The Last Mortal Bond

The Last Mortal Bond

This just came out in March and is one of the best fantasy books of 2016 and wraps up one of THE best fantasy series to come out the past...

Staveley, Brian
The Daylight War

The Daylight War

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER With The Warded Man and The Desert Spear, Peter V. Brett surged to the front rank of contemporary fantasy, standing alongside giants in the field such...

Brett, Peter V.
Sword Of Truth

Sword Of Truth

This one falls under the "Terribly Written Books" category AND the "Overrated Books With Undeserved Hype". Woah, double kill!Some people might be wondering why bestselling author Terry Goodkind is missing...

Goodkind, Terry
The Broken Empire

The Broken Empire

If you want some seriously good fantasy (extremely gritty, grimdark fantasy), The Broken Empire Books are some of the best out there (the books top our Top 25 Best Fantasy...

Lawrence, Mark
Malazan Book Of The Fallen

Malazan Book Of The Fallen

This book nearly tops the Best Fantasy Books list and a number of other lists on this site; it would be an injustice to omit this series here as well,...

Erikson, Steven
The Color Of Magic

The Color Of Magic

What would a list of best fantasy books be without mentioning Terry? Not that Brooks dude who wrote an entire series about glowing pebbles. The other one. The funny one....

Pratchett, Terry
A Song Of Ice And Fire

A Song Of Ice And Fire

This series tops the Top 25 Best Fantasy Books, and with good reason and it's my pick for the best fantasy series. Martin shattered the fantasy mold and created something...

Martin, George R. R.
Kingdom of Ash - Target Exclusive (Throne of Glass)

Kingdom of Ash - Target Exclusive (Throne of Glass)

“With a twisting and turning plot that ultimately leads its expansive cast of characters to a long-fated collision, Kingdom of Ash is a worthy finale to one of the best...

Maas, Sarah J.
The Way Of Kings

The Way Of Kings

The Stormlight Archive has for better or worse become the poster-boy for where (classic) epic fantasy is going. It's the evolution of the Tolkien-style fantasy -- a fantasy that was...

Sanderson, Brandon
The Lies Of Locke Lamora

The Lies Of Locke Lamora

There's so much about this wonderful series that's right. From a thrilling Robin Hood caper story (think a magical Oceans 11), compelling and complex characters, deep and expansive world-building, fascinating...

Lynch, Scott
The Prince Of Shadows

The Prince Of Shadows

I like to call this the Wheel of Time set in a fantastical China which about sums up this series. Overall, the series that integrates an impressive amount of Chinese...

Clair, Jennifer St.

authors