Best Military Fantasy Books

Malazan Book Of The Fallen (The Malazan Book Of The Fallen)

by Erikson, Steven

This ten volume series is complex and epic in scope with nonlinear storylines.

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, considering that it contains descriptions of in-depth military tactic...

The Black Company (The Chronicles Of The Black Company) Start here

by Cook, Glen

An elite mercenary unit is the focus of this series. It is a mix of fantasy, gritty realism, and military fiction. It is often cited as an inspiration for the Grimdark sub-genre.

In an era when fantasy was about honorable farm boys with magic swords and a noble destiny, Glen Cook said 'fuck that mess; let's have some amoral pricks doing bad deeds in a dark world, that's way cooler'. And you kn...

Malazan Book Of The Fallen (The Malazan Book Of The Fallen)

by Erikson, Steven

A grand and epic series with a huge cast of characters with epic battles, sieges, mages, and carnage.

Steven Eriksen has been both lauded and criticized for his extreme detail, and that extends to his magic system. In Malazan, magic comes from warrens, a realm from which mages and shamans can draw their power. Some...

The Heroes (First Law World)

by Abercrombie, Joe

The title is a bit tongue-in-cheek, as Abercrombie himself describes it this way: "Three men. One battle. No heroes." It was designed to be a standalone novel, but is set in the world of The First Law. The entire novel...

The Ten Thousand (The Macht) Start here

by Kearney, Paul

Paul Kearny is one of the most underrated fantasy authors out there. He’s written a host of awesome military fantasy books and has been mostly ignored by the wider public for it. A shame, as he writes some of the most en...

Deed Of Paksenarrion (The Deed Of Paksenarrion)

by Moon, Elizabeth

Heroic military fantasy starring woman? This is the premise of Deed of Paksenarrion, following the exploits of a woman who rises above her station to become a legend. This novel is most concerned with the characters and...

The Stormlight Archive (The Stormlight Archive)

by Sanderson, Brandon

Understandably, some readers prefer series more epic in their nature, and Sanderson also has that covered. Though it’s magic systemsaren’t quite as compelling as in Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive is stillup there wi...

Legend (Drenai Tales) Start here

by Gemmell, David

Gemmell specializes in heroic fantasy. His best book is widely regarded as Legend. Legend doesn’t try to be anything but what it is: a heroic adventure with lots of blood, battles, babes, and badass magic. There’s a plot...

Furies Of Calderon (Codex Alera) Start here

by Butcher, Jim

What happens to soldiers after the war is fought? This book tells the story of five veterans and some secrets too.

Most of theitems on this list made it thanks to their unique ideas. Instead, Codex Alera takes a system familiar to millions of children. While many authors claim inspiration from Tolkien or Jordan, Butcher takes his...

The Darkness That Comes Before (The Prince Of Nothing) Start here

by Bakker, R. Scott

This book and the Prince of Nothing trilogy, as well as the other books that follow, are so dark that you'll need a shower after reading them. And therapy. This bad-boy was nominated for the Locus Award for Best First No...

Tyrants And Kings (Tyrants And Kings)

by Marco, John

Military fantasy with some great characterization, gray characters, and a lot of plot twists the whole way through. The author takes great pains to create most characters as morally ambiguous – simple humans fighting to...

The Cry Of The Newborn (The Ascendants Of Estorea) Start here

by Barclay, James

Barclay's series presents large scale, detailed battles in setting that is more realistic. This series begins as an empire gears up for war and magic is just being discovered.

Epic war fantasy where there is a clear sense of black and white. For some, this may be a breath of fresh air from all the gritty, shades-of-grey type fantasy that’s in vogue right now. The “typical” military fantasy bei...

Ash: A Secret History

by Gentle, Mary

A gritty, realistic story that is also a part Military Fantasy; set in medieval France.

Ash: A Secret History is one of the few novels on this list with ties to the present world, framed from the start and throughout as a story a historian finds in dusty manuscripts. Gentle is so serious about her writing a...

The Company

by Littell, Robert

Not your typical military fantasy fare, but a compelling if different read. It’s a story about a half-dozen ex-soldiers who are veterans of some of the worst battles of the war. The war is over and the soldiers find they...

The Dragoncrown War Cycle

by Stackpole, Michael A.

An almost painful amount of battle scenes and gore, to the point where reading yet another description about how a goblin’s head was mashed to pulp by a sword loses all impact. Lots and lots of gore and fighting - too mu...

His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire) Start here

by Novik, Naomi

This series explores a post-colonial world and both sides have their faults.

The Napoleonic Wars seem to be an especially fascinating era for writers; this series is the second on the list set in this time period at the turn of the 19th century. His Majesty's Dragon, the first in the Temeraire se...

The Seer King (The Seer King) Start here

by Bunch, Chris

Two words describe this series: Love and War. A flawed work as a whole, but certainly an exciting, ambitious one, and the flaws are in many ways compensated by the sheer cracking intensity of the whole thing. I can promi...

Vampire Earth (Vampire Earth)

by Knight, E.e.

Humans have been conquered and now the vampires rule. That’s the premise of E.E. Knight’s wonderful Vampire Earth series. Vampire Earth is a skillful blending of different genres. It's one of those books where the whole...