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Fans of Brandon Sanderson ’s epic phantasy seriesThe Stormlight Archiveare currently shinny with two major heartbreaks – the climactic termination of the latestStormlightnovelWind and Truth , and the inauspicious reality that Sanderson wo n’t relinquish the next book in the serial for at least six years . In his December 2024 State of the Sanderson blog post , the author put down out his road map for his Cosmere multiverse , including the unfortunate requisite that the next arc ofStormlightbooks will have to wait for him to get throughthe nextMistbornera , now titledMistborn : Ghostbloods .
gratefully , a six - year suspension is just long enough to pander in some of the otherincredible fantasy novelsout there . From long - run mainstays of the musical style like Terry Brooks’Shannaranovels to brawny but concise trilogies like Phillip Pullman ’s theological masterpieceHis Dark Materials , there are enough excellent fantasy series out there to keep someone busy readingfor the next six year and far beyond .
10The Dinosaur Lords
By Victor Milán (2015 – 2017)
TheDinosaur Lordsbooks are best describe , as George R. R. Martin himself put it , as " a cross betweenJurassic ParkandGame of Thrones . " coiffure on the verdant world of Paradise , the Book tell of the sweeping fight between armies of knights on dinosaur - back , as empires clash for say-so . While in portion the books struggle from Milán ’s overuse of certain depressed - fantasy genre figure of speech – the comparison toGame of Thronesis apt in more than one way , including some portrayals of sexual violence – Stormlight Archivefans will be right at home plate with the battles and imperial ambition .
The main character of the series , the materialistic Dinosaur Lord Karyl Bogomirsky , finds himself amid machination that goes beyond the political and military violence that is the status quo on Paradise , andhe take up finding answers to interrogation that may have been well leave unrequited . Unfortunately , Victor Milán passed away from cancer in 2018 , leaving the series only half - finished .
9The Bifrost Guardians
By Mickey Zucker Reichert (1987 – 1991)
Mickey Zucker Reichert has made a life history off of her employment using Norse mythology as the basis for her fantasy novels , the most well - known of which are the foresightful - runningRenshai Chronicles , which span nine books . Yet her sooner and equally Scandinavian serial , The Bifrost Guardians , is an underrated gem – and also , in what will surely invoke to modern genre preferences , technically anisekai .
When young American soldier Al Larson cry out to the Norse divinity as he dies amid the topsy-turvyness of a firefight with the Vietcong , his soul is plucked away and reincarnated as an elf in a strange , wintry acres . Stranger still is the man claiming to be the Norse god Freyr , who charges Al witha pursuance to prevent Ragnarok , the conclusion of All Things .
8The Shannara Chronicles
By Terry Brooks (1977 – Present)
Terry Brooks’Shannaranovels are one of the longest - run fantasy series to date ; however , most have been released as trilogies , follow various set of case over several thousand years of the world ’s history . The setting ofShannaraisa post - post - apocalyptical version of the Pacific Northwest , now ring the Four Lands , where legerdemain and monsters are now the average .
Books of theShannaraseries ( in discharge Holy Order )
Sub - Series
Title
Year
Original Shannara Trilogy
The Sword of Shannara
1977
The Elfstones of Shannara
1982
The Wishsong of Shannara
1985
Custom image by Zahra Huselid
Heritage of Shannara
The scion of Shannara
1990
Custom Image by Dani Kessel Odom
The Druid of Shannara
1991
The Elf Queen of Shannara
1992
The Talismans of Shannara
1993
( Stand - alone Word of God )
First King of Shannara
1996
Word & Void
Running with the Demon
1997
A Knight of the Word
1998
Angel Fire East
1999
The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara
Ilse enchantress
2000
Antrax
2001
Custom Image by Dani Kessel Odom
Morgawr
2002
gamey Druid of Shannara
Jarka Ruus
2003
Tanequil
2004
Straken
2005
The Genesis of Shannara
Armageddon ’s Children
2006
The Elves of Cintra
2007
The Gypsy Morph
2008
legend of Shannara
pallbearer of the Black Staff
2010
The Measure of the thaumaturgy
2011
Paladins of Shannara
Allanon ’s Quest
2012
The Weapon Master ’s Choice
2013
The Black irix
The Dark Legacy of Shannara
Wards of Faerie
Bloodfire Quest
Witch Wraith
The Defenders of Shannara
The High Druid ’s Blade
2014
The Darkling Child
2015
The Sorcerer ’s Daughter
2016
The Fall of Shannara
The Black Elfstone
2017
The Skaar Invasion
2018
The Stiehl Assassin
2019
The Last Druid
2020
The First Druids of Shannara
Galaphile
2025
The originalShannaratrilogy follows several generation of the Ohmsford family as Allanon , the last of the Druids , hollo on them to assist invarious quest to protect the Four Lands from various evils . The 2nd book of this trilogy , The Elfstones of Shannara , was the reference forthe short - livedShannara ChroniclesTV show .
Before achieving stardom in Hollywood , Austin Butler star in a short - lived , MTV phantasy adventure serial publication . Here ’s what happened to it .
Later trilogy explore the eventual fate and even the origin of the enigmatic Druids , and the more recentGenesis of Shannaratrilogy details the strange magical tragedy that alter the brass of the world . Although Brooks said on the release of 2020’sThe Last Druidthat he was done with the serial , that ’s turn out to be false – Galaphile , the initial book ofThe First Druids of Shannara , isset to be released on March 11 , 2025 .
7Codex Alera
By Jim Butcher (2004 – 2009)
While Jim Butcher is significantly better roll in the hay for his urban - fantasyDresden Filesbooks , hisCodex Aleraisan interesting approach to fantasy worldbuilding , to say the least . After being take exception to write as good a novel as possible based on as bad an estimate as possible , and doubling down on the challenge , Butcher somehow manage to deliver the goods with aplomb by combining the painfully disparate elements ofPokémonand the historic mystery of the fate of the 9th Hispanian Roman Legion , which vanish from the historic track record around AD 120 .
Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards , for they are insidious and quick to anger – and these wizards in particular are n’t going to permit you off easy .
The world of Carna , where the Holy Writ are put , is domicile to the Aleran Empire , a clear successor to Rome right down to the Latin - adjacent names . Yet it ’s also habitation to elemental spirits , called furies , which stick with people and aid with mundane chore . The principal character , a young son appoint Tavi , is a shepherd who gets drawn into consequence so great they threaten the very Empire ’s stability;watching his ascent from peasantry to power across the six - Quran seriesis a raving mad ride .
6His Dark Materials
By Philip Pullman (1995 – 2000)
Books with clayey theological messages can often scramble to make a cohesive distributor point , peculiarly when they take up the torch of legendary works like John Milton’sParadise suffer . Yet Philip Pullman’sHis Dark Materialstrilogy succeeded in that regardin a way of life few authors could dream of , starting off feel like a fantastic youthful adult risky venture and finally reaching a climax that swings for the theological fences .
His Dark Materials is a world filled with novel peoples , dæmons , magic , and more - and we ’ve broken it down for new viewers .
For those who relish photographic film adaptations of their epic fancy , HBO’sHis Dark Materialsseries was extremely well - received ; the 2007 film adaptation of the first book , The Golden Compass , was a critical failure , presently sitting at only 42 % onRotten Tomatoes . The initial trilogy also has a subsequence serial publication , The Book of Dust , of which two books have been released ; Pullman said on the site formerly know as Twitter that the third book is complete andhopefully will release subsequently this year(viaX ) .
5The Dark Tower
By Stephen King (1982 – 2004)
When Stephen King first publishedThe Gunslingerin 1982 , it was a standalone novel that crumple together five scant stories originally write inThe Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fictionbetween 1978 and 1981 . As King continued writingThe Dark Towerseries , he realize the version ofThe Gunslingerthat existed did n’t fit tonally with the other books , sohe revised it to well meet the details of the globe he ’d since create . Therevised variant ofThe Gunslingerwas release in 2003 , shortly before the rapid - flaming publication of the final three books in the trilogy .
The universe of The Dark Tower is sprawling and vast and it can help to know how to read the book & in which order of magnitude to read them before jump off in .
In many way , The Dark Toweris King ’s magnum opus . While the books rarely feel like overt repugnance like the relief of his work , the antic set - dressing King is so famous for is on full show throughout the series , from the small item of disgusting creatures like boring mutants and lobstrosities to the presence ofKing ’s omnipresent villain Randall Flagg . There’sa beautifully cyclical and metatextual naturetoThe Dark Towerthat makes it feel like high fantasy , even with all the gunman and execution - happy talking trains .
4Vampire Hunter D
By Hideyuki Kikuchi (1983 – Present)
Hideyuki Kikuchi ’s serial publication about an apocalyptic far future decree by despotic lamia overlords has been ongoing for over 40 years ; the most recent Scripture , 2024’sWicked Resurrection , is the 55th novel in the main serial , although only the first 25 have been translate into English so far . The series follow the titular 500 , an enigmatic half - vampire bounty Orion in the distant 13th millenniumwho oppose to protect humans against the vampire Nobles who rule the world .
Vampire Hunter D , as a series , has a dour beauty to it , hard reinforce by the esthetic of the novel ' covers , which have been systematically illustrated bylegendary Nipponese artist Yoshikata Amano , best known for his work on the earlyFinal Fantasyvideo game . The series ' Zanzibar copal adaptationsVampire Hunter D(1985 ) andVampire Hunter D : Bloodlust(2000 ) , which are based on the first and third book , respectively , have been out of circulation for some meter , but will beremastered for cyclosis and theaters in 2025 .
3The Earthsea Cycle
By Ursula K. Le Guin (1968 – 2001)
Decades before a sealed British son went to school so he could become a wizard cop , Ursula Le Guin was define the very bones and trope of wizard schoolsin theEarthseanovels . The first al-Qur’an , A Wizard of Earthsea , was intend as a standalone novel ab initio , but Le Guin was so swept up in tying up what she envision as loose ends that she quickly follow it with the stellarThe Tombs of AtuanandThe Farthest Shore .
As one of the best scientific discipline fabrication writers of all time , Ursula K Le Guin has created some of the most influential & boundary - press novel ever .
Le Guin’sEarthseawas written as her direct argument against what she see as the common defect of fantasy novel at the time – the assumed default that all fancy books took place in worlds that were deeply European in nature , steep in the furnishing of Anglo - Saxon and Germanic mythology . Her Earthsea is a vast archipelago of a existence , full of vibrant cultures and mysteries and even the casual flying dragon .
2The Iron Widow Saga
By Xiran Jay Zhao (2021 – Present)
Taiwanese - Canadian author Xiran Jay Zhao exploded onto the publication scene in 2021 with the release of their debut novel , Iron Widow . The first in a planned series intended as a reinterpretation of the news report of the historical Empress Wu , the only legitimate female crowned head of China , the Word of God infused medieval Chinese history with the tropes and trappings of advanced Formosan political drama , with a levelheaded dollop of the fantastical thanks to giant mecha called chrysalis .
Iron Widowhit # 1 on theNew York TimesBest Seller List within a workweek of its release , help in part by Zhao ’s dense presence on TikTok , and remained on the list for over eight months . Although bill as a young grownup novel , there ’s plenty of activity and romance for grownup reader , particularly those disposed to such a pastiche as the combination ofRomance of the Three KingdomsandNeon Genesis Evangelion . The series ' 2d book , Heaven ’s Tyrant , was one ofthe most - anticipated books of December 2024 , hit # 1 on the Best Seller List in January 2025 .
1The Memoirs of Lady Trent
By Marie Brennan (2013 – 2017)
While epic fantasy , conceptually , tend to involve maven and the vast intricacies of empires and dynasties , Marie Brennan’sMemoirs of Lady Trentfindsa unlike track towards epicness : that of the fantasy natural scientist . The titular Lady Trent is a unseasoned woman in a bon ton that is deeply correspondent to Victorian England , right down to the systemic misogyny that prevents her from play on her life ’s desire to study the many kinds of dragon that exist all over her populace .
The first Scripture , A rude story of Dragons , tells of how Lady Trent ’s stubbornness and determination led to her achieving her dream despite an entire gild positioned to oppose her . By the terminal of the serial , she has become one of the most famous scientists in the world , creditworthy for discovery that authentically vary the course of human history .
Although the books use a very prissy English ethnical lens system , they often deflect many of the preconception that might derive from found a world on such an infamously cruel and far - strain empire . In part , this is thanks to a very insidious but interesting piece of worldbuilding ; the dominant westerly religion in this serial publication is something far more akin to Judaism than Christianity , and so what fall out is a fascinating geopolitical divinatory where events like the Crusades simply did n’t happen .
The Memoirs of Lady Trentarea breath of fresh zephyr in the phantasy genre , look at the wonders of dragons through a natural scientist ’s optic . The ledger are full of phenomenal illustrations of Lady Trent ’s observations , detail draconic shape , environments , and even the occasional raid into grotesque archeology as her oeuvre on understanding firedrake leads her to untangle the secrets of the lost culture of the Draconeans .
rootage : Rotten Tomatoes , X
