I've taken to reading almost exclusively fantasy literature the last few years (why fantasy gets grouped in with science fiction is beyond me; they are vastly different). The lone exception is Lee Child - I read those as quickly as he can write them. Anyway, I thought I would post my list of my favorite fantasy books of all time. Note that these are MY choices for what are best, and I know that many, many people will disagree. There are also many fantasy books/series that I haven't read, and thus are not on the list. I'll update this list as I read more in the genre.
Wherever appropriate, I will list a series rather than one particular book in a series, though wherever possible I will note which book(s) in a series I enjoyed more than others.
So, without further ado:
1. Kingkiller Chronicles, Patrick Rothfuss. Planned three book trilogy, two are completed. The Name of the Wind (book 1) is my favorite book of all-time. Seriously. Book 2, Wise Man's Fear, is just as good, but it's basically part two of the same story. These books are filled with rich world-building, deep characterizations, intriguing plots, and fantasy tropes are turned on their heads. They don't go where you expect them to, and are all the better for it. Parts of book 1 are sort of an adult version of Harry Potter, though that kind of insults Rothfuss, as this is much deeper and better than Harry Potter (which are also great books, but very different). Read them. Read them now!
2. The Night Angel series, Brent Weeks. Completed trilogy. These are not the deepest books ever written in terms of complexity, but the world building is great, the characters are incredibly realistic and, even with faults, relatable and likable. He's also one of the best fantasy authors around for writing action sequences. Plots are tight and fast-moving, and these books are just plain fun. All three books are equally great. His new series, Lightbringer, is also fantastic. Two books are completed out of a planned four. In most ways, it's better than Night Angel, but I prefer the premise of Night Angel more (I like assassins).
3. Gentleman Bastard Sequence, Scott Lynch. These are super fun books, beginning with The Lies of Locke Lamora. About a crew that carry out a heist. Basically all you need to know. Kind of like Ocean's Eleven in a medieval setting with magic. Awesome. Planned Quadrilogy, of which books 1-3 have been released, with book 4 due some time in the future.
4. A Song of Ice and Fire series, George R.R. Martin. Seven books planned, five completed. Yes, there is a lot of hype around these. Yes, they are fantastic. The recent (incredible) HBO series has brought the popularity of this series to the fore, though they've always been popular. If you want richly detailed, extremely deep, morally ambiguous and complex characters, political machinations, and numerous intricate plotlines, you can't beat the world that Martin has created. Beware: these are not for the faint of heart. This is a dark, difficult world. But it's one worth exploring. All of the books are incredible.
5. Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay. Absolutely beautiful, moving novel that stays with you after you read it. Kay has a gift for unpacking very real characters and investing you in their lives, their world, and their fate. This novel, a standalone, deals with some heavy themes or love and loss, nationhood and patriotism, and slavery. This is the book, along with Warbreaker (see #5), that really got me into fantasy fiction. Absolutely incredible, and I highly recommend it for anyone that wants something more than just the same old read. Truly, a work of art. Brilliant.
6. Warbreaker, Brandon Sanderson. This standalone book, along with Tigana (see #4), got me into reading fantasy. An incredible book. Really interesting magic system and world building, and a fascinating plot to boot. You care about the characters and this book was so good that it led me to immediately read all of Sanderson's other work, and he consequently has become one of my favorite authors. Read this book!
7. Unhewn Throne series, Brian Staveley. Just seriously great fantasy. Great overall, actually. Deep characters, interesting world, engaging plotlines. Read them!
8. Demon Cycle series, Peter V Brett. Another excellent fantasy series with well-drawn characters, lots of action, an interesting world, and great plotting. More akin to Brent Weeks than George RR Martin (meaning, more action and less deep political machinations), but also fantastic.
9. Vlad Taltos series, Steven Brust. OK these books are just downright fun. They aren't super deep like many of the choices, and they are quite a bit shorter than most fantasy books. But there are a lot of them, and they're all great fun. You just kind of have to read these to "get" them. But do it. You won't be disappointed.
10. Tales of the Kin series, Douglas Hulick. I found these by searching for series similar to The Gentleman Bastards or the Vlad Taltos series, and this series is a good mix between the two. The premise is closer to Brust's zany assassin, but the depth and writing style is closer to Lynch's work. I REALLY wish there were more of these books out (there are only 2 so far). Fantastic stuff.
11. First Law series, Joe Abercrombie. This is dark fantasy at its best. Logen Ninefingers is the best anti-hero around, and there is a vast crew of memorable and unique supporting characters in this deep and intriguing fantasy series. Lots of war, battles, gore, and so forth. Definitely not for the faint of heart, but fantastic books. Trilogy complete, but Abercrombie has other books in the same setting.
12. Kushiel series, Jacquelyn Carey. Many people have a hard time with this series because of its sexual content, and perhaps rightly so. It's not necessarily for the faint of heart. It's not overtly explicit, per se, but it deals with BDSM as a relatively significant aspect of the main character's persona. If this makes you uncomfortable, it's probably best to avoid. It did make me a bit uncomfortable, but the rest of the series...the world-building, the tight plotting, and the deep characters that you truly care about...make it worth pushing through (or skipping past) the uncomfortable bits. Recommended with that caveat. It truly does deserve a spot in my top ten based on how much I enjoyed it from a fantasy and a literature standpoint, despite my discomfort with some of the sexual themes. There are a total of nine books in the series, made up of three trilogies. Each trilogy follows a different set of characters in the story. The best are books 4-6, in my opinion, though 1-3 are also fantastic. Books 7-9 are still very good, but are quite different and a bit of a change of pace from the others.
13. Farseer series, Robin Hobb. This was one of the first fantasy series I read when I was getting into the genre (I read this trilogy following Tigana and Warbreaker...see above. I started with some of the best!). It's about an assassin (I love books about assassins; what does that say about me? Should I be worried?) and is still Hobb's best work to date, though many of her other series are also good. Liveship Traders is especially notable. The only series of hers that I didn't care for was Soldier Son, almost universally considered the only weak series in her vast body of work. But Farseer is also almost universally considered her best work, and rightly so. Give it a read!
14. Talion: Revenant, Michael A. Stackpole. This is the book I'm reading now, and it is absolutely fantastic. And unless something changes drastically, it will stay right here. Really interesting sort of coming-of-age story, but with a character a bit more mature than is typically involved in such stories. Very well-written as well.
15. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke. Wow. This is a dense, intricate, involved, masterwork of literature. Truly. A rich tapestry of vivid imagination, steeped in history and incredibly well-realized. Rarely have authors created such a memorable and realistic world filled with believable characters. This is truly a fully immersive world. At no point do you ever question that what you are reading is a real place, with real characters...even with magic involved. Clarke writes with stunning, poetic beauty, and the story is interesting as well. It can be a bit of a slog for the first 1/4 to 1/3 of the book, but PLEASE take my advice and push through...it is absolutely, incalculably worth it. I prefer other books for specific reasons...characters I enjoy more, or worlds that I would enjoy living in more, or plotlines that intrigue me a bit more. But in terms of the pure quality of writing, this book is the only one that can hang with (if not best) The Name of the Wind and Tigana, two of the most well-written books I've ever read. In fact, I'd easily put Clarke alongside Mervyn Peake (whose Gormenghast is VERY dense, but beautiful and well worth a read) as being fantasy's true master of the English language.
There you have it...my choices for my fifteen favorite fantasy series of all-time. I could easily extend this list to more than ten (and some day I might), and as I read more I may add/remove choices. If I do that, I'll note below when the list was last updated. But at this point in time, this is how it stands.
Last updated: 4/6/17
