We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.
When I was a kid, my mom read me J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastical tales of adventure in Middle Earth every night before I fell asleep. For years, hobbits, wizards and elves populated my dreams as the stories I heard enriched and expanded my own imagination. As an adult, I still treasure that first foray into other realms, but my appetite for fantasy has diversified. Now, the best fantasy books aren't all dusty tomes that have been passed down for generations.
As the oldest genre of literature on record, what constitutes fantasy often depends on who you ask. Originating from the oral tradition of folklore and stories told around ancient campfires, some consider mythology and epics, like The Odyssey, to be the purest form of fantasy, while others point to the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien. C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll as the pinnacle of the form.
In general, we're considering stories that include an element of the unexplainable. If it features the extraterrestrial, we'd call that science fiction, or ghost stories, which we consider horror. Fantasy, for our purposes, is everything else that tickles our less-skeptical side. We've rounded up some of the best fantasy ever written, including both classics that a true fan shouldn't miss, newcomers that make a necessary addition to the canon and lots of diversity in the realms of origin stories and the authors who dreamed them into being. We hope every fan finds a new favorite on this list.
Father is missing, and might even be dead. Carolyn and her 11 siblings have spent years cloistered under Father's strict tutelage, studying the ancient texts in the library that has special powers. Now that he's gone, a battle is brewing, and no one's ready for what that entails, least of all the reader. You won't be able to look up from this wholly unique fantasy that reads like a thriller.
What LOTR is to the United States, the Condor Trilogy is to China, so fantasy fans owe it to themselves to check out the translation. In this first book, we meet Guo Jing, born and raised in Mongolia after his father is murdered. He learns kung fu as an apprentice of Genghis Khan, and we're off to the epic, exciting races.
Born with the power to kill and revive living things with a single touch, Maisie Cothay has been sequestered away in her family's manor at the edge of a mysterious forest that she's been warned never to enter. But then her father goes missing, and she must break the rules to find him in this mesmerizing, sometimes funny novel.
The first installment in the Daevabad trilogy starts in 18th-century Cairo, where a thief and exorcist named Nahri accidentally summons a djinn warrior. Together, they travel to the magical metropolis known as the “city of brass." Start with this one, then order the other two before you're done, so you don't miss anything.
From the renowned author of The Fionavar Tapestry and Children of Earth and Sky comes this epic that takes place on a planet with two moons, dark sorcery and a sumptuous and barbaric culture inspired by medieval Italy. Historical fiction fans who think they don't like fantasy, try this one.
RELATED: 25 Best Historical Fiction Books to Take You Back in Time
If the phrase "winter is coming" doesn't mean anything to you, welcome out from under that rock you've been living under. The novel that sparked a sensation is worth a read (or even a reread if it's been awhile), no matter how you felt about the HBO series' finale.
The colonizers have killed off Sigourney Rose's family, and she's hungry for revenge. When the king announces he'll be choosing a successor from the noble families, they start mysteriously dying and suspicion swivels toward Sigourney. She's got to figure out who's on which side, not to mention stay alive.
Addie LaRue has lived for 300 years, but it's a lonely existence. Thanks to a desperate bargain made in the 1700s, Addie is doomed to live forever and be remembered by no one, until a man she meets in a bookstore calls her by name.
If you're used to Gaiman's epic journeys through other worlds, this bite-sized novel may come as a relief. Weaving a tale of romance between a half-human, half-faerie man and a fallen star in a shape of a woman, it's a delightful historical-feeling romp.
After he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, you'd be right to have high expectations of Ishiguro and this foray into fantasy doesn't disappoint. It's set in the Dark Ages when a mysterious mist prevents citizens from forming long-term memories. So when an elderly couple thinks they've lost their son, they journey across the country to find him. Warning: Here be dragons, and lots of other medieval adventure.
His Dark Materials Boxed Set: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass
With armored polar bears, daemons, airships and two normal children who have to navigate it all, it's no wonder this series has captivated imaginations for decades. Read them all, then get ready to debate which one's the best of the trio.
Ben Loory is sort of the fantasy answer to Lydia Davis, with extremely short stories that are strange, absurd, thought-provoking and sometimes just totally bizarre. They're worth reading just to see what comes next, which is never what you expect.
The twin children of brutal empress The Protector, Mokoya and Akeha are sold to the Grand Monastery as babies, and they come into magical powers as they grow. But a conflict is brewing to overthrow their mother's cruel empire, and each has to decide which side they're on — and how to stay true to themselves without destroying their bond.
Immersive and imaginative, this one draws from African mythology and history to create the story of Tracker, a hunter who joins a ragtag group of characters (including a shapeshifter called Leopard) to search for a missing boy. But there seem to be people invested in making sure he stays lost, which begins to call the question: Who's telling the truth, and who's hiding it?
Fantasy doesn't have to be long to pack a punch. These luminous, left-of-center short stories are a great introduction to fantasy for those who find epic otherworldly tomes a bit intimidating.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
The first installment in the Legacy of Orisha series made a huge splash when it came out in 2018, and if you missed it then, grab your copy now. Inspired by pre-colonial Nigeria, it takes place in a society rife with colorism, classism and sexism where magic has been quashed by a despotic king.
Straddling the thin line between fantasy and horror, this disturbing novel follows a rare book dealer named Apollo Kagwa, whose wife disappears after doing the unthinkable, setting Apollo on a journey through a New York that you'll almost recognize. Almost.
One of the most beloved series in fantasy, Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy is a force set in a unique apocalyptic world that feels more prescient now than ever. Come for the remarkable story, stay for the gasp-inducing twist.
The Way of Kings: Book One of the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
An ambitious, weighty foray into a 10-book series, this book introduces us to the storm-swept Roshar after the fall of the mythical Knights Radiant. It's a rich world that you can lose yourself in, and there's a lot more where this one came from if it absorbs your attention — which it will.
As if you couldn't tell from the cover, this dark fantasy centers around the KKK, in a world in which a film called The Birth of a Nation infected white America with a tidal wave of hate. But even the demonic Klan didn't plan on Maryse Boudreaux and her resistance fighters, who have the arsenal and the fury to take down the white hoods.
'Fire Country' Fans React to Streaming News
'Sullivan's Crossing' Reveals Major Streaming News
Where to Watch 'Sullivan's Crossing' in the U.S.
'Wicked: For Good' Drops First Look at the Sequel
