The Ultimate Top 20 Fantasy Book Must Reads (out of +1000 books)

[@zipitooverkill4262]

20: T. H. White - The Once and Future King 19: Robin Hobb - The Farseer Trilogy 18: John Gwynne - The Faithful and the Fallen series 17: Terry Pratchett - Discworld 16: Patrick Rothfuss - The Kingkiller Chronicles 15: Scott Lynch - The Gentleman Bastard Sequence 14: Brandon Sanderson - The Stormlight Archive 13: C.S. Lewis - Chronicles of Narnia 12: Ursula K. Le Guin - Earthsea Cycle 11: Fonda Lee - The Green Bone Saga 10: Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time 09: Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials 08: George R. R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire 07: J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter 06: Joe Abercrombie - The First Law Trilogy 05: Stephen King - The Dark Tower 04: N. K. Jemesin - The Broken Earth 03: Steven Erikson - The Malazan Book of the Fallen 02: Ken Liu - The Dandelion Dynasty 01: J. R. R. Tolkien - Lord of the Rings

[@MIROSLAV1978SOLE]

Thank you.

[@IBEtripz]

⭐️

[@anna53588]

What a relief! Thank you tons for putting this together!

[@zipitooverkill4262]

@anna53588 No problem. I'm now using it as a "books I still want to read" list ;)

[@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

Great job making this video, which resulted in an intriguing list! One of the things I enjoy about lists like this is how they can give a sense of the rich array of timeless stories fantasy offers. Thank you for the video!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Truly! I was amazed when I got more than 1000 books, but then again the list overall is not super surprising which I guess talks about the long tail of “not as popular” books vs the currently most known! Thank you so much for watching!

[@sebastianvicewriter]

Best tip for Malazan is to recognize you’re witnessing a story, not being told one. In other words, you’re seeing events but nobody takes the time to explain anything. If you can be comfortable with confusion, and take it scene by scene, it’s amazing.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Hahaha I’ll take it into consideration! Thank you so much!

[@sebastianvicewriter]

@ that said, it’s not for everyone. I’m a massive Malazan fan, and often others will get all snobby if peeps don’t like it. It’s difficult. It’s not written with the reader in mind, per se. If you decide to dive in, I’d love to chat about it. And if you don’t like it, don’t let me tell you you’re stupid ☺️

[@cfosburg]

I like to say it’s like uncovering one piece of a mosaic. Each book reveals more of a grand mosaic, until what you’re looking at is the Sistine Chapel of stories.

[@sebastianvicewriter]

@ for Malazan? Absolutely. Good way to think about the story

[@marshp2749]

It's great and the complexity is completely oversold. I have no idea where this notion it's especially complex or unapproachable comes from. It's a medium complexity, medium approachable fantasy series.

[@valliyarnl]

wow the amount of research that went into this video must've been insane!

[@AntonisMatakos]

I have a problem with this presentation. First, please forgive me for my harsh critique as I'm not trying to be mean, just giving constructive criticism. When presenting each book, you're always leading for almost half a minute with descriptions and reviewing sentences before even mentioning the title. I know that you might think this creates some tension but it makes most of what is said before "the reveal" confusing because us, the audience, have no frame of reference. My father always does this and people constantly complain he is hard to understand. Some of my university teachers did that back in the day and their courses were the most skipped. It's much easier to say : "Next at number # we have "Book Title" by "Author", part of "Name of the Series", first published in "Year"." Then explain why you like, love or hate said book. Simpler, more effective, less annoying. Thanks and sorry for my whining...

[@galinor7]

If you need to be spoon fed information in a simple way, why did you go to university?

[@AntonisMatakos]

@@galinor7 So what you're saying is that we should never try to improve something but be content with any problems that could easily be fixed. Ok... I won't even take the bait and bother to answer your question as its total arbitrary irrelevancy only functions to hide the intended cheap blow under the belt.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Hey! I do appreciate the feedback! Thank you so much for sharing it! I do get excited while sharing and I always think it’s going to be pretty straightforward as I have the books at my right (usually their spines can be seen) - but thank you for letting me know!

[@AntonisMatakos]

@@FunFantasyBooks Thanks for reading and replying to my comment. I make no assumptions of telling you how to run your channel and make your videos! I only make suggestions to youtubers I care about so I said everything with the best intentions because I really like your style and content. That said, maybe I'm wrong and what I said might not work better. Another suggestion is that you could also run community polls about things that could potentially be improved and see what most other people prefer. Thanks again for making great videos! xxx

[@Yuuppppp]

I disagree with this comment but I understand why you said it. I personally found it entertaining the way she structured it naturally that way-but I’m just one person. Her voice is also super nice to hear. Her prefaces helped me gauge how she felt about the world in the book, and the journey itself.

[@thisranks13]

I must be really old because most of my memories of great books are mostly from the 70's and 80's. The Spellsinger series, Titan, Wizard, and Demon, Lord of Light (60's), The Darwath Trilogy, The Time Master Trilogy, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Brokedown Palace. There are others.

[@greggtownsend6744]

Vlad Taltos series as well.

[@thisranks13]

@@greggtownsend6744 Yes I read those as well.

[@thisranks13]

@@greggtownsend6744 Did you ever read Brokedown Palace by Steven Brust?

[@grahamsmith2753]

You should do a top twenty single-volume fantasy list.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Yeah! I might do that in the future!! Thank you for the idea!

[@SgtWicket]

Wow I’m so glad Malazan made it to the number 3 spot! Wheel of Time was my favorite series right up until I read Malazan. Erikson scratches an itch I just can’t find with other authors.

[@brianm2578]

I'm still in awe of Erikson's writing after reading ALL of them at least a dozen times.

[@tuckereldridge1169]

Agreed.

[@DJYoue]

I feel LOTR not being number 1 would be a crime, or just someone trying to be hipster about it! And you're right, Andy Serkis reading the audio book is crazy good

[@gregtims7627]

I'm a little disappointed that Raymond Feist's books are not on the list. By far my favorite series.

[@Madeyes6]

I was just going to say this. Magician was the first fantasy book in 1989 & 36 years later I’m still reading fantasy & still reading Feist. All because of this one book. So yeah shocked he didn’t even get a mention.

[@ShardCollector]

I have the Serpent War Saga, but it's been long since I've read it and I don't remember it being truly special. What's the best series from Feist in your opinion, so I might give him another try 😊

[@Miaauify]

i find it very odd that his books are not there. Really? And some of the books on the list.....

[@SSquirrel1976]

@@ShardCollectorSerpent War is a decent place to jump in, but the whole 30 books really do have things that build on each other. So many different characters are great and good to know their backgrounds. Like Jimmy the Hand is already in a position of power in the Serpentwar Saga serving Prince Arutha, but reading stories w young Jimmy like the original Riftwar Saga and the later Krondor trilogy, which were partially based on a series of video games. It’s really hard to go wrong starting w the Riftwar saga. On from there you have the Empire trilogy (which takes place on the other world the Riftwar is happening with) and occurs during the original book. Prince of the Blood and Kings Buccaneer both lead into the Serpentwar Saga as well. With those books and the 4 Serpentwar books, you are already 12 books in (13 if Magician is split into Apprentice and Master) and another 18 to go :) Sorry been readying Feist since the late 80s and it’s one of my favorite series ever.

[@marcusbrown3880]

It seems he is blacklisted amongst the modern fantasy readers. Who seem to like long winded, fairly boring with little to no humor. Also they are missing Eddings Gemmell Goodkind Weeks Just to name a couple. No idea why, all the above including Feist, need to be in anyones library and their top 10 let alone 20.

[@geographyinaction7814]

The omission of Michael Moorcock's Elric is unforgiveable.

[@Grimmlocked]

Malazan at 3 blew me away with the rest of the list XD I'm going to say moorcock was probably omited due to not having read not because of quality.

[@jamellelangfordiii3586]

How does dragonlance never make into these lists?

[@KevinFlynn]

David Gemmel would be in my list, either Legend or the Jon Shannow books.

[@tigerblue42]

Legend was great ! Did you ever read his Troy trilogy ? I loved that myself.

[@stout_tossme7541]

Yep. I have read everything he wrote and even some of his wife’s books as well. It lead me into a few other Authors as well. Duncan Hamilton and Joe Abercrombie (as she names in the video) to name a couple.

[@JonathanC-2853]

I need to watch this again and take notes next time. I'm so happy you picked Tolkien as the #1 position! My favorite books of all time. I'm currently re-reading LOTR right now.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thank you so much! 🥹!! I finally read The Hobbit this year and man was it awesome! Can’t wait to read LOTR!

[@seadog8807]

Enjoyed watching the listing, but certainly would have saved a very high spot for L.E.Modesitt and his Recluse series, by far the best developed magic system I’ve ever read and characters that grow in front of your eyes. The only books I would personally give a 10/10 for 👍👍

[@johnlines9864]

Surprised because its so so good and not surprised because its old. David Eddings' Belgariad series and Mallorean series are really fantastic. They should be on this list but recency bias being what it is, i can see how it didnt make it. Highly recommend them.

[@Miaauify]

David Eddings bookds are great and fun, but..... the writing style and the cliches means that, while i enjoyed them all several times already, I cannot rank them that high. Very very easy to read too, I literally fly through them, which is a plus point, i.e. not like Tolkien, hard to read. Example, Janny Wurts, her books are very good, some great ideas, really. But her writing is just not as fluid as some other authors. See the Empire Series that she and Mr. Feist wrote together. Oh my goodness, those books are amazing.

[@marcusbrown3880]

@@Miaauify Funnily enough if you have to struggle through a book, then you really arent enjoying it. Gemmell, Feist and weeks not even mentioned, yet those books are figuratively and literally better than most of that lis. As for Eddings writing styles/cliches. where to do you think those cliches came from in the first place. lol

[@mojojomoo]

Great list! Going to have to do some catching up on some of these series. But the color coordinated bookshelf is the real MVP of this video 😍

[@the_fools_tale]

Wow the order was a big surprise for these books! Great and well researched video!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thank you so much! I was also shocked!! 🫶

[@darrickdean1849]

I've only read four or five of these. Tolkien will always be my favorite. Someday, check out The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and The Fall of Gondolin that Tolkien's son completed (more or less) from his father's incomplete or partial works.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

I will! I am just starting with Tolkien but for sure will continue!

[@Kialas]

I enjoyed this a pace a lot! You have done a ton of research for this, thank you!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thank you so much Kiala! It drove me nuts haha but really enjoyed the process!

[@HobbySooner]

I wonder if Michael Moorcock's Elric Saga came close to making the list.... I think it would be one of the most influential series to the way society views fantasy (after LOTR). Without a standard good vs evil backbone I can see why it may not appeal to the masses despite it being written at a time when there was not a tremendous amount of fantasy options available.

[@VoyagesIntoImagination]

You have more than enough experience with fantasy to read Malazan. It does warrant a close reading, but it's more manageable than a lot of people think.

[@markkettlewell7441]

I’m glad Tolkien came top. I have never read in all my time a writer that pulls in so many levels of brilliance. I was, however disappointed that the Witcher books (definitely not the Netflix debacle) never got a mention, or that the amazing imagination of Terry Pratchett didn’t feature higher on the list.😊

[@scottweston7759]

I've read every book in every one of those series. Feels like quite an accomplishment. I like most of these but my favourites are probably Stormlight, The Dark Tower, LOTR, First Law, Discworld, Gentleman Bastard, Realm of the Elderlings and ASOIAF. You should read Malazan but it's extremely dense and complicated. The first book made little sense to me till the story developed more. I found a guide for overall plot and characters was helpful especially at the beginning to make sense of everything.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

I will need to check out that guide for sure! Some friends of my Patreon have also told me they needed to have lists and it feels scary but a good challenge!

[@slaterspike]

First off, you did a great job with the video, it was a lot of fun. My favorite book series of all time never makes it on these lists. I think because it never really made it big but it has great world-building, character development, and it's action-packed. It Is the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. I am obsessed with this series. It is my literary home. You can read me about a paragraph from any of the six books and I can tell you which book and about where in the book you are. That's how much I love this series. It puts Game of Thrones to shame. It has a lot of the same ideas. The struggle for power, a great northern wall, the struggle to save the whole world from being consumed by a world-eating force, and the actions of good people in dark times. It's this great rollercoaster ride with the first two setting up the world as you go up the proverbial hill. You get to book three and it holds you at the top then you start the descent. This momentous course of events of multiple storylines being woven together better than any other book series that I have come across. Turning into this landslide that picks you up and doesn't let you go till the very end. If anyone reads all of my gushing over my favorite series and has never read it, please do. At its heart it's the story of a world almost destroyed by ambition but saved by love.

[@stephenklump2421]

If you haven't read Michael Moorcock's Elric saga (Corum series is also great), you're missing out on an awful lot. Especially given the time when he wrote them, this represented an entirely new way to write fantasy.

[@LordTalismond]

His entire Eternal Champion Books are great

[@geographyinaction7814]

Agreed. Elric is second to LOTR, in my opinion.

[@PatrickBoller]

Love the data analysis approach to this, and that you stuck with it even when you disagreed!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Hahaha I hated and loved that the list had a life of its own 🥲🥂

[@PatrickBoller]

@@FunFantasyBooks I also have to say seeing the Spanish books in your video inspired me to re-listen to the SA audiobooks this time in Spanish. ¡Viaje antes que destino!

[@vim9678]

Love the list. As someone that was affected my WoT so much… Kids names are from there, read out loud to wife while dating, started with book one when there was only one book. Reread whole series each time next book was coming out… love to see it high on other peoples lists…

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Ahhh I love it so much that books influenced your life! Thank you for sharing!

[@Ahmed_helmy81]

I'm new to the channel and immediately suscribed haha, great video. The moment of revealing Book #1 with the uprising music is just amazing ❤😂

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Awww thank you so much! 🥹

[@RedFuryBooks]

Thanks for the list! I'm sure this took a lot of time to compile all the data! It was interesting hearing how the written articles were often different than what was seen on BookTube.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

It took aaaaaaages!!! But I am so happy with how it turned out! 🥹

[@RedFuryBooks]

@@FunFantasyBooks I enjoyed it!

[@Linnir]

This an excellent list. Thanks for your efforts in creating it. Some new ones for me and confirmed some others. 😊

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Ahh thank you so much! This really made me happy!

[@TheShadowbrand]

Videos like this are so helpful. I am 45 years old, and have been reading primarily fantasy books since I was 7, and i haven't heard of many of these series. I don't know how i missed Robin Hobb! Thank you for all the work you did in making this video! Subscribed.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate reading that you enjoyed it! 🤗 welcome to this cozy family!

[@1990Jwood]

I'm 52, and although I've read almost all of the books mentioned in the video, very few would make my personal top 20. It's love to see books by Anne McCaffery, Andrew Norton, David Eddings, Barbara Hambly, and Raymond E Feist appear on one of these lists. I know it's a generational thing, and I do love quite a few of the newer fantasy series, I just think some of the older ones were great as well.

[@NevsBookChannel]

Love that you published your google doc. Great resource!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Yay!! I hope it’s useful!!

[@joeyhemlock]

Between Rothfuss, Lynch, and RR Martin, it's no wonder that I avoid incomplete series.

[@VampireRhino]

Highly recommend Terry Goodkind Sword of Truth series. One of the best series I’ve read

[@ChrisGovert]

Came down here for this comment. Sword of Truth was one of the best books I ever read butI can see why it didn't make this list. The middle to the end was somewhat disappointing, with the exception of Faith of the Fallen.

[@VampireRhino]

@ChrisGovert after I finished 11th book I was amazed how good this series's was. For me the core of this story is volumes 1-11 and everything what happened after is something which I prefer to consider as some extras not worth reading

[@glory4645]

I liked books as child but author disrespect for fantasy and seriously ill Robert Jordan despite using much of his world in writing made me lose all respect.

[@morannon5807]

Undoubtedly one of the best lists I've seen on the internet or at least one that fits my tastes. I was surprised to see some works so high on the list but as the ranking progressed I saw that it was to make room for other works that for me should at least make an appearance and that often do not appear as “The dark tower” or “His dark materials” and of course the tetralogy of “the dynasty of the dandelion” the best I've read in recent years. There are some saga of those mentioned that I have not read that I had in my sights and others that I have not but that I will try to read since I liked the list very much. ¡Gran trabajo con el vídeo!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Muchas gracias!!! It makes me so happy that you enjoyed the list! If I’m honest, I was also surprised on how the list turned out haha 😂

[@monisharmuk]

I watched the video twice... The first time was for Thai.. she is simply adorable.. and the second was for the books. I really appreciate how much research went into this. Your love for the books and passion are so palpable and infectious.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Awww thank you! It really means a lot! You made my day!

[@aliaibrahim4517]

I’m really quite shocked at how often the Greenbone Saga is mentioned in top fantasy lists. I wish I understood the hype a little more but I found the first book didn’t do enough to convince me to pick up the next one.

[@joergwalter4193]

I'm also a bit disappointed that Trudi Canavan didn't made it into your list, her stories are so creative and awesome.

[@rafk2976]

As someone who read a lot of fantasy in my teens and twenties but not so much since my kids were born, this list is great - so many reminders of favourites of my era like Discworld, Earthsea, Wheel of Time and Locke Lamora, and some new names (probably in the top due to recency bias as much as anything, but who cares) that I can check out when I have a little reading time again over summer holidays....

[@claptree3217]

Regarding Erikson's Malazan books, you might try his Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novellas as starters. They may give a more easily digestible introduction to the world.

[@samirghosh9637]

Honestly I loved this video , I felt I am reading a cozy fantasy.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Oh yay! Thank you so much! I am so happy you loved it and felt cozy 🥹🤗✨

[@saelind73]

Any fantasy book list who has Tolkien in it, let alone as No. 1, is the best list EVER! 😃🥰

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Haha i am so happy you think so!

[@didelu7989]

Great video! Personally Malazan is my favourit Fantasy-Series of all time, happy to see it gets some recognition!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Need to read it still! 😭

[@EskiZagra]

@@FunFantasyBooks loses steam around book 8. Dont burn any bridges between yourself and the series though *wink wink*

[@lukaspavelka4880]

Great list. I have read 12 of these (even I must admit not all books in all series), and now I am inspired to read the rest ;-)

[@jontattum1476]

You put a lot of work into this (I hread) . Great job!

[@philgagnon275]

Was hoping to see Jim Butcher on the list. If you enjoy urban fantasy check out the Dresden books, Steam punk he has Cinder Spire (two books atm).

[@bobkeane7966]

I like cats best when they don't make me sneeze so yours is perfect.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Hahahah perfection then

[@SirThecos]

Nice video! But I really expected Artemis Fowl here. Then again, it's not only Fantasy but also Science Fiction. Maybe that's why. 🤔

[@davem793]

Going on the title of the video " top 20 ultimate fantasy books " , and yet you fail to mention authors of epic story telling. R. A. Salvatore and the series of Drizzt Do' Urden. Raymond E Feist and the Rift War Saga (something Henry Cavill want to do). Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgoten Realms universe. Margaret Weis & Tracey Hickman and the Dragonlance novels (among others). In my opinion, this list is incomplete without at least these names. Again, my opinion.

[@Eric-h6z9z]

Literally just said the same thing. Drizzt is probably the most popular fantasy adventure character ever created. The fact NO Salvatore or Ed Greenwood on here. List is trash

[@FelixS.]

@@Eric-h6z9z Conan wipes the floor with Drizzt. You are in a niche echoe chamber of FR weebs, Drizzt is not even remotely close to the most popular fantasy adventure characters.

[@Eric-h6z9z]

@@FelixS. You clearly don't read books. Nor understand what an echo chamber even is. Please sit and be quiet like a good child while the adults speak.

[@Felix_der_Weltmeister]

@@Eric-h6z9z I clearly know, Mr. Dunning Kruger. There is no universe where you tell me what do do, you sit whenever I say so, weeb. 🐕‍🦺

[@Eric-h6z9z]

@Felix_der_Weltmeister again, shhhh the adults that can actually read are speaking. Take the quiet time to look up the words you are using improperly. Please just stop. You're embarrassing yourself. I'm done responding to your cluelessness. Try reading more books. Oh, and that universe where I tell you something and you listen would be anywhere on this planet in person. 😉

[@mingramh]

Great list, I was on Amazon adding to my list during your video, thanks.

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Thanks for the recommendations. Best wishes and happy reading.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thank you so much! Best wishes and happy reading for you as well! 🥹🫶

[@snakebagel9729]

Wild putting series that are likely never to finish on the list

[@painfullyaware5221]

Weii, Time already has a top 100 best fantasy. And, it was compiled by outstanding authors.

[@jeffreyperez8269]

Thank you for making this video. It was very well done, and it was interesting to see the opinions of many people not just the author.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thank you! It really make me happy you enjoyed it! I spent so much time doing it that it feels so rewarding seeing it being useful!

[@JohnAndrewMacDonald]

More people need to read the Chronicles of Narnia after having read Planet Narnia, the book that FINALLY uncovers the full themes of the books. I promise it will open the series up so much that you will understand just how much of a genius C.S. Lewis really was.

[@jeffstracco-dr7pp]

Robert E Howard: Conan. The influence on the genre was immense. Even Tolkien thought he told a great story.

[@nazmulsheikh3010]

your putting insane amount of efforts ❤

[@BommyYabbadabbadoobadoo32112]

If you like paladins The Deeds of Paksenarrion is an incredible book. The first 250 pages or so are not that interesting, but after that (it`s about 1000 pages) it is incredible.

[@PianoKoen]

Very good video with a lot of research done! However one point of feedback would be to start with the book title and author and AFTER that proceed with further description on the book.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thank you so much!!

[@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels]

Not sure how I should feel about having read everything on this list, and the entire series at that 😂 #9 surprised me, I didn't expect it to be that high, or here at all :/ #1 is such a shocker, amirite

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Hahaha I guess that means you know your fantasy!

[@quinnkaiser8627]

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[@johnsanford3596]

Sanderson gets short shrift from many critics for the same reason as Orson Scott Card, the first (and only?) guy to win both the Hugo AND the Nebula for a book and then for its sequel. They are Mormon.

[@Laura-zf2rd]

Thank you! Love your special guest. Meow ❤

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thai 🥹

[@donmujtaba]

While reading game of thrones , i felt for some reason , that there are no other good fantasy book series , till i started researching . Now i hqve bought the first books of Dune / Shogun / Malazan series / Storm light archive .

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Ohhhhh I can only praise Stormlight!! (As it’s the only one I’ve read! ) but hope you love it!

[@craigexsted6530]

Thanks Kindly for the List Enjoyed your feedback n results ! Great job ! Yes I have many 90% of the books n then some more I hope to read them all before this life ends I have many many years worth of reading and taking my time but I need to push myself to complete! 🎉

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Exactly!!! Please read them! I also have my fair share to read 🌝👏!!

[@libraryofaviking]

AMAZING VIDEO!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thank you so so much! 🥹🎉

[@di3s3l44]

I am so shocked! Its probably because I only pay attention to book tube but I have barely heard of the Broken Earth and I am stunned that Stormlight, GOT and WOT are all outside the Top 5

[@FunFantasyBooks]

I know!!! I am also shocked about GoT and Stormlight 😭😭!!

[@BooksRebound]

@@di3s3l44 Broken Earth is fantastic! It's one of my top 5 series. NK Jemisin is an extremely creative and original author, and The Fifth Season blew me away and devastated me at multiple points. Idk if you like audiobooks but if you do, I highly recommend reading it that way. Cause the narrator is just fantastic in general, but also one of the POVs in told in 2nd person. "'Huh. Weird storytelling choice...' You think to yourself." So I find actually being told the story as opposed to reading it is helpful for that. She became the first person to ever win the Hugo award 2yrs in a row. Then she won the 3rd year too! Every book in the trilogy won the award and for good reason.

[@joedoe7572]

​@@BooksReboundIt's weird, most books that I've read that have won the Hugo Award award I have actively disliked. There are a rare few that I have liked though

[@BrentLooyenga]

I think books like Stormlight are so popular people pull away from it a bit because it’s “too common” of a pick. That said, I don’t know if I totally understand how she ranked these. I’ve watched a different one of these that took in 30 different lists and they were in the top 5. 🤷‍♂️

[@cfosburg]

I think Stormlight is too new…give it 5 or 10 years and it will shoot up there.

[@Adrianself]

Thanks!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Aww thank you so so much! 🥹👏

[@CMS63]

I am always surprised nobody includes Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave (and Hollow Hills, etc), which is told from the perspective of Merlin. Great, great book, fantastically written, with surprisingly little (but profound) magic. It feels historical, like the characters are real people, and the events actually occurred.

[@ShardCollector]

I really love Le Guin and Jemesin on this list. Rowling did also excellent work with Potter. If you want good recommendations outside of this list, there's the Shades of Magic by V. E. Schwab, the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix and both the Raven Rings and Vardari series by Siri Pettersen. You can thank me later.

[@Hellspooned2]

I'm a wheel of time guy myself. They worldbuilding and amount of concurrent sub plot threads is unparralleled. I love it. Also, this might be a good place to ask. Looking for a series of books I read 36546 years ago. The only thing I remember was that there were four worlds, one for each element. One was an inverted giant hollow world with the sun in the middle.

[@bryanbrunner3920]

The Deathgate Cycle by Weis/Hickman was the first thing I thought of.

[@dnoordink]

@@bryanbrunner3920 Re-reading the Deathgate Cycle right now, great series.

[@zem_fm]

I live for how Thai is like COME ON ISA, LOVE ME 😂😂 And wow, I've actually read or started a grand total of 3 on this list, which is admittedly 2 more than I was expecting!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Bahahaha I always love your comments Eli! Thai is the star of the show 🐈!!

[@yremogtnomnad]

Woo Dandelion Dynasty! My fav series of all time, it's a masterpiece imo

[@LG-jn5fx]

Oh my word you have to read LOTR. After you have stopped crying you should then pick up Malazan , it is really not as confusing as a lot of people say. Heard a lot of good things about ken Liu so thats on my list to read along with John Gwynne.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

I am happy to report I am currently reading The Fellowship of the Ring 🥹- our friends are at Tom Bombadil’s house!

[@banaa9463]

Wow. Great video! I took notes. I finished 4 of these series, 6 if including the series that aren't finished yet, partially read 9 of these (but I might DNF The Gunslinger), 4 are on my physical TBR, and only one is on my TBR but I don't have a copy yet (The Dandelion Dynasty).

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Oh I loved how you also shared data! Yes!!! Hahaha it makes me happy to see data & books together!

[@captainleekee]

Wonderful video!! One critique- please consider putting the titles on the screen as you mention them. Your accent is beautiful but I personally had some trouble understanding the title & author names. 🙏🏽💙

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Ahhh fair enough! Thank you for the feedback! 🥹

[@robertacanales]

I love your content!! i´m a fan of you channel , I wanted to know if you have any tips and tricks to start reading in English, I do have a good english level but for some reason reading fantasy for example in that language is a bit intimidating so do you have any tips?

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thanks! Umm I’d say that TJ Klune for example is very accesible! Also T Kingfisher in my opinion! I will try with standalones first and then go to longer series!

[@robertacanales]

@@FunFantasyBooks THANKS A TON !

[@andreidinu7316]

You might want to put the names of the books in the timestamps, sometimes they are hard to understand and the book is not very visible. Thank you for the list!

[@DavidScotton]

This is a pretty good list. Good mix of old and new. Personally I would put Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire higher, but no list will perfectly fit my preferences. Lord of the Rings is very different from modern fantasy and a bit of a difficult read in 2024 but still very worth reading. I think the utter exhaustion of Sam and Frodo toward the end of Return of the King, and their difficulties reintegrating into normal life, are part of what really sets it apart, and clearly draw on Tolkien's own experience of fighting in World War I.

[@NickBR57]

Finally got the the best of all. The last I watched of your best fantasy books didn't even mention it. If you are to create such a list, you really need to have read the best

[@kaizer-777]

Malazan is #1 for me. It's even better on the second read.

[@timholland1764]

Cool video- thanks for this. You capture a lot of great series, but I do think that your methodology (while very well thought out) might have over/under-rated certain series. Personally, i am not a huge fan of Stormlight, but that seems low to me. ASOIAF not being the top 5 seems low as I would call it the most influential book in the genre since the Lord of the rings

[@katiatall]

Amazing job!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Ahh! Thank you so so much! ✨

[@mtwice4586]

I am surprised that Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn didn't make the top 20.

[@stout_tossme7541]

I keep getting unsubscribed from your channel. Dang it. I love that you added Joe Abercrombie. I just found his stuff and love it. I like the dark style of his writing. “Ssshhhhiiiiitttt” lmao. Love it. Thank you for putting this together. I don’t know what a “Booktoker” is (as stated in another comment), but if it is something I need to look into for book suggestions and reviews, let me know.

[@TheDragonCodexBk]

One day, I hope to see my new book on your list. The Dragon Codex was just published; a tale about dragons, magic, and graphic design.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Oh best of luck with it!

[@jch5150]

Name of the Wind is absolutely my favorite read!!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Hahah so happy to read that!

[@rogerhuggettjr.7675]

I like Discworld, but I just can't get myself to commit to so many odd books. I loved Guards Guards and Mort, but haven't been back. They were a break to get me through the Wheel Of Time slog, but since then I've been committed to all books Cosmere. I'm trying to find something to read while I wait for book 5 of Stormlight, because I'd feel dumb buying a 4 book boxed set if a 5 book were to come out next month.

[@Urikanu]

+1 for the brief glimpse of the daniel greene

[@angeld3085]

I'm going to cry with happiness, women who recommend really good fantasy books, and not the average booktoker who recommends poorly written romantasy books.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Yay! So happy you enjoyed it (although i immediate after had a romantasy video planned haha but never do them xD)

[@Apis4]

The Malazan Book of The Fallen series is pretty good.... you have to do two things though: A) Just ignore much of the magic, and much of the secret schemes.... do not ignore it, but do not fight to wrap your head around it... just make something up that fits... and this will NOT change the story AT ALL. B) Remember it was in part at least written from an RPG session, and lot of times there's some leftovers of that, in things like certain hooks and mechanics feeling like that would be something the reader would need to know if they were the player and this was an RPG, but otherwise, kind of seem a bit superfluous. The First Law Trilogy is GREAT, read the next two books... but you also do not NEED to for something like THIS, because it carries that tone right through. Think of where you think the stories and characters arcs will go after the first book.... and loosely speaking, the story goes there.... because the first book makes it clear how dastardly so many of the main players are, that you cannot help but think more along certain lines, if you imagine what they get up to later... than to think it will go some other, easier to swallow, Diet Cola, Apple Pie, I love baby Jesus kind of Heroic direction. Still, the fact that there is NO David Gemmell and NO Guy Gavriel Kay, here on this list at all.... makes it clear the people mentioning the mentions you consulted to make this like, have no business mentioning anything to do with fantasy at all. Simple facts, no more.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thanks for the recommendations for Malazan!! Gemmel & Guy Kay were mentioned and are in the detailed excel but didn’t make it at the top!

[@Bings89]

I don't believe you have to read book 3 and 4 of The Dandelion Dynasty back to back. I took a month break between The Veiled throne and Speaking bones and did not feel lost or confused coming back to it at all.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Oh great! This is a good thing haha I was scared!

[@dianasanabria5816]

Did you read all of your books in Spanish? That’s my first language but I have been reading all of my fantasy books in English. Will give them a try in Spanish… Thank you for this very well put together list. I’ll use it as a guide for those I have not read yet.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Thank you so much!!! I mainly read in English now as it’s cheaper xD and being fair there are a fair amount of books that are still not translated! But the books I read years back, I did in Spanish!

[@jonathankrueger3288]

Yey! A new video!

[@FunFantasyBooks]

Hahaha yay! Thanks for being here!

[@markkettlewell7441]

Song of Ice and Fire is recentism.

[@davidliskey3553]

Kind of suprised that Terry Goodkind's sword of truth series isn't on the list

[@fabianmatas1286]

Si te puedo dar un consejo, las primeras 400 páginas de los jardines de la Luna no vas a entender nada, es normal, luego se sigue bien y aunque es una experiencia muy irregular los altos son taaaan altos que vale la pena.

[@PipBoykin]

I'm surprised Tad Williams doesn't make the list. The Dragonbone Chair is one of my favourites.

[@FunFantasyBooks]

It was definitely mentioned multiple times!! I still need to read it - I’ve heard wonders!

[@rafk2976]

That brings me back! I always liked his Otherland series more, although I suppose it doesn't get classed as fantasy.

[@markj9282]

I love fantasy (mostly, movies, games, Forgotten Realms. However, I am not that much of a roman or novel reader... I didn't want to go for the classics (Lotr, hobbit, GoT, HP, etc.), so I did some digging, and after going through a lot of data I found the following as books I have to read: Daniel T. Jackson - Illborn, Joe Abercrombie - The Blade Itself, Partick R. - Name of the Wind, Brandon Sanderson - The Way of Kings, Steve Erikson - Gardens of the Moon, Robin Hobb - Assassin’s Apprentice, Miles Cameron - The Red Knight. What is your thoughts about those, if you have read them?

[@FelixS.]

Erikson, Abercrombie and Sanderson. Erikson might be too conusing for the beginning. Don´t read Name of the Wind. It will never see a conclusion and Scamtrick is a con artist who decieves, insults and bans fans, he even collected donations for one chapter (!) of the final book, got the donations, never delivered the chapter and insults / bans people who ask for it on stream. He never wrote a single word but had a ghostwriter. Don´t support this bozo.

[@diamondmeeple]

Hehe, nice cat. I got two myself.