TOP 10 FANTASY SERIES (2023)

[@BrianBell7]

Once again... I forgot to ask people to Subscribe!! So, if you haven't already, please consider Subscribing and Thank you!

[@DarkoDame]

Sooo happy to see Robin Hobb at number 1. I completed ROTE earlier this year, and never have I went through so many emotional up and downs while reading a series. It’s an absolute masterpiece.

[@BrianBell7]

It really is. Some of the quotes in the series have been part of my ever present journey of self reflection and growth.

[@micahhendrickson9809]

It is a masterpiece! ROTE is my #1 as well.

[@BrianBell7]

@@micahhendrickson9809 great minds!

[@TwomorzZ]

I have never subscribed to someone so fast lol! I cant wait to see what you think of Malazan. Im on book 2 currently and really enjoying it so far.

[@BrianBell7]

That is so kind of you to say! Thank you! I’m guessing Gardens of the Moon will be around April or May. Take a look at my DNF challenge video and see why the delay 🤣

[@madisongoodyear5040]

I love the idea of embracing The Slog just as part of WoTs charm!!

[@BrianBell7]

I really think it is. It forces the reader to grind the same way we watch our characters do, so in essence, we become a part of the overall journey.

[@ChaptersWeLove]

Ahhh great video! I agree with #1 that made me so happy!

[@BrianBell7]

Thank you!! Love that series!

[@CNavo.TheNextChapter]

Our top fantasy lists are so similar. I agree, even though ASoIaF is not complete, those first five books or even the first three books alone earn the series in a top 10 if not top 5 spot. Cheers Brian!

[@BrianBell7]

Great minds!

[@darren2880]

The phone call was hilarious 😂

[@BrianBell7]

gotta have fun in our section of booktube!

[@akashas6012]

Yes, very funny 😊

[@BrianBell7]

@@akashas6012 glad you are having fun here!

[@madisongoodyear5040]

AWESOME LIST!!! A man of taste.

[@BrianBell7]

any list that is Madison-approved is a good list! I had a feeling you'd be cool with #1 :)

[@ToriTalks2]

What an awesome list, Brian! I love it. I have a couple similar ones!

[@BrianBell7]

Thank you! (the entire idea might've just been an excuse to wear a smoking jacket... I'll never tell!)

[@blacknbluecollarreader]

2.14 is genius level humor my man!! You work/worked in the restaurant/club industry? This makes so much more sense now. lol. Great list my man.

[@BrianBell7]

Yep, many, many years in it! Thank you for the compliment!

[@Yannis-dq6ri]

The Bound and the Broken series is coming up the ranks for me! Not quite top ten yet as not finished, but each one improves from the last. Would recommend to check it out if not already! This was the first video I saw in the channel, so perhaps it has been talked about before. Great video, you have one new subscriber!

[@BrianBell7]

Thank you so much and Welcome to the community!! Bound & The Broken is fantastic. I have a ton of faith that Ryan Cahill will be writing amazing novels for years to come!

[@baskinthestory]

Firstly that jacket is exquisitely stupendous! And yes the top 10 fantasy list does need to be done, though I have been putting it off. Time to knuckle down and as you say it will change and is personal opinion so have some fun with it! Great video, thoroughly enjoyed it

[@BrianBell7]

Thank you! Yep, the whole point over here is to have fun with a hobby we love, so you get it! Happy New Year!

[@esmayrosalyne]

First of all, LOVE this outfit, you rock it hahaha. This list is absolutely incredible, and I am happy to see that we share some faves! Greenbone, Stormlight, First Law, and RotE are all up there for me as well. And while I prefer the ASOIAF story in visual format, there's no denying that it's incredible! Let me turn some more tables though... LotR isn't even near my favourites list, hahah oops. Maybe I just read it at the wrong time in my reading journey, but it didn't click for me at all. I will reread it with Andy Serkis' audibook narration though, I 've heard incredible things! Eager to see how this list will change for you in the future, this was so fun! 🤩

[@BrianBell7]

Awesome! I'll have to break out the outfits for 2024! Super fun having you here Esmay and am glad our taste in books aligns for so many great series!

[@tylerblack301]

I haven’t read a lot of these series but knowing what I know about them I’d say your rankings are spot on! Finally someone agrees with me about Stormlight & LOTR!

[@BrianBell7]

Great minds! Ha, well it’s subjective but I’m glad I’m not alone in it!!

[@BookishChas]

Excellent list Brian! I really love the Dark Tower series, and ASOIAF is currently my favorite series of all time. I’m really enjoying RotE so far.

[@BrianBell7]

Glad to know I'm in good company!!

[@BeardofDarkness]

You and Phillip Chase have encouraged me to start my Robin Hobb journey.

[@BrianBell7]

Awesome! I hope you love it as much as I do!

[@GentleGiantJason]

Love to see Green Bones saga. It would be higher on my list. 🙂 The Kingkiller Chronicles would also be on my top ten.

[@BrianBell7]

It'll be interesting when I do the list again at the end of this year and see what climbs in and what falls off. Love both those series!

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

I agree on Stormlight Archive

[@BrianBell7]

right? wake me when we get to the Sanderlanche.

[@garthok6224]

I've read some of this books. I'll read the others... probably... I subscribed because we are about the same age, and maybe i'm gonna find good suggestions here

[@BrianBell7]

Welcome! Very glad to have you along for the journey!

[@tylerpeck9754]

I enjoyed the Dresden books that I read. Sandman slim sounds interesting.. i love the Dark Tower saga and we already know it really is more than 7 books.

[@BrianBell7]

Cool, welcome to the community again and lmk if you try Sandman Slim!

[@noname3609]

Now I feel bad I never read Robin Hobb 😮 Subbed 😊

[@BrianBell7]

It's not too late! There's some big series I haven't read yet either, so don't feel too bad :) Welcome to our journey here, glad you are part of it!!

[@julien4327]

Completely agree on your number 1 ! I discover Fitz & Robin Hobb when I was 15-16 years old and so i strongly bonded with Fitz in Assassin's Apprentice... it's also the first series I re-read when i stared reading books in English rather than translated versions... Do you plan some sort of community read-along or something for Gardens of the moon ? I've also have it plan for 2024, so I might try to sync up to you. Anyway, love your energy in these videos, you'll reach 50k subs in no time !

[@BrianBell7]

Thanks! It's awesome having you in the community! I haven't thought too much about a read-along (probably just due to how new we are as a community) but possibly! Malazan probably wouldn't be the first one though as I know, at least on other channels, they start strong and fade and I think for our first one (if we do one at all) we should make it easier to succeed at for everyone. (at least for the first one :)

[@SheWasOnlyEvie]

Yaaaaaas, Realm of the Elderlings superiority! In addition to Realm of the Elderlings, I'd add the Engineer trilogy by K. J. Parker, the Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft, the Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden, Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu, and the Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin. My honorable mentions (since either I haven't read the whole series yet or they are unfinished) are: Tyrant Philosophers by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake, Black Company by Glen Cook, and the Witches, Death, and City Watch subseries of Discworld by Terry Pratchett.

[@BrianBell7]

Love the City Watch sooo much! Sept I'll be hitting Feat of Clay. And someone awesome sent me Dandelion Dynasty, so that's going to have to get pushed into the TBR!

[@SheWasOnlyEvie]

@@BrianBell7 I wonder who that could be! 👀

[@Talking_Story]

I have to get to Hobb!

[@BrianBell7]

Yeah, at least her books are clearly divided into trilogy sections. In 2021, I was debating between blasting through the Wheel of Time or Malazan, and of course, went with WoT. I was so bored not having my bar to go to that I read Wheel of Time in 4 months.

[@Talking_Story]

@@BrianBell7 That is impressive my friend.

[@BrianBell7]

The Power of Boredom, a new series coming in 2024 :) @@Talking_Story

[@Talking_Story]

@@BrianBell7 🤣

[@Zivilin]

I'm on the same boat as you. Want to read liveship traders sometime soon but then i want to pick up some of her older books prior to RotE because i find it both weird and curious Robin Hobb fans never talk about her other works.

[@forwalaka]

Wheel of Time is my all time number one ❤ Can't imagine anyone taking this place, I just LOVE this world. But great list otherwise, really solid 😸 Read them all except number 7

[@BrianBell7]

Thank you! I think WoT is certainly a valid #1 for anyone's list!

[@stjepanvaresevaccobets]

Some books from your list are on my TBR. I got hooked on the book The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold and read the whole series. Miles Vorkosigen is one of the better book characters I've read.

[@BrianBell7]

Excellent! I will add it to TBR Mountain tonight!! Happy Friday (almost Saturday where you are!)

[@stjepanvaresevaccobets]

@@BrianBell7 I was obviously be sleepy because this comment was supposed to go to your last video😀

[@ryanglessner8626]

To start off I want to just say that I have not read very may on your list. I also could only get about 50 pages into The Song of Ice and Fire. However, my top choice would have to be The Riyria Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan.

[@BrianBell7]

The Riyria books are fantastic! He's such a great storyteller. I hope some of the other ones on my list are intriguing for you to try out!

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

Lmao 🤣 I have finished the lord the rings but fair play Brian. I laughed. I Think the Hobbit is a flawless timeless masterpiece. The other books are great but pale in comparison

[@BrianBell7]

Hey, you are Tolkien famous now! You never know when Andrew Easter eggs will show up on BellTube.

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

@@BrianBell7 I love it

[@Zivilin]

The Hobbit is a masterpiece. 👏

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

@@Zivilin Agreed

[@RhinoViper]

I'm hit or miss on your list...it's funny how that works. Love... StormLight Archive Dresden Files First Law Song of Ice and Fire Realm of the Elderlings...just the Fitz and Fool books...read the first Live Ship book and it was meh...and i've stayed away from the Rain Wild Chronicles. Five Warrior Angels Fine but not Top 10... LoTR Meh... Green Bone Saga....read the first 2 but it was mostly just ok for me, didn't read the last. WoT...made it 6 books I think Dark Tower...only read the first one and stopped there

[@BrianBell7]

If you love Dresden Files, maybe check out Alex Verus or Sandman Slim. Dark Tower really takes until the second book to decide on the series, IMO. By book 2, "The Drawing of The Three", you'll have enough info to know one way or another. The Gunslinger just doesn't give the reader enough info I think if they are mixed on it.

[@MattonBooks]

It is known. 😆 WHAAAT?! LotR at 6?!? 😆 Nah mate, can’t blame you there. I had it at #1 most of my life, but Erikson & Hobb drove it down to 3 in the last few years.

[@MattonBooks]

And any time - EVERY time - I hear a Wheel of Time fan talk about it, it convinces me how right I am to avoid reading it. 😜

[@BrianBell7]

It is known.

[@caitlinl2750]

Read these all!!🎉

[@BrianBell7]

nice!!

[@zionthedon7745]

Its actually psychopath behavior to put a series with no ending above LOTR and WoT, but I like you anyway. Subscribed.

[@BrianBell7]

Haha there is some truth in that! I’m glad you are here for the journey! Welcome to the community!

[@nikk345]

Classic Tolkien the way Tolkien ought to be written haha, you had me laughing at that one.

[@BrianBell7]

It was almost "Classic Tolkien the way Tolkien ought to be Tolkiened" :)

[@bardsandbooks]

I’m so stoked for Realm of the Elderlings, great list, Brian 🤘🏽

[@BrianBell7]

It's everything it's promised to be!!

[@heidi6281]

I have a lot of great ideas for Winds of Winter so I am hoping that GRRM will not follow the tv show. I should try to email my ending for each character!! Spoilers but not really: Boy that long night episode on tv never gave us a battle of the dragon riders which ironically in my mind would be Dani & the Night King!! In the histories I think her ancestor defeated those white walkers before. What were the show runners thinking!!! Jon ‘s future would warg into Ghost! Those 2 are my biggest wishes!🤞🤞

[@BrianBell7]

I think George will go nowhere near the ending the HBO producers wrote. It was so universally panned, that even if he was thinking about it, there's clear market research now that having Jon play marry, kiss, or kill with Dany is a non-starter :)

[@nazimelmardi]

I will never put SoIaF in a top list after 5 years of waiting. It’s the same thing as a not finished series. Why would I put it? We don’t know. As for measure it to Tolkien? That’s the place of Malazan Book of the Fallen. As Philip Chase said… 10~ years ago when I read that series I didn’t know what it was. No booktubers. I just started a new series. And it hits hard. I knew it will be great or I will hate it, so I finished it. That’s top 1. As for top 2 indeed Robin Hobb. Top 3 Neil Gaiman’s all especially Sandman top 4. Dark Tower 5. Discworld 6. Earthsea 7. Joe Abercrombie for sure, 8. Gentleman’s Bastards 9. Stormlight 10. Dresden Files.

[@BrianBell7]

Philip is wise! And I love your list! Thank you for sharing it. That’s what this BellTube community is all about!!

[@Avzigoyhbasilsikos]

Do science fiction now

[@BrianBell7]

It's a priority video for 2024! Thank you!!

[@akashas6012]

Only two books mentioned are better than your number 5.

[@BrianBell7]

Yep, # 5 certainly is a valid choice!

[@Edog1337]

Agree Stormlight Archive is bloated. Book 3 and 4 were a chore, IMHO. Dresden is so chauvinistic and misogynistic, hard to read. Maybe if he switched to 3rd person limited, and stopped thinking about every females boobs and ass, I would like it more. Sandman Slim amazing page-turning, what Dresden should have been. Not a personal top for me though. Rec trying Wayne Barlowe God's Demon duology if want a more epic fantasy + Paradise Lost, and he has amazing accompanying art. LoTR is what it is. WoT is nostalgic for me. Top 5 as well, though without nostalgia not sure. Have read first 2 Dark Tower, kind of a meh for me. But I'm on a journey to read all King multiverse from beginning. Maybe I'll like it more. ASOIAF is top 5, but makes me sad. Abercrombie on my TBR. Fonda Lee on my TBR. Hobb on my TBR. My top 10 probably has Elizabeth Haydon, Steven Erikson, Anne Mccaffrey, Weis and Hickman, Tad Williams, and Roger Zelazny.

[@BrianBell7]

yeah for the nostagila, McCaffrey, Weis & Hickman all fall in that category for me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Let me know what you think of those 3 amazing TBR series!

[@fangs1972]

Yes, but what are your top 10 cigars 🥸?

[@BrianBell7]

right?! I mean, we'll probably have to do that too in 2024!