Top 100 Fantasy Books of All-Time (#20-#11)

[@B.LEE.DbrianleedurfeeREVIEWS]

I think you're a waaaay better book reviewer than me, bro. But thanks for the shout-out.and u convinced me to try ryan cahill

[@jandutoit4946]

This book is not available on Kindle in South Africa. Very frustrating!

[@alexwallachian7720]

You're a legend Brian! Wish you all the health, love watching your videos

[@PringlesCanJohn]

Nice to see Lonesome Crown on there. Durfee is a national treasure. The final chapter of one of the characters is a chapter that I can tell he’d been waiting his entire life to write.

[@B.LEE.DbrianleedurfeeREVIEWS]

Every scene in bk2 i had waited my entire life to write. A handful in bk3.

[@NevsBookChannel]

So does that leave books #10-1 with Malazan in each spot?

[@MattsFantasyBookReviews]

LOL. There is definitely more than one Malazan book in the top 10, but not ALL 10.

[@T-Flow79]

That would be such a great move😂

[@marco3623]

Top 10: Ship of Destiny, The Darkness That Comes Before, The Bonehunters, The Wall of Storms, Demon in White, A Storm of Swords, Memories of Ice, Speaking Bones, The Crippled God, The Grace of Kings.

[@MattsFantasyBookReviews]

You missed The First Binding by RR Virdi

[@Owlbear579]

I'm glad you have the Durfee book on here. I'm 700 pages in book 3 now. This has been an amazing series and his writing will be in my top 5. I hope he is able to bring us some more stuff one day. Such an under-rated author unfortunately.

[@pizza6464]

I will be very disappointed if the top ten isn’t just all Malazan books.

[@bobbob-cd9yl]

Can't wait to see where The Warrior Prophet lands, just finished it and it was one of my favourite reading experiences. Thanks for putting me on the game Matt

[@scottv5587]

I don’t think it’s eligible this year since he read it recently

[@MattsFantasyBookReviews]

The Darkness That Comes Before is eligible, but not Warrior Prophet.

[@shadowoflugia]

I just started reading the Rain Wilds Chronicles…And I’m scared to finish the Realm of the Elderlings and at the same time excited.

[@Joaquim.Oliveira]

The passion , the honesty and the gusto that you show when talking about the books that you love is infatuating . I’m a slow reader so I tend to read more horror books . I’m trying to read more fantasy novels and your passion is one of the reasons of it .

[@Lycan3303]

Finished of War and Ruin 10/10 would buy again ....finishing up the Exile loving it so far ...starting Ice tomorrow cn't wait

[@0Arman0]

Gah! I can't get war and ruin in Spain!

[@Darth_Sepharious]

This series is definitely up there with the greats as far as I'm concerned lol

[@sovereignprints_217]

Just wanted to say that I appreciate the work you do! One of the coolest things about books is how many different opinions, experiences and kinds of readers there are. I've been watching your videos for a long time, and even though I disagree with so much of what you say I love your passionate videos honesty! Keep spreading the love of reading and of words!

[@MattsFantasyBookReviews]

You are too kind! :)

[@SpacedOutWizard]

Love The Five Warrior Angels! I read it last month and had a great time with it, book 2 was my absolute favourite!

[@valliyarnl]

Just one left ‼️‼️

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

So many overlaps of my own favs, and it’s good to know I can approach Blood Song like a standalone. Can’t wait to try Cahill!

[@dexodro]

Broooo I’m so excited for you to drop the next bit. Been watching this through. You’ve added too many books to my tbr

[@ithrahmunchswallow468]

I loooove Raven's Shadow. Ryan is my Sanderson ❤ I'll be on the second Assassin's Apprentice and Gentlemen Bastards books in December 🙌🏻

[@nikk345]

When you mentioned the character in Wrath that starts off being minor in book 1 but slowly builds up to be beloved by the end; though I think you meant Maquin, for me it was Camlin. Both follow that same journey of slowly becoming more beloved and important to the story as the books progress.

[@scottv5587]

My prediction in order for the top ten: 10. Demon in White- Ruocchio 9. The Wall of Storms- Liu 8. The Bonehunters-Erikson 7. The Darkness that Comes Before- Bakker 6.A Storm of Swords- Martin 5.Speaking Bones- Liu 4. Memories of Ice- Erickson 3. Ship of destiny- Hobb 2. The Grace of Kings- Liu 1. The Crippled God-Erikson

[@MattVickers]

Where you discuss Sanderson's plotting I think is an important point. I'm nowhere near up to date on Sanderson's works, but I think GRRM writes in the opposite way and it has been his downfall with regard to the series. A good plotter gives you confidence in a series. A lot of booktubers talk about being character driven readers, but for me, a strong plot is needed even when the characters are great.

[@jessezigg]

Your passion for great epic fantasy is so contagious! I am almost caught up with The Wandering Inn. I began 2024 with The Farseer Trilogy. I re-read The Gentlemen Bastards. I recently finished The Five Warrior Angels. And I'm almost finished with The Liveship Traders!! ALL OF THESE came from your recommendations!! 😂 And I have SO MANY MORE on my TBR because of you and your channel! Thank you, thank you, thank you for providing this service for starving readers. 😂 (I still feel like you'd love The Fatemarked Epic. Five doorstopper books that are very old-school epic fantasy told in a modern way: POV characters that are not just 100% good or 100% bad; an amazing take on religion; a character with autism (probably). a good deal of humor, but also some heart-wrenching sadness, and fantastic battle scenes. Seriously, 😉 you need to check it out. The audiobooks are extremely well done - narrated by Tim Gerrard Reynolds.)

[@favrewanab]

I was a bit disappointed with Lonesome Crown to be honest; I still liked it, gave it 4 out of 5 stars. But the first two were amazing (Blackest Heart is in my top 25) but then the last book just seemed to fizzle out a bit. The big ending was cool but felt a bit anticlimactic; not once did I feel like any of the main characters were really in any danger. It reminded me about my biggest complaint about the ending of WoT; the ending was deadly for side characters but not for many of the main POV cast. You could tell who were wearing the red shirts, lol. Star Trek fans will know what I'm talking about. And of course you got War & Ruin way too high, lol. That's probably the biggest disappointment I've had reading in decades; not that book in particular (gave it a 4 star rating too) but the series in general. The whole thing just felt bare bones basic to me and the writing was subpar in my opinion; particularly early on. He is getting better as a writer as he goes along so it may end up turning into something special; I will give the next book a shot when it comes out and I will probably end up finishing out the series; don't dislike it enough to put it in the DNF pile, lol. But on a top 100 list W&R and the novella The Exile are the only two that would make an appearance on my list and they would be in the bottom 25%. Hobb & Lynch didn't set my world on fire either but I can definitely understand why those two would be amongst other peoples favorites; top notch writing by both authors. Just the stories themselves were not exactly my cup of tea. Last Argument, Way of Kings & Words of Radiance are all in my top 20 as well though. And Wrath would be top 50. Not read the Ryan book yet though I really enjoyed his Covenant of Steel series; The Martyr is in my top 25. The rest of his stuff is on my TBR.

[@Marcus-id5ur]

Agree on Lonesome Crown. First two were 5 star reads and I feel like he dumped everything that made the first two so great and instead went out with a bang and a bodycount.

[@kinggrantking]

5 Warrior Angels just needs new covers.

[@themangaculture]

Really? I personally love them, I guess it doesn't appeal to alot of people

[@0Arman0]

Also annoyed and disappointed that lonesome crown didn't get the love it deserved such an incredible end to a wild series !

[@joedoe7572]

11:48 thank you for not cursing on this channel I do love it when authors create their own curse words to use in their books, especially if you get to learn why it's a great curse word in-world

[@joshuafoltz5222]

Oathbringer is my favorite Stormlight book to date. The back story is the best, and I love all the "unmade".

[@avery_moore_reads]

So many of my favourites on this list. Never actually heard of The Lonesome Crown before but this review definitely makes me want to read it. ^_^

[@tanja9364]

Blood Song! YESSSSSSS! At last, recognition for this book. I actually enjoyed the whole series!!❤

[@Chance.Dillon]

I’m stoked to get into of war and ruin this month! Your praise of the series certainly got me to this point

[@TheCosmerenaut1]

Last argument of kings gave me the biggest twist I’ve ever seen. What a book. It’s my 4th favourite ever

[@williamgwynne]

Also love Blood Song, Last Argument of Kings, Assassin's Fate (heartbreaker) and of course, Wrath!

[@Draevon68]

Great description of each book. But darn you, I haven’t read five of them and I want to start them right now. I just started Malazan and I have two other books waiting to be read. I can’t keep up. It’s a good problem to have.

[@flemingstephen16]

With every installment of this series, my TBR grows.

[@Talking_Story]

What a list! Wow!

[@andrew4437]

Words of Radiance was a great read but I personally liked Oathbringer more.

[@neutral_narr]

oathbringer was weaker in the story and pacing department.

[@ASageCalledQ]

The Five Warrior Angels is on my TBR.

[@ithrahmunchswallow468]

I probably need to get back to Cahill. I liked the first book but didn't find it dazzling 😬

[@maengo4]

Could I read the first two books of Locke Lamora and feel like I’m reading a complete story? A lot of people don't like the third book

[@MattsFantasyBookReviews]

Yeah definitely.

[@KrisOdonoghue]

I've only read the first one so far (currently reading #2) and it would definitely be as satisfying if it was a standalone. Wraps the whole story up in a bow and with a satisfying ending. Sure, it leaves you wanting more, but that's because it's an excellent book.

[@TalkingTorah613]

You could but the third is actually good imo. If u read it you'll know pretty quickly if the 'controversial' material in it ruins it for u or not. So i don't see why not trying.

[@shadowoflugia]

Hoping that some of the Dandelion Dynasty will start appearing in the last video (unless they’ve already started appearing and I missed it).

[@Benjamin-w41]

Books 1, 2 and 4 are still missing. And The Veiled Throne is his least favorite Dandelion book, so the other three are all going to be in the top 10. He called The Grace of Kings his 2nd favorite book ever when he read it.

[@paulswenson5035]

Number 18 - "I dont like swearing" Number 17 - Last Argument of Kings 😂

[@josecunha8782]

Sadly the Lonesome Crown was a huge disappointment a made the whole series feel pointless, to me.

[@RuggerJug]

The greatest pirate story ever is One Piece. Yes its a manga, but man it is unbelievable

[@ezzydeen1]

I read the first book of that Ryan cahil series, but dropped it after that, figured it one of those overhyped series by booktubers, like they did with illborn.

[@caitlinl2750]

I’ve read these all!🎉

[@dontdoit6986]

Matt, you’ve now placed expectations on 10 books being better than Word of Radiance. Prediction for final video in this series: comment bloodbath 😂😂

[@jeffreyparker7013]

What audiobook service did you use for lies of locke Lamora?

[@MattsFantasyBookReviews]

Libby via my library

[@jeffreyparker7013]

@@MattsFantasyBookReviews I use graphic audio myself, takes the book to another level 👌🏿

[@EzekielPrellus]

Word of Radiance was such a special book. A pity that he threw everything that was special about Kaladin away in Oathbringer, a bitter disappointment for me. As far as Scott Lynch is concerned -- "Lies" was better that "Red Seas." Red Seas has a disoriented plot -- a casino heist story that morphed into a "lets play Captain of a ship" story. Not as good as Lies -- his best work so far. Definitely have Ryan Cahill on my reading list. Am also excited about John Gwynne's "Fury of the Gods" book 3 coming soon.

[@TWbenIN]

The first book didn’t catch it for me for the Five Warrior Angels…. Young love traiangle put me off not wanting to know more

[@stevencooney3347]

Can you share any more about your career in politics? I’m a fantasy book nerd whose skill set may also be aligned to the world of politics. Just curious what type of job you have.

[@MattsFantasyBookReviews]

I'm a chief of staff to a politician. Started the career working on campaigns, then moved into legislative roles at my state legislature, and finally into what I am now.

[@Xxpastore10xX]

Justice for The Wisdom of Crowds!!!

[@spyroskampanos7965]

The five warrior angels trilogy gets progressively worse with each installment.i rated the lonesome crown a generous 2 stars as it was the worst book of the bunch

[@Darth_Sepharious]

Aww noooo you put Cahill's 3rd book not in the top 10 lol

[@cavendar24]

I tried to read Durfee's trilogy, but the writing didn't work. Too formulaic with forced metaphors, very often cliche. Same with the writing of Lies of Locke Lamora. The profanity made it impossible to engage with the story. Everyone sounded like a high schooler trying to sound more adult. I loved the First Law trilogy. My only complaint in The Last Argument of Kings was how Biaz ended up being dumber and more boring than he should have been. (He should have figured out where the seed was rather than having it handed to him, and the whole thing he did to fight the 100 eaters would have looked really cool in a movie, but wasn't meaningful in book form.) Stormlight is way way better than Mistborn, but it still has many of the same problems. The writing is so painful most of the time, repetitive bland and uninspired prose, dialog that's so often corney cringey and predictable. I could edit out 25-30% of the words without losing any of the story or character arcs. What are the chances we get the last of your list before the end of the year?

[@Endorphins89]

If the name of the wind and/or the wise man’s fear isn’t on the list I’ll be surprised. Yes the series isn’t finished. But even if it never will be they are amazing books

[@MattsFantasyBookReviews]

Both of those books showed up earlier in my list 😁

[@Endorphins89]

@@MattsFantasyBookReviews dang man I looked back and didn’t seem them. Guess I didn’t go far enough back. I enjoy your channel thanks for the reply.

[@Andrew-ss7jd]

11:48 it's much more effective of the swearing is kept to a minimum too, I reached my first Steven Erikson f-bomb the other day and my jaw dropped open in disbelief haha