The 19 Best Fantasy Novels of the 2010s

Doorstopper epics rub shoulders with lyrical standalones and boundary-pushing debuts from a decade that reinvented the genre. Cast your vote!

1

Gideon the Ninth

Tamsyn Muir's genre-bending 2019 novel of necromancers and swordplay in a decaying empire.

1000pts

2

Words of Radiance

Sanderson's 2014 second Stormlight Archive volume, expanding the world of Roshar.

892pts

3

The City of Brass

S.A. Chakraborty's 2017 debut weaving djinn lore through an eighteenth-century Middle Eastern setting.

892pts

4

The Way of Kings

Brandon Sanderson's sprawling 2010 epic that launched the ambitious ten-book Stormlight Archive.

874pts

5

Circe

Madeline Miller's 2018 retelling of the Greek sorceress's life, crowned by readers as a decade favorite.

781pts

6

Prince of Thorns

Mark Lawrence's dark 2011 debut following a ruthless young prince in a ruined world.

781pts

7

The Fifth Season

N.K. Jemisin's 2015 apocalyptic epic that won the Hugo and opened her Broken Earth trilogy.

624pts

8

The Traitor Baru Cormorant

Seth Dickinson's 2015 novel of economics, empire, and rebellion told through a brilliant accountant.

624pts

9

The Wise Man's Fear

Patrick Rothfuss's 2011 sequel in the Kingkiller Chronicle, continuing the tale of Kvothe.

499pts

10

Spinning Silver

Naomi Novik's 2018 fairy-tale-inspired novel of debt, sacrifice, and winter magic.

499pts

11

Six of Crows

Leigh Bardugo's 2015 heist fantasy following a crew of misfits in the Grishaverse.

499pts

12

The Goblin Emperor

Katherine Addison's 2014 court-intrigue novel about an outcast half-goblin thrust onto a throne.

499pts

13

The Priory of the Orange Tree

Samantha Shannon's 2019 standalone epic of dragons, religion, and four interlocking viewpoints.

312pts

14

Uprooted

Naomi Novik's 2015 standalone fantasy of a corrupted wood and a reluctant village girl.

312pts

15

The Night Circus

Erin Morgenstern's atmospheric 2011 debut about a magical competition staged in a mysterious circus.

312pts

16

A Darker Shade of Magic

V.E. Schwab's 2015 adventure of parallel Londons connected by rare magic-wielding travelers.

312pts

17

The Bear and the Nightingale

Katherine Arden's 2017 debut steeped in Russian folklore and a fearless heroine.

312pts

18

The Poppy War

R.F. Kuang's brutal 2018 military fantasy inspired by twentieth-century Chinese history.

0pts

19

Jade City

Fonda Lee's 2017 gangster fantasy of warring clans wielding magical jade in a modern-feeling city.

0pts