# The 20 Best Epic Fantasy Novels of All Time

> From genre-founding sagas that wrote the rulebook to gritty modern subversions that tore it up, these worlds swing between noble quests and morally grey battlefields. Cast your vote!

*By YPB Team · Published August 12, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-20-best-epic-fantasy-novels-of-all-time*

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## Current results (3 votes)

1. **A Game of Thrones** — 66.67% (2 votes · score 1000/1000)
   George R.R. Martin's 1996 series opener depicting noble houses warring for the Iron Throne of Westeros.
2. **The Eye of the World** — 33.33% (1 votes · score 714/1000)
   Robert Jordan's 1990 series opener to The Wheel of Time, following young villagers swept into a battle against the Dark One.
3. **The Fellowship of the Ring** — 0% (0 votes · score 584/1000)
   The 1954 opening volume of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, following a hobbit's quest to destroy a powerful ring.
4. **Prince of Thorns** — 0% (0 votes · score 584/1000)
   Mark Lawrence's 2011 novel following a ruthless young prince clawing his way toward a throne in a broken world.
5. **The Sword of Shannara** — 0% (0 votes · score 454/1000)
   Terry Brooks's 1977 novel that helped launch the modern epic fantasy genre, following a quest to stop a dark lord.
6. **The Return of the King** — 0% (0 votes · score 454/1000)
   The 1955 concluding volume of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, culminating in the fall of Sauron.
7. **The Dragonbone Chair** — 0% (0 votes · score 454/1000)
   Tad Williams's 1988 series opener to Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, a scullion boy's rise amid a kingdom's collapse.
8. **Legend** — 0% (0 votes · score 454/1000)
   David Gemmell's 1984 novel of an aging warrior making his last stand defending a besieged fortress.
9. **Mistborn: The Final Empire** — 0% (0 votes · score 372/1000)
   Brandon Sanderson's 2006 novel about a street thief who joins a rebellion against an immortal tyrant.
10. **The Poppy War** — 0% (0 votes · score 372/1000)
   R.F. Kuang's 2018 novel blending military history and dark magic in a war-torn fantasy inspired by 20th-century China.
11. **The Two Towers** — 0% (0 votes · score 372/1000)
   The 1954 middle volume of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, splitting the fellowship across war-torn Middle-earth.
12. **The Way of Kings** — 0% (0 votes · score 372/1000)
   Brandon Sanderson's 2010 series opener to The Stormlight Archive, set on a storm-ravaged world of warring kingdoms.
13. **The Name of the Wind** — 0% (0 votes · score 372/1000)
   Patrick Rothfuss's 2007 novel narrated by legendary wizard Kvothe recounting his rise from orphan to legend.
14. **The Blade Itself** — 0% (0 votes · score 273/1000)
   Joe Abercrombie's 2006 series opener to The First Law, a gritty subversion of classic fantasy tropes.
15. **The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe** — 0% (0 votes · score 273/1000)
   C.S. Lewis's 1950 novel in which children discover the magical, snow-bound land of Narnia through a wardrobe.
16. **Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell** — 0% (0 votes · score 273/1000)
   Susanna Clarke's 2004 novel reviving English magic in an alternate Napoleonic-era Britain.
17. **A Clash of Kings** — 0% (0 votes · score 272/1000)
   The 1998 second volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, escalating the war for the Iron Throne across Westeros.
18. **Gardens of the Moon** — 0% (0 votes · score 272/1000)
   Steven Erikson's 1999 series opener to the Malazan Book of the Fallen, a sprawling military fantasy epic.
19. **The Black Company** — 0% (0 votes · score 272/1000)
   Glen Cook's 1984 novel telling epic fantasy war from the ground level of a mercenary company.
20. **Assassin's Apprentice** — 0% (0 votes · score 151/1000)
   Robin Hobb's 1995 novel following FitzChivalry Farseer, a royal bastard trained as a secret assassin.

Tags: fantasy, books, adventure, magic