What is the best fantasy book series of all time?

Fantasy literature has produced some of the most immersive worlds ever imagined — but which series towers above the rest? From Tolkien's foundational Middle-earth to Brandon Sanderson's cosmere, vote for the fantasy book series that captured your imagination most completely.

1

The Dresden Files

Jim Butcher's bestselling urban fantasy series following Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard-for-hire, across 17+ novels.

1000pts

2

The Malazan Book of the Fallen

Steven Erikson's dense 10-book epic regarded as the most ambitious and complex fantasy series ever written, with thousands of characters.

918pts

3

A Song of Ice and Fire

George R.R. Martin's gritty ongoing epic about power, betrayal, and survival across the Seven Kingdoms, inspiration for Game of Thrones.

857pts

4

The Wheel of Time

Robert Jordan's (completed by Brandon Sanderson) monumental 14-book epic spanning a war between the forces of Light and the Dark One.

803pts

5

Mistborn

Brandon Sanderson's six-book series beginning with a heist story set in an ash-covered world where ash falls from the sky and mist rules the night.

734pts

6

The First Law

Joe Abercrombie's darkly subversive grimdark trilogy (and sequels) that deconstructs classic fantasy archetypes with brutal realism.

734pts

7

The Dark Tower

Stephen King's eight-book magnum opus following gunslinger Roland Deschain across a post-apocalyptic fantasy universe to reach the Dark Tower.

734pts

8

The Kingkiller Chronicle

Patrick Rothfuss's ongoing trilogy following the legendary wizard and musician Kvothe as he narrates the story of his own mythologized life.

642pts

9

The Chronicles of Narnia

C.S. Lewis's classic 1950–1956 seven-book children's fantasy series set in the magical land of Narnia, entered through a wardrobe.

514pts

10

His Dark Materials

Philip Pullman's 1995–2000 trilogy following young Lyra Belacqua across parallel universes in a world where human souls take animal form.

514pts

11

The Stormlight Archive

Brandon Sanderson's ongoing epic-fantasy series set on the storm-ravaged world of Roshar, known for its intricate magic system and world-building.

514pts

12

The Witcher

Andrzej Sapkowski's Polish fantasy saga about monster hunter Geralt of Rivia, which inspired one of gaming's most acclaimed RPG franchises.

514pts

13

The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien's foundational 1954–1955 epic trilogy that created the template for modern high fantasy and spawned an entire genre.

321pts

14

Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling's seven-book 1997–2007 series about a young wizard's years at Hogwarts School that became the best-selling book series in history.

0pts

15

Discworld

Terry Pratchett's beloved 41-book satirical fantasy series set on a flat world carried by four elephants on the back of a giant turtle.

0pts

16

Eragon

Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, begun when he was 15, following a farm boy who discovers a dragon egg and becomes a legendary Dragon Rider.

0pts