What is the best fantasy book series of all time?

By YPB Team

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 — ranked #11
    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 — ranked #22
    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.
    880pts
  3. A Song of Ice and Fire — ranked #33
    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.
    789pts
  4. The Wheel of Time — ranked #44
    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.
    710pts
  5. The First Law — ranked #55
    The First Law
    Joe Abercrombie's darkly subversive grimdark trilogy (and sequels) that deconstructs classic fantasy archetypes with brutal realism.
    609pts
  6. Mistborn — ranked #66
    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.
    609pts
  7. The Dark Tower — ranked #77
    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.
    609pts
  8. The Kingkiller Chronicle — ranked #88
    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.
    473pts
  9. The Stormlight Archive — ranked #99
    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.
    284pts
  10. The Chronicles of Narnia — ranked #1010
    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.
    284pts
  11. His Dark Materials — ranked #1111
    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.
    284pts
  12. The Witcher — ranked #1212
    The Witcher
    Andrzej Sapkowski's Polish fantasy saga about monster hunter Geralt of Rivia, which inspired one of gaming's most acclaimed RPG franchises.
    284pts
  13. The Lord of the Rings — ranked #1313
    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.
    1pts
  14. Harry Potter — ranked #1414
    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.
    1pts
  15. Discworld — ranked #1515
    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.
    1pts
  16. Eragon — ranked #1616
    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.
    1pts

Comments

Tolkien finished his trilogy in 1955 and Rowling published seven novels between 1997 and 2007, so this shelf sets influence against reach: https://youpick.best/articles/harry-potter-ranked-many-ways

YP
ypb-team
·Aug 21·
0/1000