The best adult fantasy that won’t make you grow up too much

I’ve repeatedly consumed the entire All Souls Trilogy in its various formats. This is because A Discovery of Witches is not your typical twinkle-skinned romance of a vampire story. Harkness intellectually substantiates vampire, witch, and demon lore with biological references, realistically grounding old wives’ tales in temptingly believable “research” without making it read like a textbook. Although the creatures find themselves embroiled in an existential battle against pureblood obsessives and a star-crossed love story, they are richer for the interplay between their cultures, family dynamics, and the secrets they must and choose to keep. This renders them relatable on a deeply human level as we learn that they’re subject to the same faults of DNA and upbringing that we are, even amidst a fascinating and well-obscured world of magic.

As the kid who roamed the halls between classes with a book in my hand, I suspect Wraeththu gave my nerd façade an impressive boost: technically an omnibus of three stories, Wraeththu is very thick—in both binding and plot. It follows the emotionally charged and mesmeric tales of a hermaphroditic race that is steadily subsuming the human one in a Darwinian battle for biological perfection. We follow the journeys of a few characters as they navigate the mental and physical growing pains inherent in joining a new race and the wild tribes and communities that have emerged in the wake of their hermaphroditic transformations. Dark, fascinating characters and cultures drive this story to its unusual climax when their true purposes are stunningly revealed.

I cut my young-adult teeth on the Dragonriders of Pern, and it contributed in large part to my fascination with dragons and subsequent dream of writing about them. McCaffrey’s dragonriders enjoyed such a long-enduring culture that many ancient, efficient ways of surviving were long forgotten to them. But now, while engaged in an unending battle against the thread—small, worm-like creatures invading their planet to prey on its biological matter—the dragonriders learn how severely they have been disadvantaged by the careless lapses in their cultural recordkeeping. This complexly interwoven and expansive cast of characters (which necessitates a glossary) unfolds the mysteries of dragons, dragonriders, and thread in surprising and creatively tangled ways.

Comedy is an infrequent mainstay of fantasy, but this story wouldn’t be the same without it. Good Omens displays genius in the pairing of these two prolific authors whether you’re reading it, listening to it, or watching the utterly delightful series adaptation. An apocalyptic battle between heaven and hell is complicated by a rather problematic friendship between the Earth-bound angel and demon orchestrating each side of the war. Along with a blundering cast of characters whose lack of understanding of the human condition and repeated miscommunications only breed further disaster, the opposing elements put into place to end—or save—the world are left to their own devices… and their British upbringing. This book will make you laugh out loud, heedless of onlookers’ stares.

Nearly any of Christopher Moore’s other books would have better fit this list generically, but I am relying (heavily) on the presence of fantastical creatures and magic spells to maintain the necessary toe in the fantasy pool for my non-sequitur selection of Fool. Based skeletally on Shakespeare’s King Lear, Fool credits Lear’s court jester, Pocket—along with MacBeth’s trio of witches, a “bloody ghost,” and other foils—for engendering the war that followed the king’s tragic decision to disinherit his kindest daughter in favor of his other conniving offspring. Linguistic and bawdy humor are packaged in Moore’s cockeyed and delightfully Will-esque prose, rendering half the fun—at least for readers fond of the Bard—the detection of Shakespearean elements amidst olde-timey twists on today’s ruder colloquialisms.