Psychology, the human condition, and interpersonal relationships fascinate me. I’ve studied the psychology of stories, their effect on readers, and things like moral development to understand better how to structure growth arcs and falls from grace in my writing. However, these studies have also changed the way I consume stories. Through books, movies, and video games, I can’t help but analyze story structure and its impact on its audience. As an author of epic fantasy, I am also active on TikTok and Instagram, reviewing stories and their structures and talking about all things fantasy. I hope you enjoy the stories on this list as much as I have!
This book epitomizes what I want in a book! The worldbuilding has a degree of depth, breadth, and imagination that has kept me coming back for multiple rereads. While the world is fascinating, and the magic system is evocative and intriguing, they are not what put this story at the top of my reading list.
Character. I love it when there is a full cast of complex characters to get lost in, and Sanderson can (and does) teach a master class on how to write unforgettable characters. The character motivations, the “Why” behind what they are doing, is so profoundly believable if not relatable. Every single character has a past that is drip-fed throughout the story, gradually delivering the formative wounds that made the characters who they are. That so many are written well in one book is just a bonus.
And this by no means detracts from the plot. Though this story is long (as is the rest of the subsequent books in the 5 book arc), each character’s story, seemingly disconnected at first, begins to coalesce into something truly epic.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, Book One of the Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.
It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and…
There is a reason the TV series performed as well as it did. Even though this book series hasn’t been and may never be finished, please let me tell you why I think you should read it anyway.
The story that captivated the world and put epic fantasy back on the map is even better in bookish form. Yes, the world-building of Westeros is iconic, but the use of each character’s perspective left me awestruck. Throughout the story and across the different perspectives, the “truths” of the world are revealed in their own intricately conflicting ways—a subtle reminder that history is often written by the hand of the victor.
For those who have watched the show and believe they’ve seen all that GRRM has to offer, I encourage you to take a stab (with the pointy end) at the book series; there are even more layers to the political intrigue and so much more to love!
HBO's hit series A GAME OF THRONES is based on George R R Martin's internationally bestselling series A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, the greatest fantasy epic of the modern age. A GAME OF THRONES is the first volume in the series.
'Completely immersive' Guardian
'When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground'
Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.
From the fertile south, where heat breeds conspiracy, to the vast and savage eastern lands, all the way to the frozen…
It is 1948 in Berlin. The economy is broken, the currency worthless, and the Russian bear is preparing to swallow its next victim. In the ruins of Hitler's capital, former RAF officers and a woman pilot start an air ambulance company that offers a glimmer of hope. Yet when a…
Joe Abercrombie didn’t earn the moniker Lord Grimdark for nothing. This story explores the darker depths of the human experience and is not for the faint of heart, but the characterization is something completely other.
Though this first book almost serves as more of a prologue for the trilogy, the characters are more than enough to carry this story on their own. Each is a therapist’s headache (and payday) because the Union is a tough place to live, as Logen Ninefingers will continue to remind the reader.
Though I read this book years ago, it still sticks with me as an unforgettable experience because of how immersive the cast was.
Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and increasingly bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers.
Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion Captain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his friends at cards. Vain, shallow, selfish and self-obsessed, the biggest blot on his horizon is having to get out of bed in the morning to train with obsessive and boring old men.
This book has this wonderful dichotomy of feeling both fully familiar with other great, classic epic fantasy stories while simultaneously standing proud in its own right.
I tore through this book and this trilogy because they toed the line of nostalgia for classics like Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time while maintaining a more modern voice and more accessible pacing. Any time an author can pack the same degree of epic-ness into a smaller (but by no means small) story, I am all in.
A young man with forbidden magic finds himself drawn into an ancient war against a dangerous enemy in book one of the Licanius Trilogy, the series that fans are heralding as the next Wheel of Time.
As destiny calls, a journey begins.
It has been twenty years since the godlike Augurs were overthrown and killed. Now, those who once served them -- the Gifted -- are spared only because they have accepted the rebellion's Four Tenets, vastly limiting their powers.
As a Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war lost before he was even born. He and others like…
Bad Blood is paranormal suspense in First Person Snark, so if you like sarcastic, strong female characters set in a world where the preternatural is run amok (i.e., legal citizens in the United States), then this book and series are for you.
Follow Sadie Stanton–"poster girl for the preternatural"–as she…
If you’ve read all of the books on this list and are looking for something new, this book is the story of Robin Hood with all the backstabbing, politicking, and civil unrest of A Game of Thrones. Though not “Fantasy” (there is no magic, second-world, divine intervention, etc), this historical fiction novel was no less epic, and I would be remiss to leave it off this list.
As someone who exclusively reads fantasy and some sci-fi, I find this story (and its sequel, Lionhearts) to fit right into my reading list. The use of character perspective was so powerful because despite there being six primary POV characters who are diametrically opposed to one another in different ways, I somehow found myself rooting for all of them. Each character was so convincing in their justifications and righteousness that every chapter constantly reflected on who was in the right.
This was a reading experience I will never forget, and it was a book that few epic fantasy lovers have enjoyed reading. You’re welcome ;)
“The most pleasurable reading experience I've had since first discovering George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.” ― Bryan Cogman, Co-Executive Producer and Writer, Game of Thrones
Nathan Makaryk's epic and daring debut rewrites the Robin Hood legend, giving voice to those history never mentioned and challenging who's really a hero and a villain.
England, 1191. King Richard is half a world away, fighting for God and his own ambition. Back home, his country languishes, bankrupt and on the verge of anarchy. People with power are running unchecked. People without are growing angry. And…
Peace bought by blood seldom lasts, for vengeance knows no end. The same is true for mortals and Gods alike; everyone is enslaved to something. Gladiator-slave Zephyrus finds himself in the middle of it all. Though prophesied to free his people from their chains of servitude, first, he must work with his slavers if he is ever to lead a liberation.
Working with a disavowed prince and a slave-owning domina, Zephyrus must expose a group of zealots led by the queen who is plotting to overthrow the kingdom. But the Gods have an agenda of their own, and they'll use any vessel—patrician, plebeian, or slave—to see it done. The scales must be balanced. By peace. Or by blood.
None of them knew what was coming, and none of them will ever be the same again...
Detective Jelani is a tough, veteran cop. His younger partner, Detective Madigan, is brash and confident. But they were not prepared to become embroiled in a series of cosmic events they could never…
He’s riddled with guilt. She’s annoyed with the status quo.
The death of a crime boss’s daughter forces Detective Neil Caldera to leave NYC. He seeks refuge in the tranquil embrace of a small town, where he finds himself entangled in the labyrinth of a teenage girl’s murder. Tess Fleishman’s…
