The Top 30 Fantasy Books & Series Ranked by Reviews

See an Overview of this Rating System and Algorithm Here

Top 10

#1 Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive 1-4 (Unfinished Series)

4.59 avg.

Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy cycle tells the story of Roshar, a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain. It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors…

#2 Brandon Sanderson’s Tress of the Emerald Sea (Cosmere)

4.51

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?

#3 Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga 1-4

4.42 avg.

Janner Igiby, his brother, Tink, and their disabled sister, Leeli, are gifted children as all children are, loved well by a noble mother and ex-pirate grandfather. But they will need all their gifts and all that they love to survive the evil pursuit of the venomous Fangs of Dang, who have crossed the dark sea to rule the land with malice…

#4 Tove Foss Ford’s Weaving Man (Prophecy 1)

4.38

On a midwinter night on the planet Eirdon, the greatest assassin of his generation is summoned to the palace of Queen Morghenna. Known as Menders, the professional killer expects a reward for unraveling a ruthless plot to overthrow his monarch. Instead, he is handed a newborn baby Princess and made her guardian. Menders is dispatched with the Princess to a distant estate called The Shadows, where she is to be reared according to the severe and pitiless standards of the Royal House. But soon it is clear that Katrin is not like other children…

#5 Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicles1-2 (Unfinished Series)

4.32 avg.

My name is Kvothe. I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day…

#6 Robin Hobb’s The Fitz & the Fool Trilogy 1-3

4.30 avg.

FitzChivalry—royal bastard and former king’s assassin—has left his life of intrigue behind. As far as the rest of the world knows, FitzChivalry Farseer is dead and buried. Masquerading as Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is now married to his childhood sweetheart, Molly, and leading the quiet life of a country squire…

#7 Shirtaloon’s He Who Fights With Monsters Series 1-3 (Unfinished Series)

4.28 avg.

It’s not easy making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer. At least, Jason tries to be heroic, but it’s hard to be good when all your powers are evil. He’ll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters…and that’s just on the first day. He’s going to need courage, he’s going to need wit, and he’s going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he’s going to need pants…

#8 S.D. Smith’s The Green Ember Saga 1-4

4.23 avg.

Heather and Picket are extraordinary rabbits with ordinary lives until calamitous events overtake them, spilling them into a cauldron of misadventures. They discover that their own story is bound up in the tumult threatening to overwhelm the wider world. Kings fall and kingdoms totter. Tyrants ascend and terrors threaten. Betrayal beckons…

#9 Brandon Sanderson’s Arcanum Unbounded (The Cosmere)

4.23

The collection will include nine works in all. The first eight are:
“The Hope of Elantris” (Elantris)
“The Eleventh Metal” (Mistborn)
“The Emperor’s Soul” (Elantris)
“Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania, Episodes 28 through 30” (Mistborn)
“White Sand” (excerpt; Taldain)
“Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell” (Threnody)
“Sixth of Dusk” (First of the Sun)
“Mistborn: Secret History” (Mistborn)
These wonderful works, originally published on Tor.com and elsewhere individually, convey the expanse of the Cosmere and tell exciting tales of adventure Sanderson fans have come to expect…

#10 Brandon Sanderson’s Dawnshard (Stormlight Archive 3.5)

4.23

When a ghost ship is discovered, its crew presumed dead after trying to reach the storm-shrouded island Akinah, Navani Kholin must send an expedition to make sure the island hasn’t fallen into enemy hands. Knights Radiant who fly too near find their Stormlight suddenly drained, so the voyage must be by sea. Shipowner Rysn Ftori lost the use of her legs but gained the companionship of Chiri-Chiri, a Stormlight-ingesting winged larkin, a species once thought extinct. Now Rysn’s pet is ill, and any hope for Chiri-Chiri’s recovery can be found only at the ancestral home of the larkin: Akinah.