I read 200+ fantasy books and these are the best series 

Tolkien’s LOTR is to fantasy as Beethoven’s 9th is to symphonies.

David Eddings- The Belgariad series, The Mallorean series, Belgarath the Sorcerer, Polgara the sorceress

What are your favourite fantasy series? Also, thank you to CommonPlace for sponsoring this video. You can download the app here OR buy the books mentioned in the description: apps.apple.com/us/app/commonplace-share-quotes/id1606636545

Steven Erikson: Malazan Book of the Fallen Eddings: Belgariad, Mallorean, Belgarath the Sorcerer, Polgara the Sorceress Terry Pratchet: Discworld Series

finished green bone saga cause you mentioned it several times and absolutely love it - that was exactly what I've been looking for considering so much cliché and repetitiveness in literature or TV these days. definitely a breath of fresh air! Thank you for introducing me to this masterpiece!

Love this!!! The Dark Tower is what I read when I got back into reading fantasy again! It holds a special place in my heart

The Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series by Tad Williams (starts with The Dragonbone Chair) is consistently underrated. It's one of my favs but I never hear anyone talking about it.

The Redwall Series has been my favorite fantasy series for over 20 years. Simple to read, but full of great world building and characters

Fantastic video, Johan. Thanks for including The Illborn Saga within such a fantastic selection of fantasy series.

The last 100 or so pages of Words of Radiance still hit me even after reading it four or five times. SO GOOD

You must read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson. The protagonist starts in our world and when he is taken to The Land he refuses to believe in it. He is the ultimate anti-hero, a jagged presence in a beautiful world full of honour and sacrifice. Because of the starting conceit I've never felt such connection with a main character. The dialogue is poetic and uplifting, the writing has a tremendous sweep, and the inner and external tribulations on our hero's journey are wonderfully crafted. The first book was written in 1977 and the 10th and final book in 2013, making R.R Martin's hiatus look a like a blink of an eye. It's truly worth a visit.

honestly thank you for leaving lotr as an honorable mention. We all love it. we all get it. I am looking for new stuff.

The Lord of the Rings is still as good, if you loved it a 14 then you'll still love it today, and maybe even more so as an adult. Yes it's not fast paced, but it's so beautifully written and it feels so real, and it's far better than many of the stuff writers put out nowadays.

One of my top fantasy series is the Rift War Saga by Raymond Fiest

Great list! Just what I was looking for, thanks!

Has anyone read Daughter, servant and mistress of the empire by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts, its a spin of from the Magician series. If not give it a try i found it fascinating.

The entire Drizzt Do'Urden series by R.A. Salvatore. The Dragonrealm series by Richard A. Knaak. The Thomas Covenant Chronicles by Stephen R. Donaldson.

Some of you might shake your heads at this, but to me the Discworld series was a gamechanger. Suddenly almost every otther fantasy series seemed boring and predictable. The crazy comedy, the weird world building, the personalities of the characters, the way Pratchett plays with the language, and not least the way he mirrors the oddities of our own society... marvellous. I also want to mention Ben Aaronovich's series Rivers of London. Why shouldn't you build your story in modern day London, and create plots around the mythology and traditions that so many og us are familiar with?

What a great list!! I knew you loved Dark Tower, but I didn't know it was your number 1!! I definitely need to continue that series, Wizard and Glass is up for me next. Also, I am kicking myself for still not having prioritised Aiduel's Sin, because I loved book 1. Loved this video, thanks for sharing!!

Some great stuff to add to the TBR along with a few of my favs as well, so well done!

I'm so happy to see The Dark Tower at number 1!!!! Its my all time favourite series and blew my mind as well and I wish more people would give it a chance 😊

The Belgariad (Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, and Enchanter's Endgame) and The Malloreon (Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda, Sorceress of Darshiva, and Seeress of Kell), along with Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress. By David and Leigh Eddings. Fantasy grounded in gritty reality. Highly recommended.

Awesome video! I will try some of the series you mention that I never heard about!

It was really nice to see you include some self-published series! Thank you.

Magician by Feist had to be there No Obernewtyn by Carmody? Two of the top fantasy series ever written.

Good list, I liked the video. Dark Tower is an absolutely fantastic series, it was an interesting surprise to find it at #1. All the work by Erikson and Esslemont (Malazan Book of the Fallen + Malazan Empire + others still coming) should at least be considered, but I understand it's a somehow difficult reading for most people (I personally love it). Also, Rothfuss' Kvothe saga may deserve a little praise, though missing the damn third book!!

You need to read some older stuff like David Gemmell , David Eddings , Terry Brooke’s & Raymond E.Feist . Some fantastic reads in there .

So happy to see your #1 choice! I would give anything to reread that series for the first time! It has every genre woven masterfully together in a way no one has come even close to replicating since.

The Death Gate Cycle is my all-time favourite!

I like "His Dark Materials" trilogy by Phillip Pullman, "The Magic Kingdom of Landover" series by Terry Brooks, "The Dragonriders of Pern," and "The Harperhall Trilogy" by Anne McCaffrey, "The Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling, "The Heroes of Olympus" series by Rick Riordan...and I'm saluting your #1 pick, "The Dark Tower" series by Stephen King was phenomenal!

Ahh what a fantastic list man, we share so many fav series haha I really need to continue with the Dark Tower, book 1 I found meh but Book 2 was amazing (apart from a few issues) but I really need to prioritise book 3. Glad to see Greenbone so high, its honestly one of the best things I've ever read. Really excited to get to Cahills series, I have the Broken Binding Hardback edition for Book 1 ordered so gonna read it whenever that arrives.

Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, A song of Ice and Fire, The First Law are my top choices. And if he EVER got around to finishing it, Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronice series could very well make the Top 5

Huge fan of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Also love the Prince of Nothing series by R. Scott Bakker. That last one is definitely adults only, and might be too dark for the readers in this comments section, but that one ends in perhaps the most perfect and unexpected way.

I can’t wait for you to continue storm light. Oathbringer is my favorite Sanderson book! Also my favorite series is the gentlemen bastards

The Dark Tower is my absolute favorite series of all time. I'm surprised and happy to see it in your top 3!

It seems like Elizabeths Moons "Deed of Paksenarrion" is criminally underrated. One of the few fantasy series where I have thought "This seems realistic". Way to many are unrealistic in some ways, the logic falls short, everything happens too fast or the people act wrong. Most are "neutral" in that they work fine, but you don't really have a sense of that this is how it should be. The deeds of Paksenarrion stands out in the positive way. And also. I'm happy everytime I run across a series that is not about saving the world from an evil god or saving humanity from a mad sorcerer/demon/whatever that wants to conquer the world. :)

I'd have to say that the first 6 Thomas Covenant books by Steven R Donaldson, The Belgariad series by David Eddings, The Shannara Chronicles by Terry Brooks, and the Tales of Alvin Maker by Orson Scott Card were some of my early favorites

I was soo pleasantly surprised for The Dark Tower at number one. It’s one of my favorites as well. 😃

Gemmell, ,,,,, Druss, Waylander, Skiillgannon, all in the Drenai series. The Rigante, the story of Troy, and the Jon Shannow series. All of them, truly great books.

I have read hundreds of fantasy books and really love the genre. Some of my favorits are ALL the Raymond E. Feist books, The Name of the Wind, Dark Tower series, all the Robin Hobb books, Abercrombie books, Sarah J. Mass books, Stephen King, and so many more... to many good books and to little time. Great list!! I will check out some of the ones I've missed.

Currently reading The Wastelands and I’m hooked! The Dark Tower is maybe my all time favorite fantasy series and Kings writing style (even if it get a little weird) is addictive! Never forget the face of your father gunslinger.

L. E Modessitt, Jr. deserves a top spot on this list. Any of his series will comfortably rise to the top of any fantasy list.

I haven't read as much in last 30 years but a few from the past that I loved: Riddle Master of Hed, Dragons of Pern, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series, Alan Dean Foster Finx light weight fun, Magic of Xanth Piers Anthony and Apprentice Adept series. Basically anything my brother read and handed down to me. Thanks Bro!

great content, so easy to watch you. Glad to see dark tower getting the love it deserves

Thank you, always making my TBR list longer and longer. I truly appreciate it though, I'll always have something to read thanks to people like you :)

Brent weeks the night angel trilogy is a beautifully violent and gripping series. West of west trilogy by Angus Watson is absolutely hilarious and so well paced. Anthony Ryan the ravens shadow has my favourite protagonist in fantasy, Valen Al Sorna. The audio books narrated by Steven brand are captivating. And when the third book of the bloodsworn saga comes out, it could possibly be the best series I’ve read. The first two are flawless. Special mention to the king killer chronicles. Unfortunately the series will never be finished, but the way Patrick Rothfuss writes…. It’s just beautiful the way he uses words.

Loved the dark tower series. Also waiting eagerly for the next stormlight book. Mistborn series is now up next for me.

So so many good recommendations here!! I am so happy to see that Green Bone saga made the cut! I 100% need to get into Malice soon! Great video!

I finished the Age of Madness trilogy in August. Listened to 8h of Wisdom of Crowds audiobook in a row (not kidding). Still haven't got over how insanely amazing it is.

I’d add The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher and The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. Thanks for the recommendations. I haven’t read some of these. Excited to discover some new books.

glad I found your channel. very helpful reviews, thanks.

This is amazing! thanks so much! I'm getting into fantasy.

Hmmm, you need to delve into some Pulp. You’re missing a lot of good stuff from the 60s and 70s that paved the way for everything you mentioned. I’d say get to a used book store and start pulling anything and everything from the shelf thats within those decades. Maybe even the 50s. Ursula K Le Guin (Earthsea Trilogy), Mervin Peake (Gormenghast), Michael Morcock (Elric Saga), Philip Jose Farmer. Then there’s Raymond E. Feist, Simon R Green, Steven Erikson, Glen Cook, …

Julian May: The Pliocene Exile series. I read them 30+ years ago, and it is still one of the best series ever written. Enjoy!

The Dark Tower started my passion for fantasy as well! Now I’m checking out all these other writers and series. Thank you for the detailed recommendations.

Found some new books, thanks! King Killer chronicles missing seems illegal though 🤔

Jim Butcher has 2 great series - The Dresden Files and The Codex Alera - and the start of a third. Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series is another great one.

I would love to know what you think of THE FIONAVAR TAPESTRY by Canada's Guy Gavriel Kay. It starts on the campus of the University of Toronto but quickly takes readers on a journey through high fantasy, Celtic mythology & the Arthurian cycle. It has been my favourite fantasy series for decades!

I've always wanted to start reading more fantasy series however I didn't really know where to start. I look forward going through your list and picking 1 to start. Thanks

Rodger Zelazny's Amber series, both parts. Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern and its supplemental books. The classic C. S. Lewis The Chronicals of Narnia and of course Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea trilogy and the stand alone book The Left Hand of Darkness.

I love The Dark Tower. I don’t know if it would be at my #1 spot, but definitely top 5.

I see so many great series like Discworld, Shannara, Riftworld, etc.. But a series that I reread every year is the Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey..... The 5 books around F'lar, Lessa and Jaxom with their dragons are unforgettable for me.

I'm glad to see so many shouting out about David Eddings " Belgariad series", Raymond E Feist's," The Magician, Faerie Tale" , I'd like to mention Stephen P Donaldson's series too.

I like your list. Some good suggestions. I would like to know though, where do u fall of the sword of truth series. Maybe just books 1-10 it's hit or miss after that to me. Maybe the Andrew Rowe arcane ascension books. Just? I also appreciate kevin Hearne, the iron druid?

You missed some all time greats! Discworld - Terry Pratchett The Empire Trilogy (part of the Riftwar Cycle) - Ratmond E. Feist/Janny Wurts The Midkemia series (27 books divided in sub-series and part of the Riftwar Cycle) - Raymond E. Feist Deverry Cycle - Katharine Kerr

Catch up on the Stormlight Archive. Oathbringer had my legit sweating and I couldn’t tear my eyes away

Ah, a reader after my own heart! I adore The Dark Tower, and started loving it even more after doing a continuous listen of the whole series as audiobooks. Blew my mind, seriously! And the comics are excellent too ❤

Totally agree about Robin Hobb, love all of her books. Mistborn was my favorite! That was one of the first fantasy series I read, and was hooked (agree on the magic system, amazing). I also love Marc Lawrence books (Prince of Thorns trilogy, Red Sister Trilogy). Great list!

Raymond E. Feist, start with Apprentice and then you have +10 more books to read in the same wonderful world. Heartbreaking at times as you follow a family through generations. My other favorite is David and Leigh Eddings and rounding up the top 3 - J.R.R Tolkien, not only LotR triology but all the middle earth stories. Honorable mentions - Margaret Weis och Tracy Hickman, Dragonlance saga, then we got all the authors and books from the Forgotten Realms.

I strongly recommend the Winter of the World trilogy written by Michael Scott Rohan. It’s three books arem The Anvil of Ice (1986]; The Forge in the Forest (1987); and The Hammer of the Sun (1988). It’s a “tolkien style” fantasy with an excellent world building, very interesting characters and a unique magic mixing metalworking with songs and poetry. Worth a reading.

I feel like #1 was a plot twist! Also, I completely understand where you put TLotR. I'll be really curious to see where you rank it on re-read (my prediction is it will stay right where it is). Also, I'm super curious to see what happens to your picks 4 & 5 after you read more of the series that you put at #5.

How do you manage to read so much and so quickly? I usually get tired after 30-60 pages in one sitting, unless I'm at the very end of a good book, then I can do about a hundred in a sitting (if the ending is that good)

Surprised no one has mentioned Fionavar Tapestry. Something I really enjoyed!

These 3 series were my first series I’ve ever read. Anyone else read these as a kid or recently? Brian Jacques redwall series R.A Salvatore legend of drizzt Terry goodkind Sword of truth

This is what I'm looking for you are so helpful

Helpful you prefaced your video and qualified your opinion.

Been reading for a bit longer, over 1,000 read. Suggest Darkover series by M.Z. Bradley, Amber by Zelazny, Dark Company by Glen Cook, maybe Piers Anthony for Tarot and Tim Powers in The Scott Crane Saga. Read on and enjoy both recent and the classic older stuff.

The Dark Tower is one of my favourite series of all time and honestly I have been putting off finishing it because I don't want it to end😭

I really enjoy David Hair's series, the moontide quartet, the sunsurge quartet and the tethered citidal trilogy. All good reads. Looking forward to trying some of your recommendations.

Can't express just how good The Spellmonger series is in my humble opinion. Currently planned for 30 main series books. Author currently has 15 main series books finished. 8 or so novellas and a spin off series sitting at 2 so far. Its one of those series that i pray i get to finish before i pass from this world.

I was not expecting to see The Dark Tower at number one, I totally agree. So unique.

I agree with you on wheel of time, and in my opinion, that imperfection only happened when Sanderson got his hands on it, specifically the last two books. Don’t get me wrong, I will always love Sanderson for finishing it for us, but some of the character motivations were skewed from Jordan’s first books. They were frustrating … specifically Matt’s, but others as well. My only other criticism, and this with Jordan himself, is with his mistimed description. The proverbial elephant walks into the room, and he begins to describe the room, the costumes, and sometimes historic motivations of characters, when … there’s that elephant! Some explosive scene happens, and we are stuck at a cliffhanger until he finishes his description. I recently did the audio version, and realized I just needed patience. And oh, that other thing readers complain about, in book 7 thru 9, that section of dullness, the slog? I didn’t see that in the audio version. I kept waiting for it, and then I found myself in book 11. Excellent read, and I will always be critical of Amazon in investing all that money in Rings of Power (a complete failure), and trashing Jordan’s work.

Seeing The Green Bone saga where it was warmed my heart. It’s my favourite and actually the first fantasy series I’ve ever completed. New reader and I guess I lucked out lol

Thank you soo much been looking for a good fantasy read for a while will give number 11 a read

Does anyone else read Tepper, Bujold, Czenerda, Cherryh, Briggs, Lackey, Kristen Smith? Of course the older authors Norton, Heinlein, Asimov. There are so many others none of which were on the list.

Nice list. Always love watching these top fantasy lists like this. Gives me tons of ideas for new series to read. My top 10: Honorable mentions: Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson, Shannara by Terry Brooks, Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, A Song of Ice & Fire by George Martin and Memory Sorrow & Thorn by Tad Williams (no particular order on these but if I made a top 15 list they would be in that range; it's been years since I've read any of these so it's hard to rank them exactly). 10. Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon (some of the honorable mentions might be ahead of this and maybe even as high as #8 if I did a reread of them; I reread this one 2 years ago; still an all time favorite though I think Covenant at least will go back ahead of it if I ever get around to a reread) 9. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (I've only read Era 1 so far) 8. The Faithful & the Fallen by John Gwynne (new entry; just finished a couple days ago; reading Blood & Bone now) 7. The Belgariad/Malloreon by David Eddings (2 series set with same characters; been a fan of these since the early 90's) 6. Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss (probably will go higher if last book ever comes out and is as good as the others) 5. First Law by Joe Abercrombie (probably will go higher once I read them all; only read first trilogy so far) 4. Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson (another newer entry; just finished in Feb) 3. Drenai Saga by David Gemmell (this is NOT a new entry; been a favorite of mine for over 2 decades and always will be; it has gotten pushed down a spot in last couple years though) I know from previous videos of yours and obviously from this video that you love John Gwynne; you need to read David Gemmell. Gemmell was a major influence on Gwynne and I could tell big time in F&F. The way he writes his characters, dialog and battle scenes all mirror Gemmell's writing. I think you would love him; his Rigante or maybe Troy series might be more to your tastes than Drenai but really he has no "bad" series so any will do. Honestly I should have put those two in my honorable mentions, lol. Anyway back to my top 10. 2. Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson (for me this is the best Sanderson series by a mile) 1. Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson (this has been my all time favorite since I first started reading it in 1997; Kingkiller MIGHT have a SMALL chance of knocking it out of the top spot if that 3rd book is as good as the 1st; but I doubt it will happen. The characters in this series feel like old friends to me. WoT, Drenai Saga & Belgariad/Malloreon have been a part of my life for over 2 decades and are my most reread series by far)

I absolutely love Lonesome Dove, I'm also a fan of Western Novels. That said, Zane Gray's Riders of the Purple Sage is an amazing read as well.

That was a very thoughtful, articulate description. I wondered whether you were reading from a script that you wrote in advance because you were speaking so fluently. Thank you for sharing all of this. Do you, or did you, read and remember fantasy books for readers who are in the YA category: teens, young adults and maybe mature older children? If so, I'd be very interested in your recommendations!

The Liveship Trilogy by Robin Hobb -- I thought this is one of the ost ridiculous premises for a story ever, but after reading it, it is one of the best i have ever read....Agree with placing it with your top five placement.

Thanks very much, I've only read 2 I 3 of the books, I'll have a lot of fun to come 😊

Nice video! Thanks a lot! btw the Discord isn't working ??

Wheel of Time was great, until about book 6, I think, where it took an entire book to travel about 50 miles (I may be misremembering) and if i was to read "Nynaeve tugged her braid" one more time I was about to gouge out my eyes with a rusty spoon. My all time top has to be LOTR Servant of the Empire trilogy by Raymond Feist (magician by the same author is up there also). David Gemmel's Druss character is one of my all time favourites (Legend was magnificent).

I absolutely loved the witcher saga. Sapkowski style is too unique and amazing

I agree with those recommending older series such as Gemmell, Eddings, Feist. I'd add to this Steven R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant--the original 3 book series. But I'm a little surprised that Game of Thrones did not find it onto the list... maybe because it is unfinished? I think it is the best for political intrigue, original characters and has amazing world building. For some really different fantasy (no Tolkien tropes) I'd recommend Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality or Farmer's Riverworld series. Thanks for your list. I'll definitely check out the books you have mentioned!

Perfect list, I couldn't have made a better one myself. I really need to get the Green Bone Saga next.

Malazan book of the fallen for me has been the greatest fantasy work I've read, for an easier read pretty much any thing else.

Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind is probably my current favorite in the fantasy genre; has both a strong male and female lead, Richard, the Seeker of Truth and Kahlan, the Mother Confessor but Dragonlance is was what got me started

Lotr and the Shannara series are some of my favorites! I had a 5th grade teacher who unfortunately passed early and he got me started on the Shannara series. He recommended it 2 days after my dad did. And I love those books so much.

I don't know if you have read the Michael J. Sullivan Universe but they def should be on your list. If you haven't, you are in for a treat. So good, I can't decide if I preferred the initial, the prequel, or the sequel, all self published, indie series.

We're talking fantasy series and no mention of Katherine Kerr's Deverry series? Yes they take some getting used to with the jumping between reincarnations and such, but this series is 👍. Also REF's Magician, but I see someone else mentioned that series already and his collaboration with Janny Wurts. W.J. Maryson is also a fun read, but I can't remember if he has been translated in English as he is (well was actually) a Dutch writer. And for a lighter read I love the Pern series by Anne McCaffrey although those are a mix of fantasy and science fiction. Anyway you did mention some writers that are on my to do lists, thanks for the reminder. Time to get to updating my book collection 😅.