Top 10 Best Fantasy Series (2023 update) 

What books did I not include that are on your personal top 10?

Starting book 3 of The Wandering Inn. I have you and you alone to blame for this addiction. Keep up the good work Matt! you're a gentleman and a scholar.

You got me reading the First Law series from one of your previous videos a few months ago. Forgot how great character writing can be. And it's reignited my love of reading fantasy. Just finished the penultimate book today. What a journey it's been. Thank you

Ohh! Thanks for adding my Skinner art on The wandering inn section! Nice quick reviews of some great series!

To anyone curious about the wandering inn. The whole novel is free off their site. The Ebook/audiobook version is way behind but I prefer it for convenience and I love the reader for the audiobook. The gap between the the webseries and the ebooks is vast. The latest ebook released is the end of volume 5 while the series is currently somewhere in volume 9. The website just updated and it shows the parity of the ebook/webseries and it helps remove the confusion on where to pickup once you exhaust your ebooks and transition to the website.

thanks

Hi Matt, I was searching for how to string and tune a dulcimer and your 2023 favorite fantasy book series came up in my feed. I watched it. I never watch book people's channels. They make me feel like a middle school kid sitting in a cramped university lecture hall in the nosebleed section, hearing about the books I can read when I grow up. I am delighted to say that your video made me feel like being invited to sit at the cool kids table while they talk about books they love, taking careful notes so I don't forget a single title or author! Thank you! Hope that makes sense!

Gwynne and Abercrombine are great. I finished all of the Banished Lands books and I'm in the middle of the standalones for Abercrombie right now. I enjoy aspects of Malazan, but you said it, it's work. It's probably something I'll need to re-read at a certain point because I feel like I'm missing so much, but I love a lot of the characters, and how so many things are woven together, and all the races and the historical aspect of things. But man can it be work. Still working on Bonehunters, hoping to get to Crippled God by the end of the year, since it sounds like many people really enjoy, but I've heard between Bonehunters and there might be tough. In any case, thanks for the list.

Well, Matt, you got me out of my reading slump. I’ve picked up the first book in the Malazan series, and I can’t put it down. It’s that good! Thank you!!!

This was awesome. Thanks man!!! 🙏🙏🙏

Enjoyed the video and will absolutely check out some of these I haven’t read! Would love some more objective (obviously spoiler-free) detail of writer prose, story themes, and char arcs though

I like how you don't include the obvious titles, though there are some older ones that I wonder if you don't know about/forgot about/or just haven't found the time to read. The Thomas Covenant Chronicles, for example. Seems like every video I see mentions Malazan. I'm getting hyped to read it but also worried that it's maybe too hyped at this point. Anyway, keep up the good work.

Thank you for this great list, plenty of series yet to be explored.

Most of the way through Gardens of the Moon, and I'm really enjoying it so far! Looking forward to my (very slow) read-through of the series.

My top 10 list has changed quite a bit this past year or so as well. The top 2 has remained the same but #4, 5 & 8 are all new entries. I also dropped another couple out because it's been so long since I've read them that I don't feel like I can include them until I do a reread. I expect one will jump back in once I get around to it. But here is my current top 10: 10. Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon (this will probably get bumped out once I do a reread of Chronicles of Thomas Covenant; but I reread Paks a couple years ago so it's fresher on my mind even though I've always had Thomas Covenant ranked ahead of it) 9. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson 8. The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne (I too will be calling this The Banished Lands once I'm finished with Blood & Bone; currently on the 2nd book, I think it might end up moving up a spot or two if that last book is good) 7. The Belgariad/Malloreon by David Eddings (2 years ago this was my #3 series; keeps getting pushed down but still one of my all time favs and one I reread ever few years) 6. Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss (if it ever gets finished it will move up probably; if it doesn't it will probably move down; that's why ASOIAF is no longer in top 10 nor will be ever again) 5. First Law by Joe Abercrombie (new entry over the last 13 or 14 months; only read the first trilogy so it may very well move up) 4. Malazan by Steven Erikson (just finished the main 10 in February; I don't know if I will combine all the series or not when I read them; don't think I will since it's two authors) 3. Drenai Saga by David Gemmell (been in my top 3 since the 90's; so happy your reading and reviewing it) 2. Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson (really the only series that MIGHT take over the #1 spot by the time it's finished; I've said the same thing about Kingkiller if that last book is amazing but I'm losing hope on that one) 1. Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson (been my #1 series since 1997 and I doubt it will ever change; maybe in 20 years when Brando finishes Stormlight; or if Rothfuss magically shits out a masterpiece as good as NotW)

We spot some Papa Gwynne here! Great video Matt, you’re such a champion of TFatF and it’s always wonderful to hear your praise for the series. If you weren’t sure, we totally agree! Truth and courage. Ed

Great list Matt!! ASOIAF is my number one currently. I really want to read Dandelion dynasty too.

Happy reading to you!! 😊

Finally a 'Top' list that doesn't include spoilers no matter how tiny. I'm new to fantasy and am just starting Mistborn. Been watching a ton of recommendation videos and people always spoil the plot... Thank you so much for showcasing unique books I've never heard of!

So glad Realm of the Elderling was on here, there so many great moments that will make you happy cry and sad cry. "heart of the pack was here and he had never let us come to harm" had me absolutely wrecked with joy haha. I was bawling i tell you!

Haven’t read Malazan yet, but I know I’ll love it because your argument for it is my exact argument for Dark Souls. So grim, but beautiful and inspiring. It just throws you right in and you have to trust that things will work out.

I didn't read the Five Warrior Angels series, but when you speak of it and its connection to religion, it reminds me of the Second Apocalypse by R. Scott Bakker, which also deals with religion in unique ways (it centers on a sort of version of the crusades). It is very good and very underrated. But my choice for most underrated would be The Masquerade by Seth Dickinson.

You know I wasn't subscribed to you but after watching this. Your top 10 closely aligns to my taste more than other booktubers. So I'll be watching more of your vids from now on.

Hell yeah can't believe you put wandering inn on here it's so good just finished book 9.

I have to do a top ten at some point, but some of my favorite series in No order: 1) Mistborn Era 1 2) Codex Alera(Hidden gem of a series, Jim Butcher knows his stuff) 3) Cradle series by Will Wight 4) Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, and 5) Sabriel(Another hidden gem of a series).

What a great list! Stormlight Archive is my favorite :)

Love to see respect for the Wandering Inn! There are a few great gems that started as web serials. My favourite among those is 'A Practical Guide to Evil' by ErraticErrata. It's an incredibly unique series of fantasy books where fantasy meta-tropes are a part of the world and characters are aware of these tropes and manipulate them constantly for their own ends. For example, one of my favourite Villains in the series will immediately abandon any battle where it looks like they have an overwhelming advantage against 'Good' characters because they know the world will even the scales to give the 'Good' characters a high likelihood of winning. There are 'Dread Emperors' that start plagues of sentient man-eating tigers, Heroes that are eaten alive and cut themselves out of giant monsters, and a banquet where every dish is poisoned and attendees are expected to have ingested the appropriate antidotes prior to coming. I can honestly recommend it to the ends of the earth, the prose is delightful, the characters are varied and have depth, the world is incredibly refreshing AND its complete - with the books only improving as time goes on. One of my favourite series of all time. It also SAYS that its YA, but it rapidly matures as the books go on. I also love Worm by Wildbow, which is a 'realistic' kind of dark take on superheroes but I think APGTE would slightly appeal to the people here more.

I'm wrapping up Green Bone Saga. I've loved the whole series.

I have soooo many books to read... Great list!

There’s a series that’s not very well known and quite slept on called “The Spellmonger”, and it is the only series I love more than the Stormlight archive. The Spellmonger currently has 15 main books out with a plethora of side novels and such, some of which are quite important to the story- most notably book 2.5 (The Spellmonger’s Honeymoon) The world and characters of the spellmonger are all well fleshed out, the character development is top tier, and the plot is simply breathtaking. It has its issues- but it is impossible to put down. The best aspects are the twists regarding the plot and the world itself- everything changes the more the protagonist learns about the world and I love that. Second is the humour, although it is serious fantasy, the humour is brilliant and breaks the tension at just the right time to leave you feeling refreshed. Thirdly, it’s the politics. The politics of the world and how the characters handle politics is super entertaining. Just wanted to throw that out there :)

I've just started realm of the elderlings- taking it slow as the prose is quite detailed, and enjoying so far

Great list I'm reading the last book of the five Warrior Angels Trilogy Now,The Lonesome Crown, I'm also reading a book on the side called Seeds of War by Joao Silva, that is an independently published book with a new cool magic system and some great new characters in the new cool Dark World of smoke Magic you would get into it and like it, I've read most of these Series except a couple I've never read any of the Malzan but I have the first three on my shelf and I plan to start Gardens of the Moon sometime this year keep up the cool videos

The wandering inn audiobooks are phenomenal. I love this series.

Currently reading Wall of Storms and loving it!!

Wow first time hearing the wandering inn in a list🤩

On my favorites is the Black Company series by Glen Cook. Dark, Gritty. Love them!

Regarding the writing quality of Wandering Inn Volume 1, the new rewritten V1 is miles ahead in terms of prose. The plot remains the same for all intents and purposes. It just fixes a couple of minor plot holes, expands introduction to some characters and adds in a little bit of new content.

My top 10 series, ASOIAF could go up whenever I do reread them one day, but Richard Swan's Empire of the Wolf could easily jump up to my #2 spot if the final book is even half as good as the first two books. 1. Malazan Book of the Fallen 2. The Witcher 3. The Lord of the Rings 4. The Dresden Files 5. The Empire of the Wolf 6. Paternus 7. Mistborn Era 1 8. First Law World 9. Broken Empire/Red Queen's War 10. A Song of Ice and Fire

Smashing video Matt

I dont know why but I love this thumbnail pose everytime I see it on one of your videos

I feel like the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher is really underrated, I never see it on any of these lists, even though all 6 books were great imo. I should really give Malazan a try but the sheer scope of it seems scary 😅

Woo Dandelion Dynasty! Can't wait to see if it moves up after you finish the series.

Love the rankings definitely going to have to check out Brian Lee Durgee and Ken Liu...Gotta say I felt like Faithful and the Fallen was the only one of the books I've read felt too high. What Gwynne did well was done VERY well but all in all I felt like it was a very generic series and the only thing I really remember from it was the amazing battles and the fact I had a BLAST blazing through it but its not a series that really stuck with me.

Been repping the First Law series for years, now. Abercrombie is a master of Grimdark Fantasy.

Same on Stormlight Archive - emotional connection throughout.

Love the idea of the wandering inn and am very interested but I may just wait for it to finish some day lol. 3-4x the size of WOT is a gargantuan commitment. Took me so long to finish WOT

i'm so happy that Robin Hobb is this high up on your list! absolutely deserved imo💗

Steven Erickson developed the Malazan world with Ian C. Esslemont. And while Ian is not on par with Steven in terms of writing, the whole concept of the Malazan Empire is a masterclass in imagination!

I'm going to dive into The Wandering Inn series. Sounds interesting an I love long epic stories

I'm about a third of the way through Deadhouse Gates, and Malazan is already far and away my favorite series. And I still have 20-something-and-counting books to go. This is going to be a life long journey.

I would add Kingkiller on my list, even if its only two stories, I loved both of them above all others, I just love how rothfuss writes, otherwise would agree completely!

Can you to a video on mafia recs across all genres? Currently reading the godfather and I read green bone saga last year :) thanks!

Hey Matt, do you have any resources on Malazan recaps? I read Gardon and Deadhouse about 3 years ago and want to get back into the series but didn't know if I should reread or just do a recap.

Green Bone! I adore it, one of my favourite trilogies. I love seeing how the characters, and the world around them, progress over the decades. No other fantasy author besides Joe Abercrombie makes such distinct and interesting characters, imo.

So many great series! I can hardly wait to begin Malice later this year!

Matt thank you bro for another certified classic🧌Keep crushing✊

We're gonna see The Winds of Winter someday, maybe sooner than we think (I'm betting on an announcement by mid-next year). But A Dream of Spring does seem incredibly unlikely...which, that's fine, wouldn't be the first unfinished fantasy series. But I agree with you, like Malazan, I think the books are all nicely distinct units that are worthy of people checking out regardless.

I agree with all of them (at least the ones i have read) but you should really read the Gunmetal Gods series. It would definitly be somewhere in the top 5. So good

i finally decided to pick up book one of malazan. wish me luck

Great list! I went 1. The Wheel of Time 2. The Green Bone Saga 3. Stormlight Archive 4. Mistborn Era 1 5. A Song of Ice and Fire 6. Harry Potter 7. First Law (I’m about halfway through Before They Are Hanged and I can tell this series will be moving up the list) 8. Middle Earth 9. The Dresden Files 10. Discworld I’m one book into Discworld and expect that to be a climber once I read more. Next up for me is The Faithful and the Fallen, then The Tide Child. I’m really trying to rewrite the second half of my top ten, a number of those are mostly there by “default”.

To anyone looking of here for a new series to enter your top 3 best fantasy of all time read: The second apocalypse by R Scott Bakker. The fact I’ve not seen one person have this in there top series shows how underrated the series is. Yes it’s very grimdark but no one can read this series and tell me it’s not up there for best stories ever written.

I can't WAIT for your 'The Veiled Throne' review. I am gonna be shocked if you like that book :p

I really really do think that winds of winter is gonna come out around the time of house of the dragon season 2, hes at least 75% done. Also, if you have issues with books 4/5, you can combine them into one (there are a few variations, but boiled leather seems to be the best) that combines feast and dance into one large novel, which alleviates my issues with those books, only getting half the cast in eaxh novel. Worth looking into And yeah, five warrior angels is a top 5 for me

Nice list. Im going to have to dheck out the battle angle never heard of it. Got to disagree i greatly enjoy john gwynne, but i cant agree in anway where he tops robin Hobb. My current live is the powder mage by McClellan he doesnt get enough love

I can't believe there is someone putting dandelion dynasty above ASOIAF. I love them both.

Just reading Abercrombies Age of Madness (it’s blowing my mind) and then I’ll go to Malazan

Id add the Midkemia books by Raymond Feist, 30 or so books ive read several times. but they never make any booktube lists so ive given up looking for them, Feist is a fantasy legand thats being missed.

When can you order the Wandering Inn series in book form I would love to have it on my shelf.

Bye the way you are so right about the Wandering Inn ....the series is one of my favorite ...LIKE

I’ve read 8 of these ones and I just want to say…. THEY ARE ALL ON MY TOP 10 LIST TOO! The only one I have which aren’t on yours are Lord of the Rings and Suneater.

Great list! I’m curious where A Song of Ice and Fire is gonna fall for me after I get through the last two books, but right now it’s looking very high. Same goes for Elderlings (I’m only in the middle of the Liveship Traders trilogy right now). Can’t wait to try some of the others this year like Five Warrior Angels and Dandelion Dynasty!

Hussite Trilogy by Andrzej Sapkowski. Bas-Lag Cycle by China Mieville. Terry Pratchett Discworld. P.S.Malazan the best fantasy ever.

Great l! Just btw Grace of Kings is the fall of Qin and rise of Han dynasty, not the three kingdoms period. Three kingdoms is after the fall of Han dynasty

Could you do a recommended reading order for Malazan? Would it be publication date or timeline based? Thanks!

That's some high praise for Dandelion Dynasty! If you and Petrik like that much, what am I doing not having read it yet??

My Top 10 series of all time: 1. Stormlight Archives 2. Cradle 3. Shadow Slave (this is a web serial but I don't care it goes on the list) 4. Red Rising Saga 5. Harry Potter 6. KingKiller Chronicles (write the 3rd book damn it) 7. Inheritance Cycle 8. First Law 9. Discworld specifically Moist Van Lipwig arc 10. Farseer trilogy

I have purchased nearly a hundred of books to read this year, many of which you have reviewed. But for some reason I cannot bring myself to pick up the Malazan series. I've read a few epic series (Wheel of Time, Way of Kings, Robin Hobb, etc...), but Malazan intimidates me for some reason. Perhaps its the sheer complexity of the story. Or maybe it's because Amazon has all the large format paperback books available except for book 3. (What's up with that?). Does reading the series feel like hard work? I have limited energy these days.

Amazing list, Matt! Here’s my personal top 10: 1. The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan 2. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien 3. Realm of the Elderlings- Robin Hobb (currently making my way through this and could well become my #1) 4. The Banished Lands - John Gwynne 5. Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson 6. A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin 7. Red Rising - Pierce Brown 8. First Law - Joe Abercrombie 9. Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling 10. Warlord Chronicles - Bernard Cornwell (technically not fantasy but still counting it) Honorable mentions: The Bloodsworn Saga by John Gwynne, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson and Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan.

Thank god! No name of the Wind I am listening to The First Law on audible, and I am blown away, but do I also get the book or is there no purpose.

I've been getting back into fantasy in the last 6 months or so and I've read the two books Rothfuss managed to write and so far nine books from Hobbs. The writing from these two authors is phenomenal. I've recently started reading Sanderson's Mistborn books... but I find that going from Rothfuss and Hobbs to Sanderson is really deflating in terms of the quality of the writing. The plots are expansive and fun with good twists, but the dialogue between the characters is often just bad. Does it get better with his later works?

Good list....I'm actually glad you didn't include the WOT or the LOTR.

I love the Farseer books, but I hated the final 3 books in Fitz's story (books 7,8,9). So for me Fitz's story ends with book 6 Fool's fate.

I wonder who GRRM's Estate will (inevitably have to) get to finish the series from his notes...

Every time you talk about the Wandering Inn i want to read it more. Its just soo long

Has Sun Eater moved up for you since you posted this? Im on Demon In White and his series just keeps getting better.

John Gwynne in the Heart! ❤😊

Malazan is beyond words good.

Broken binding is dropping Malazan books in 2024. Shit myself a little. Finally someone might produce some new hardcovers that are realistic fro most of the fan base to obtain.

Haha I just found it funny the first patron is Anthony and then the second is Daniel. It's just me I'm sure cause it's both my first and last name

Oh I loved game of thrones, such a great series!

Watched your 2022 Top 10 and wow did things change especially for the latter half. I'm betting if John Gwynne ends Bloodsword trilogy 5/5 it'll return to the top 10.

King Killer Chronicles.... Even if I will probably never get to read the third book

sir ...because of your no 1 choice...I shall trust you and check out the others that I haven't read.

God I hate Malazan, the list was so good and then we got to the top spot. I even finished The Last War in spite of unhealthy anounts of hate reading, but I finally dropped Malazan half way trough book 10. I’ll check out some of your other videos, you seem like a pretty cool and positive guy and it’s impossible to agree with someone on every single point, especially when it comes to taste, but damn, Malazan… I really should continue Farseer, but god damn I started hating Fitz storyline by the end of the third book. Heard great things about the ship arc. Also, checking out The Wandering Inn, sounds exactly like something I need right now.

Not a fan of Brandon Sanderson but Ken Liu is a very exciting writer and Robin Hobb!

The first Malazan book was pure torture for me.

In my opinion, but yeah just my opinion. You cannot put a serie in, that is not finisched yet. :) But thanks for the video, have seen some titles that I will have to check sometimes.

Wow! Cradle got bumped?

Here is my top 2 fantasy series of all time. 1. Malazan book of the fallen. 2. everything else ..... Seriously I've read alot of fantasy And also sci fi. Malazan is the tip of the top tier. Im a 30 year old man and nothing has ever made my jaw drop, tear up and get so hyped I cant sit still. That's just in 3 pages!! 😂 I'm a Christian Also so the Bible is the best ever BUT Erikson is close 😂😂 so Gods words > Malazan but Erikson definitely made his argument 😂❤

If Joe A. doesn’t call First Law ‘grime dark’ then what the holy hell is ‘grime dark’.