Top 15 COMPLETED Fantasy Series (As of 2023) 

Visit Redbubble using my link: rdbl.co/capturedinwords-bts23 and you can use my unique promo code: RBC-BTS23-capturedinwords to get 15% off your entire Redbubble order! What completed fantasy series would you recommend?

Who else is watching for recommendations instead of reading your current read

Me having 100s of books on my reading list: “yeah might need some more book recommendations!”

So great to see Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams here. It's so overlooked and underrated it's insane. I just started rereading and man it's a delight

I really like how you’ve edited this and the style of it, good job 🙌🏻

Thank you for so many additions to my reading list! Mistborn is my favorite of the ones you mentioned.

The Belgariad by David Eddings, and the follow up series The Malloreon are both great classic fantasy!

Came to the comments to mention Riyria and was so excited to hear you list it. I'm doing a reread right now and it's so good, even the second time around.

Wild to come back to this channel 2nd year into University when last I was here I was so much younger... time flies. Also dope as hell hearing you love Malazan so far

The Green Bone Trilogy by Fonda Lee is another great finished fantasy series, definitely one of my favorites.

Codex Alera! Mad underrated, I've loved this series for years and reread it a dozen times. Thought that Raboniel/Navani dynamic from Rhythm of War is very reminiscent of the Void Queen/Isana relationship in First Lord's Fury. I'd love to ask Brandon if it influenced him since I know read the series.

Love your videos!!! Your editing is out of this world! Amazing art in your vids!!!

Some of my favorites that are rarely mentioned on booktube: The Riftwar Saga by Feist The Belgariad by Eddings The Cleric Quintet by Salvatore Symphony of Ages by Elizabeth Haydon Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn The Seventh Sword by Duncan The Wars of Light and Shadow by Janny Wurtz

Your amazing! I need more books! Thanks for the recs!

You just earned a subscriber! Honestly, I've been watching you for about a year. But your description about LOTR and WoT got me to do it!

Thank u for new recommendation. Love your editing ❤❤❤❤

Glad you mentioned Codex Alera! Loved that series.

The Deryni Chronicles by Katherine Kurtz - one of the most influential fantasy series that doesn't get much love anymore.

His Dark Materials is majestic and heart-wrenching and a fast read and ought to be on all lists like this - we'll see how the new book of dust trilogy stacks against it when Pullman's finished, but HDM stands alone. And if you like Dragonlance Chronicles/Legends then certainly try out Weis and Hickman's other complete series, usually 3 or 4 books. I'll always stand by the Death Gate Cycle (7 books), the ending might be slightly rushed, but the characters are great and world building is so special 5 times over.

The way you described the Discworld series to be a good in between series reads is the perfect description!! That’s exactly what I do. If anyone knows where to find the Nigel Planer narrator audio versions please let me know!! They’re the BEST

I know it is mainstream, but Stephen King's Dark Tower series got me into fantasy and is something I have re-read many times.

Thanks for this list, I've added the first book of each series I haven't checked out yet to my Waterstones wish list 😉

Just finished listening to the (1st) first law series from your recommendation and loved it! Thank you 😁

I’d mention the Bartimaeus sequence, I never see it spoken about but I think it’s really interesting

I love the Cycle of Arawn. I listen to the audiobook (3 in 1 from audible) at least every 18 months. Great magic, banter and story lines. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

For me Malazan is number one. In regards to recommendations, Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet.

Thanks for your work bro

Raven's Shadow by Anthony Ryan. The first book is called Blood Song

I was so happy to see the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy on your list. It is one of my favorite series by my favorite fantasy author.

This is my first video of yours I've watched and I just habe to say your editing and commentary is amazing and incredible❤

Wizard of the Earthsea is one of my favorite fantasy series of all time. I can always go back and reread it. I was also going to suggest Chronicles of the Black Company and Powder Mage if you hadn't recommended them.

Raymond e feist - the magician, silver thorn and a darkness at sethanon. Great series

Really nice video. You mentioned some of my favorites (Black Company & Memory Sorrow, and Thorn in particular), some that I've been meaning to read (Malazan & Broken Earth), and some I don't think I've even heard of, but now want to check out.

The Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan, its my favorite. Its the saga that made me comeback into reading

A couple of completed fantasy trilogies I would recommend are The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty and The Scholomance by Naomi Novik. I also recently read the first book in The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett, and it was really good!

Glad to See Codex Alera and Memory, Sorrow, Thorn getting some love! Both very underrated!

Endings and Feist should be central to most fantasy lists imo. Such enjoyable works and just epitomize fantasy as a genre.

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini deserved to be on this list! So underrated. I binged the whole thing during the pandemic and fell absolutely in love. The magical system. The character. It was EXACTLY the kind of fantasy everyone needs when they want to escape reality for a magical place.

I'm delving into Michael J. Sullivan's writing for the first time - currently on Theft of Swords and I'm enjoying 🎉

Thanks for this list! I have so many fantasy series I still need to read, and it makes sense to focus on completed ones. A completed series I’d recommend is The Dark Tower by Stephen King. I love it and it’s unlike any other fantasy series. But It’s similar to Malazan in that it’s not for everyone. People seem to either love it or hate it.

Dragonlance was my gateway drug into fantasy novels. I'm glad you mentioned it.

A favorite of mine is The Faithful and The Fallen by John. Gwynne. 4 books in length and they are hard to put down. Great and memorable characters. Great world built. Animal sidekick. Love it and it was hard to finish as I knew it would be.

Just found your video and enjoyed very much. I've been reading fantasy for at least 35 years. Here are my additions - Steven Donaldson - Mordants Need. Anne McCaffrey (faboulous writer) Pern and her Killishandra set is fun. Mercedes Lackey - Valdamar ,. Raymund Feist and Jenny Wurts - Empire Trilogy, and Sara Douglass - Wayfarer Redemption

So glad to see the Black Company on here. In addition to being the granddaddy of grimdark, what always has stuck with me is some of the amazing names and titles Cook came up with: The Ten Who Were Taken, Toadkiller Dog, Shadowcatch, the list goes on and on.

Great video as always

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diane Wynn Jones is actually a trilogy of stand alones which I would highly recommend for a cozy fantasy book full of banter and fun characters and mystical setting.

Thomas Covenant chronicles, Stephen Donaldson, now in reprint, most excellent.

Finishing the Last Argument of Kings today and I just got Gardens of the Moon as a gift so I am running out of excuses there.

Great list malazan is on my list next and In the first law, Gloktas honey porridge song got me 😂😂

The rift war by Raymond E Feist.

I freaking love First Law! I hate Joe for crushing my heart into pieces after Wisdom of Crowds but god damn that man is a master storyteller. I love how we jump from multiple POVs happening at the same time during a chaotic scene including side characters and even extras 🤣

I Just love The fact you Dragonlance again. I love you, but where are either The Classic than Lotr like Conan and Anderson and Leguin’s Earthsea?:) however very Good work:)

Gotta agree that im a bit sad i havent read Malazan earlier. It really is such a tremendous series and not as complex as people say, you rally just have to read on and trust that things are being revealed down the road. Also Yeay for RotE and for Tad Williams, they do deserve more praise then they are getting imho.

I've read some of The Black Company. I definitely need to go back and finish it. It's great!

Great list, I think first law its safe to assume is still in progress, the ending of wisdom of crowds really sets up the next narrative and joe said he hopes to do some more standalones and eventually another trilogy.

John Marco - Tyrants and Kings - Not a lot of people talk about it but it's great!

Please check out the dark tower series, it’s one of the best series I’ve read, it blends so many genres together, including fantasy

The Dragonlance Chronicles & codex alera!! Glad someone still recommends these series'. The five warrior angel trilogy by brian lee durfee is fantastic too.

I love The Alex Verus series, written by Benedict Jacka. It's urban fantasy set in contemporary London, but centers on a society of wizards and the social dynamics that develop between them. Think of a grim-dark version of the Dresden files. Gritty, merciless, cut-throat politics rule the day, and there's a healthy serving of philosophy thrown in on the side (Jacka was a philosophy major, at Cambridge, I believe.) This ten book series just finished this year.(2023)

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R Donaldson. Excellent 10 novel series which I read in my late teens and got me hooked on Fantasy.

MST and Realm of the Elderlings are my life ❤ thank you!

I'm a huge fan of Codex Alera. The magic system is one of my favorites. Dragonlance was the first fantasy series I ever read and will always spark great memories. Michael J Sullivan is one of my newer favorites. His books are most excellent. One of my favorite things about the series is how he wants his stories throughout multiple books for big reveals. I have read some of Robin Hobbs series but I didn't realize that they were tied together. I'll have to try more. Lotr is another good series. Unfortunately I couldn't make it through the Dragonbone Chair. Mistborn is on my tbr list. Thank you for the info on these other series. I love the parts of the wheel of time that Robert Jordan wrote, but it seemed so different when Brandon Sanderson finished it. I didn't end up finishing it even though I was 10 books in.

The Legend of Eli Monpress by Rachel Aaron - 5 books with the first 3 available in a bindup. Starts as heist fantasy and builds into epic with some truly unique worldbuilding. The Grave of Empires by Sam Sykes - Trilogy with some additional short stories. A revenge quest that really delves into whether or not revenge is worth the price you pay to avhieve it. For some urban fantasy fun The Twenty-sided Sorceress by Annie Bellet is great. The titular sorceress learned to control her powers by thinking of them as dnd spells. She might not be the nerdiest character in the series. About love, found family, and the lengths you're willing to go to protect it.

Thanks for the video. Codex Alera was extremely good. Narnia really remains excellent.

--I was so happy to see Dragonlance on this list. I remember enjoying the Chronicles as a teenager, and it remains a favorite to this day. --Also thrilled to see Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. What a fantastic series. --The Fifth Season was fantastic. It's embarrassing that I have yet to complete the trilogy. --Speaking of embarrassing: I still need to finish Narnia! --Of course this list would not be complete without Lord of the Rings. Simply unmatched and timeless. The rest of these series are on my TBR. So many books, but so little time. Thanks for sharing!

100% agree about Winnowing Flame series - and Vintage 😊

So glad you mentioned The Black Company. This series seriously refashioned fantasy and while I enjoy a good old-fashioned quest series it was seriously overdone after Tolkiens's massive success with LOTR. Cook takes the viewpoint of the common soldier, makes war gritty and shocking. His style can be a choppy at times and unique but very well worth it. And the Malazan series is my absolute favorite.

Love the winnowing flame trilogy!! A series i just finished that would make it on my top 15 list is The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne, an action packed good time with great characters

Kinda sad to see no one here mentioning the Witcher series, both books and games. One of the best and most realized worlds in fantasy

Great vid!! All the changing visuals make it so easy to watch. You've sure read a lot of books, dang!!

I recently read and enjoyed two series by David Estes, The Fatemarked Series and The Kingfall Histories Series. There are 5 books in each, they take place in the same world but different time periods and on different areas of the world. I read the Kingfall series first but I think Fatemarked came. They are standalone series, but reading both just adds some nice details.

Cradle series by Will Wight is so so epic!

I know I am late to the party - sorry, so most of these will probably have already been mentioned somewhere. The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. Two 5 book series. David Eddings: The Belgariad (5 Books), The Malloreon (5 books), Plus, Belgarath the Sorcerer, Polgara the Sorceress, The Rivan Codex L. E. Modesitt Jr: The Spell Song Cycle (5 books) Larry Correia: The Grimnoir Chronicles Katherine Kurtz: The Deryni Chronology: 6 series totaling 16 books Joel Rosenberg: Guardians of the Flame (6 books) Stephen R. Donaldson: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (3 books) Robert Lynn Asprin (also with Jody Lynn Nye): Myth Adventures (21 primary works, 39 total works) Piers Anthony: Apprentice Adept series (7 books), Battle Circle (3 books), Mode books (4 books) I also really like the following, but you specified COMPLETED series. These are pretty large sets of books though... L E Modesitt Jr, The Recluse Saga (23 books - but he has a new one coming out in 2024) Piers Anthony: The Xanth series. (47 books). the last came out this year. He has been writing one a year for 47 years now so I really would expect one next year as well - unless he dies. He is 89 years old. Personally, I think the concept gets old after awhile but the first 10 or so are fun. I got tired of it around book 15 or so and haven't read any since. However I do recommend the first few anyway as they are fun. So glad you mentioned The Black Company. I really liked that series but hardly ever hear it mentioned anywhere.

One of my favourites fantasy books are Eon by Allison Goodman (#1) and Eona (#2). Love how she is able to describe setting so vividly. Also, personal development of the characters is well written

Nice to see Codex Alera on the list. Roman Empire meets Pokémon but it’s great.

Some of my favorite completed series that almost nobody on booktube is talking about are : "Shadows of the Apt" by Adrian Tchaikovsky "Ambergris" by Jeff VanderMeer "Bas-Lag" by China Miéville

I know they might be more geared for teens, but I still really like The Rangers Apprentice Series and The Brotherband Chronicles both by John Flanagan

The Black Company series is my favorite series with Dresden Files right after. Loved Chronicles of Amber too.

When you learn to master the arts of the headcannon... every series is a completed series

I subscribed because you are the only person who ever brought up Codex Alara and The Black Company. I know there are a lot of haters for the Sword of Truth, but it should get a nomination if you consider book 11 the ending.

Chronicles of Siala by Alexey Pehov is my all time favorite series! I love the worldbuilding, the characters and the writing style.

Just watched this, even your pronunciations are spoiler free, I love it!

The Green Bone Saga is probably my top 5 book series of all time, and the last book is a masterpiece Also The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvatar is a Fantastic 4 book urban fantasy series, so good

You should definitely try 'The Lumatere Chronicles Trilogy' by Melina Marchetta. Would love to hear your thoughts and views on it.

All time favorite completed fantasy series: James Clemens The Banned & the Banished quintet. Highly original and underrated. Such a fantastic series

Wasn't expecting to see the Black Company books here, but goddamn are you right! Basically fantasy Vietnam, and I love every word of it

Nice! Have you considered making top 10 urban fantasy or young adult fantasy? That would be soo cool!

One of my favorite fantasy series is called the godblind trilogy by Anna Stephens 1. Godblind 2. Dark soul 3. Bloodchild I read the series last year it's so underrated

Codex Alera is exactly up my alley. surprised i never heard of it even when i was looking into jim butcher's works. just finished stormfront about a month ago and i liked it.

I see some fantasy books only write in eBook and or audio book format, say like outlander series book 1-9 I have in physical format and I see fugitive in green as book 2.5 book is only in ebook for so does that mean I would read books 1, 2 and 2.5 then 3-7 and then the ebook 7.5 onward or can I miss out the in between ones like 2.5 and 7.5?

I haven’t read them myself yet cuz I’m fairly newer into fantasy journey but the faithful and the fallen series by John Gwynne I hear great things about a lot,and of course the dark tower series from Stephen king

One of my favorite Fantasy Series which I never see talked about is Echoes of Empire by Mark Barnes. I totally loved these three books and even made my band write and play sonsgs about them, even thoug none of the other four ever read one of the books I think. It had such a cool world and such cool conepts I really liked. On another note I loved that you mentioned Codex Alera. Even though I think the Pokemon-Aspect got dropped halfway through and some aspects and characters were underused. But I really liked the pacing and Butchers style.

Codex Alera is on my Top 10 Fantasy series list! I would hope for a continuation of the series in the future. It could continue 50 years into the future.

I love Jim Butcher books. I started off with "the dresden files" series and behind it "codex alera" series. I'm glad to see the "codex alera" as #3

Have you read the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny? I love both 5 book series and even enjoy the few that came out after he passed away "inspired by" the world of Amber. The first 5 books are: Nine Princes in Amber - book 1 The Guns of Avalon - book 2 Sign of the Unicorn - book 3 The Hand of Oberon - book 4 The Courts of Chaos - book 5 Then there are 5 more books in the second series. My husband doesn't like these as much but I really love them just as much as the first series. Trumps of Doom - book 6 Blood of Amber - book 7 Sign of Chaos - book 8 Knight of Shadows - book 9 Prince of Chaos - book 10 These are listed on Amazon and in other places as a 10 book series but the first 5 are definitely a complete series on their own. So are the second 5 books (6 through 10) however I would not recommend reading the second series alone as it will probably be rather confusing since characters from the first series figure highly in the second series. One of my all-time favorite series of books EVER!

Where do you find images particular related to the books?

I love the Sovereign of the Seven Isles series, by David A. Wells it was one of my first fantasy series, and I’ve read it several times.

I would love to reread Dragonlance. It was one first adult fantasy I ever read and a favorite.

Never heard of flintlock fantasy, but as someone who doesn't mind seeing more guns in the genre, it intrigues me.

I LOVED Codex Alera, and I never hear anyone talk about them. I (personally) am not a Dresden fan. 🤷‍♀️ I was super excited to see Codex Alera on your list!