The article ranks ten epic fantasy books, from Dragonlance and Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings to Joe Abercrombie's grimdark The Blade Itself and C.S. Lewis's Narnia, with Malazan: Book of the Fallen as a recent standout.
01Summary
- 01Epic fantasy features complex plots, many characters, politics, wars, and the hero's journey, often in multi-volume series.
- 02Dragonlance's Dragons of Autumn Twilight is considered a core pillar of its franchise and a textbook example of the genre.
- 03Robin Hobb's Assassin's Fate, final book in The Fitz and the Fool trilogy, was nominated for the Readers' Favourite Fantasy Award in 2017.
- 04The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie is a grimdark fantasy with heavy violence and brutal realism.
- 05Steven Erikson's The Crippled God concludes the ten-volume Malazan: Book of the Fallen series.
02Why it matters
This ranking helps you discover landmark epic fantasy series that have shaped the genre and influenced modern adaptations for TV and film.
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