7 Epic Fantasy Books You Need to Know about

Welcome back to another book post! This week, I thought I would talk about epic fantasy books you need to know about, especially if you want to get into the genre. Obviously, there are way more epic fantasy books out there, but these are a good start.

Also note: I feel like J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series, George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, and Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series are all pretty well-known, so I decided not to include them. Instead, I want to include books that I don’t see talked about as much. Enjoy reading!

Lord Foul’s Bane (Stephen R. Donaldson)

Written in 1977 and the first book in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series, the story centers on Thomas Covenant. After getting diagnosed with leprosy, he’s accidentally hit by a car. He wakes up in a fantasy world known as “The Land.” There, he finds Lord Foul, who swears to destroy the Land in only a few decades.

Find the book’s Goodreads here.

The Priory of the Orange Tree (Samantha Shannon)

A retelling of the Sir George and the Dragon story, this book was recently published in 2019. The story follows several different characters, including the reigning Queen Sabran, who needs to produce an heir before a great dragon returns from sleep to destroy the lands.

Find the book on Goodreads through this link.

Gardens of the Moon (Steven Erikson)

The first of ten books in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, the story follows characters inside the Malazan Empire. Before the events of the book, the main character, Paran, becomes dedicated to fulfilling his dream of being a knight. Meanwhile, the Emperor is eventually supplanted from his throne.

Check out the book on Goodreads here.

Assassin’s Apprentice (Robin Hobb)

While under the name Robin Hobb, this is actually a pseudonym for Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden, who published this book in 1995. The story follows Fitz, a young boy who is trained to be an assassin for the royal family, despite those wishing to take the throne for themselves. The book also featured multiple characters from different series that Ogden also wrote.

Find the first book in the series through Goodreads.

Tigana (Guy Gavriel Kay)

This 1990 fantasy novel takes a lot of its cues from Renaissance Italy. The book examines a land on another planet that’s divided into several provinces. In one area of the land, two sorcerers conquered different parts, but this means that the land exists in almost perpetual civil war.

Find the book on Goodreads here.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (N. K. Jemisin)

The first book in Jemisin’s Inheritance trilogy, the story follows Yeine Darr, a young woman mourning the death of her mother. But her grandfather suddenly summons her to a floating city called Sky. Here, she becomes heir to the throne, but she must navigate the power struggles against her cousins if she wants to take her grandfather’s place.

Find it on Goodreads through this link.

The Raven Tower (Ann Leckie)

Leckie’s first fantasy novel follows a land that is overseen by a god called the Raven. When it appears that the Raven will not help them, a warrior named Eolo appears to help aid the heir to the country’s throne.

Find it on Goodreads here.

I hope you enjoyed this list! You might find your next read here. Happy reading! See you next week for another post.

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