Epic Fantasy Books on My TBR

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In the spirit of reading more epic fantasy books, I’ve racked up a bunch of them on my TBR list. The more I put on my lists, the more I realize that it’s time for another SF/F TBR post! Check out the list below!

Also, check out my previous post about the longest epic fantasy books written here!

Sabriel

This fantasy novel by Garth Nix first appeared in 1995. It’s also the first book in the Old Kingdom series. In this book, the realm of the Old Kingdom includes two different kinds of magic: Free Magic and Charter Magic. Necromancers often use Free Magic to animate the dead; however, other necromancers use Charter Magic to fight back. The book follows Sabriel, the daughter of one of the necromancers using Charter Magic to slay the dead and put them to rest.

Assassin’s Apprentice

Considered a classic fantasy novel by the well-known author Robin Hobb, this book also appeared in 1995 as part of The Farseer Trilogy. I feel like this list wouldn’t be complete without a Robin Hobb book, and since I haven’t read any of her work and several people I know have praised it, I thought I might give it a shot!

The boy follows a young boy named Fitzchivalry, an illegitimate son in the royal family. While living in Buckeep Castle, he begins his training as an assassin to protect the throne from his uncle.

The Dragonbone Chair

If this book sounds familiar, it might be because it’s written by Tad Williams. While this is the first book in the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, the third book, To Green Angel Tower, boasts the longest word count for a fantasy book at around 520,000 words. I included this book in the list of longest epic fantasy books ever!

The first book, however, follows Simon, a kitchen boy who becomes apprenticed to the castle healer, Doctor Morgenes. From there, Simon discovers a plot of an undead king to resurrect himself using royal human blood.

The Sword of Shannara

Like Assassin’s Apprentice, The Sword of Shannara comes up a lot for me. I thought I might try reading the first book at least. It comes with controversy however, considered by some critics to be a derivative fantasy work. Written by Terry Brooks, this first book in The Sword of Shannara trilogy appeared all the way back in 1977.

The book follows Shea, who is on a quest to gain the sword of Shannara to fight the Warlock Lord, as well as Prince Balinor, who tries to remove his brother from the throne as nearby enemies threaten the country.

A Wizard of Earthsea

Last on this list, I also added Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea to my TBR. After reading up on her book The Left Hand of Darkness and reading some of her shorter work (I reviewed her short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” here), I wanted to add this book as well.

This book follows a boy named Ged, a mage who attends a school for magic users and who releases a creature of shadow during a spell. Several more books followed in The Earthsea Cycle. It’s also well-known for having a dark-skinned protagonist, which wasn’t common at the time it was published in 1968, as well as for having Taoist themes.

I very likely will find more fantasy books to add to my TBR, which means another post. Not that that’s a bad thing! I actually hope to do more of these in the future! See you all next week for another book review and post!

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