# The best fantasy book series of all time

Fantasy sagas and trilogies with the most votes on Goodreads' 'Best Fantasy Series' lists and r/Fantasy's all-time poll, from Tolkien to modern epic fantasy.

- 54 votes · 21 items
- Aug 9, 2026 · Ayanda
- https://even.best/en/l/103/the-best-fantasy-book-series-of-all-time

## Top 20

1. **Harry Potter** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — J. K. Rowling, 1997–2007. Seven books at Hogwarts; the best-selling book series in history.
2. **The Lord of the Rings** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — J. R. R. Tolkien, 1954–1955. The quest to destroy the One Ring; the foundation of modern fantasy.
3. **Malazan Book of the Fallen** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Steven Erikson, 1999–2011. Ten huge volumes of military fantasy, famous for their complexity.
4. **A Song of Ice and Fire** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — George R. R. Martin, 1996–. The war for the Iron Throne; five books published and The Winds of Winter still awaited.
5. **The Stormlight Archive** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Brandon Sanderson, 2010–2024. The first five-book arc on Roshar, a world of highstorms and Shardblades.
6. **Mistborn** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Brandon Sanderson, 2006–. Allomancers who burn metals to overthrow the Lord Ruler.
7. **The Earthsea Cycle** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Ursula K. Le Guin, 1968–2001. The wizard Ged and an archipelago where magic is knowing true names.
8. **Discworld** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Terry Pratchett, 1983–2015. 41 satirical novels on a flat world carried by four elephants on a turtle.
9. **The Gentleman Bastard Sequence** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Scott Lynch, 2006–. Locke Lamora and his gang of con artists in a Venice-like city.
10. **Percy Jackson and the Olympians** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Rick Riordan, 2005–2009. A demigod son of Poseidon at Camp Half-Blood.
11. **The Inheritance Cycle** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Christopher Paolini, 2002–2011. Eragon and the dragon Saphira; Paolini began the first book as a teenager.
12. **The Wheel of Time** (1 · ▲3 ▼2) — Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, 1990–2013. Fourteen volumes about Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn.
13. **The Chronicles of Narnia** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — C. S. Lewis, 1950–1956. Seven books that begin through a wardrobe.
14. **The Broken Earth** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — N. K. Jemisin, 2015–2017. The only series whose three books each won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.
15. **The Witcher** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Andrzej Sapkowski, 1993–1999. Geralt of Rivia, monster hunter; the saga behind the games and the Netflix series.
16. **The Dark Tower** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Stephen King, 1982–2012. Roland Deschain's quest for the Tower; King's magnum opus.
17. **A Court of Thorns and Roses** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Sarah J. Maas, 2015–. Feyre in the faerie realm of Prythian; one of the most-read fantasy series on Goodreads in recent years.
18. **His Dark Materials** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Philip Pullman, 1995–2000. Lyra, her daemon Pantalaimon and the alethiometer.
19. **The Kingkiller Chronicle** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Patrick Rothfuss, 2007–. Kvothe tells his own legend; The Name of the Wind is among Goodreads' best-rated fantasy novels.
20. **The Realm of the Elderlings** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Robin Hobb, 1995–2017. Starting with the Farseer trilogy and FitzChivalry, the royal bastard assassin.
21. **The First Law** (-2 · ▲0 ▼2) — Joe Abercrombie, 2006–2008. Grimdark fantasy with Logen Ninefingers and the torturer Glokta.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.