The best fantasy book series of all time
The top 3 according to 54 votes from people: Harry Potter · The Lord of the Rings · Malazan Book of the Fallen. (Updated Aug 9, 2026.)
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.
Top 20
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1
Harry Potter
J. K. Rowling, 1997–2007. Seven books at Hogwarts; the best-selling book series in history.
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2
The Lord of the Rings
J. R. R. Tolkien, 1954–1955. The quest to destroy the One Ring; the foundation of modern fantasy.
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3
Malazan Book of the Fallen
Steven Erikson, 1999–2011. Ten huge volumes of military fantasy, famous for their complexity.
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4
A Song of Ice and Fire
George R. R. Martin, 1996–. The war for the Iron Throne; five books published and The Winds of Winter still awaited.
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5
The Stormlight Archive
Brandon Sanderson, 2010–2024. The first five-book arc on Roshar, a world of highstorms and Shardblades.
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6
Mistborn
Brandon Sanderson, 2006–. Allomancers who burn metals to overthrow the Lord Ruler.
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7
The Earthsea Cycle
Ursula K. Le Guin, 1968–2001. The wizard Ged and an archipelago where magic is knowing true names.
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8
Discworld
Terry Pratchett, 1983–2015. 41 satirical novels on a flat world carried by four elephants on a turtle.
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9
The Gentleman Bastard Sequence
Scott Lynch, 2006–. Locke Lamora and his gang of con artists in a Venice-like city.
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10
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Rick Riordan, 2005–2009. A demigod son of Poseidon at Camp Half-Blood.
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11
The Inheritance Cycle
Christopher Paolini, 2002–2011. Eragon and the dragon Saphira; Paolini began the first book as a teenager.
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12
The Wheel of Time
Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, 1990–2013. Fourteen volumes about Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn.
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13
The Chronicles of Narnia
C. S. Lewis, 1950–1956. Seven books that begin through a wardrobe.
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14
The Broken Earth
N. K. Jemisin, 2015–2017. The only series whose three books each won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.
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15
The Witcher
Andrzej Sapkowski, 1993–1999. Geralt of Rivia, monster hunter; the saga behind the games and the Netflix series.
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16
The Dark Tower
Stephen King, 1982–2012. Roland Deschain's quest for the Tower; King's magnum opus.
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17
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas, 2015–. Feyre in the faerie realm of Prythian; one of the most-read fantasy series on Goodreads in recent years.
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18
His Dark Materials
Philip Pullman, 1995–2000. Lyra, her daemon Pantalaimon and the alethiometer.
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19
The Kingkiller Chronicle
Patrick Rothfuss, 2007–. Kvothe tells his own legend; The Name of the Wind is among Goodreads' best-rated fantasy novels.
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20
The Realm of the Elderlings
Robin Hobb, 1995–2017. Starting with the Farseer trilogy and FitzChivalry, the royal bastard assassin.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 20… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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21
The First Law
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.
Is something missing?
Comments (10)
Realm of the Elderlings made me cry more than any other books. Fitz and the Fool 😭
Malazan is so hard to get into but so worth it
LOTR at #1 forever. Everything else on this list exists because of Tolkien.
Discworld at #9 is criminally low. Pratchett was a genius.
Where is Mistborn on the list? Oh, #7. Should be higher!
ACOTAR in the same list as Earthsea and Malazan lol
It's a popularity list too, millions of people love those books. Let people enjoy things.
Kingkiller Chronicle shouldn't be on any list until book 3 comes out 😤
Doors of Stone will come out the same day as Winds of Winter, so... never
The Stormlight Archive at #4 is fair, Sanderson's worldbuilding is unreal.