Fantasy Friday is my own feature, posted every other Friday. It’s pretty self-explanatory: I do a feature on something to do with the genre. Sometimes it will be a book recommendation, sometimes showcasing a book or series I’ve loved and other times it might be a discussion post. You’re more than welcome to join in with this feature, let me know if you make your own Fantasy Friday post!
Today I want to recommend fantasy novels, depending on what element you would like to read about.
I’ve chosen a selection of fantasy books, picked out some of the main themes or features of each, and then divided them accordingly. The idea is that you can pick one or more elements you’d like to read about, and pick a book from that category. Even better if a book crosses several different categories – which is where the ‘pick & mix’ comes in! When it comes to series I’ve generally only included the first book from each, unless the sequels contain elements that the previous books do not.
The categories are: Assassins, Dark, Dragons, Dwarves & Elves, Historical, Magic, Monsters, Political, Quest, Royalty and Thieves.
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Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas; Graceling (Graceling #1) by Kristin Cashore; The Way Of Shadows (Night Angel #1) by Brent Weeks; Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire #1) by Mark Lawrence; Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFevers; Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy #1) by Robin Hobb; The Last Wish (The Witcher Saga #1) by Andrzej Sapkowski; Pyramids (Discworld #7) by Terry Pratchett.
A Game Of Thrones (A Song Of Ice And Fire #1) by George R.R. Martin; The Painted Man (The Demon Cycle #1) by Peter V. Brett; The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1) by Scott Lynch; The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun #1) by Gene Wolfe; The Blade Itself (The First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie; The Left Hand Of God (The Left Hand of God #1) by Paul Hoffman; The Last Wish (The Witcher Saga #1) by Andrzej Sapkowski; Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage #1) by Brian McClellan; Low Town (Low Town #1) by Daniel Polansky; Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire #1) by Mark Lawrence.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien; Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire by J.K. Rowling; A Game Of Thrones (A Song Of Ice And Fire #1) by George R.R. Martin; Seraphina (Seraphina #1) by Rachel Hartman; The Red Knight (The Traitor Son Cycle #1) by Miles Cameron; A Natural History of Dragons (Memoirs of Lady Trent #1) by Marie Brennan; A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle #1) by Ursula K. Le Guin; Dragonflight (Pern #1) by Anne McCaffrey; Guards! Guards! (Discworld #8) by Terry Pratchett.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien; The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien; Wards of Faerie (Dark Legacy of Shannara #1) by Terry Brooks; Men At Arms (Discworld #15) by Terry Pratchett; The Dwarves (The Dwarves #1) by Markus Heitz; Homeland (Legend of Drizzt #1) by R.A. Salvatore; Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle #1) by Christopher Paolini; Dawnthief (Chronicles of the Raven #1) by James Barclay.
*By historical I mean the book is either based on a historical period, takes place in a historical period but has fantastical elements, or is an alternate history.
Sabriel (The Old Kingdom #1) by Garth Nix; A Game Of Thrones (A Song Of Ice And Fire #1) by George R.R. Martin; Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFevers; Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1) by Leigh Bardugo; Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage #1) by Brian McClellan; In Camelot’s Shadow (The Paths to Camelot #1) by Sarah Zettel.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling; The Way Of Shadows (Night Angel #1) by Brent Weeks; Sabriel (The Old Kingdom #1) by Garth Nix; The Painted Man (The Demon Cycle #1) by Peter V. Brett; The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss; Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor; The Magicians’ Guild (The Black Magician Trilogy #1) by Trudi Canavan; Elantris by Brandon Sanderson; Finnikin of the Rock (The Lumatere Chronicles #1) by Melina Marchetta; The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson; The Wind Singer (Wind on Fire #1) by William Nicholson; Wards of Faerie (Dark Legacy of Shannara #1) by Terry Brooks; Thief’s Magic (Millennium’s Rule #1) by Trudi Canavan; Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1) by Leigh Bardugo; Poison Study (Study #1) by Maria V. Snyder; The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy #1) by Sherry Thomas; Song Quest (The Echorium Sequence #1) by Katherine Roberts; Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage #1) by Brian McClellan; A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle #1) by Ursula K. Le Guin; The Colour Of Magic (Discworld #1) by Terry Pratchett; Dawnthief (Chronicles of the Raven #1) by James Barclay; Low Town (Low Town #1) by Daniel Polansky.
*By monsters I mean a wide variety of things: zombies, centaurs, orcs, goblins, demons etc. Not necessarily all evil!
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien; The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien; Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling; Fire (Graceling #2) by Kristin Cashore; Sabriel (The Old Kingdom #1) by Garth Nix; The Painted Man (The Demon Cycle #1) by Peter V. Brett; Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor; The Last Wish (The Witcher Saga #1) by Andrzej Sapkowski; Song Quest (The Echorium Sequence #1) by Katherine Roberts.
The Way Of Shadows (Night Angel #1) by Brent Weeks; A Game Of Thrones (A Song Of Ice And Fire #1) by George R.R. Martin; The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss; The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1) by Scott Lynch; The Blade Itself (The First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie; The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun #1) by Gene Wolfe; The Left Hand Of God (The Left Hand of God #1) by Paul Hoffman; Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage #1) by Brian McClellan; Poison Study (Study #1) by Maria V. Snyder.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien; The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien; The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun #1) by Gene Wolfe; Red Country by Joe Abercrombie; Finnikin of the Rock (The Lumatere Chronicles #1) by Melina Marchetta; The Wind Singer (Wind on Fire #1) by William Nicholson; Wards of Faerie (Dark Legacy of Shannara #1) by Terry Brooks; The Princess Bridge by William Goldman; A Natural History of Dragons (Memoirs of Lady Trent #1) by Marie Brennan; The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy #1) by Sherry Thomas; The Queen of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling #1) by Erika Johansen; Song Quest (The Echorium Sequence #1) by Katherine Roberts; Dragonflight (Pern #1) by Anne McCaffrey.
Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas; Graceling (Graceling #1) by Kristin Cashore; A Game Of Thrones (A Song Of Ice And Fire #1) by George R.R. Martin; The Desert Spear (The Demon Cycle #2) by Peter V. Brett; Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire #1) by Mark Lawrence; Elantris by Brandon Sanderson; The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson; Finnikin of the Rock (The Lumatere Chronicles #1) by Melina Marchetta; The Princess Bride by William Goldman; Seraphina (Seraphina #1) by Rachel Hartman; Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy #1) by Robin Hobb; The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy #1) by Sherry Thomas; The Queen of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling #1) by Erika Johansen; Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage #1) by Brian McClellan.
Bitterblue (Graceling #3) by Kristin Cashore; The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1) by Scott Lynch; Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire #1) by Mark Lawrence; The Princess Bride by William Goldman; Thief’s Magic (Millennium’s Rule #1) by Trudi Canavan.
I hope this ‘pick and mix’ list helps you to find some new reads! 🙂
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Published by Rinn
Sci-fi and fantasy obsessive, relentless reader, avid gamer.
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Wow, nice extensive list of recommendations. Well done. I need to bookmark this post for when people ask about fantasy recommendations.
Thanks, it took ages to put together 😀
Nifty idea and some great suggestions in here! I too will need to bookmark this page. Once this summer rush of books ends, I’ll be back to my usual “999 books but I have nothing to read” phase.
Have you read Brent Weeks’ other series (Lightbringer). I’d throw that one in the magic section over the Night Angel books. So so so good.
Thanks Doug 😀
No, I actually haven’t read any Brent Weeks yet! I bought Way of Shadows the other week, it was £1.99 in a discount book shop. I just chose these books from my own shelves, read and unread 🙂
Whooaaa! *______* SO MANY RECOMMENDATIONS, SO LITTLE TIME! This is awesome! 😀
Hehe 😀 NOW YOU MUST READ THEM ALL.
I love the categories you chose for your list! I see a lot of familiar books, but there are a few that I’ll pick up now that you’ve recommended them.
Some of them cross into several categories, some only in one or two. But hopefully it’s useful 😀
Thanks for joining in this week, Kritika 🙂
Wow this is amazing! Have you read all of these, too?!! XD I don’t read nearly enough epic fantasy as I’d like to. I usually have to be in the “mood” though because a) they’re usually so freaking LARGE and b) I get confused easy, so I really need to focus when I read. x) But Finnikin of the Rock is one of my all time favourites. And I’m reading Harry Potter #4 right now. Aaaaall the love to Seraphina too. xD Amazing collection and I think you categorised them so well, Rinn!
Cait @ Notebook Sisters
I think I’ve read maybe 75% of them? These are all books I own, whether physical copies or ebooks, or even ARCs 🙂
I know what you mean! I’m generally always happy to delve into some fantasy, but sometimes (normally after watching epic fantasy films or playing fantasy games) I just get this real urge to read all these huuuuuge books xD
Thanks, Cait! 😀 Seraphina is one of the ones I haven’t yet read, actually. Soon, though!
Very very impressive lists!! I just want to read all these books right now. I will save this list as a reverence for myself for when I am looking for something.
Thanks Angie 😀 I could have added so many more books but it would’ve taken far too long!
Ya. That looks like a TON of work to put together. Well done.
Thanks Nathan 🙂 Hope it’s useful!
Amazing collection! And makes me so happy to see so many Terry Pratchett books as well as well known and loved ones also!! ^_^ This is a great list for me personally too!
Thanks Alex 😀 I love Terry Pratchett’s work, had to include it 🙂
WHOA, this is comprehensive! I think the only thing you’re missing are some of the YA titles, which makes sense since (I think?) you seem to focus more on adult than YA fantasy. (If you ever want to expand this list, I’d be happy to shoot some YA titles your way so you don’t have to do the legwork.) I don’t read as much adult fantasy, but there are a few on here that catch my eye. I feel like I can’t really count as a human without eventually picking up Terry Pratchett or Ursula K. LeGuin.
C.J.
Ugh, sorry for the double post. I hate my computer. x_x;;;fail
No problem 😉
Yeah I do tend to read more adult fantasy than YA, although I do enjoy YA stuff too. It’s mostly that this list is compiled of books I own and I guess I’ve bought more adult titles 😛 But sure, I’m happy for recommendations!
YES! You have to read some Terry Pratchett 🙂
This is a fantastic list-I’m bookmarking it to reference later!
I just found your blog and I’m now following you through bloglovin 🙂
Thanks so much 😀 Hope it’s of some use.