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I've read 300+ fantasy books and these are the best series | Library of a Viking | YouTubeToText
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This content presents a personal ranking of the top 10 fantasy series, updated after a year, with honorable mentions, highlighting the reviewer's evolving tastes and appreciation for diverse fantasy subgenres and writing styles.
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I have read more than 300 fantasy books
and read or started around 40 to 50
fantasy series and today I want to go
over what my top 10 favorite fantasy
series are of all time now it's been
around one year since I did a top 10
fantasy series video and I thought it
was time to have an update cuz I have
shuffled the list around a bit but first
let's get into honorable mentions
firstly I just want to get out of the
way I'll put Lord of the Rings here and
that's simply because I find it so
predictable that everyone expect lord of
rings to be number one it is one of the
greatest series of all time you should
definitely read it if we haven't but I
feel like everyone has read Lord of the
Rings so I'll put in in honorable
mentions please no one comment why is
Lord of the Rings not number one I
usually always get at least one okay the
next one on honorable mention is the
bound under the broken by Ryan Kyle I
feel like if you've been watching Book
Two for the past year then you have
heard about this series so often but
yeah if you love traditional epic
fantasy but that feels more modern maybe
has better mental health representation
it's a bit more diverse and it's also
pce better but it's absolutely epic in
scope and is a modern Ono series then
you need to check out this series it is
absolutely brilliant I think most people
agree that of blood and fire which is
the first book is a very very solid
entry but it feels very traditional and
tropy and when you read it you
definitely can see a lot of inspiration
from Lord of the Rings and Wheel of Time
and faithful and fall and so on but it's
still a solid book but yeah the fall and
of Darkness and Light and the other
books are just on a whole another level
so definitely one of my favorite series
and when this series is completed I
could definitely see it pop into the top
10 the next one on mentions is memory
Sor and Thorn by Ted Williams now I only
read two of the three books in the
series but yeah this is right of my
alley again it's very traditional it has
a lot of the Tres we come to know from
classical fantasy but I must say Ted
Williams is one of the most beautiful
writers I've ever encountered in the
genre I always mentioned Robin hop as
the queen of fantasy as someone that is
able to write these very slowburn books
and just absolutely captivated me but
yeah we have a contender that might
actually knock her off the throne when
it comes to beautiful pros and that is
Williams now the first two books are
some of my favorite books of all time
already and I still need to read the
third and final book which is also
absolutely massive but what I will say
here which makes it a bit more
challenging to recommend the series for
everyone is that first yes it's quite
tropy so if you're sick and tired of
tropy fantasy or classic fantasy it
might not be your jam but secondly these
books are crazy crazy slow but I love
them still and it comes down to the fact
that t Williams is so incredible at
crafting beautiful sentences can read an
instruction manual written by Ted
Williams and I would probably still
enjoy it so that should just tell you
how highly I would praise his ability to
craft beautiful scenes and settings and
so on the next one on mentioned is ill
born by Daniel T Jackson now I've given
the first two books in the series five
out of five STS I absolutely love them
and there's still two more books to come
now I think last year I did put the
series on spot number eight but yeah
I've read some brilliant series since
and this series is unfinished and that's
the only reason why I feel I can justify
bringing it down but yeah one of the
greatest series I've ever read
definitely one of the greatest self
publish series I've ever read it is
criminally criminally underrated I
absolutely love it and you should
definitely check it out and the last
series on honorable mention is Empire of
the Wolf by Richard Swan now I also
believe that this series was in my top
10 last year but it's just dropped down
a tiny bit now I read the third and
final book in this trilogy The Trials of
Empire 3 4 months ago and while I
thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed the
conclusion in my opinion book one and
two were just a bit better and book
three feel like it focus a lot on the
very dark spiritual Elements which I
usually prefer and they felt very unique
so there's nothing inherently wrong with
the book I just felt like book one and
two are better and if I look at the
average star rating I would give this
Trilogy it probably doesn't justify
putting it in my top 10 but what I will
say is if you want to read something
unique something that someone that bring
something new to genre you need to check
out this Trilogy it's like a criminal SL
legal H donut kind of fantasy that has a
lot of political Intrigue a lot of like
commentary or morality and law and like
where do we get our values from and so
on and then it turns very very dark in
book two and especially book three it is
almost a straightup horror novel so it
is just such a an interesting and unique
experience and it's definitely a series
I think more people should read cuz yeah
I had a blast with every single book in
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responsing this video okay without
further Ado let's get into my top 10 and
I was really debating where I should put
the series cuz this is one of the series
I'm most fond of of all time and when I
think about my enjoyment when I read it
it was off the scale it was one of the
series I've enjoy the most and that is
going to be the faithful and the Fallen
by John Gwyn now if you asked me around
2 years ago I probably put the faith in
the fallen in my top three Fair series
of all time but yeah I've become maybe a
slightly bit more critical about this
series especially maybe the first half
of book one and book four but to be
honest the real reason is I've just read
so many incredible series since but yeah
this is one of those series that a lot
of people they love to describe as
traditional fantasy that feels modern
and it's so so true we have like a farm
boy to Hero kind of trob we have a
chosen one we have elves and we have
almost everything that we love in
fantasy so when you pick up this series
it'll feel familiar but it'll also feel
feel very very fresh and what everyone
loves about B J Quin is the pacing like
you really feel especially after the
halfway point of malice the plot just
doesn't stop and you just constantly
keep going on to next thing and next
thing and it's so so riting and to this
stage book three ruin is honestly one of
those books where I had my mouth open
for almost all of the book it was just
it's a masterpiece in execution and also
unexpected plot twist and just emotions
I read that book I just couldn't stop
reading it is incredible so yeah if you
haven't checked out the faith on the
Fallen yet I would highly recommend it
and there's also a sequel series which
is also quite good but just not as good
but yeah definitely would recommend J
quit he's one of my favorite authors
okay on spot number nine and I'll just
say that all the books on this list I I
couldn't really rank them I kept going
back and forth and this series here I'm
putting spot number nine could have
easily been on spot number six or five
but that's going to be the farsu trilogy
by Robin hob Robin hob is without a
doubt one of my favorite authors of all
time and if you want to read something
that is slow burn but beautifully
written and has a lot of themes that you
might not see as well executed in
fantasy such as questioning your
identity trying to find your place in
the world and just the struggles of
Legacy then I would definitely recommend
the far Trilogy and also it has one of
the best pet companions ever what
literally one of the best ones in the
whole genre now I just want to bring it
to your attention that the far Trilogy
is a single PV first person kind of
story and Fitz who is honestly one of
the greatest character in Fantasy is
also one of the most annoying I think a
lot of you will find him absolutely
infuriating because he is so so pathetic
but yeah Robin Hop's ability to make you
feel for him and feel compassion for him
is unrivaled and I think most of you if
you actually read this Trilogy you will
cry real tears cuz it's so sad but it's
yet so beautiful so yeah I can't
recommend the series enough and then on
spot number eight again a series that if
you asked me two years ago I would
probably rank number one but that is
going to be Miss born by Brandon
Sanderson I don't really feel like I
need to say much about Mporn I think
everyone on book talks about this series
absolutely nonstop yeah this is one of
the series that got me into fantasy I
remember when I picked up this series
being totally unexposed to Modern
fantasy it just blew my mind it was kind
of like reading a video game it was my
first time seeing a hard magic system
with lots of rules and the read is just
so atmospheric it's one of those Series
where I was just really able to
visualize everything that went on again
I love book one but what I love so much
about book one is that Sanderson has one
of those really really shocking and
unexpected plot TW I did not see that
ending in book one coming and the book
two and three are maybe slightly
different but they bring something new
to the world I just love the whole
trilogy when I read it four years ago I
remember I gave every single book five
out of five stars now I read around 250
books since so if I reread misore now I
can see myself maybe being a bit more
critical than I was at that point but
still especially if you're new to Epic
Fantasy you need to check out the series
but also if you read lost of loss and
lot of f I still think that you would
have a wonderful time with this series
now last year when I did this video I
got a bit of flag for actually making
the cosm one Series so I'm not going to
do that again and speaking of cosmere on
spot number seven we have The Stormlight
Archive by Brandis Henderson as well now
the only reason why this series isn't in
my top three which it does have the
potential for is because I still need to
rhythm of war and while way of kings and
Words of Radiance and I made a video how
my perception has actually changed about
those books I become even more positive
I relatively recently finished
oathbringer book three and while I had a
blast I must admit that oathbringer albe
it's a good book was nowhere near as
good as both book one and two I think
special Words of Radiance is honestly
one of the best books in the world or at
least one of the best books I have ever
read so if you want something that is
absolutely epic in scale but you also
want to read something that feels very
modern and new and unique then you need
to check out Stormlight and also the
characters we follow there are
incredible and yeah I'm so glad to see
that there's a least some really really
big Epic Fantasy series still going on
or ongoing and I can't wait to read
rhythm of War which I've heard is the
weakest so I'm a bit worried about that
one but yeah serson is able to write an
incredible conclusion in book five for
theal archive I could definitely see
this series breaking into my top three
okay we're now getting into top five and
I'll just say now while I have ranked
this series in my mind these are all
near perfect I mean all of them are the
highest recommend I can give you even
though I'm going to go to spot number
five it's not like it's way better than
number four five or three whatever on
spot number five we have the life ship
Trader Trilogy by Robin hop now one
thing that just blew my mind with that
series is that I read the fars Trilogy
first which is a single POV first person
kind of story and then you come to the
life Trilogy which is a multiple POV
story that's written in third person so
it's written very very differently and
Robin hob she just absolutely Nails it
and the reason why I would rack lilogy
even higher is just because of the scale
and the complexity in character arcs the
world really opens up and the plot is
just so much more compelling and we
learn so much more about the world and
honestly the first book in the trilogy
is five out of five stars it is so good
and I know some people will crucify me
here but I genuinely think that you can
start with the life shifted Trilogy then
you can pick up the Fire Trilogy but
after that you need to read in
chronological order so if you trust me
and you potentially want to start with
Robin hob and you want to experience the
best she's written you can start with
the life ship trailor Trilogy it is
simply simply brilliant and while I
could make a whole video about the
trilogy what I'll just highlight here is
Robin Hop's incredible ability to write
and deal with trauma I don't think I've
ever come across any fantasy series that
has been able to analyze the theme of
trauma and grief as well as Robin hop
does in this Trilogy it is just so
beautiful to see how characters
experience grief and Trauma in book one
and then how that grief and Trauma
slowly changes over book two and then
onto book three and yeah these three
books are absolutely massive but the
fact that there is a longer word count
really allows Robin hob to show the
reader how trauma and grief changes over
a long period of time so yeah I can't
price this stry enough and you should
definitely read it please more people
you need to read Robin hob she deserves
to be mentioned as one of the authors
along with Joe Abby Brandon serson and
so on on spot number four we have age of
Madness by Joe abomi honestly this
Trilogy is if you enjoy Grim dark if you
enjoy com characters and if you enjoy
seeing fantasy where the world actually
progresses and you want to see some
fascinating analysis of like class
structures and capitalism and you want
to see a fantasy that has clear
Inspirations from the Industrial
Revolution then you need to pick up this
series now I would strongly encourage
you to first read for the first L
Trilogy and also a couple of the standal
Loon maybe all three before you get to
age of Madness but I think most of you
have probably heard of Joe abon he's
always mentioned as one of those authors
that everyone needs to check out
especially in the enjoy Grim dark and
the Beautiful Thing with the age of met
Trilogy is that it takes what was really
really good with the first slot Trilogy
and just improves upon it in almost
every single way which is very very hard
to do considering how good the first L
Trilogy was now these books are very
very character driven especially the
first trilogy but also age of Madness
and honestly there are very very few
authors out there that are able to
create characters that have such a
distinct voice there's no need in his
books to actually write who said what
because you just know from the T from
how the sentences are structured who is
talking and it is just incredible I mean
Joe ABY is an absolute genius and
deserves all the praise and love he
receives in this community okay on spot
number three is again as serious I could
easily put number one but that is going
to be the green bone Saga by fondale
what I just love so much about modern
fantasy is how the genre constantly
brings new things to the genre which I
had just never thought about the green
Bon Saga is a modern Asian inspired
Mafia kind of story that has a lot of
focus on family drama yes it is
seriously seriously like a unique and
strange blend but it's also one of the
most captivating and compelling reads I
have ever read so this is a high high
recommend if you enjoy modern fantasy
but also if you enjoy fantasy that has a
lot of focus on the politics yes there
are some incredibly riveting action
scenes in the series but there's just so
much fascinating and compelling dialogue
where characters are discussing family
drama or the situation with Jade and
there's different kingdoms and countries
becoming involved and one of my favorite
things about this whole trilogy is the
time span now book one and two cover I
don't know how long but then book three
literally covers 10 years and while most
fantasies will often have a big buildup
and then a really really big climax what
I think Fond does so brilliantly here is
to Showcase how some of these more
complex and bigger conflicts are often
not just resolved over one battle
there's often lots of little conflicts
on the way and usually just time span
will change up in while people are in
conflicts and I genuinely think that
Jade Legacy is one of the most ambitious
fantasy novels I ever read just the fact
that she writes a novel that covers 10
years of time and I know some people
sometimes say that that book reads quite
episodic and they're not a massive fan
of that but generally my mind was
absolutely Blown Away by Jade Legacy
just the sheer audacity to write a novel
like that and it's just so satisfying
and also just briefly the characters in
The Green B Saga are honestly one of the
most memorable and best characters in
The genre now if you're a big fan of the
series then I would also highly
recommend you checking out some of the
novelas that fun Le has written in this
universe they are also incredible and
yeah I just absolutely can't wait to see
what fun Lee will write next cuz yeah
from now on I will read basically
anything that she writes okay on spot
number two we have and last year I think
I put this series as number one it could
just have easily been number one but on
spot number two is The Dark Tower by
Stephen King one of the most
underappreciated Series in the bookup
community now I know that this Series
has so millions and millions and
millions of copies so it's not the fact
that they hasn't sold well I'm just like
wondering where is the love for the
series now if you watch my channel then
you know that the Dark Tower is one of
the series that really open my eyes to
what fantasy can be coming to the genre
I had this perception that fantasy is
what Lord of the Rings is you know a
farm boy a hero kind of genre but what
Stephen King does with the Dark Tower is
just mind-blowing it's a West SL Epic
Fantasy SL horror SL meta and like
science fiction kind of story and it is
honestly one of the strangest series I
have ever read with some of the craziest
plot decisions I've ever seen and some
of the wildest moments and the ending of
Dark Tower is so controversial but in my
opinion it's so fitting and what I just
love about this series is the fact that
s King he really pushes the genre yes of
course fantasy can be Lord of the Rings
there's nothing wrong with that or it
can be Romany and I'll just say this now
the RO and the protagonist we follow he
is genuinely one of the most iconic
characters I've ever come across this
Gunslinger that has so much in you have
so many questions about him as you
follow his Relentless haunt for The Dark
Tower over all of these books genuinely
I don't think you would be watching this
video right now if it wasn't for the
Dark Tower because that series opened my
eyes that fantasy is so much more than
my narrow perception of the genre and
that led me to reading Miss born and The
Wheel of Time later on I don't even have
the Wheel of Time on here [Applause]
so yeah I might be a bit nostalgic by
this series but I'll just give you a
slight caveat here the Gunslinger the
first book in the series might be the
weakest in this whole series but then
book two and three are just so much
better and you'll just understand me
when you finish the series but when you
have finished the series you'll come
back to gunslinger and be like wow that
book actually was incredible just trust
me this one and I just noticed that I
don't know how to count cuz I still have
two series to go and we're actually on
spot number one so I'll add two series
on spot number one I do apologize okay
there other series on this list and you
heard me mention it right now but that's
going to be the Wheel of Time by Robert
Jordan honestly if you want a series
that has maybe the best world building
I've ever come across in the genre and
you want some of the most infuriating
but also satisfying character arcs I've
ever come across then you need to check
out this series now I'm often quite
careful with recommending the series to
lots of people or B Because while I Love
Book 1 and six so much I will admit book
7 to 10 are rough they are slow they are
horrendously slow with some incredible
moments and then book 11 to 14 are
fantastic now my whole justification for
still recommending this series even
though I think it has a lot of problems
is the fact that whenever people finish
a series they are always happy I've
never met anyone that was sad that they
were actually able to push through those
slow books but yeah I don't really feel
it's fair for me to ask people to read a
series where when I think there's around
two to 3,000 pages in the middle which
could easily almost have been caught out
totally but yeah The Wheel of Time one
of the greatest series I've ever read it
has AR be the best world building in the
genre it has some of the greatest
characters and it has so many incredible
epic moments when I think of B series
with epic moments I will often think
about the storb archive Lord of the
Rings and then I will often mention The
Wheel of Time as well and the other
series that is on spot number one so
without further Ado let's get to the
other series that is on spot number one
and that is a series that I finished
this year and I did call it the most
underrated series of all time that I
read you can actually watch my full
spoiler fore video here but that is
going to be the dandelion Dynasty by Ken
Lou what I just love so much with
fantasy is that the more I read the more
I discovered that there are so many
series out there that continuously push
the boundaries of what a fantasy should
be now can lud described the series as a
silk Punk fantasy with clear Asian
Inspirations but it also has
Inspirations from the founding of North
America America and again similarly to
the green B Saga this series here has an
even bigger time scale I can't even put
into words the ambition and the scale of
this series these four massive books
literally span over I don't know maybe
two decades maybe 20 years maybe longer
we see the rise and fall of an Empire
and then the massive struggle of setting
up structures and being fair and the
amount of characters we have in this
series The amount of themes that that I
explored and the amount of
incredible epic scenes is just off the
scale this series analyzes technology
the burden of Legacy lot of question of
morality so much focus on politics it is
just absolutely fascinating and I genely
when you read the series you just have
this feeling that kenl he seems like an
author that is just probably has an IQ
of 130 now again I will give a caveat
here book one can be a challenge for
some readers now it's genely one of my
favorite books of all time but that book
kind of reads like a history book canl
doesn't spend much time on analyzing
characters you'll kind of go to the
story and it almost feels like you're
looking down on this massive map and
you're sitting next to a historian and
the historian will tell you that a
battle happened here this happened 10
pages about it and then he'll go like 3
months later another battle happen here
or another back sapping and then that
whole book kind of just feels like a
really big and epic prologue but then
you come to the wall of Storms and the
plot becomes much more focused on the
characters and the wall of storms
genuinely one of the best fantasy books
in the genre it is six out of five stars
because you read the great of kings and
that book is just off the scale epic and
then you get to wall of Storms and the
scale is even bigger but the characters
are fleshed out even more and oh I just
can't recommend enough I'll just
recommend this video here if you are
interested in the series where I talk
spoiler-free about all the themes and
everything that I think KL is trying to
accomplish with this series I just I
can't recommend it enough it is Criminal
literally criminal that can lose isn't
talked about more in the community he is
just so criminally underrated and yeah I
want to read everything he's written
from that one so those are my top 11
fantasy series of all time with I think
five honorable mentions there's so many
other series I could have mention on
here but just to keep it to top 10 I'll
leave it as it is what do you think
about racking do you think I'm wrong do
you think some series are missing here
definitely let me know and if you want
to know what my favorite trilogies are
of all time then you should definitely
check out this video oh you're still
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