J.R.R. Tolkien effectively established the genre of high fantasy when he came up with the world of Middle-earth and populated it with fantastical creatures facing an apocalyptic threat in The Lord of the Rings. While numerous stories introduce talking animals, fairies, or demons to a version of the real world — or even see regular people stepping into a magical realm they previously didn’t know existed — high fantasy takes place in a fully imaginary reality with its own rules, history, and factions.
George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire proved that high fantasy doesn’t have to be synonymous with high magic. Most people in the Seven Kingdoms don’t expect to meet a dragon or giant, making it all the more terrifying when those mythical creatures appear. The setup required to introduce a high fantasy world encourages sprawling series, but there are also brilliant standalone novels that ground their imagined worlds in real history. Whether you’re looking for an epic tale about knights and wizards, or a dangerous setting where heroes have to live by their wits, you should check out these 10 perfect high fantasy books.
Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)
One of the true masters of the genre, Ursula K. Le Guin both drew upon and subverted the classic tropes of fantasy stories. Ged, a young boy with great magical potential, has to grapple with his own impatience and hubris rather than a dark lord. The story of a boy sent to wizarding school set the stage for Harry Potter, but A Wizard of Earthsea is a far more thoughtful tale as Ged is constantly tempted by great power but must learn to avoid easy shortcuts in order to maintain balance in himself and the world. It’s an extremely quick read, so pick up the rest of the five-book series for more beautiful and meditative stories.
Guy Gavriel Kay, Tigana (1990)
Guy Gavriel Kay is known for putting fantasy spins on real history, like his heartbreakingly beautiful story of Moorish Spain The Lions of Al-Rassan. That book had almost no magic in it, so if you’re looking for more fantasy than history, you should check out Tigana, which is inspired by Renaissance Italy. The vengeful sorcerer king Brandin has erased all memory of the province of Tigana, but those who were born there must start a war to keep their home from being truly lost.
Robert Jordan, The Great Hunt (1990)
The Dragon Reborn Rand al’Thor is lost in another world with a mysterious woman who knows more than she’s letting on, while a group of aspiring Aes Sedai are betrayed and have to fend off an invasion. The Eye of the World, the first book in Jordan’s epic The Wheel of Time series, has some amazing moments, but it’s weighed down by genre cliches and its reluctant, often whiny protagonist. But his second book, The Great Hunt, might be the best in the series, giving the characters the chance to really shine as they face numerous terrible threats.
Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish (1993)
Andrzej Sapkowski began building the fantasy world of The Witcher’s Continent by putting dark spins on classic fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast and Snow White in his short story collection The Last Wish. While his Witcher novels focus more on the brutal cost of war, The Last Wish is the perfect mix of humor, action, and tragedy. The monster hunter Geralt of Rivia has to face plenty of threats from mythical creatures and cruel people, while trying his best not to get too tangled in politics.
Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon (1999)
Gardens of the Moon kicks off Malazan Book of the Fallen, one of the best and richest high fantasy series of all time. The Malazan Empire seeks to complete its conquest of the continent Genabackis in a conflict that involves con artists, gods, assassins, and mages. It can be hard to sink into the dense material, but if you stick with it, you’ll be rewarded with exceptionally nuanced characters and a story that can move quickly while drawing on millennia of history.
Robin Hobb, Fool’s Errand (2001)
Ideally, you’d start reading Robin Hobb at the beginning with the Farseer Trilogy, which introduces FitzChivalry Farseer, an assassin with the ability to bond with animals. But if you want to jump ahead to her best work, you can start with the Tawny Man trilogy, which picks up Fitz’s story 15 years later. That time jump allows for a more mature tale, dealing with aging and loss. But it’s also a classic example of a hero who has to live by his wits to get out of danger, in this case searching for a missing prince at a mysterious estate.
Lois McMaster Bujold, The Curse of Chalion (2001)
While it’s heavily inspired by the unification of Spain, The Curse of Chalion is set in a world of dark magic, demons, and meddling gods. Cazaril is an unlikely hero, a former soldier aged by captivity and torture. Given the job of tutoring noble children, he winds up facing old enemies and unraveling the roots of a powerful curse. It will require some clever scheming to save the royal family, involving sacrifice, a marriage plot, and a bit of divine intervention.
Scott Lynch, The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006)
One of the primary influences behind heist-focused tabletop roleplaying game Blades in the Dark, The Lies of Locke Lamora follows a group of con artists in a fantasy version of Venice trying to pull off a big job while under attack from a brutal new crime lord. In the first book of the Gentleman Bastard series, Scott Lynch does a phenomenal job crafting a complicated world filled with competing factions that are all looking to get ahead while knocking their enemies down a few pegs. The book is often very funny and filled with endearing characters, which just makes it sting all the more when they’re brutally killed.
Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance (2014)
You could fill this list just with the works of Brandon Sanderson, the most successful living high fantasy author. He is a master at devising new worlds and magic systems, weaving together most of them into the sprawling Cosmere shared universe. While his early, effectively standalone works like Elantris and Warbreaker are excellent, and his first Mistborn trilogy skillfully navigated a huge shift in scope, The Stormlight Archive is his true opus. Words of Radiance pays off on all the setup in the first book in the series, The Way of Kings, and dramatically expands the stakes by focusing on Shallan, a noble scholar with dark secrets. It’s full of action and shocking revelations that will make more than a thousand pages go by surprisingly quickly.
James Islington, The Will of the Many (2023)
Inspired by the works of Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, James Islington has created his own rich fantasy world based on the Roman Republic. The first book in The Hierarchy series makes magic a tool of oppression, with the rulers of Caten literally sapping will from people beneath them to fuel their individual strength and the technology they use to expand their reach. A prince from a fallen kingdom, Vis finds himself entangled in Catenan politics when he’s chosen to be a spy within the Hierarchy’s most prestigious school. His extremely dangerous mission drives forward a twisty tale that shows off Islington’s rich worldbuilding.
