The fantasy genre is always changing and that is why we decided to revisit this list and make an updated list for 2024. See the ten best fantasy books of all time 2024 edition and see what books made our latest list!

If you didn’t already know, the fantasy genre is one of our favorite genres to read. There are tons of amazing fantasy books and we have seen many newer novels that deserve a spot on the list. It is never easy to remove some of our favorite books on the list but our hand is forced when a book we think is superior comes around.

We did make some changes to the list and added a couple of more recent novels to the list. If you haven’t read them, then you are truly missing out. You can see the full list below!

The Ten Best Fantasy Books of All Time

The Lord of the Rings

It should come as no surprise that The Lord of the Rings came out on top of our list. This classic fantasy series is one of the best and has shaped the genre as a whole. Many of the books on the list were inspired by this series and even decades later, this series still holds up pretty well.

A Wizard of Earthsea

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin novel
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

A fantasy novel that decided to go the opposite direction of The Lord of the Rings was A Wizard of Earthsea. Wizards were always old and wise and Ursula K. Le Guin decided to flip the script. And the result is an amazing novel and series that is creative and also a fresh break from the same tropes you see in many fantasy novels.

A Song of ice and Fire

After The Lord of the Rings, the next most recognized fantasy series has to be A Song of Ice and Fire. After the Game of Thrones show dominated the 2010s, George R.R. Martin became a household name.

The series itself is an amazing read and the only thing that I have against it is that it is not completed as of yet. Hopefully Martin does complete it because it is right behind The Lord of the Rings in quality and impact.

Dune

Dune by Frank Herbert novel
Dune by Frank Herbert

Including Dune on this list was not a difficult choice because it is a great fantasy series. But I think it is a better sci-fi novel than a fantasy novel. Still, I didn’t think that the books that just missed out of the top ten deserved to replace it, even with the two new editions. It’ll be interesting to see of Dune keeps its position in the top ten going forward.

The Final Empire

An author that has cemented himself as one of the best fantasy writers over the past two decades is Brandon Sanderson. He has written two of my favorite fantasy series and I almost wanted to include both of them on the list. The Final Empire is the one I ended up choosing with and one that I think most fans of fantasy novels will enjoy. Nobody has a better magic system in their novels than Sanderson and his characters always rich in detail and always easy to root for.

The Fifth Season

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin book
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

I finally got around to reading The Broken Earth series by N.K. Jemisin and wow, I was amazed at how amazing this series was. This became the first series to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel for all three books in a trilogy. And after reading this series, you will understand why. The world building is as good as it gets and the plot is going to keep you hooked till the last page.  

Conclusion

These are the top ten best fantasy books of all time according to Books of Brilliance. This updated list saw a few changed from our previous list and I can’t wait to see what other novels break in our top ten list. What did you think of the list and what other fantasy novels would you have added? Let us know in the comments below!

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