u/provegana69

Pre-ordered mine last week but it's still around a week away (you know how international shipping is). I'm really curious to see how the book looks outside of the pics you normally see on DAW's page. Firstly, I'm curious to see what the spine looks like and how thick the book is compared to others (I'm guessing it's around the same thickness as the current Tor printing of The Way of Kings?) But more importantly, I really want to see what the naked hardcover looks like. For the other two special/deluxe editions DAW has done (NOTW and EoS), they've both had some design on the front of the naked hardcover but they haven't shown how this one looks without the dustjacket at all.

Also, can y'all check if it is glued or sewn binding. I know it's more than likely glued but just in the off chance that it's sewn... And thoughts of the sprayed edges? Personally wasn't a fan but hopefully it looks better irl.

Don't know if you guys have noticed but Orbit has recently been announcing and putting out a decent number of their own special/deluxe editions of books. I think this mainly has to do with the rising popularity of special editions with sprayed edges and I'm really hoping both Powder Mage and Gods of Blood and Powder will get that same treatment, even if it is solely to put hardcover editions of the book back out in print again. They're more recent books but the Bloodsworn Saga had their deluxe editions put out last year, the Expanse is getting continued, and most importantly, Licanius, another Orbit published series that is out of print in hardcover is getting new editions next month.

Also, just saw the post that confirmed Glass Immortals 2's release date and I'm so hyped. Literally just started reading In The Shadow of Lightning lol. Hoping we'll get a cover reveal

NON-SPOILER SECTION

So I just finished "The Everlasting" and from the moment I first read up the synopsis a couple weeks ago after I finally bothered looking into it after it won the Hugo, I've been kicking myself for not getting the book as soon as it was released and I feel even more strongly about it now that I've finished the book (in just two sittings in the same day no less). I guess I have to blame the marketing and also the primarily male roster of booktuber/bookstagrammers I follow for not bringing my attention to the book. I did hear of the book last year even before it was published but I never even read the synopsis because it was romantasy and romantasy was something I've long since decided simply wasn't for me. That and the fact that basically none of the book influencers I see on my feed brought my attention to it.

But enough of my ranting and let's talk about the book.

It was perfect, flawless even. Now this is something I wouldn't say about even my favourite books of all time because I can see a few flaws here and there and moments I think could've been written differently. While I wouldn't rank above said favourites quite just yet, I can confidently say there isn't a single part of this book I would change, nor do I think there's a single word that was out of place. This book 100% deserved the Hugo even if a lot of the more right-leaning side of the SFF space I unfortunately at times hang out with is bitching and crying about a romantasy getting the Hugo (and yes, this book is 100% a romance).

Now, the main focus of the book is obviously the romance between the two main characters: Owen Mallory, a nerdy and nervous mess of a history lecturer/veteran in a post-WWI/II england-expy from whose POV most of the book is written and Sir Una Everlasting, the female knight who is a foundational figure in the history and myth of the country. Both characters felt incredibly fleshed out and well written and complex but also very likeable and relatable at the same time and their relationship is so beautiful. Just the yearning they have for each other was so powerful.

And speaking of characters, the main villain of the book who I won't name at the moment for spoiler reasons was also really well written and menacing. And as for other side characters, the ones from Owen's side of things are very well written for as little screentime as they get while the side characters from Una's side don't really get as much time to shine.

Now, the book is really short coming in at around 300 pages and something a lot of peeps could finish in a couple sittings in just a day like I did but it is not at all a light read as it is one of the most emotional books I have ever read. I am not ashamed to admit, many a thug tears were shed and I couldn't be happier for it.

And the time travel element in the book was so damn fun! Purple Days (the GoT fanfic) really raised the bar for me when it comes to books messing around with time but man, I can't say more without spoiling it but the time travel element was so dope.

And finally before we get to the spoiler section, I'd like to praise the prose. Oh my god, I know I'm showing my lack of experience as a reader here but Harrow's prose throughout the book was one of the best I have ever read and one of the few writers to make me actively appreciate the prose. Unlike the other authors whose prose I absolutely adore (Rothfuss and Ruocchio), Harrow's prose is deceptively simple. It has the same simple diction and transparency of most webnovels and YA books while somehow being one of the most effortlessly beautiful prose I have ever read. I'll just straight up say this is exactly how I wish I could write. I don't know how she does it. The prose is subtle enough that you don't notice how beautiful it is unless you wish to so it never gets in the way of the story.

Oh, one more thing. The audiobook was excellent as well. The two narrators smashed it out of the park and lowkey, they might be one of the best I've ever listened to. Absolutely crazy. Also, immersive reading for the win.

SPOILER SECTION

Man, I don't even know where to begin in this part of the book. It's absolutely crazy to me how a short 300 page book could carry the same emotional weight and payoff that a long book series could. And honestly, the entire series could've been laid out over 10 big thick books and I would've ate it all up.

But man, lemme talk about Owen first. I don't think I've ever read a protagonist I related to more than him other than maybe Nikaro/Painter from Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. That feeling of insecurity and believing you are a coward and not good enough a man along with the painful longing and ache he feels for love... God, I just know when the adaptation comes out, he's gonna be a Ryan Gosling level "literally me" character. Can't wait for all the edits with Memory Reboot lol.

And other than the obviously amazing dynamic he had with Una, I loved his dynamic with all his coworkers and his dad.

And Una... god I don't wanna sound pathetic but I am praying on my knees to find my own Una one day. I loved the role reversal here. Almost every piece of media badly handles badass female warriors but when they're well executed, they're instantly my favourites. Brienne of Tarth being the most obvious and Sir Una definitely belongs in that class.

Vivian is probably one of my favourite villains right now and thank god for utterly unrepentant and irreedeemable pieces of shit who are still incredibly complex. And also, she was legit so scary. I've also never wanted to give a character a three piece and a soda more.

Also, I thought I was done crying for the kids when Owen was forced to leave them behind but I cried even harder when their names were eventually mentioned.

There are so many other things I'd like to talk about but I can't decide.

SPOILERS END HERE

Overall, I'm more than happy to give the book 5 Stars and is easily my best read of the year so far and it is probably my favourite standalone book alongside 11/22/63 now.

Highly recommend it to dudes who want to read a romance but find most romantasy unappealing. Muscle Mommies FTW

I've been an infrequent lurker of this sub for a few months now, coming by every few weeks for recommendations. On the one hand, I am happy to see how many indie writers there are out there and I've found quite a few gems but on the other, I do find it quite disheartening that I haven't been able to find any trad published books out here mainly because I prefer physical books.

I've heard of The Everlasting even since before it was released but I never bothered to look into it because it was a romantasy which is a subgenre of books I unfortunately hate even though I love fantasy and romance because it is not really written for men at all. But then it got shortlisted for the Hugo Award (the most prestigious SFF award for those who don't know) so I looked into it immediately and bought it as soon as I read the synopsis. My copy arrived shortly after it won the award because international shipping is a bitch. I started reading it earlier today and I just finished it in what was basically two sittings and oh my god, what a book.

This isn't the full detailed review I plan to write a bit later after a good night's sleep but let me gush about it a little bit for y'all.

I don't want to spoil anything major (but feel free to ask me anything about the book even with spoilers in the comments if you're unsure) but the story basically takes place in a fantasy world that on the surface seems to be post-WWI Europe/England and follows a history lecturer named Owen Mallory who is also a veteran of the war. Somehow, he find himself in the past and meets Sir Una Everlasting, the female knight who was a foundational figure in his country's history and basically won the kingdom for the country's first queen.

The romance between them was simply sublime and genuinely one of the best I've ever read. On the surface level, there's Owen who is this nerdy history lecturer and Sir Una who is tall, muscular, stoic and very dangerous but their relationship is so beautiful, even from the start. The story is written mostly from Owen's in a framed narrative but Una also has quite a few parts written from her POV.

It also has a handful of graphic sex scenes but they never go on for more than a couple of pages and they never take away from the story but is rather a very natural part of it. And it never gets too weird for people who are uncomfortable with some of the more extreme stuff in gender role reversal stories (so no pegging or anything).

The book is certainly romantasy with the relationship between Owen and Una being the primary focus of the story but there are so many other aspects of the book that are amazing.

Before I talk about the other elements of the story and plot, I have to praise the prose. I am by no means a prose snob (Sanderson is one of my favourites) but when it is good, I can really appreciate it and it is certainly excellent here. The funny thing is that you don't even notice how good the prose is at first because it is so natural and never felt forced but there are moments where you realise just how good of a writer Harrow is.

But other than that, the book features a great time travelling mechanic which is always fun. I feel like fans of time travel/loop stories will almost always enjoy other similar stories so I'd definitely recommend if you're a fan of 11/22/63 by Stephen King (which also has another great romance), Purple Days (the GoT fanfic where Joffrey is in a timeloop), The Perfect Run, Mother of Learning etc. but it is much shorter than all of those but still has the payoff of all those other doorstoppers at just 300 pages.

It also features a very well written and genuinely scary villain.

The politics of the book might turn away some readers but while it is definitely very heavy handed with the word "fascism" being tossed about very liberally and it being a core part of the book, the politics never interfere with the story's quality at all unlike R.F. Kuang's writing.

If you have any questions or are still not 100% in, feel free to ask me anything about the book to alleviate your doubts because if you want a romance written for a man, this book is for you and I am 100% sure of it.

So I finished the third and last book of Brian Lee Durfee's The Five Warrior Angels trilogy, The Lonesome Crown, a couple days ago and now that I've had enough time to process the entire thing, I feel ready to write my review because my thoughts were quite scattered initially. While my overall opinion on the series is very positive, I still do have a lot of mixed feelings.

Overall, I'd give the series a 4/5 stars and I'd say The Lonesome Crown was the strongest book overall, The Forgetting Moon comes in second place as it was a very effective book 1 of a series while The Blackest Heart was in my opinion the weakst book of the series despite its fan favourite status with it suffering a lot from middle book syndrome.

The one thing I appreciated the most about the series was the setting. While I'm far from well read when it comes to grimdark, I personally feel like a lot of the most popular series lack that classic fantasy charm with the worlds of most of those books doing their best to distance themselves from the more Tolkien-esque works of your Terry Brooks, your Tad Williams, etc. But the whole series felt very much like a modern take on classic fantasy a la John Gwynne or Ryan Cahill but with a grimdark twist. While it is definitely a grittier low magic world, the series still has knights in shining armor, orphan farmboys going on journeys, mysterious assassins, princesses who want to learn swordplay, elves (Valle), orcs (Oghuls), dragons and lesser used creatures like mermaids. I guess this gives the series a sense of warmth and nostalgia even if I didn't grow up with the works that clearly inspired Durfee.

I'd also like to bring attention to Durfee's prose. It fits the story very well with it having a mix old school fantasy flair but with a less poetic/lyrical and modern overall feeling. However, the prose itself is very descriptive which I love but might not be for everyone. It's really effective at making you see exactly what Durfee was thinking when he was writing. However, there were moments, especially early on in the series where it does feel awkward and stilted (especially in the dialogue) but I do have to credit for the slight but noticeable improvements in each book as Durfee gets more confident with his authorial voice.

I thin it is fair to say the entire series is built on three pillars of sorts, the first being a deep love and respect for classic fantasy, the second being the subversion of tropes common in those classic fantasies, and the third being a deep dislike and mistrust of religion and I'd like to talk about that last point first.

I won't be going into either mine or Durfee's beliefs or background but it's clear from the get-go but I do have to say that you can tell the series was written by someone who was raised very religiously but has since left that behind from the get go. I do appreciate the scathing criticism against religious beliefs and institutions but at the same time, I can't help but feel like it goes a bit too far into the point of absurdity at times, even if I don't necessarily disagree with the points being made. They're few and far between on here in reddit but if you are like a super religious person, this series is probably not for you.

And going to the second point, this series heavily prioritises subverting your expectations. Now, I'll admit I'm someone who deliberately kinda turns my brain off at times because I feel like just enjoying a book is a hell of a lot more important than trying to find every little plot hole and detail but there were times that I felt like some twists were extremely telegraphed and coming from a mile away because of the story's refusal to follow certain tropes and story beats. The overall over-reliance on subversion can be a problem at times but it does lead to some truly unique, satisfying and epic moments throughout the series but it also results in unsatisfying conclusions and character arcs.

It is important to remember that the series is very much a grimdark but I do feel like the first half or so of the first book lulls you into a false sense of security before a massive tonal shift. So expect to read about some truly gorey and horrific killings and rape (which is luckily not that prevalent in the series). I'd say it's a lot more explicit than something like ASOIAF or First Law because of the vivid descriptions.

But I'd also like to list out some of my pet-peeves when I was reading the series.

The first is what I call the Camera Hotah affect. Basically, in ASOIAF, there were a couple of chapters in the last two books told from the POV of Areo Hotah, the bodyguard of Prince Doran Martell and they served primarily as a way to see into the Dornish camp without spoiling their plans. I kinda hate this mechanic because the POV characters have no depth and don't do anything other than act as a camera or a fly on the wall. The series is very guilty of this at times with POVs that exist only to see what one group of people are doing but at least said POVs do have more personality and importance by themselves than a Hotah.

The second is Durfee's name for certain things. Overall, I'd say Durfee is very good at naming people, things and places but there are a few names that stick out like a sore thumb that make me kinda cringe every time they come up. There is this orc character called 'Sledg Hammar' I can't take seriously at all and also this Valle named 'Val Sovereign'. And in terms of locations, there's this place called the Sor Sevier Nordland Highlands. Like bro, just call it the Sor Sevier Highlands.

The third is the way combat goes at times. Reading of swords cutting through heavy plate armour has always bothered me and the series is particularly guilty of it. That and seemingly experienced and veteran fighters being bested very easily and physical differences in size and strength not making as much of a difference as it should.

Overall, I'd still recommend the series to anyone that's looking for something slightly more obscure and super underrated and to fans of John Gwynne, Ryan Cahill, and those who want a more classic fantasy feeling grimdark.

I'd love to have both spoiler-free and spoiler discussions about the series so please feel free to talk and comment about anything or ask me a question.

So I finished the third and last book of Brian Lee Durfee's The Five Warrior Angels trilogy, The Lonesome Crown, a couple days ago and now that I've had enough time to process the entire thing, I feel ready to write my review because my thoughts were quite scattered initially. While my overall opinion on the series is very positive, I still do have a lot of mixed feelings.

Overall, I'd give the series a 4/5 stars and I'd say The Lonesome Crown was the strongest book overall, The Forgetting Moon comes in second place as it was a very effective book 1 of a series while The Blackest Heart was in my opinion the weakst book of the series despite its fan favourite status with it suffering a lot from middle book syndrome.

The one thing I appreciated the most about the series was the setting. While I'm far from well read when it comes to grimdark, I personally feel like a lot of the most popular series lack that classic fantasy charm with the worlds of most of those books doing their best to distance themselves from the more Tolkien-esque works of your Terry Brooks, your Tad Williams, etc. But the whole series felt very much like a modern take on classic fantasy a la John Gwynne or Ryan Cahill but with a grimdark twist. While it is definitely a grittier low magic world, the series still has knights in shining armor, orphan farmboys going on journeys, mysterious assassins, princesses who want to learn swordplay, elves (Valle), orcs (Oghuls), dragons and lesser used creatures like mermaids. I guess this gives the series a sense of warmth and nostalgia even if I didn't grow up with the works that clearly inspired Durfee.

I'd also like to bring attention to Durfee's prose. It fits the story very well with it having a mix old school fantasy flair but with a less poetic/lyrical and modern overall feeling. However, the prose itself is very descriptive which I love but might not be for everyone. It's really effective at making you see exactly what Durfee was thinking when he was writing. However, there were moments, especially early on in the series where it does feel awkward and stilted (especially in the dialogue) but I do have to credit for the slight but noticeable improvements in each book as Durfee gets more confident with his authorial voice.

I thin it is fair to say the entire series is built on three pillars of sorts, the first being a deep love and respect for classic fantasy, the second being the subversion of tropes common in those classic fantasies, and the third being a deep dislike and mistrust of religion and I'd like to talk about that last point first.

I won't be going into either mine or Durfee's beliefs or background but it's clear from the get-go but I do have to say that you can tell the series was written by someone who was raised very religiously but has since left that behind from the get go. I do appreciate the scathing criticism against religious beliefs and institutions but at the same time, I can't help but feel like it goes a bit too far into the point of absurdity at times, even if I don't necessarily disagree with the points being made. They're few and far between on here in reddit but if you are like a super religious person, this series is probably not for you.

And going to the second point, this series heavily prioritises subverting your expectations. Now, I'll admit I'm someone who deliberately kinda turns my brain off at times because I feel like just enjoying a book is a hell of a lot more important than trying to find every little plot hole and detail but there were times that I felt like some twists were extremely telegraphed and coming from a mile away because of the story's refusal to follow certain tropes and story beats. The overall over-reliance on subversion can be a problem at times but it does lead to some truly unique, satisfying and epic moments throughout the series but it also results in unsatisfying conclusions and character arcs.

It is important to remember that the series is very much a grimdark but I do feel like the first half or so of the first book lulls you into a false sense of security before a massive tonal shift. So expect to read about some truly gorey and horrific killings and rape (which is luckily not that prevalent in the series). I'd say it's a lot more explicit than something like ASOIAF or First Law because of the vivid descriptions.

But I'd also like to list out some of my pet-peeves when I was reading the series.

The first is what I call the Camera Hotah affect. Basically, in ASOIAF, there were a couple of chapters in the last two books told from the POV of Areo Hotah, the bodyguard of Prince Doran Martell and they served primarily as a way to see into the Dornish camp without spoiling their plans. I kinda hate this mechanic because the POV characters have no depth and don't do anything other than act as a camera or a fly on the wall. The series is very guilty of this at times with POVs that exist only to see what one group of people are doing but at least said POVs do have more personality and importance by themselves than a Hotah.

The second is Durfee's name for certain things. Overall, I'd say Durfee is very good at naming people, things and places but there are a few names that stick out like a sore thumb that make me kinda cringe every time they come up. There is this orc character called 'Sledg Hammar' I can't take seriously at all and also this Valle named 'Val Sovereign'. And in terms of locations, there's this place called the Sor Sevier Nordland Highlands. Like bro, just call it the Sor Sevier Highlands.

The third is the way combat goes at times. Reading of swords cutting through heavy plate armour has always bothered me and the series is particularly guilty of it. That and seemingly experienced and veteran fighters being bested very easily and physical differences in size and strength not making as much of a difference as it should.

Overall, I'd still recommend the series to anyone that's looking for something slightly more obscure and super underrated and to fans of John Gwynne, Ryan Cahill, and those who want a more classic fantasy feeling grimdark.

I'd love to have both spoiler-free and spoiler discussions about the series so please feel free to talk and comment about anything or ask me a question.

It could be a riff, a solo, a lick, the chorus or bridge of a song but what melodic hook do you think is the most iconic in melodeath? Like, the first melody you think of when thinking of the genre.

For me, it's probably the opening riff to While We Sleep by Insomnium. That is so damn catchy and iconic.

There's also obviously the 5-7-8 riffs and the thousands of variations of it.

And I think the main melody of Only For The Weak deserves a mention too.

I made a post on r/indianbooks and r/indiansread early last year about where beginners, both to SFF and reading in general, can start. Since around a year and a half has passed since then, I thought I'd make an updated beginner's guide to SFF as I have become a much more experienced reader.

I will be creating five tiers of books with Tier 1 being the easiest and most accessible tier and each tier becoming more 'difficult' to read but still accessible to people who are new to the genre. So don't expect something extremely difficult like The Book of the New Sun or Malazan, or something that requires an established understanding of the genre to appreciate like Terry Pratchett's Discworld or Zachary Pike's works. I'll also try to include webnovels and indie books.

The criteria for where a book/series belongs on the tiers is determined by: i) the length of the series both in terms of how many books there are the total wordcount, ii) the difficulty/complexity of the writing style, iii) how graphic, explicit and violent the books are, and, iv) how complex the narrative is.

Of course I myself am the judge of each criteria and the books included in the list are limited by what I have read myself and the books that I have done extensive research on. So feel free to suggest a book/series and where it belongs in the tier as well as your opinions on whether or not the books I listed actually belong in the tier I put them in or elsewhere.

Tier 1: Extremely easy and accessible books that you'll have no trouble with even if you have never read before as long as you have a basic understanding of English.

1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling: Most obvious pick of the list with it being undoubtedly one of the most popular book series of all time. It's where I started my reading journey and it is an excellent place for anyone to start their's too. Seven main books along with a ton of fun supplementary material. It's a lot of fun with each book being relatively short with a very simple and easy to understand writing style. Complete.
2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: It was beloved and popular the moment it came out but the movie earlier in the year gave it the attention it deserves. It's a really fun, lighthearted but sincere book you can probably finish in just a couple of sittings. It follows a scientist, Ryland Grace, who wakes up on a spaceship lightyears away from earth who has to figure out how he got there and what his purpose is as his memories come back slowly. Complete.
3. Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan: Was never the biggest PJ fan growing up but it has to be mentioned. Don't be intimidated by the fact that it has so many books in the universe as you can just stick to the original series and see if you wanna continue from there. It's a classic children's urban fantasy (magical elements in the real world) following Percy Jackson, the half human son of the Greek god, Poseidon. Ongoing but individual series within it are mostly complete.
4. Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman: While he's known more for his LitRPG series, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Operation Bounce House is a great place to start as it is a standalone as opposed to the long, planned 10 books of DCC. It's a really fun book that takes place in the far future where humanity has colonised a bunch of planets in the galaxy. It follows a young farmer named Oliver who has to help defend his planet against invading gamers (it'll make sense when you read it). Complete.
5. Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo: Was one of the most popular YA fantasy of the 2010's for a good reason. Feels really warm and cozy even if it has a lot of action and massive set pieces. It takes place in a late 19th century fantasy world (so they have guns as well magic), specifically in a Russia-esque kingdom and follows a soldier named Alina Starkov who discovers she has a special kind of magic that could possibly fix one of the kingdom's biggest problems. Also has a sequel duology in Six of Crows as well as King of Scars but I thought they weren't as good. Complete.
6. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher: Don't let the fact that it has almost twenty books intimidate you as while the series has a connected overarching plot, they still remain very episodic. Butcher's Dresden Files is probably the most popular urban fantasy series and probably the first one most people think of when talking about the genre. It follows a wizard/private investigator named Harry Dresden in Chicago in the early 2000's. It's a ton of fun and each book is very short and written in a very simple style. Ongoing.
7. Eragon by Christopher Paolini: While it does get some very much deserved criticism for its derivativeness, Eragon is still a great starting point for fantasy imo as it's a great example of a tropey, classic fantasy that doesn't try to be different and is very sincerely embracing the tropes of the genre. It follows Eragon, a young orphaned farmboy who hatches a dragon egg and is forced to fight the evil empire. Complete.
8. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter/Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson: Both books belong to Sanderson's interconnected fantasy universe called the Cosmere (which you will be seeing a lot more of later) but both are standalones that require absolutely nothing else to enjoy. I think they both deserve to be here so I've decided to list them both instead of picking just one. Yumi is heavily inspired by anime in general and particularly, Your Name (Kimi no Na wa). The book follows two young adults; Nikaro/Painter a police officer of sorts in a modern feeling fantasy world covered by darkness, and the titular Yumi, a young priestess who travels around the a medieval feeling country to help people. However, they keep swapping their bodies with each other and they have to figure out why. Probably my second favourite standalone novel of all time. Tress on the other hand is heavily inspired by the likes of One Piece, Pirate of the Carribean and The Princess Bride and follows a girl named Tress who has to rescue her love interest by going on a journey via ship. Complete.

Tier 2: Still relatively easy to read for most people but you might need to google a few words or phrases or you might need to be able to commit to something longer.

1. The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman: It's the first (and only) Arthurian novel in this list ie: a book inspired by the legends of King Arthur. It's a really fun read that follows a young knight named Collum who comes to Camelot with dreams of becoming one of Arthur's knights only for King Arthur to die before he arrives. Super fun with awesome fight scenes. Complete.
2. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson: The series that put Sanderson on the map. There are technically two series called Mistborn with the first being the original Mistborn trilogy (Era 1) taking place in a pre-industrial fantasy world covered in ash and ruled by an extremely oppressive regime with the majority of the population being little more than slaves known as Skaa (which is the series I'm talking about primarily) and a sequel series called Wax & Wayne (Era 2) that take place a few hundred years later. The trilogy is super fun with awesome action with a magic system that has become the gold standard for what a good hard magic system is. The strongest part of the book however is the plotting with some of the most satisfying and mindblowing plot twists and climaxes, all of which are related to the characters and the world. Completed.
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman: Another really long series (8 books out so far out of a planned 10) but I'm putting it here anyways because of its sheer bingeability and simplicity of writing style. It's probably the hottest series out right now and the most popular LitRPG of all time (sci-fi or fantasy novel where characters have stats like levels, health, strength etc.) It follows a guy named Carl and his ex's pet cat named Princess Donut after aliens invade the earth, killing most of its population and making the survivors part of a twisted reality TV show. Ongoing but will probably be finished in a year or two.
4. 11/22/63 by Stephen King: It would probably be more appropriate to call it a thriller but one aspect of it makes me willing to classify it as sci-fi. The book follows a high school English teacher named Jake Epping from our present who discovers a way to travel back in time to the late 1950's and eventually decides to stop JFK's assassination to see if it'll make the world better. It's my favourite standalone book of all time and Stephen King's writing style, while a little busy, is really effective at making you feel like you're actually in the late 50's/early 60's and the way it explores the conspiracy around Lee Harvey Oswald and his shooting of the president is absolutely fascinating. But none of those are the best parts of the book. I'll let you discover that on your own. Completed (also has a TV adaptation starring James Franco. Great show but bad adaptation).
5. Codex Alera by Jim Butcher: It's the first and only epic fantasy series written by Jim Butcher after he was challenged to write a fantasy book that mixes the Roman Empire and Pokemon. It's a six book series taking place in a high fantasy world that instead of feeling like medieval europe feels like the Roman Empire. Really fun and fast paced series all around. Completed.
6. Red Rising by Pierce Brown: You've probably seen this somewhere on whatever social media platform you use if you're into books. Red Rising is a sci-fi series that takes place a little less than a thousand years into the future after humanity has colonised most of the solar system. However, a fascist system that divides people into colour based castes is put into place called the Society. At the top are the ruling class called the Golds who have been genetically modified to be better better in every way to the point of being superhuman. At the bottom are the Reds who are meant for unskilled, menial labour. There are also a bunch of other colours in between that act as soldiers, administrators, techies, etc. The story follows Darrow, a Red who is surgically enhanced and disguised as a Gold to infiltrate the upper echelons of the Society by making himself one of the students of the Institute, the place where the most elite of the Golds send their children to become strong and ruthless. There are six books out so far with the last and final book being worked on. Unfinished but will probably be in a couple of years max.
7. The Band by Nicholas Eames: They are two standalone fantasy books that are both really fun, action packed, fast paced, and full of humour. Remember that Dungeons and Dragons movies from a few years back? If you liked that, you're gonna love this.
8. The Burning by Evan Winters: A planned trilogy (or was it four books?) starting with The Rage of Dragons. It's one of the rare few African fantasies and is executed really well. Has Red Rising vibes with an angry protagonist who wants to bring down the system (Tau is such a badass fr). Ongoing.

Tier 3: Slightly more challenging and might need to pay a bit more attention to them than the books from the previous tier but nothing really hard if you're used to reading in English.

1. The Greenbone Saga by Fonda Lee: A really unique urban fantasy that feels like the 60's to 80's version of our world but in a completely original fantasy setting. Heavily inspired by mob movies like the Godfather and classic Hong Kong martial arts movies. Has a lot of family drama, action and politicking. Completed.
2. Empire of the Vampire trilogy by Jay Kristoff: Probably the only big vampire fantasy novel out there that I can think of (the other vampire books you're thinking of probably aren't fantasy). It takes place in a 1600's france inspired fantasy world where Vampires have taken over the world after an event called Daysdeath blocked out the sun. The protagonist, Gabriel is a vampire hunter facing execution after he killed the king of vampires but is being interviewed to tell his life story before his death. Super fun, dark and schlocky with a ton of action and graphic violence and profanity. Completed.
3. Powder Mage by Brian McClellan: Probably the most popular example of a "flintlock fantasy", ie: a fantasy setting that takes place some time between the 17th to 19th century instead of the medieval period and features guns as well as swords and magic. There are two main series within Powder Mage (the Powder Mage trilogy and the God of Blood and Powder trilogy) as well as a ton of short stories and novellas. It's a ton of fun and is heavily inspired by Sanderson (who the writer is a student of). Completed.
4. Saga of the Forgotten Warrior by Larry Correia: Probably the most obscure series I will recommend and it is criminally underrated. It is a six book long dark fantasy/sword and sorcery series heavily inspired by Indian mythology (and somehow pulls it off better than any Indian fantasy author). The books are short and fast paced with awesome action scenes. Completed.
5. Bloodsworn Saga by John Gwynne: A viking inspired fantasy trilogy that I'm sure you've seen everywhere lately. A ton of action in a setting heavily inspired by Norse mythology. A ton of fun and fast paced. Completed.
6. The Hierarchy by James Islington: The first book, The Will Of The Many blew up massively when it came out and for good reason. It's a Greco-Roman inspired fantasy world with a really unique magic system called "will". The largest and most powerful force in the world is the Catenan Republic which conquered an island kingdom called Suus which the protagonist was the prince of. After faking his death and hiding his identity and living as an orphan for a while, the protagonist, Vis, is forced adopted by a powerful noble of the Catenan Republic and forced to join the Academy (which like Red Rising's institute is a school for the elite children) to investigate his adopted father's brother's death. Super fun and satisfying with a clever and competent protagonist. Would've put it in tier 2 if not for the complexity of book 2. Ongoing.
7. The First Law by Joe Abercrombie: Technically nine books but it's made up of two trilogies and three standalones (as well as one short story collection). Probably the first book series most people think of when the term "grimdark" is mentioned. The First Law trilogy, starting with The Blade Itself takes place is a genuinely brilliant series with some of the most detailed and fleshed out characterwork. Enjoy the ride and don't expect happy endings. Completed.
8. The Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence: Probably the second biggest grimdark series after the First Law. It takes place in a seemingly medieval fantasy world that is revealed to be the far future after a nuclear apocalypse and follows a ruthless protagonist named Jorg that will do anything for power. Completed and also has sister series called The Red Queen's War that takes place at the same time but follows a different protagonist in a different part of the world. Completed.
9. Purple Days by Baurus: Probably the only piece of fanfiction I will put on here. IT REQUIRES YOU TO HAVE EITHER WATCHED GAME OF THRONES UP TO SEASON 4 OR READ ASOIAF TO BOOK 3. I am recommending it because it is genuinely a very well written fantasy adventure story. It basically follows Joffrey from GoT who keeps getting sent back in time to just before the royal family goes to the North everytime he dies. It explores the interesting parts of the world that are never really given more than a passing glance or a single mention in the series, including the more cosmic horror and Lovecraftian elements of the series. Completed.
10. Mother of Learning by Domagoj Kurmaic: Another timeloop story like PD but not a fanfic. It follows a young wizard in a magic school who is stuck in a one month time loop. Completed.

Tier 4: The series I put here may be slightly more challenging than the ones that come before it. It could be a more intricate writing style, more complex plot lines or simply longer books or a mix of a few or all of those factors.

1. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson: Probably "the" epic fantasy series of our generation like how The Wheel Of Time before it was. Sanderson's Stormlight Archive is the central piece to his interconnected Cosmere and takes place on a planet called Roshar which has a massive supernatural storm that passes by every few days, greatly altering its ecology with fauna and flora looking completely different. The story follows three main protagonists; Kaladin, the son of a surgeon forced to become a solider than made a slave, Shallan, the daughter of an impoverished noble house who is trying to save her family from ruin by stealing a powerful artefact from the princess of a neighbouring country and Dalinar, an old and grizzled war veteran and uncle to King of Alethkar. It's my second favourite book series of all time with the third and fourth book being in my top 5 books of all time. The story is vast and ambitious with more than a thousand pages in each book but I'm putting it here because of how accessible and easy Sanderson's writing style is as well as his ability to structure his story in such a way that you can't help but keep reading, making those pages go by quickly. Ongoing with the first half of the series being finished.
2. The Five Warrior Angels trilogy by Brian Lee Durfee: One of the most underrated fantasy series. It's one of those "modern takes on classic fantasy" I like to harp about so much with it taking place in a classic medieval fantasy world with warring kingdoms, knights, elves, orcs, dwarves, etc. but entirely without magic. The entire series is both a subversion of and tribute to classic fantasy tropes. The series is very slow but very rewarding. Some of the main characters are: Nail, a poor orphan boy raised by the mysterious Shawcroft. Ava Shay, his childhood sweetheart and the woman he hopes to one day marry. Gault Aulbrek, one of the highest ranking knights in the invading army. Tala and Jondralyn Bronachell, two princesses who are the sisters to the king. Completed.
3. The Banished Lands by John Gwynne: Consists of two series: the four book long The Faithful and the Fallen and the Of Blood and Bone trilogy. Takes place in a norse/viking inspired fantasy setting and is a lot slower paced as compared to Gwynne's later Bloodsworn Saga. Is action packed with a cast of lovable protagonists and hateable villains. Again belonging to that subgenre of "modern take on classic fantasy" but with a heavy scandinavian twist instead of the usual western european one. Completed.
4. The Bound and the Broken by Ryan Cahill: This is probably the most stereotypical fantasy series that has come out in recent years and I mean in that in the best way possible. It's a planned five book series (four books out so far, with a novella between each book). In a lot of ways it's the adult version of Eragon what with its medieval fantasy setting and the presence of dragon riders but with a larger cast of characters, a more refined writing style, less plagiarism, and a more ambitious story. Ongoing.
5. The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss: Word of warning. There's a good chance this series will never be finished. Why am I recommending it anyway? It's a masterpiece with one of the most beautiful prose I have ever read. It was really the first book to make me notice and appreciate the beauty of language. Right now, it consists of two books and two novellas and follows an innkeeper named Kvothe who tells his life story to a travelling writer. Incomplete.
6. Lightbringer by Brent Weeks: It was one of the biggest epic fantasy of the 2010's and while it has kinda fallen off in popularity, I still think it is still worth reading. It takes place in a really unique fantasy world with heavy elements of Persia, and has a unique magic system called Chromaturgy/drafting that's even better than Sanderson's magic systems imo. It has some M. Night level plot twists as well. Completed.
7. The Licanius trilogy by James Islington: Very short both in terms of wordcount and number of books compared to the others in this tier and also written in a very simple and clear writing style but I'm placing the Licanius trilogy here because of the sheer ambition and complexity of the plot threads. Don't be intimidated by that but you do have to pay attention to the details a little more. It's a really fun trilogy set place in a pretty typical fantasy world but with some of the best written plot twists of all time. Completed.
8. The Expanse by James S.A. Corey: Written by two authors writing under one name, The Expanse can be kinda considered the sci-fi equivalent of ASOIAF (and it helps that one of them is GRRM's assistant) because of its multi POV style and focus on political intrigue. It's a long nine book series but the first six can be counted as its own series with the last three as a sort of sequel. There's even a great TV adaptation too. Completed.
9. Worm by Wildbow: Probably one of the biggest stories you've never heard about. This webnovel is massive and when combined with its sequel, Ward it is as long as the Wheel Of Time. But it's still very disgestable with it being broken up into 30 story arcs and most importantly, is completely free to read. The series takes place in an alternate version of the world in 2011 after super powers started to show up in people. However, for most people, powers only manifest after an extremely traumatic event and our protagonist, Taylor Hebert, develops the power to control arthropods (mostly insects) after being shoved into a locker full of garbage. It's super dark with a cast of really interesting characters and an exploration of superpowers that is unmatched. The sequel, Ward, is technically better written but I still prefer Worm and Ward is not really needed to enjoy Worm to its fullest. Completed.
10. He Who Fights With Monsters by Shirtaloon/Travis Deverell: Another popular LitRPG webnovel getting traditionally published. HWFWM follows an Australian guy named Jason who finds himself in a fantasy world with dark magic powers. A ton of fun with one of the funnier protagonists I've read. Ongoing.

Tier 5: Some genuinely challenging reads but can still serve as great gateways into science fiction and fantasy if you're already a reader who is into other genres. More than likely the books/series here will be long and will use more complex language.

1. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin: I was debating on putting it lower on the tier as its cultural relevance and sheer popularity makes it a lot more accessible than most series with a lot of beginner readers reading it but I ultimately decided to put it here when considering the books by themselves in a vacuum. ASOIAF is probably the most popular book series on this list after Harry Potter and for good reason. The popularity of the show and its decline make people forget how good the books actually are and why people are still obsessing over it after so long. I don't even have to summarise as you more than likely know a few things here and there about it. I also highly recommend reading A World of Ice and Fire and Fire and Blood to get a better understanding of the world and history and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms as a nice little side story. Ongoing (infamously so) but still worth reading even if it is never completed.
2. Sun Eater by Christopher Ruocchio: Sun Eater is without a doubt my favourite series out of all the series that I have listed here. It could be best described as an sci-fantasy space opera inspired heavily by the likes of Dune, Star Wars, The Book of the New Sun and The Name of the Wind. The entire series is set in the far future (almost 20k years in the future) with humanity having spread all over the galaxy with the largest human faction being the Sollan Empire. Our protagonist, Hadrian Marlowe, is a minor noble who runs away from home and goes on to be a a legendary hero but also reviled villain who is responsible for wiping out humanity's biggest threat, the man-eating Cielcin by exploding a star but also taking billions of human lives, including that of the Emperor (none of this is a spoiler btw). The main seven books are essentially his autobiography written to give his own side of the story. It also has three awesome novellas and four short story collections. Completed.
3. The Osten Ard Saga by Tad Williams: This is the series that inspired GRRM to write ASOIAF and one of two series that imo really bridged the gap between classic and modern fantasy. Tad Williams' Osten Ard saga is made up of the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, a bridge novella, the sequel four book long series, The Last King of Osten Ard, a prequel novella and a new prequel full length book coming out in October. It's a super typical fantasy story in a lot of ways but at the same time also set a lot of the trends you see in modern fantasy like the focus on mental health, political intrigue etc. All the series within it are Completed and can be enjoyed but Williams is always adding new stuff.
4. The Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan: The first series most readers will point to when thinking of Epic High Fantasy. Extremely influential and the other series that bridged the gap between modern and classic fantasy, The Wheel Of Time is a massive fourteen book long series (plus one prequel novella) that took more than twenty years to finish. It starts out as a fairly simple LOTR inspired classic fantasy following three farmboys from a small village, of which any one of them could be the chosen one but it escalates so much in scale. Unfortunately, the author, Robert Jordan died after finishing book 11, Knife of Dreams, but his widow hand picked Brandon Sanderson to finish the series which he did spectacularly, writing the last three books, The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light.
5. Dune by Frank Herbert: Probably the most influential sci-fi/space opera series after the foundational texts that came before it. Herbert's Dune is something I feel conflicted about because on one hand, I deeply respect the influence it has had on sci-fi (just look at Star Wars). But on the other hand, I struggled to get through the series. The first book is easily the best one imo with the sequel, Dune Messiah being an essential read too. But honestly, you can stop there and be happy. Even then with the books I enjoy, I found the writing style to be too detached and dry but I'll let you make your mind up on the series. Completed.
6. The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb: This is a massive 16 book long fantasy epic that deserves to be spoken in the same way that all the other greats are. It is made up of five distinct series (four trilogies and a four book series). Robin Hobb is probably one of the greatest writers when it comes to characters and while the Farseer trilogy starts of a little rough, it becomes better and better with every subsequent series. The three main trilogies, The Farseer trilogy, The Tawny Man trilogy and The Fitz and The Fool trilogy all have one other series in between them and they all follow FitzChilvarly Farseer, the bastard son of a prince who is raised up to be an assassin. Completed.

I really hope my list was helpful to anyone looking to get into fantasy and science fiction. If you have any other books that you feel could fit in here, let me know.

A few series I haven't included and why: Other than the ones I already mentioned at the beginning like Terry Pratchett, there are a few series that I haven't included on here that I thought of including at first. The most obvious exclusion you will see on here is The Lord of the Rings. Is it one of the greatest and objectively the most influential fantasy series of all time? Yes. But I couldn't decide on where to put it. I think it is a text every fantasy reader has to read at some point but if you haven't read it already, I don't think you should until you read a bit more in the genre so that your expectations aren't set too high lol. A few I haven't included because I don't know enough about them are Conan, Elric of Melnibone, Shadowslave and Naomi Novik's work.

I made a post here and on the other sub early last year about where beginners, both to SFF and reading in general, can start. Since around a year and a half has passed since then, I thought I'd make an updated beginner's guide to SFF as I have become a much more experienced reader.

I will be creating five tiers of books with Tier 1 being the easiest and most accessible tier and each tier becoming more 'difficult' to read but still accessible to people who are new to the genre. So don't expect something extremely difficult like The Book of the New Sun or Malazan, or something that requires an established understanding of the genre to appreciate like Terry Pratchett's Discworld or Zachary Pike's works. I'll also try to include webnovels and indie books.

The criteria for where a book/series belongs on the tiers is determined by: i) the length of the series both in terms of how many books there are the total wordcount, ii) the difficulty/complexity of the writing style, iii) how graphic, explicit and violent the books are, and, iv) how complex the narrative is.

Of course I myself am the judge of each criteria and the books included in the list are limited by what I have read myself and the books that I have done extensive research on. So feel free to suggest a book/series and where it belongs in the tier as well as your opinions on whether or not the books I listed actually belong in the tier I put them in or elsewhere.

Tier 1: Extremely easy and accessible books that you'll have no trouble with even if you have never read before as long as you have a basic understanding of English.

1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling: Most obvious pick of the list with it being undoubtedly one of the most popular book series of all time. It's where I started my reading journey and it is an excellent place for anyone to start their's too. Seven main books along with a ton of fun supplementary material. It's a lot of fun with each book being relatively short with a very simple and easy to understand writing style. Complete.
2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: It was beloved and popular the moment it came out but the movie earlier in the year gave it the attention it deserves. It's a really fun, lighthearted but sincere book you can probably finish in just a couple of sittings. It follows a scientist, Ryland Grace, who wakes up on a spaceship lightyears away from earth who has to figure out how he got there and what his purpose is as his memories come back slowly. Complete.
3. Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan: Was never the biggest PJ fan growing up but it has to be mentioned. Don't be intimidated by the fact that it has so many books in the universe as you can just stick to the original series and see if you wanna continue from there. It's a classic children's urban fantasy (magical elements in the real world) following Percy Jackson, the half human son of the Greek god, Poseidon. Ongoing but individual series within it are mostly complete.
4. Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman: While he's known more for his LitRPG series, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Operation Bounce House is a great place to start as it is a standalone as opposed to the long, planned 10 books of DCC. It's a really fun book that takes place in the far future where humanity has colonised a bunch of planets in the galaxy. It follows a young farmer named Oliver who has to help defend his planet against invading gamers (it'll make sense when you read it). Complete.
5. Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo: Was one of the most popular YA fantasy of the 2010's for a good reason. Feels really warm and cozy even if it has a lot of action and massive set pieces. It takes place in a late 19th century fantasy world (so they have guns as well magic), specifically in a Russia-esque kingdom and follows a soldier named Alina Starkov who discovers she has a special kind of magic that could possibly fix one of the kingdom's biggest problems. Also has a sequel duology in Six of Crows as well as King of Scars but I thought they weren't as good. Complete.
6. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher: Don't let the fact that it has almost twenty books intimidate you as while the series has a connected overarching plot, they still remain very episodic. Butcher's Dresden Files is probably the most popular urban fantasy series and probably the first one most people think of when talking about the genre. It follows a wizard/private investigator named Harry Dresden in Chicago in the early 2000's. It's a ton of fun and each book is very short and written in a very simple style. Ongoing.
7. Eragon by Christopher Paolini: While it does get some very much deserved criticism for its derivativeness, Eragon is still a great starting point for fantasy imo as it's a great example of a tropey, classic fantasy that doesn't try to be different and is very sincerely embracing the tropes of the genre. It follows Eragon, a young orphaned farmboy who hatches a dragon egg and is forced to fight the evil empire. Complete.
8. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter/Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson: Both books belong to Sanderson's interconnected fantasy universe called the Cosmere (which you will be seeing a lot more of later) but both are standalones that require absolutely nothing else to enjoy. I think they both deserve to be here so I've decided to list them both instead of picking just one. Yumi is heavily inspired by anime in general and particularly, Your Name (Kimi no Na wa). The book follows two young adults; Nikaro/Painter a police officer of sorts in a modern feeling fantasy world covered by darkness, and the titular Yumi, a young priestess who travels around the a medieval feeling country to help people. However, they keep swapping their bodies with each other and they have to figure out why. Probably my second favourite standalone novel of all time. Tress on the other hand is heavily inspired by the likes of One Piece, Pirate of the Carribean and The Princess Bride and follows a girl named Tress who has to rescue her love interest by going on a journey via ship. Complete.

Tier 2: Still relatively easy to read for most people but you might need to google a few words or phrases or you might need to be able to commit to something longer.

1. The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman: It's the first (and only) Arthurian novel in this list ie: a book inspired by the legends of King Arthur. It's a really fun read that follows a young knight named Collum who comes to Camelot with dreams of becoming one of Arthur's knights only for King Arthur to die before he arrives. Super fun with awesome fight scenes. Complete.
2. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson: The series that put Sanderson on the map. There are technically two series called Mistborn with the first being the original Mistborn trilogy (Era 1) taking place in a pre-industrial fantasy world covered in ash and ruled by an extremely oppressive regime with the majority of the population being little more than slaves known as Skaa (which is the series I'm talking about primarily) and a sequel series called Wax & Wayne (Era 2) that take place a few hundred years later. The trilogy is super fun with awesome action with a magic system that has become the gold standard for what a good hard magic system is. The strongest part of the book however is the plotting with some of the most satisfying and mindblowing plot twists and climaxes, all of which are related to the characters and the world. Completed.
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman: Another really long series (8 books out so far out of a planned 10) but I'm putting it here anyways because of its sheer bingeability and simplicity of writing style. It's probably the hottest series out right now and the most popular LitRPG of all time (sci-fi or fantasy novel where characters have stats like levels, health, strength etc.) It follows a guy named Carl and his ex's pet cat named Princess Donut after aliens invade the earth, killing most of its population and making the survivors part of a twisted reality TV show. Ongoing but will probably be finished in a year or two.
4. 11/22/63 by Stephen King: It would probably be more appropriate to call it a thriller but one aspect of it makes me willing to classify it as sci-fi. The book follows a high school English teacher named Jake Epping from our present who discovers a way to travel back in time to the late 1950's and eventually decides to stop JFK's assassination to see if it'll make the world better. It's my favourite standalone book of all time and Stephen King's writing style, while a little busy, is really effective at making you feel like you're actually in the late 50's/early 60's and the way it explores the conspiracy around Lee Harvey Oswald and his shooting of the president is absolutely fascinating. But none of those are the best parts of the book. I'll let you discover that on your own. Completed (also has a TV adaptation starring James Franco. Great show but bad adaptation).
5. Codex Alera by Jim Butcher: It's the first and only epic fantasy series written by Jim Butcher after he was challenged to write a fantasy book that mixes the Roman Empire and Pokemon. It's a six book series taking place in a high fantasy world that instead of feeling like medieval europe feels like the Roman Empire. Really fun and fast paced series all around. Completed.
6. Red Rising by Pierce Brown: You've probably seen this somewhere on whatever social media platform you use if you're into books. Red Rising is a sci-fi series that takes place a little less than a thousand years into the future after humanity has colonised most of the solar system. However, a fascist system that divides people into colour based castes is put into place called the Society. At the top are the ruling class called the Golds who have been genetically modified to be better better in every way to the point of being superhuman. At the bottom are the Reds who are meant for unskilled, menial labour. There are also a bunch of other colours in between that act as soldiers, administrators, techies, etc. The story follows Darrow, a Red who is surgically enhanced and disguised as a Gold to infiltrate the upper echelons of the Society by making himself one of the students of the Institute, the place where the most elite of the Golds send their children to become strong and ruthless. There are six books out so far with the last and final book being worked on. Unfinished but will probably be in a couple of years max.
7. The Band by Nicholas Eames: They are two standalone fantasy books that are both really fun, action packed, fast paced, and full of humour. Remember that Dungeons and Dragons movies from a few years back? If you liked that, you're gonna love this.
8. The Burning by Evan Winters: A planned trilogy (or was it four books?) starting with The Rage of Dragons. It's one of the rare few African fantasies and is executed really well. Has Red Rising vibes with an angry protagonist who wants to bring down the system (Tau is such a badass fr). Ongoing.

Tier 3: Slightly more challenging and might need to pay a bit more attention to them than the books from the previous tier but nothing really hard if you're used to reading in English.

1. The Greenbone Saga by Fonda Lee: A really unique urban fantasy that feels like the 60's to 80's version of our world but in a completely original fantasy setting. Heavily inspired by mob movies like the Godfather and classic Hong Kong martial arts movies. Has a lot of family drama, action and politicking. Completed.
2. Empire of the Vampire trilogy by Jay Kristoff: Probably the only big vampire fantasy novel out there that I can think of (the other vampire books you're thinking of probably aren't fantasy). It takes place in a 1600's france inspired fantasy world where Vampires have taken over the world after an event called Daysdeath blocked out the sun. The protagonist, Gabriel is a vampire hunter facing execution after he killed the king of vampires but is being interviewed to tell his life story before his death. Super fun, dark and schlocky with a ton of action and graphic violence and profanity. Completed.
3. Powder Mage by Brian McClellan: Probably the most popular example of a "flintlock fantasy", ie: a fantasy setting that takes place some time between the 17th to 19th century instead of the medieval period and features guns as well as swords and magic. There are two main series within Powder Mage (the Powder Mage trilogy and the God of Blood and Powder trilogy) as well as a ton of short stories and novellas. It's a ton of fun and is heavily inspired by Sanderson (who the writer is a student of). Completed.
4. Saga of the Forgotten Warrior by Larry Correia: Probably the most obscure series I will recommend and it is criminally underrated. It is a six book long dark fantasy/sword and sorcery series heavily inspired by Indian mythology (and somehow pulls it off better than any Indian fantasy author). The books are short and fast paced with awesome action scenes. Completed.
5. Bloodsworn Saga by John Gwynne: A viking inspired fantasy trilogy that I'm sure you've seen everywhere lately. A ton of action in a setting heavily inspired by Norse mythology. A ton of fun and fast paced. Completed.
6. The Hierarchy by James Islington: The first book, The Will Of The Many blew up massively when it came out and for good reason. It's a Greco-Roman inspired fantasy world with a really unique magic system called "will". The largest and most powerful force in the world is the Catenan Republic which conquered an island kingdom called Suus which the protagonist was the prince of. After faking his death and hiding his identity and living as an orphan for a while, the protagonist, Vis, is forced adopted by a powerful noble of the Catenan Republic and forced to join the Academy (which like Red Rising's institute is a school for the elite children) to investigate his adopted father's brother's death. Super fun and satisfying with a clever and competent protagonist. Would've put it in tier 2 if not for the complexity of book 2. Ongoing.
7. The First Law by Joe Abercrombie: Technically nine books but it's made up of two trilogies and three standalones (as well as one short story collection). Probably the first book series most people think of when the term "grimdark" is mentioned. The First Law trilogy, starting with The Blade Itself takes place is a genuinely brilliant series with some of the most detailed and fleshed out characterwork. Enjoy the ride and don't expect happy endings. Completed.
8. The Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence: Probably the second biggest grimdark series after the First Law. It takes place in a seemingly medieval fantasy world that is revealed to be the far future after a nuclear apocalypse and follows a ruthless protagonist named Jorg that will do anything for power. Completed and also has sister series called The Red Queen's War that takes place at the same time but follows a different protagonist in a different part of the world. Completed.
9. Purple Days by Baurus: Probably the only piece of fanfiction I will put on here. IT REQUIRES YOU TO HAVE EITHER WATCHED GAME OF THRONES UP TO SEASON 4 OR READ ASOIAF TO BOOK 3. I am recommending it because it is genuinely a very well written fantasy adventure story. It basically follows Joffrey from GoT who keeps getting sent back in time to just before the royal family goes to the North everytime he dies. It explores the interesting parts of the world that are never really given more than a passing glance or a single mention in the series, including the more cosmic horror and Lovecraftian elements of the series. Completed.
10. Mother of Learning by Domagoj Kurmaic: Another timeloop story like PD but not a fanfic. It follows a young wizard in a magic school who is stuck in a one month time loop. Completed.

Tier 4: The series I put here may be slightly more challenging than the ones that come before it. It could be a more intricate writing style, more complex plot lines or simply longer books or a mix of a few or all of those factors.

1. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson: Probably "the" epic fantasy series of our generation like how The Wheel Of Time before it was. Sanderson's Stormlight Archive is the central piece to his interconnected Cosmere and takes place on a planet called Roshar which has a massive supernatural storm that passes by every few days, greatly altering its ecology with fauna and flora looking completely different. The story follows three main protagonists; Kaladin, the son of a surgeon forced to become a solider than made a slave, Shallan, the daughter of an impoverished noble house who is trying to save her family from ruin by stealing a powerful artefact from the princess of a neighbouring country and Dalinar, an old and grizzled war veteran and uncle to King of Alethkar. It's my second favourite book series of all time with the third and fourth book being in my top 5 books of all time. The story is vast and ambitious with more than a thousand pages in each book but I'm putting it here because of how accessible and easy Sanderson's writing style is as well as his ability to structure his story in such a way that you can't help but keep reading, making those pages go by quickly. Ongoing with the first half of the series being finished.
2. The Five Warrior Angels trilogy by Brian Lee Durfee: One of the most underrated fantasy series. It's one of those "modern takes on classic fantasy" I like to harp about so much with it taking place in a classic medieval fantasy world with warring kingdoms, knights, elves, orcs, dwarves, etc. but entirely without magic. The entire series is both a subversion of and tribute to classic fantasy tropes. The series is very slow but very rewarding. Some of the main characters are: Nail, a poor orphan boy raised by the mysterious Shawcroft. Ava Shay, his childhood sweetheart and the woman he hopes to one day marry. Gault Aulbrek, one of the highest ranking knights in the invading army. Tala and Jondralyn Bronachell, two princesses who are the sisters to the king. Completed.
3. The Banished Lands by John Gwynne: Consists of two series: the four book long The Faithful and the Fallen and the Of Blood and Bone trilogy. Takes place in a norse/viking inspired fantasy setting and is a lot slower paced as compared to Gwynne's later Bloodsworn Saga. Is action packed with a cast of lovable protagonists and hateable villains. Again belonging to that subgenre of "modern take on classic fantasy" but with a heavy scandinavian twist instead of the usual western european one. Completed.
4. The Bound and the Broken by Ryan Cahill: This is probably the most stereotypical fantasy series that has come out in recent years and I mean in that in the best way possible. It's a planned five book series (four books out so far, with a novella between each book). In a lot of ways it's the adult version of Eragon what with its medieval fantasy setting and the presence of dragon riders but with a larger cast of characters, a more refined writing style, less plagiarism, and a more ambitious story. Ongoing.
5. The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss: Word of warning. There's a good chance this series will never be finished. Why am I recommending it anyway? It's a masterpiece with one of the most beautiful prose I have ever read. It was really the first book to make me notice and appreciate the beauty of language. Right now, it consists of two books and two novellas and follows an innkeeper named Kvothe who tells his life story to a travelling writer. Incomplete.
6. Lightbringer by Brent Weeks: It was one of the biggest epic fantasy of the 2010's and while it has kinda fallen off in popularity, I still think it is still worth reading. It takes place in a really unique fantasy world with heavy elements of Persia, and has a unique magic system called Chromaturgy/drafting that's even better than Sanderson's magic systems imo. It has some M. Night level plot twists as well. Completed.
7. The Licanius trilogy by James Islington: Very short both in terms of wordcount and number of books compared to the others in this tier and also written in a very simple and clear writing style but I'm placing the Licanius trilogy here because of the sheer ambition and complexity of the plot threads. Don't be intimidated by that but you do have to pay attention to the details a little more. It's a really fun trilogy set place in a pretty typical fantasy world but with some of the best written plot twists of all time. Completed.
8. The Expanse by James S.A. Corey: Written by two authors writing under one name, The Expanse can be kinda considered the sci-fi equivalent of ASOIAF (and it helps that one of them is GRRM's assistant) because of its multi POV style and focus on political intrigue. It's a long nine book series but the first six can be counted as its own series with the last three as a sort of sequel. There's even a great TV adaptation too. Completed.
9. Worm by Wildbow: Probably one of the biggest stories you've never heard about. This webnovel is massive and when combined with its sequel, Ward it is as long as the Wheel Of Time. But it's still very disgestable with it being broken up into 30 story arcs and most importantly, is completely free to read. The series takes place in an alternate version of the world in 2011 after super powers started to show up in people. However, for most people, powers only manifest after an extremely traumatic event and our protagonist, Taylor Hebert, develops the power to control arthropods (mostly insects) after being shoved into a locker full of garbage. It's super dark with a cast of really interesting characters and an exploration of superpowers that is unmatched. The sequel, Ward, is technically better written but I still prefer Worm and Ward is not really needed to enjoy Worm to its fullest. Completed.
10. He Who Fights With Monsters by Shirtaloon/Travis Deverell: Another popular LitRPG webnovel getting traditionally published. HWFWM follows an Australian guy named Jason who finds himself in a fantasy world with dark magic powers. A ton of fun with one of the funnier protagonists I've read. Ongoing.

Tier 5: Some genuinely challenging reads but can still serve as great gateways into science fiction and fantasy if you're already a reader who is into other genres. More than likely the books/series here will be long and will use more complex language.

1. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin: I was debating on putting it lower on the tier as its cultural relevance and sheer popularity makes it a lot more accessible than most series with a lot of beginner readers reading it but I ultimately decided to put it here when considering the books by themselves in a vacuum. ASOIAF is probably the most popular book series on this list after Harry Potter and for good reason. The popularity of the show and its decline make people forget how good the books actually are and why people are still obsessing over it after so long. I don't even have to summarise as you more than likely know a few things here and there about it. I also highly recommend reading A World of Ice and Fire and Fire and Blood to get a better understanding of the world and history and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms as a nice little side story. Ongoing (infamously so) but still worth reading even if it is never completed.
2. Sun Eater by Christopher Ruocchio: Sun Eater is without a doubt my favourite series out of all the series that I have listed here. It could be best described as an sci-fantasy space opera inspired heavily by the likes of Dune, Star Wars, The Book of the New Sun and The Name of the Wind. The entire series is set in the far future (almost 20k years in the future) with humanity having spread all over the galaxy with the largest human faction being the Sollan Empire. Our protagonist, Hadrian Marlowe, is a minor noble who runs away from home and goes on to be a a legendary hero but also reviled villain who is responsible for wiping out humanity's biggest threat, the man-eating Cielcin by exploding a star but also taking billions of human lives, including that of the Emperor (none of this is a spoiler btw). The main seven books are essentially his autobiography written to give his own side of the story. It also has three awesome novellas and four short story collections. Completed.
3. The Osten Ard Saga by Tad Williams: This is the series that inspired GRRM to write ASOIAF and one of two series that imo really bridged the gap between classic and modern fantasy. Tad Williams' Osten Ard saga is made up of the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, a bridge novella, the sequel four book long series, The Last King of Osten Ard, a prequel novella and a new prequel full length book coming out in October. It's a super typical fantasy story in a lot of ways but at the same time also set a lot of the trends you see in modern fantasy like the focus on mental health, political intrigue etc. All the series within it are Completed and can be enjoyed but Williams is always adding new stuff.
4. The Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan: The first series most readers will point to when thinking of Epic High Fantasy. Extremely influential and the other series that bridged the gap between modern and classic fantasy, The Wheel Of Time is a massive fourteen book long series (plus one prequel novella) that took more than twenty years to finish. It starts out as a fairly simple LOTR inspired classic fantasy following three farmboys from a small village, of which any one of them could be the chosen one but it escalates so much in scale. Unfortunately, the author, Robert Jordan died after finishing book 11, Knife of Dreams, but his widow hand picked Brandon Sanderson to finish the series which he did spectacularly, writing the last three books, The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light.
5. Dune by Frank Herbert: Probably the most influential sci-fi/space opera series after the foundational texts that came before it. Herbert's Dune is something I feel conflicted about because on one hand, I deeply respect the influence it has had on sci-fi (just look at Star Wars). But on the other hand, I struggled to get through the series. The first book is easily the best one imo with the sequel, Dune Messiah being an essential read too. But honestly, you can stop there and be happy. Even then with the books I enjoy, I found the writing style to be too detached and dry but I'll let you make your mind up on the series. Completed.
6. The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb: This is a massive 16 book long fantasy epic that deserves to be spoken in the same way that all the other greats are. It is made up of five distinct series (four trilogies and a four book series). Robin Hobb is probably one of the greatest writers when it comes to characters and while the Farseer trilogy starts of a little rough, it becomes better and better with every subsequent series. The three main trilogies, The Farseer trilogy, The Tawny Man trilogy and The Fitz and The Fool trilogy all have one other series in between them and they all follow FitzChilvarly Farseer, the bastard son of a prince who is raised up to be an assassin. Completed.

I really hope my list was helpful to anyone looking to get into fantasy and science fiction. If you have any other books that you feel could fit in here, let me know.

A few series I haven't included and why: Other than the ones I already mentioned at the beginning like Terry Pratchett, there are a few series that I haven't included on here that I thought of including at first. The most obvious exclusion you will see on here is The Lord of the Rings. Is it one of the greatest and objectively the most influential fantasy series of all time? Yes. But I couldn't decide on where to put it. I think it is a text every fantasy reader has to read at some point but if you haven't read it already, I don't think you should until you read a bit more in the genre so that your expectations aren't set too high lol. A few I haven't included because I don't know enough about them are Conan, Elric of Melnibone, Shadowslave and Naomi Novik's work.

I made a post here and on the other sub early last year about where beginners, both to SFF and reading in general, can start. Since around a year and a half has passed since then, I thought I'd make an updated beginner's guide to SFF as I have become a much more experienced reader.

I will be creating five tiers of books with Tier 1 being the easiest and most accessible tier and each tier becoming more 'difficult' to read but still accessible to people who are new to the genre. So don't expect something extremely difficult like The Book of the New Sun or Malazan, or something that requires an established understanding of the genre to appreciate like Terry Pratchett's Discworld or Zachary Pike's works. I'll also try to include webnovels and indie books.

The criteria for where a book/series belongs on the tiers is determined by: i) the length of the series both in terms of how many books there are the total wordcount, ii) the difficulty/complexity of the writing style, iii) how graphic, explicit and violent the books are, and, iv) how complex the narrative is.

Of course I myself am the judge of each criteria and the books included in the list are limited by what I have read myself and the books that I have done extensive research on. So feel free to suggest a book/series and where it belongs in the tier as well as your opinions on whether or not the books I listed actually belong in the tier I put them in or elsewhere.

Tier 1: Extremely easy and accessible books that you'll have no trouble with even if you have never read before as long as you have a basic understanding of English.

1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling: Most obvious pick of the list with it being undoubtedly one of the most popular book series of all time. It's where I started my reading journey and it is an excellent place for anyone to start their's too. Seven main books along with a ton of fun supplementary material. It's a lot of fun with each book being relatively short with a very simple and easy to understand writing style. Complete.
2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: It was beloved and popular the moment it came out but the movie earlier in the year gave it the attention it deserves. It's a really fun, lighthearted but sincere book you can probably finish in just a couple of sittings. It follows a scientist, Ryland Grace, who wakes up on a spaceship lightyears away from earth who has to figure out how he got there and what his purpose is as his memories come back slowly. Complete.
3. Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan: Was never the biggest PJ fan growing up but it has to be mentioned. Don't be intimidated by the fact that it has so many books in the universe as you can just stick to the original series and see if you wanna continue from there. It's a classic children's urban fantasy (magical elements in the real world) following Percy Jackson, the half human son of the Greek god, Poseidon. Ongoing but individual series within it are mostly complete.
4. Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman: While he's known more for his LitRPG series, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Operation Bounce House is a great place to start as it is a standalone as opposed to the long, planned 10 books of DCC. It's a really fun book that takes place in the far future where humanity has colonised a bunch of planets in the galaxy. It follows a young farmer named Oliver who has to help defend his planet against invading gamers (it'll make sense when you read it). Complete.
5. Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo: Was one of the most popular YA fantasy of the 2010's for a good reason. Feels really warm and cozy even if it has a lot of action and massive set pieces. It takes place in a late 19th century fantasy world (so they have guns as well magic), specifically in a Russia-esque kingdom and follows a soldier named Alina Starkov who discovers she has a special kind of magic that could possibly fix one of the kingdom's biggest problems. Also has a sequel duology in Six of Crows as well as King of Scars but I thought they weren't as good. Complete.
6. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher: Don't let the fact that it has almost twenty books intimidate you as while the series has a connected overarching plot, they still remain very episodic. Butcher's Dresden Files is probably the most popular urban fantasy series and probably the first one most people think of when talking about the genre. It follows a wizard/private investigator named Harry Dresden in Chicago in the early 2000's. It's a ton of fun and each book is very short and written in a very simple style. Ongoing.
7. Eragon by Christopher Paolini: While it does get some very much deserved criticism for its derivativeness, Eragon is still a great starting point for fantasy imo as it's a great example of a tropey, classic fantasy that doesn't try to be different and is very sincerely embracing the tropes of the genre. It follows Eragon, a young orphaned farmboy who hatches a dragon egg and is forced to fight the evil empire. Complete.
8. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter/Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson: Both books belong to Sanderson's interconnected fantasy universe called the Cosmere (which you will be seeing a lot more of later) but both are standalones that require absolutely nothing else to enjoy. I think they both deserve to be here so I've decided to list them both instead of picking just one. Yumi is heavily inspired by anime in general and particularly, Your Name (Kimi no Na wa). The book follows two young adults; Nikaro/Painter a police officer of sorts in a modern feeling fantasy world covered by darkness, and the titular Yumi, a young priestess who travels around the a medieval feeling country to help people. However, they keep swapping their bodies with each other and they have to figure out why. Probably my second favourite standalone novel of all time. Tress on the other hand is heavily inspired by the likes of One Piece, Pirate of the Carribean and The Princess Bride and follows a girl named Tress who has to rescue her love interest by going on a journey via ship. Complete.

Tier 2: Still relatively easy to read for most people but you might need to google a few words or phrases or you might need to be able to commit to something longer.

1. The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman: It's the first (and only) Arthurian novel in this list ie: a book inspired by the legends of King Arthur. It's a really fun read that follows a young knight named Collum who comes to Camelot with dreams of becoming one of Arthur's knights only for King Arthur to die before he arrives. Super fun with awesome fight scenes. Complete.
2. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson: The series that put Sanderson on the map. There are technically two series called Mistborn with the first being the original Mistborn trilogy (Era 1) taking place in a pre-industrial fantasy world covered in ash and ruled by an extremely oppressive regime with the majority of the population being little more than slaves known as Skaa (which is the series I'm talking about primarily) and a sequel series called Wax & Wayne (Era 2) that take place a few hundred years later. The trilogy is super fun with awesome action with a magic system that has become the gold standard for what a good hard magic system is. The strongest part of the book however is the plotting with some of the most satisfying and mindblowing plot twists and climaxes, all of which are related to the characters and the world. Completed.
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman: Another really long series (8 books out so far out of a planned 10) but I'm putting it here anyways because of its sheer bingeability and simplicity of writing style. It's probably the hottest series out right now and the most popular LitRPG of all time (sci-fi or fantasy novel where characters have stats like levels, health, strength etc.) It follows a guy named Carl and his ex's pet cat named Princess Donut after aliens invade the earth, killing most of its population and making the survivors part of a twisted reality TV show. Ongoing but will probably be finished in a year or two.
4. 11/22/63 by Stephen King: It would probably be more appropriate to call it a thriller but one aspect of it makes me willing to classify it as sci-fi. The book follows a high school English teacher named Jake Epping from our present who discovers a way to travel back in time to the late 1950's and eventually decides to stop JFK's assassination to see if it'll make the world better. It's my favourite standalone book of all time and Stephen King's writing style, while a little busy, is really effective at making you feel like you're actually in the late 50's/early 60's and the way it explores the conspiracy around Lee Harvey Oswald and his shooting of the president is absolutely fascinating. But none of those are the best parts of the book. I'll let you discover that on your own. Completed (also has a TV adaptation starring James Franco. Great show but bad adaptation).
5. Codex Alera by Jim Butcher: It's the first and only epic fantasy series written by Jim Butcher after he was challenged to write a fantasy book that mixes the Roman Empire and Pokemon. It's a six book series taking place in a high fantasy world that instead of feeling like medieval europe feels like the Roman Empire. Really fun and fast paced series all around. Completed.
6. Red Rising by Pierce Brown: You've probably seen this somewhere on whatever social media platform you use if you're into books. Red Rising is a sci-fi series that takes place a little less than a thousand years into the future after humanity has colonised most of the solar system. However, a fascist system that divides people into colour based castes is put into place called the Society. At the top are the ruling class called the Golds who have been genetically modified to be better better in every way to the point of being superhuman. At the bottom are the Reds who are meant for unskilled, menial labour. There are also a bunch of other colours in between that act as soldiers, administrators, techies, etc. The story follows Darrow, a Red who is surgically enhanced and disguised as a Gold to infiltrate the upper echelons of the Society by making himself one of the students of the Institute, the place where the most elite of the Golds send their children to become strong and ruthless. There are six books out so far with the last and final book being worked on. Unfinished but will probably be in a couple of years max.
7. The Band by Nicholas Eames: They are two standalone fantasy books that are both really fun, action packed, fast paced, and full of humour. Remember that Dungeons and Dragons movies from a few years back? If you liked that, you're gonna love this.
8. The Burning by Evan Winters: A planned trilogy (or was it four books?) starting with The Rage of Dragons. It's one of the rare few African fantasies and is executed really well. Has Red Rising vibes with an angry protagonist who wants to bring down the system (Tau is such a badass fr). Ongoing.

Tier 3: Slightly more challenging and might need to pay a bit more attention to them than the books from the previous tier but nothing really hard if you're used to reading in English.

1. The Greenbone Saga by Fonda Lee: A really unique urban fantasy that feels like the 60's to 80's version of our world but in a completely original fantasy setting. Heavily inspired by mob movies like the Godfather and classic Hong Kong martial arts movies. Has a lot of family drama, action and politicking. Completed.
2. Empire of the Vampire trilogy by Jay Kristoff: Probably the only big vampire fantasy novel out there that I can think of (the other vampire books you're thinking of probably aren't fantasy). It takes place in a 1600's france inspired fantasy world where Vampires have taken over the world after an event called Daysdeath blocked out the sun. The protagonist, Gabriel is a vampire hunter facing execution after he killed the king of vampires but is being interviewed to tell his life story before his death. Super fun, dark and schlocky with a ton of action and graphic violence and profanity. Completed.
3. Powder Mage by Brian McClellan: Probably the most popular example of a "flintlock fantasy", ie: a fantasy setting that takes place some time between the 17th to 19th century instead of the medieval period and features guns as well as swords and magic. There are two main series within Powder Mage (the Powder Mage trilogy and the God of Blood and Powder trilogy) as well as a ton of short stories and novellas. It's a ton of fun and is heavily inspired by Sanderson (who the writer is a student of). Completed.
4. Saga of the Forgotten Warrior by Larry Correia: Probably the most obscure series I will recommend and it is criminally underrated. It is a six book long dark fantasy/sword and sorcery series heavily inspired by Indian mythology (and somehow pulls it off better than any Indian fantasy author). The books are short and fast paced with awesome action scenes. Completed.
5. Bloodsworn Saga by John Gwynne: A viking inspired fantasy trilogy that I'm sure you've seen everywhere lately. A ton of action in a setting heavily inspired by Norse mythology. A ton of fun and fast paced. Completed.
6. The Hierarchy by James Islington: The first book, The Will Of The Many blew up massively when it came out and for good reason. It's a Greco-Roman inspired fantasy world with a really unique magic system called "will". The largest and most powerful force in the world is the Catenan Republic which conquered an island kingdom called Suus which the protagonist was the prince of. After faking his death and hiding his identity and living as an orphan for a while, the protagonist, Vis, is forced adopted by a powerful noble of the Catenan Republic and forced to join the Academy (which like Red Rising's institute is a school for the elite children) to investigate his adopted father's brother's death. Super fun and satisfying with a clever and competent protagonist. Would've put it in tier 2 if not for the complexity of book 2. Ongoing.
7. The First Law by Joe Abercrombie: Technically nine books but it's made up of two trilogies and three standalones (as well as one short story collection). Probably the first book series most people think of when the term "grimdark" is mentioned. The First Law trilogy, starting with The Blade Itself takes place is a genuinely brilliant series with some of the most detailed and fleshed out characterwork. Enjoy the ride and don't expect happy endings. Completed.
8. The Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence: Probably the second biggest grimdark series after the First Law. It takes place in a seemingly medieval fantasy world that is revealed to be the far future after a nuclear apocalypse and follows a ruthless protagonist named Jorg that will do anything for power. Completed and also has sister series called The Red Queen's War that takes place at the same time but follows a different protagonist in a different part of the world. Completed.
9. Purple Days by Baurus: Probably the only piece of fanfiction I will put on here. IT REQUIRES YOU TO HAVE EITHER WATCHED GAME OF THRONES UP TO SEASON 4 OR READ ASOIAF TO BOOK 3. I am recommending it because it is genuinely a very well written fantasy adventure story. It basically follows Joffrey from GoT who keeps getting sent back in time to just before the royal family goes to the North everytime he dies. It explores the interesting parts of the world that are never really given more than a passing glance or a single mention in the series, including the more cosmic horror and Lovecraftian elements of the series. Completed.
10. Mother of Learning by Domagoj Kurmaic: Another timeloop story like PD but not a fanfic. It follows a young wizard in a magic school who is stuck in a one month time loop. Completed.

Tier 4: The series I put here may be slightly more challenging than the ones that come before it. It could be a more intricate writing style, more complex plot lines or simply longer books or a mix of a few or all of those factors.

1. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson: Probably "the" epic fantasy series of our generation like how The Wheel Of Time before it was. Sanderson's Stormlight Archive is the central piece to his interconnected Cosmere and takes place on a planet called Roshar which has a massive supernatural storm that passes by every few days, greatly altering its ecology with fauna and flora looking completely different. The story follows three main protagonists; Kaladin, the son of a surgeon forced to become a solider than made a slave, Shallan, the daughter of an impoverished noble house who is trying to save her family from ruin by stealing a powerful artefact from the princess of a neighbouring country and Dalinar, an old and grizzled war veteran and uncle to King of Alethkar. It's my second favourite book series of all time with the third and fourth book being in my top 5 books of all time. The story is vast and ambitious with more than a thousand pages in each book but I'm putting it here because of how accessible and easy Sanderson's writing style is as well as his ability to structure his story in such a way that you can't help but keep reading, making those pages go by quickly. Ongoing with the first half of the series being finished.
2. The Five Warrior Angels trilogy by Brian Lee Durfee: One of the most underrated fantasy series. It's one of those "modern takes on classic fantasy" I like to harp about so much with it taking place in a classic medieval fantasy world with warring kingdoms, knights, elves, orcs, dwarves, etc. but entirely without magic. The entire series is both a subversion of and tribute to classic fantasy tropes. The series is very slow but very rewarding. Some of the main characters are: Nail, a poor orphan boy raised by the mysterious Shawcroft. Ava Shay, his childhood sweetheart and the woman he hopes to one day marry. Gault Aulbrek, one of the highest ranking knights in the invading army. Tala and Jondralyn Bronachell, two princesses who are the sisters to the king. Completed.
3. The Banished Lands by John Gwynne: Consists of two series: the four book long The Faithful and the Fallen and the Of Blood and Bone trilogy. Takes place in a norse/viking inspired fantasy setting and is a lot slower paced as compared to Gwynne's later Bloodsworn Saga. Is action packed with a cast of lovable protagonists and hateable villains. Again belonging to that subgenre of "modern take on classic fantasy" but with a heavy scandinavian twist instead of the usual western european one. Completed.
4. The Bound and the Broken by Ryan Cahill: This is probably the most stereotypical fantasy series that has come out in recent years and I mean in that in the best way possible. It's a planned five book series (four books out so far, with a novella between each book). In a lot of ways it's the adult version of Eragon what with its medieval fantasy setting and the presence of dragon riders but with a larger cast of characters, a more refined writing style, less plagiarism, and a more ambitious story. Ongoing.
5. The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss: Word of warning. There's a good chance this series will never be finished. Why am I recommending it anyway? It's a masterpiece with one of the most beautiful prose I have ever read. It was really the first book to make me notice and appreciate the beauty of language. Right now, it consists of two books and two novellas and follows an innkeeper named Kvothe who tells his life story to a travelling writer. Incomplete.
6. Lightbringer by Brent Weeks: It was one of the biggest epic fantasy of the 2010's and while it has kinda fallen off in popularity, I still think it is still worth reading. It takes place in a really unique fantasy world with heavy elements of Persia, and has a unique magic system called Chromaturgy/drafting that's even better than Sanderson's magic systems imo. It has some M. Night level plot twists as well. Completed.
7. The Licanius trilogy by James Islington: Very short both in terms of wordcount and number of books compared to the others in this tier and also written in a very simple and clear writing style but I'm placing the Licanius trilogy here because of the sheer ambition and complexity of the plot threads. Don't be intimidated by that but you do have to pay attention to the details a little more. It's a really fun trilogy set place in a pretty typical fantasy world but with some of the best written plot twists of all time. Completed.
8. The Expanse by James S.A. Corey: Written by two authors writing under one name, The Expanse can be kinda considered the sci-fi equivalent of ASOIAF (and it helps that one of them is GRRM's assistant) because of its multi POV style and focus on political intrigue. It's a long nine book series but the first six can be counted as its own series with the last three as a sort of sequel. There's even a great TV adaptation too. Completed.
9. Worm by Wildbow: Probably one of the biggest stories you've never heard about. This webnovel is massive and when combined with its sequel, Ward it is as long as the Wheel Of Time. But it's still very disgestable with it being broken up into 30 story arcs and most importantly, is completely free to read. The series takes place in an alternate version of the world in 2011 after super powers started to show up in people. However, for most people, powers only manifest after an extremely traumatic event and our protagonist, Taylor Hebert, develops the power to control arthropods (mostly insects) after being shoved into a locker full of garbage. It's super dark with a cast of really interesting characters and an exploration of superpowers that is unmatched. The sequel, Ward, is technically better written but I still prefer Worm and Ward is not really needed to enjoy Worm to its fullest. Completed.
10. He Who Fights With Monsters by Shirtaloon/Travis Deverell: Another popular LitRPG webnovel getting traditionally published. HWFWM follows an Australian guy named Jason who finds himself in a fantasy world with dark magic powers. A ton of fun with one of the funnier protagonists I've read. Ongoing.

Tier 5: Some genuinely challenging reads but can still serve as great gateways into science fiction and fantasy if you're already a reader who is into other genres. More than likely the books/series here will be long and will use more complex language.

1. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin: I was debating on putting it lower on the tier as its cultural relevance and sheer popularity makes it a lot more accessible than most series with a lot of beginner readers reading it but I ultimately decided to put it here when considering the books by themselves in a vacuum. ASOIAF is probably the most popular book series on this list after Harry Potter and for good reason. The popularity of the show and its decline make people forget how good the books actually are and why people are still obsessing over it after so long. I don't even have to summarise as you more than likely know a few things here and there about it. I also highly recommend reading A World of Ice and Fire and Fire and Blood to get a better understanding of the world and history and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms as a nice little side story. Ongoing (infamously so) but still worth reading even if it is never completed.
2. Sun Eater by Christopher Ruocchio: Sun Eater is without a doubt my favourite series out of all the series that I have listed here. It could be best described as an sci-fantasy space opera inspired heavily by the likes of Dune, Star Wars, The Book of the New Sun and The Name of the Wind. The entire series is set in the far future (almost 20k years in the future) with humanity having spread all over the galaxy with the largest human faction being the Sollan Empire. Our protagonist, Hadrian Marlowe, is a minor noble who runs away from home and goes on to be a a legendary hero but also reviled villain who is responsible for wiping out humanity's biggest threat, the man-eating Cielcin by exploding a star but also taking billions of human lives, including that of the Emperor (none of this is a spoiler btw). The main seven books are essentially his autobiography written to give his own side of the story. It also has three awesome novellas and four short story collections. Completed.
3. The Osten Ard Saga by Tad Williams: This is the series that inspired GRRM to write ASOIAF and one of two series that imo really bridged the gap between classic and modern fantasy. Tad Williams' Osten Ard saga is made up of the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, a bridge novella, the sequel four book long series, The Last King of Osten Ard, a prequel novella and a new prequel full length book coming out in October. It's a super typical fantasy story in a lot of ways but at the same time also set a lot of the trends you see in modern fantasy like the focus on mental health, political intrigue etc. All the series within it are Completed and can be enjoyed but Williams is always adding new stuff.
4. The Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan: The first series most readers will point to when thinking of Epic High Fantasy. Extremely influential and the other series that bridged the gap between modern and classic fantasy, The Wheel Of Time is a massive fourteen book long series (plus one prequel novella) that took more than twenty years to finish. It starts out as a fairly simple LOTR inspired classic fantasy following three farmboys from a small village, of which any one of them could be the chosen one but it escalates so much in scale. Unfortunately, the author, Robert Jordan died after finishing book 11, Knife of Dreams, but his widow hand picked Brandon Sanderson to finish the series which he did spectacularly, writing the last three books, The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light.
5. Dune by Frank Herbert: Probably the most influential sci-fi/space opera series after the foundational texts that came before it. Herbert's Dune is something I feel conflicted about because on one hand, I deeply respect the influence it has had on sci-fi (just look at Star Wars). But on the other hand, I struggled to get through the series. The first book is easily the best one imo with the sequel, Dune Messiah being an essential read too. But honestly, you can stop there and be happy. Even then with the books I enjoy, I found the writing style to be too detached and dry but I'll let you make your mind up on the series. Completed.
6. The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb: This is a massive 16 book long fantasy epic that deserves to be spoken in the same way that all the other greats are. It is made up of five distinct series (four trilogies and a four book series). Robin Hobb is probably one of the greatest writers when it comes to characters and while the Farseer trilogy starts of a little rough, it becomes better and better with every subsequent series. The three main trilogies, The Farseer trilogy, The Tawny Man trilogy and The Fitz and The Fool trilogy all have one other series in between them and they all follow FitzChilvarly Farseer, the bastard son of a prince who is raised up to be an assassin. Completed.

I really hope my list was helpful to anyone looking to get into fantasy and science fiction. If you have any other books that you feel could fit in here, let me know.

A few series I haven't included and why: Other than the ones I already mentioned at the beginning like Terry Pratchett, there are a few series that I haven't included on here that I thought of including at first. The most obvious exclusion you will see on here is The Lord of the Rings. Is it one of the greatest and objectively the most influential fantasy series of all time? Yes. But I couldn't decide on where to put it. I think it is a text every fantasy reader has to read at some point but if you haven't read it already, I don't think you should until you read a bit more in the genre so that your expectations aren't set too high lol. A few I haven't included because I don't know enough about them are Conan, Elric of Melnibone, Shadowslave and Naomi Novik's work.

Hey, gang. I read on the Sun Eater wiki site that the short story, "Life", that Chris wrote for the Unbroken anthology will be included in the second short story collection, Sins of the Sun Eater but I was wondering if there's an actual source for that information. And also I wanted to know if there will be a way for those who didn't back the Kickstarter campaign (too broke) to get the short story around the same time.

Hey gang. Have a few questions regarding the immediate future of my favourite series of all time and I'd be really grateful if anyone can help me out.

1. There are currently four volumes of Tales Of The Sun Eater and I heard that Songs Of The Sun Eater will have about two volumes worth of stories. Will there be a second volume of Songs that will cover everything not in volume 1?

2. Are there currently no plans to traditionally publish the three main novellas (The Lesser Devil, Queen Amidst Ashes, The Dregs of Empire).

3. For peeps who are unable to back the Unbroken Anthology, when can we read the novella/short story that Christopher wrote for it?

Thanks!

Super excited about season 2 like everyone else but there seems to be a lot of arguments and discussions regarding when the show will take place, usually starting with someone making a joke about how Adam Smasher is going to kill everyone again and someone getting angry and saying that V already killed him and then someone saying that no one has officially confirmed when the season will take place.

But the best clue we have imo is D and his backstory of his clan, Snake Nation being destroyed.

If you choose to be a Nomad, V's clan, the Bakkers merged with Snake Nation so that would imply that they are still around when the game starts and are fairly powerful and influential as far as nomad nations go.

Now, most nomad groups from what I understand are pretty massive and don't stay all together at the same time. Like the Aldecaldos we meet in the game (Panam, Saul, Mitch, etc) are just one group of Aldecaldos with Aldecaldos outside of their own group being present in the game (like Randy's dad).

Snake Nation is the largest of all the nomad groups and the most disorganised so when they say that Snake Nation was destroyed, I'm assuming it means that a small group of Snake Nation is destroyed which would really muck up how easy it is to guess. But even then, it should weaken them enough or be bad enough PR for the Bakkers to not want to merge with them, right? So it has to take place after the intro during the six month timeskip at the very least.

If we're going to interpret it as the entirety of Snake Nation somehow collapsing and getting wiped out (kinda impossible given that they have like a million members) then the season would have to take place after the game because in the nomad ending, Saul gets info about the tunnels from Snake Nation.

Just my thoughts. Lemme know what you guys think

Hey gang. Been really enjoying Apostasy the past couple of months but with only a couple weeks left until I have to leave my PC till Christmas, I really want to do a survival playthrough before I leave. Think I can squeeze 60-ish hours into a modlist and I'd like y'alls recommendation as I'm not very familiar with survival lists.

I really didn't like how Apostasy's survival was handled (as it wasn't really meant to be played with survival mode) but I don't have too many requirements. All I need is some fairly decent graphics (Nordic Souls being a baseline), fun combat, and a good amount of new content if possible. I have a mid range PC that ran Apostasy pretty consistently at 40-50 fps at 1080p.

Would love to hear the recs.