My Top 10 Fantasy Series of All Time | As Of 2024

yeah I guess it's time to go ahead and uh and do this again [Music] [Music] huh hey what's up bookworms Mike back today to talk a little bit of my favorite fantasy series of all time this is always a popular list now I don't like to make this video every year because it seems like what's really going to change in the course of year but it's been two years now I feel like I've read enough new things since then some old things have shuffled off some new things have come on and if you think you know the order that I'm going to have this time well you haven't been paying attention cuz some things are going to change this time so if you've been with the channel a long time than you know exactly the way I'm going to go I might Zig when you think that I'm going to zag but hey I might not some of you are very good sloths out there but uh I just want to let you guys know that uh this is my list uh it doesn't mean that it makes your list inv valid or anything it's going to have some things that you disagree with and I'm perfectly okay with that I hope you will as be as well as always a list like this I'm hoping for it to create discussion and for you to tell me your top series down below is to tell me why these are terrible or why that one series I haven't read not being on here is unacceptable but I digress guys let's go ahead and do a couple honorable mentions before I start here I'm not going to spend very long on these memories Sor and Thorn by Tad Williams that was actually on my 2022 list just standing outside this point because it was right there it was a fringe top 10 pick last time had to make room for something else I think that just kind of barely nudged it off Chronicles of nardy by CS Lewis it's one that's always going to be special to me did read it when I was much much younger it's probably my very first fantasy series as a young child and it'll always be special but I don't think I call it my top 10 at this point the bound and the brok by Ryan kill that's one I've really gotten into recently now with that guys I say Legacy takes time with things like this it's going to take a little bit I just got I mean haven't even been into the series for a year now but I'm going to say it's on its way next time I do this list it likely makes it in misbourne by Brandon Sanderson last time I did this release I got a lot of crap because I counted the cosmere all is one so you guys win but you know you also lose because that means Miss borne is not going to be in the top 10 now I I really did not like era 2 that much so it's kind of brought that down a little bit for me malis in book of the Fallen I do enjoy this series as much as people think I hate it cuz I haven't finished it but because I haven't finished it I can't good conscience put it on this list but I will say it is the most ambitious fantasy series I have ever read and it will be in consideration when I do finish it and yes I will finish it just hey stick around maybe you'll find out when all right let's get into that top 10 list guys sorry going for 3 minutes here before I get into it number 10 this is a new entrance into this list and I said I feel like Legacy takes time but I started this series about two or 3 years ago now I'm talking about the realm of the elderlings by Robin hob I did complet it this year I thought it was an incredible incredible journey it has some of my favorite fantasy books I've ever read it has some that I didn't like so much in it I say that's why I say it would probably be down towards the end of the back 10 here is because it does have a lot of those things that I criticize will of time for you know and I feel like we can't just not criticize those with Robin hob because we love her right I feel like as the first lady of Epic Fantasy she's amazing she does incredible character work she does some really tender moments better than anyone that I have seen in the business doing it her dialogue and her Pros are absolutely beautiful and snappy I wouldn't take back a day that I spent in this universe think the series might have gone on just a little touch too long but I've talked about that before in the channel I think is absolutely worth the journey it is a very long journey and I say hey do it like I did take a couple years to do it if I had to pick just one series here cuz I don't think that uh people will treat that the same as they would if I put the cosm on here as one but I would say if I had to pick just one and that it would be Liv ship Traders because that is an amazing amazing series one of the best villains that I have ever read but lots of those characters will stay right here forever and I will never ever regret that Journey number nine here cuz I broke it up The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson now with books one and two thought it was amazing book three I liked and the book four was kind of a Miss for me if I'm being honest something they got me a lot of heat at the time of release when it came out but I think a lot of other people have kind of come around now and been like yeah uh rhythm of War might have actually done some things I didn't really care for that's what's kind of kept it down here but I still feel like it has the potential to be a top five fantasy series all time for me when it's all said and done because these characters the way that he writes the backstory the magic system is just amazing I love this world I love all the ideas that he does put into it and this definitely does feel like the series that I wish Brandon Sanderson would quit writing all this other stuff and just focus on writing Stormlight so if I'm being a little a little greedy there I admit it but Stormlight Archive is just amazing uh the growth some of these characters through this Series has just been Second To None I love the law style flashback narrative that he does in the stories uh sometimes those characters aren't ones you want to know so so much about but three fours of these entries I have really really loved the background character and with book number five coming out this year I am very excited about the character that he has picked for that one but again that's a book I think of characters as well as the world the World building is amazing but the characters in that just make it stand above everything else that he's written for me and that's why I call him the Lord ruler guys cuz he is amazing I cannot wait to get book number five later this year number eight I have to go with the faithful and the Fallen by John Gwyn now I like a Blood and Bone I love the faithful and the Fallen I think this is one that I kind of got into when I first started this channel was very very early so I finished about four years ago and it was just one that I I just sometimes you just know that you're going to click with an author I bought seven of John gwyn's books before I ever read a single one of them cuz I just knew I just had this feeling I was going to love it and what do you know even with those expectations I went in with it really exceeded them and I think what's incredible about that series is you read book one you're like wow that was really good everyone says this is the worst book in the series that was really good it is the worst book in the series it it's that good that just tells you how good this series does get so if you have to pick uh when you got four books one of them's got to come in last right doesn't necessar mean it's a bad book and it's definitely not the case with malice but with this is I just I love if you're just a traditional fantasy fan and you like a little bit of a little bit of PG-13 not quite R-rated I think that John Gwynn's the author for you cuz he writes incredible action scenes great character development I think about a lot of these modern fantasy series a lot of guys have the same where they feel like oh well I've got to throw a romance into it or it's just going to be a big old sausage fest right in most of those they feel forged and I don't like them uh with this series guys there is a romance that develops over the course of books 2 through 4 that is so good that I was kind of like you know making eyelashes at the whole time it was so wonderful I love the way it developed because it came out of nowhere in fact when I talked about my favorite uh my favorite couples in in literature I hated giving that one away because it is just such a big shock that it happens over the course of bit because it happens organically it's so good but uh just looking at what these characters I feel like a proud parent by the end of the series watching these kids go from you know just pre-teen teenagers and then just growing into these young uh men and women that really are going to shape the way that the the banished lands does form out it's just incredible and truth and courage like I said before is more than just a Snappy catchphrase it is a way of life and I will actually be doing why you should read on faithful and the Fallen soon I just could not get uh everything together to get out this week that's way you get this video today number seven might seem a little different after you're seeing some of these kind of these Epic Fantasy series take a little step back and get a little bit of urban fantasy on this list and I'm talking about the Dresden Files guys now Dresden Files is one that I also really got into the beginning stages up this Channel and it was just one of those things I I I'd always seen the books i' gone to this bookstore and I'd always kind of see them I'm like God there's like a million of these is this series ever going to end and I had no idea that when I first discovered it we had been waiting for a while for peace talks to come out so it was one of those where like I didn't have to wait as long as everyone else but I've been waiting for the last you know two three years now and I'm getting a little anxious but uh the dress in files guys is absolutely amazing if you are into things like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and then John Constantine's hellblazer I think this is the series for you cuz isn't quite as damaged as John Constantine he's a little more humorous I think but he's very much as layered as John Constantine is and you've got all the creatures and you know the all the the vampires and the Wizards and all that stuff that's going on right underneath Humanity's eyes and they don't even see it those kind of things like Buffy so I think any fan of those three properties would absolutely adore this because it does very much start like Angel detective you know help the helpless kind of thing he does so I love the journey that Harry has taken over the course of 17 books there's so many Side characters that grew from being Side characters to being main characters in the series that are just fascinating to watch them develop because you know it has been a good like 20 years over the course of these books now and you've watched some of these characters grow up right in front your eyes it's really really amazing especially if you speedrun it like I did but that's a series guys I feel like anybody you don't even have to be in the fantasy to really get into those and people sell it so wrong they I they sell it to me years for oh it's it's Harry Potter for adults I was like that didn't make me want to read it I've heard that a million times if someone had told me oh it's kind of like Buffy me John Constantine I would have been all over that immediately so I hate that it took me as long as it did to get into it but I'm glad I did because it is my seventh favorite fantasy series of all time number six this is the part where people are going to start flipping tables if you didn't already do it at Brandon Sanderson being at number nine The Wheel of Time you want to talk about what I started this channel on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time I didn't know book was a thing and I was just making like some video diaries as I started reading will of time so I wouldn't forget where I was if I took long breaks through a 14 book series and then I learned there is this thing called book had no idea and so I will always be grateful to will of time for introducing me to this side of the internet which I think is a much much nicer side of the internet than there is for when I used talk about sports and movies that didn't yeah you get you get the bad side of the internet with that but a will of time guys I feel like what do you need to know that you don't already know this is just besides Lord of the Rings I think this might be the most epic fantasy adventure of all time just going through the years and the lives of these characters over the course of 15 books you want to talk about character development you think about where we start at emons field and where we end up in memory of light absolutely amazing character growth yeah there's some sloggy parts I everybody always has to attach the word slog to it and when they're trying to sell the series of new people they're like oh yeah but books 7 through 10 or SL that's not the case your mileage is going to vary on that I have moments of the series much like Rumble the elings where I'm like yeah uh that's something that I probably wouldn't enjoy doing a second time but there's also some of my most favorite things I've ever read in fantasy in most those other books so a series that probably went on Just a Touch too long but I do think it's a journey that everyone should make and I feel it almost feels like graduating from fantasy school when you finish the Wheel of Time because it is a journey and it does feel like something hey cool I'd like to get that achievement unlock but you will be changed forever because of the Wheel of Time and that Journey that Robert Jordan does take us on I will never ever forget that Journey it was absolutely incredible and would I ever do it again but my thing is like it's not because I don't think that Willow time is worth a rate cuz there's a lot of people I mean so many people ask if I'm going to re re will of time all the stuff behind me guys I haven't read two-thirds of it I want to read that and I'm not a young man anymore you know so I feel like I'll never get to it all if I start rereading a 15 book series if you count the you know Nolla but that is where it sits right now at number six number five guys if you have been watching this channel for any length of time at all you know I am a Stephen King constant reader and that is why the Dark Tower was still a top five fantasy series all time for me I've got this reputation over time as someone who hates the ending of The Dark Tower and that's not the case at all there are certain things that happen in the latter half of the series I get very disgruntled about but the series is still a top five for me in lie of some of those things I dislike actually the ending is quite good you know honestly and something I'll never really forget but I was a waiter with the wheel of sorry The Wheel of Time I was a waiter with the Dark Tower you know like some people were like uh yeah the slog will bother you in will of time and then new readers will get to it the first time and it doesn't bother them like at all because they didn't have to for years between books see that's me with Dark Tower it seems like everybody now that binge reads it they don't have any of those problems I have or like some of us were you know waiting with our character sitting on that overpass for like 15 years you know because it was a long long wait for some of those things so I I I was stared doing my reread and I'm actually through book five right now book six is where I really just like started flipping tables with the series and that's where I'm at my rise I'll be interested to see if time has been a Healer on that one but even regardless of that guys what he does in books one through five in this series is good enough to make a top five fantasy series all time for me what I love about Dark Tower you can't really just Peg it as any one thing it falls under fantasy and it is very much Fantastical but it's got horror it's got sci-fi it's got Thriller it's got everything you can think of it's got a little bit of Fish Out of Water I love everything about it it's got some Western in there it just takes everything that Stephen keing was into threw it in the jar mixed it around a little bit and said here is what we got and there is nothing else like The Dark Tower it is the most unique fantasy series ever and that's not going to change I don't think I don't think I'll find anything quite as crazy but also highly digestible as the dark Towers highly digestible the word you would use I don't know you guys tell me if you have made your trip across the path of the beam this one will probably seem high to other people but not to me guys I feel like the Legacy for this one is only going up number four for me is Harry Potter by JK Rowling and it just feels like this is just one of those that just transcends everything it gets sold to people as kids books and yet I will find more more every year I will find people in their 30s in their 40s even their 50s reading the series for the first time and becoming addicted to it there's just something magical about it and it isn't just Hogwarts it just feels like there is something about it that it doesn't matter who you are where you're from what you believe whatever it is just a magical story that just captures everybody I am a sucker for coming of age and this book has three main characters in they coming of age through their young adulthood it's just an incredible journey and you think about all of those Side characters that become main characters over the course of the series incredible I mean there's some people who Neville is their favorite character you know there's a guy who started off just you know being kind of the the butt of all the jokes in book number one just an amazing journey all around and I still feel like today even if there's people who are like well I watch the movies never read the books feel like you're doing yourself a disservice read the books I think you really will love it and it doesn't matter how old you are doesn't matter what you're into I know there are still a lot of people I know like on my Discord they're still just like ah it's series and I have no interest I get it and I'm not saying it's going to be for everyone I'm just saying it seems like it doesn't really you don't have to be a certain type A Certain demographic to enjoy the Harry Potter series and I get I do every time I talk about this list I say what makes Harry Potter special is that the world will never stop again at midnight for the release of a fantasy book it will not happen it won't happen for George R Martin it won't happen for Patrick rothus guys I get that all the time oh I think when this no in our Corners yeah it might seem like that for the world for the casuals they won't stop for a fantasy book again like the world did when Deathly Hallows came out that was just a special moment and we'll never see that again I don't think in our lifetimes we will see the world stop for a book again that's just how incredible that series was I feel like it's Legacy just gets bigger and bigger you can't go into a bookstore today without seeing at least an incap of nothing but Harry Potter merchandise I know I pick up something every now and then by the way quit faking your test I see how these people fak their test oh well I want to be a Ravenclaw so I lied about my answers that's not the point of the test anyhow uh number three guys we're getting kind of close here and I know people have got the three in their head they think they know the way this is going to go I don't think you do because you're going to be surprised here there's some shuffling number three is the first law by Joe abomi now I think that this is the gold standard of all things of what Grim dark fiction is people ask all the time well what actually is grim dark the first law guys the first law is grim dark he writes these truly horrendous characters that you can't help but find yourself rooting for them and all this way all the way this world is just cruel and punishing and just just Grim the whole time you find yourself chuckling because of the way that Joe aie writes it's very humorous but it's a dark humor so I don't feel like it's a series that will click for everyone but I feel like those people that it clicks for it really really clicks for and I think it might be the best anti-h hero that I've ever read in any series ever is sandang gaka I think he's just the most amazing character but it's not just him I mean there's characters in this like the dog man like Logan nine fingers like jaal danan Luther there so many characters that you just think about I could read one line of dialogue and know exactly who it is like especially when it's Pharaoh right I think that this series just has the most amazing characters people all the time what makes that Series so great and I say the characters like oh can you tell me more no you just got to read it and understand why these characters are just so damn special you know and I think that I'm talking about the original first law Trilogy I'm not talking about the first law as a whole people start to get annoyed by that uh look I like age of Madness I like the stand Lon but that original trilogy for me is like Star Wars it'll never be surpassed because it's so special it just it introduced me to this world and I love those characters so so much that they have become like a permanent resident up here in that finally cabinet upstairs I love these characters I love this world it's just so grim and brutal and I don't know why I like spending so much time there but I know the question I get a lot is if you could spend any time in any fantasy world what would it be it would not be in the first law because that world is very very unforgiving but it's a series that I will never ever forget okay so where are we going with this here guys number two there will be no three repeat guys because this is going to be the Lord of the Rings by JRR tolken so this has been number one on my last two versions of this list and did it do anything wrong of course not guys it hasn't done anything wrong it is a series that I think is absolutely special I think tolken was the best creator of lore and language and characters that I've ever ever read in the fantasy genre I think he is the one who took fantasy and took it from kind of a niche thing and kind of made it into the the populace of the uh just a casual reader where everybody could love fantasy I felt like everyone can kind of escape the real life and go to another world so he made it a Mainstay in fantasy and I think that's why this series is always regarded as people's favorites I get a lot of people who tell me oh the only reason you guys put it up there you old heads put it up there in the top number one or number two it's because you feel like you have to not true guys I reread this all the time I last reread in 2019 and I still love it I still think it's incredible it's an amazing journey it's the greatest Journey ever told in a fanasy series and these are characters that go to hell in back and they keep it real they keep it real for each other and they're changed for it but I feel like they're changed for the better because they find things that they didn't know that they had inside them and I think that's a story that anybody can really relate to and I think that's why it's persevered for as many years as it has I I didn't get hung up on the fact that I read this s morelan and it was really kind of gibberish to me the young age that's one that i' definitely love to revisit because this world is just amazing and I think it's just one of those where you got to kind of get into that feeling of hey it's almost like reading a D and D manual but it's token so this makes it much much more interesting but um yeah again it didn't do anything wrong I think the reason that I've just slid number one ahead of it is because I started doing a reread of it uh last year and I said what is the only problem with this series for me it's not finished and it probably won't ever be and that's why a lot of people get mad about this my number one guys is A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin and the reason I feel like I was finally able to kind of put it over the hump is when I Revisited it you know without being jaded for because I did I get I got jaded for a long time because I just got so frustrated guys I started reading the series in the year 2000 so yeah I got a little jaded that it wasn't getting finished probably not going to and it kind of just gave me a negative outlook on it when I'm reading I'm like d this is just so amazing so amazing every there is nothing wrong with the five books that we've got I have zero problems with it's like four and five I understand that some people get frustrated because he broke up the characters you know there is a hybrid reading order and if you do it like that it's like a 2,000 page book and it's just as amazing as books one through three for me so to me this world is the only thing that could touch tolken in World building and back history going back and learning about all these things that happened centuries and centuries and thousands of years before it's just incredible no series that I can think of do I ever obsess over looking at family tree seeing who did what when where how why did they do this and how do they come to this part how do they come into power why does this family have a problem with this family why do these two have a rebellion I love all of these things I just can't get enough of this world and when I was rereading it I said this is just amazing I can't get enough of this so it really did just reawaken that fire of the Dragon in me that said this series really what is your only negative about it Mike it's just that it's not finished and it probably won't be and I don't think that's enough to take it away from how much this ser has meant to me for 20 plus years why every time there's a new history book that comes out I buy it because it's just perfect I have no problems with the series at all except for the fact that we probably won't see the end and I know that's unforgivable to some people yeah it hurts but I can't take away from those books for just that reason the realist in me says hm let's do the math here George isn't exactly in the best shape and of the best age you finish this series and you know what I I try to be positive out look on a lot of these things it's just kind of hard sometimes but again it doesn't take away from the fact that he has created the greatest world the greatest history and just the greatest story that I've read in the fantasy Universe A Storm of Swords is a perfect fantasy book but I love all five books that have come out I love Fire and Blood too I love all the history books too guys so it's just an amazing world that I can never ever get enough of and uh yeah again I don't think that there's anything besides maybe Dune or Star Wars I bought more merchand merise for and that was before it was an HBO show so that's how much I have loved this series and I will continue to love that series and that is my new list guys for my favorite fantasy series as of 2024 but I would love to know you guys picks if you're still watching I appreciate it hope you'll drop in the comments let me know what you think about these let me know why you hate that I have a song of I of fire number one why you hate I have Brandon Sanderson as low why you hate that I don't have that one series I've never read on list I would love to hear your comments but more than any of that I'd love to hear what you say your top 10 fantasy series are that would be just perfect so drop in the comments guys and I will talk to you [Music] there

Channel: Mike's Book Reviews

Views: 93,891

Keywords: Review, Reaction, Reading, Books, recap, Mike's Book Reviews, ranking, top 10, George RR Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire, JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, joe abercrombie, first law, JK Rowling, harry potter, stephen king, dark tower, robert jordan, wheel of time, jim butcher, dresden files, john gwynne, faithful and the fallen, brandon sanderson, stormlight archive, mistborn, robin hobb, Realm of the Elderlings, Malazan Book of the Fallen, Bound and the Broken, ryan cahill

Id: C0QHBktph0E

Length: 23min 21sec (1401 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 11 2024