Fantasy
Best Fantasy Series
The question is not which is best. It is which ones are finished, and how much of your life each one wants.
Updated September 2026 · By Sawyer V.
The short version
Check whether it is finished before you check whether it is good. Several of the most-recommended fantasy series in print have been unfinished for over a decade, and starting one is a decision about the next few years rather than the next few weeks.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one we earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and it does not change which books are here or the order they appear in. Read the full disclosure.
How we picked
We state, for every entry, whether the series is complete and roughly how long it is — the two facts that decide whether starting it is a pleasure or a commitment, and the two facts most lists leave out. Print lengths come from library catalog data. We have not read all eight.
What we do on every list: read the publisher’s own description rather than a summary of it, check print length and first publication year against library catalog data (last refreshed September 10, 2026), confirm the book is still sold in the format we suggest, and write the match line before the blurb. What we do not do is claim to have read every book here cover to cover. The full method is published, and it is written so anyone can check it.
The short answer
Who each book is for, at a glance. Select a row for the full write-up.
| # | Book | Give this if | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mistborn: The Final EmpireBrandon Sanderson · 1712 pagesFinished, and the best place to start | they want a complete epic they can actually finish | |
| 2 |  Six of CrowsLeigh Bardugo · 512 pagesThe shortest commitment | they want a series that ends in two books | |
| 3 |  The Fellowship of the RingJ. R. R. Tolkien · 492 pagesThe finished original | they have seen the films and never read it | |
| 4 |  A Court of Thorns and RosesSarah J. Maas · 451 pagesThe romantasy gateway | they came to fantasy through romance | |
| 5 |  Fourth WingRebecca Yarros · 530 pagesThe one they have already heard of | they are on the reading side of social media | |
| 6 |  The Way of KingsBrandon Sanderson · 1008 pagesThe maximum commitment | they have finished a long series and want a longer one | |
| 7 |  The Name of the WindPatrick Rothfuss · 736 pagesThe prose, with a warning | they read for sentences and you have told them | |
| 8 |  A Game of ThronesGeorge R. R. Martin · 801 pagesThe unfinished landmark | they know exactly what they are getting into |
#ad — buying through these links earns us a commission at no cost to you. No price is printed because we do not run a live price feed, and a remembered number would be a guess.
Eight series, with the commitment stated
1. Finished, and the best place to start
Mistborn: The Final Empire
Brandon Sanderson
Give this ifthey want a complete epic they can actually finish
A street thief joins a crew planning a heist against an immortal emperor, in a world where swallowing specific metals grants specific powers. The original trilogy is complete, self-contained and about as satisfying a beginning-to-end arc as modern fantasy offers.
- Print length
- 1712 pages
- First published
- 2001
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
2. The shortest commitment
Six of Crows
Leigh Bardugo
Give this ifthey want a series that ends in two books
Six criminals take an impossible heist job in a canal city, each with a separate reason for being there. A duology with a proper ending, which in this genre is close to a miracle, and the crew is why people reread it.
- Print length
- 512 pages
- First published
- 2015
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
3. The finished original
The Fellowship of the Ring
J. R. R. Tolkien
Give this ifthey have seen the films and never read it
The first volume of The Lord of the Rings. Three books, complete since 1955, and slower, stranger and more melancholy than the adaptation suggests — the walking and the singing are the point rather than the padding.
- Print length
- 492 pages
- First published
- 1954
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
4. The romantasy gateway
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas
Give this ifthey came to fantasy through romance
A huntress is taken across the wall into a faerie court, in a retelling that turns far darker than it starts. It built the audience that most of the current shelf is written for, and the later volumes are a different and heavier book than the first.
One caveat: Explicit from book two, and the wider series is still ongoing.
- Print length
- 451 pages
- First published
- 2013
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
5. The one they have already heard of
Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros
Give this ifthey are on the reading side of social media
A war college where cadets bond with dragons, and the smallest rider is the one everyone expects to die first. It is the biggest thing in publishing and the most likely book on this page to already be on their shelf.
One caveat: Explicit, and unfinished — a new volume is still owed.
- Print length
- 530 pages
- First published
- 2023
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
6. The maximum commitment
The Way of Kings
Brandon Sanderson
Give this ifthey have finished a long series and want a longer one
A thousand pages on a world scoured by hurricane-force storms, and volume one of a planned ten-book sequence. For the right reader the scale is the entire appeal; for anybody else it is a wall.
One caveat: Book one of ten, roughly half published. Only for a reader who has asked for that.
- Print length
- 1008 pages
- First published
- 2010
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
7. The prose, with a warning
The Name of the Wind
Patrick Rothfuss
Give this ifthey read for sentences and you have told them
An innkeeper tells a chronicler how he became the most famous and infamous magician of his age. The line-by-line writing is why it is so loved, and the third book has not appeared in well over a decade.
One caveat: Genuinely unfinished with no publication date. Say so before you give it.
- Print length
- 736 pages
- First published
- 2007
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
8. The unfinished landmark
A Game of Thrones
George R. R. Martin
Give this ifthey know exactly what they are getting into
Rotating viewpoints across a kingdom sliding into civil war, and the series that changed what mainstream fantasy was allowed to do. It is also the most famous unfinished series in the language, and the last volume arrived in 2011.
One caveat: Unfinished, at length. This is a warning rather than a recommendation against.
- Print length
- 801 pages
- First published
- 1996
- Formats
- print, Kindle and audio where the publisher offers them
Finished, ongoing, or abandoned
The genre has a completion problem that no other genre has to the same degree, and lists routinely ignore it. Here is the honest state of the eight above.
| Series | Status | Rough commitment |
|---|---|---|
| Mistborn (original trilogy) | Complete | Three books |
| Six of Crows | Complete | Two books |
| The Lord of the Rings | Complete since 1955 | Three books |
| A Court of Thorns and Roses | Ongoing | Five books so far |
| Fourth Wing / Empyrean | Ongoing | Three books so far, more owed |
| The Stormlight Archive | Ongoing | Planned ten, about half out |
| The Kingkiller Chronicle | Unfinished, no date | Two books, over a decade waiting |
| A Song of Ice and Fire | Unfinished, no date | Five books since 1996 |
None of that makes the unfinished ones bad books. It makes them a different purchase, and a reader who finds out on page 900 of book two is entitled to be annoyed at whoever recommended it.
Choosing for somebody else
- Ask whether they finish series. Plenty of committed readers start them and never continue, and for those readers a standalone fantasy is a better gift than any series opener.
- Buy book one only. Even for a series you are confident about. It costs less and it hands the decision back to them.
- Say whether it is finished. One sentence, when you hand it over. It is the single most useful thing you can tell a fantasy reader about a series.
- Check what they own. Series readers move fast and frequently own more of it than you expect.
If a series is the wrong shape
For a reader with limited time, a series is an imposition however good it is. Standalone fantasy and fantasy under 300 pages both exist for exactly that reader, and the genre is far better served at short length than its reputation suggests.
If they are entirely new to the genre, start at fantasy for beginners instead — a ten-book sequence is a poor first impression however celebrated it is.
Two ways to read this list for less
If several books here appeal, a subscription usually beats buying them one at a time — but only for the right kind of reader. Here is who each one actually suits.
Audible Premium Plus
For anyone whose hands are busy
Driving, walking, cooking, cleaning. It converts hours that were never available for reading, which is a bigger effect than any discount. Books bought with a credit stay yours after you cancel — titles from the included catalog do not, and confusing the two is the most common complaint about the service.
See Audible plans and current pricingHow Audible actually works — credits, gifting and what happens when you cancel.
Kindle Unlimited
For fast readers who browse
It pays off from about three ebooks a month, in the genres the catalog covers well — romance, romantasy, cozy mystery, thriller, progression fantasy. It does not pay off if you are waiting on a specific new hardcover, because those are usually not included. Everything is borrowed, not owned.
See Kindle Unlimited terms and pricingIs Kindle Unlimited worth it? — the arithmetic, done on your own reading.
#ad — how we are funded. We print no subscription prices anywhere on this site, because they change and a stale figure sends you to a checkout expecting something that is not there. And if you read in silence in a chair, neither of these is for you — buy the book, or borrow it from your library.
What we would skip
A boxed set of something they have not started
It looks generous and lands as an obligation: here are four thousand pages, please begin. If they have read book one and loved it, a set is a wonderful gift. If they have not, buy one volume and let them decide whether to commit their next six months. This is the most common way a fantasy gift goes wrong.
Questions people ask
What is the best fantasy series to start with?
Mistborn if you want a complete epic, Six of Crows if you want the shortest commitment. Both are finished, which is the first thing to check in this genre.
Which fantasy series are actually finished?
Of the eight here: Mistborn's original trilogy, Six of Crows and The Lord of the Rings. The Stormlight Archive and the romantasy series are ongoing; Kingkiller and A Song of Ice and Fire have been waiting over a decade.
Is it worth starting an unfinished series?
That is a real question rather than a rhetorical one. Some readers do not mind; others find it intolerable. Either way they should be told before book one, not on page 900 of book two.
Should I buy a boxed set as a gift?
Only if they have already read book one and loved it. Otherwise it reads as an obligation rather than a present.
Sources
- Open Library Search API — First publication year, median print length and cover art for every book on this page. Queried 8 September 2026.
- Audible Premium Plus membership page — The only authoritative source for current Audible plans, prices and terms.
Read next
- Best Fantasy Books
Ten fantasy books sorted by the four things readers actually want from the genre.
- Best Standalone Fantasy Books
Eight fantasy novels that finish in one volume, including several of the century's most acclaimed.
- Best Fantasy Books for Beginners
Seven fantasy books with no map, no glossary and no nine-book commitment.
- Books Like Lord of the Rings
Eight read-alikes, each matching one of the four things Tolkien did at once.
- Books Like Fourth Wing
Eight read-alikes, each naming whether it matches the dragons, the academy, the romance or the pace.