10 most popular fantasy book series

10 most popular fantasy book series ever

The limits of imagination.

Epic Fantasy is a genre that encompasses all the other literary traditions inside itself, so when talking about the most popular books shaping its long history, itā€™s not surprising to be confronted with a plethora of widely disparate stories, characters, and worlds.

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Whether it be the rolling hills of Middle-earth, where the Free Peoples fight against the Shadow emerging from the eastern sky, or the high storms of Roshar sweeping across the continent and reminding the world of what it has forgotten, or even the petty feuds of the lords and ladies of the Seven Kingdoms and the commoners ever embroiled in their conflicts, the Fantasy genre has something to offer to anyone.

But though the number of acclaimed Fantasy books is already beyond count ā€” despite the relatively short time since it rose to popularity in the ā€˜70s ā€” there are some names that, through popularity or influence or standing the test of time, have managed to become timeless.

Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix cover
via Bloomsbury

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Having sold over 500 million copies worldwide, Harry Potter is undoubtedly the most popular and recognizable name in fantasy. The story of The Boy Who Lived finds new fans in every generation of young readers, and the acclaimed movie adaptations have assured J.K. Rowlingā€™s immortality in the speculative fiction landscape. Harry Potter might be derivative and, at times, underwhelming, especially for seasoned fantasy readers, but thereā€™s a sense of sincerity and warmth within Rowlingā€™s pages that you canā€™t quite find anywhere else.

Image via HarperCollins / Art by Alan Lee

The Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit) by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings was the much-awaited sequel to The Hobbit and took the world by storm when it came out in 1954. In one of the initial reviews, The Sunday Times praised Tolkienā€™s achievement by writing: ā€œThe English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and those who are going to read them.ā€ Many years later, these words sound almost prophetic. We donā€™t have Eru IlĆŗvatarā€™s omniscience to claim there would be no High Fantasy today without Tolkien, but we do know the entertainment world would not be the same.

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe book cover
via HarperCollins

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was once many a childā€™s most memorable fantasy read before taking on serious stories. I remember going through the pages and being absolutely enamored by the world C.S. Lewis was spinning into existence. I also remember asking my parents to buy me the sequel before the first book was even finished. In a lot of ways, The Chronicles of Narnia is like the compromise between Tolkienā€™s The Lord of the Rings, which built an imaginative world from the ground up, and Rowlingā€™s Harry Potter, which combined the fantastical with the real.

A Memory of Light book cover
via Tor Books

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

While thereā€™s no denying that Tolkienā€™s legacy was mountainous, what followed after The Lord of the Rings was a string of unoriginal, generic rip-offs that all wanted to jump on the bandwagon and imitate the professorā€™s success. In fact, it wasnā€™t until writers like Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin came along to breathe fresh air into the lungs of this tenuous new beast that Epic Fantasy truly began to soar as a genre. The Wheel of Time by the former is one such work that built on Tolkienā€™s legacy and, having sold close to 100 million copies since its conception, remains one of the most ambitious feats of imaginative worldbuilding ever attempted.

A Game of Thrones book cover
via Bantam

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin may not have become as successful and prominent as he is today without HBOā€™s Game of Thrones, but the fact that Westeros is here to stay ā€” whether it be true popular spinoffs like House of the Dragon or the booksā€™ own lingering hype despite the decade-long drought ā€” can only be a testament to his power as an author. Martin has changed the game forever, but more importantly, this is exactly what Epic Fantasy needed to stay relevant after Peter Jacksonā€™s The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 2000s.

'Discworld' covers
Image via Dunmanifestin Limited

Discworld by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett is a voice to be celebrated, and his Discworld series remains one of the best-selling, most popular fantasy books of all time. Now, it doesnā€™t matter how many (or how few) publications decide to write asinine articles about how his literary achievement is overstated (if you know, you know) because thereā€™s always a place in Pratchettā€™s books for people who are looking for a bit of humorous escapist fantasy to lay down some of their burdens.

The Vampire Chronicles book cover
via Ballantine Books

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

This might be a rather odd inclusion, but considering the fact that The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice has sold tens of millions of copies since its release, it should, by definition, have a place in the list of the most popular fantasy books in history. Whatā€™s more, thereā€™s no doubt that Anne Rice hugely influenced the gothic and urban fantasy movement with The Vampire Chronicles. The story was progressive for its time, and its motifs still play a part in informing many other gothic fantasy books.

Eclipse book cover
via Little, Brown and Company

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

Say what you will about Twilight and its literary value ā€” or lack thereof ā€” but at the very least, the case of Stephenie Meyer and her huge success should be studied. Now, Iā€™ll admit that I dropped the first book a mere 100 pages in, but the story has certainly left a mark in the fantasy space. Several popular and even acclaimed book series, like A Court of Thorns and Roses or the new BookTok sensation Fourth Wing, trace their popularity and standing back to Meyerā€™s work.

The Gunslinger book cover
via Scribner

The Dark Tower by Stephen King

While you can always expect to find the fantastical in Stephen Kingā€™s works, it wasnā€™t until The Dark Tower that the author forgot about dipping his toes into the genre and dived headfirst into it with a grimdark tale combining tropes from several genres like fantasy, sci-fi, and Spaghetti Western. The seven-book series has sold 30 million copies and is among the finer works in the Epic Fantasy space.

Percy Jackson book cover
via Disney Hyperion

Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan

At first glance, Percy Jackson might come off as a Harry Potter clone due to everything it derives from Rowlingā€™s themes and motifs, but the story has much more to offer thanks to Riordanā€™s brilliant prose and amazing characterization. Percy Jackson and the Olympians books are now among the best-selling fantasy stories in the world, and the new Amazon adaptation is sure to increase that popularity tenfold.

This was our list of some of the most popular fantasy book series out there, but as they say, popularity a great piece of art doth not make. So, to read our picks for the ten best fantasy book series of all time, head to this article.


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Author
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Jonathan Wright
A freelance contributor, Jonathan has been writing about the entertainment industry for the majority of his adult life. When he isn't busy with that, you can probably find him reading a fantasy book or playing the latest game, and even occasionally squeezing in another playthrough of the Mass Effect trilogy for the umpteenth time. As an avid RPG player, Jonathan possibly sees every real-life interaction like a dialogue tree, so don't mind it if he takes a bit of time to choose the right option.