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, it’s not surprising to be confronted with a plethora of widely disparate stories, characters, and worlds.
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 — despite the relatively short time since it rose to popularity in the ‘70s — there are some names that, through popularity or influence or standing the test of time, have managed to become timeless.
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. Rowling’s immortality in the speculative fiction landscape. Harry Potter might be derivative and, at times, underwhelming, especially for seasoned fantasy readers, but there’s a sense of sincerity and warmth within Rowling’s pages that you can’t quite find anywhere else.
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 Tolkien’s achievement by writing: “The 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.” Many years later, these words sound almost prophetic. We don’t have Eru Ilúvatar’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 Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was once many a child’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 Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, which built an imaginative world from the ground up, and Rowling’s Harry Potter, which combined the fantastical with the real.
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
While there’s no denying that Tolkien’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 professor’s success. In fact, it wasn’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 Tolkien’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 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 HBO’s Game of Thrones, but the fact that Westeros is here to stay — whether it be true popular spinoffs like House of the Dragon or the books’ own lingering hype despite the decade-long drought — 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 Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 2000s.
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 doesn’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 there’s always a place in Pratchett’s books for people who are looking for a bit of humorous escapist fantasy to lay down some of their burdens.
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. What’s more, there’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.
The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
Say what you will about Twilight and its literary value — or lack thereof — but at the very least, the case of Stephenie Meyer and her huge success should be studied. Now, I’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 Meyer’s work.
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
While you can always expect to find the fantastical in Stephen King’s works, it wasn’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 & the Olympians by Rick Riordan
At first glance, Percy Jackson might come off as a Harry Potter clone due to everything it derives from Rowling’s themes and motifs, but the story has much more to offer thanks to Riordan’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.
