Interested in reading fantasy but not sure where to start? Take a look at our top ten recommended fantastical and magical fiction books!
From genre archetypes to new releases and bestsellers, browse our suggestions and borrow a copy for free with your library card.
Want more suggested books? Take a look at our recommendations.
The Fellowship of the Ring
J.R.R. Tolkien
In a quiet village in the Shire, young Frodo is about to receive a gift that will change his life forever. Thought lost centuries ago, it is the One Ring, an object of terrifying power once used by the Dark Lord to enslave Middle-earth.
Now darkness is rising, and Frodo must travel deep into the Dark Lord’s realm, to the one place the Ring can be destroyed: Mount Doom. The journey will test Frodo’s courage, his friendships and his heart.
Because the ring corrupts all who bear it – can Frodo destroy it, or will it destroy him?
A Darker Shade of Magic
V.E. Schwab
Most people only know one London; but what if there were several?
Kell is one of the last Travelers – magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel Londons.
There’s Grey London, dirty and crowded and without magic, home to the mad king George III. There’s Red London, where life and magic are revered. Then, White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne.
But once upon a time, there was Black London.
A Game of Thrones
George R.R. Martin
Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.
As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must … and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.
The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas
Feyre is a huntress, but when she kills what she thinks is a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor, Tamlin, is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal Fae.
And there’s more to the Fae than the legends suggest.
As Feyre adapts to her new home, her feelings for Tamlin begin to change. Icy hostility turns to fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But shadows are creeping in, and Tamlin has a dark secret that he cannot share.
Fate brought Feyre to Tamlin for a reason, but saving him from the darkness that threatens his world will lead her down a path that she can never return from.
The Gunslinger
Stephen King
In this first novel in his epic fantasy masterpiece, Stephen King introduces readers to one of his most enigmatic heroes, Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner, on a spellbinding journey into good and evil, in a desolate world which frighteningly echoes our own.
In his first step towards the powerful and mysterious Dark Tower, Roland encounters an alluring woman named Alice, begins a friendship with Jake, a kid from New York, and faces an agonising choice between damnation and salvation as he pursues the Man in Black.
Dragonflight
Anne McCaffrey
On a beautiful world called Pern, Lessa is an outcast survivor – her parents murdered, her birthright stolen – a fierce young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge.
That is, until an ambitious young dragonrider, F’lar, offers her something even greater: the chance to lead Pern at his side by Impressing a golden dragon with whom she will share a telepathic bond more intimate than any human connection.
Although there is also her intense relationship with F’lar himself. But Lessa’s fierceness and courage will be put to the test when an ancient scourge returns to the land: a deadly silver spore that falls from the sky, destroying all it touches. Only dragons can fight this Thread, and there are not enough dragons to protect all of Pern.
Lessa and her dragon may hold the key to their world’s salvation – but executing her daring plan may be costlier than she ever envisioned.
Blood of Elves
Andrzej Sapkowski
The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, holds the fate of the world in his hands in the first novel in ‘The Witcher’ series that inspired the Netflix show and video games.
For over 100 years, humans, dwarves, gnomes and elves lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over and now the races are fighting once again – killing their own kind and each other.
Into this tumultuous time is born a child of prophecy, Ciri, surviving heiress of a bloody revolution, whose strange abilities can change the world – for good, or for evil.
As the threat of war hangs over the land, Geralt the Witcher must protect Ciri from those who are hunting the child for her destructive power. But this time, Geralt may have met his match.
Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros
Welcome to the brutal and elite world of Basgiath War College, where everyone has an agenda, and every night could be your last.
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general – also known as her tough-as-talons mother – has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away – because dragons don’t bond to ‘fragile’ humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter – like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
The Gilded Ones
Namina Forna
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.
But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity – and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.
Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki – near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat.
The Name of the Wind
Patrick Rothfuss
‘I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
My name is Kvothe.
You may have heard of me’
So begins the tale of Kvothe – currently known as Kote, the unassuming innkeepter – from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, through his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic.
In these pages you will come to know Kvothe the notorious magician, the accomplished thief, the masterful musician, the dragon-slayer, the legend-hunter, the lover, the thief and the infamous assassin.
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