Fantasy has become one of the most popular genres today, especially with the rise of social media tags like romantasy, dark fantasy, and cozy fantasy. I’m not surprised. It’s one of the best entry genres for new readers because it gives the same immersive feeling as a great movie — your brain is constantly being pulled into new worlds, new creatures, and new magic.

Fantasy is also closely intertwined with my favorite genre, science fiction, and so whenever I’m in a reading slump, I know I need a fast-paced fantasy to pull me out of it. The only danger is that once I start, I usually don’t want to stop reading for several days. Slump to binge.

Here are the best fantasy books to get lost in.

George R.R. Martin

In Westeros, noble families compete for control of the Iron Throne after the king brings Lord Stark to his court. As political alliances fracture into betrayal and assassination, Stark uncovers dangerous truths about the royal bloodline. Beyond the Wall, an ancient threat begins to stir as the realm turns inward on itself.

Susanna Clark

Within an endless House of marble halls, flooded chambers, and towering statues, Piranesi lives a quiet and orderly life shaped by wonder. But as strange messages appear and hidden memories resurface, he begins to think he is not alone, and slowly uncovers truths about the House.

Patrick Rothfuss

Kvothe, now living in hiding, agrees to tell the story of his life as a legendary figure. He recounts his childhood in a traveling troupe destroyed by mysterious enemies, his survival on the streets, and his admission to the University where he learns sympathy magic while hunting knowledge about the forces that ruined his family.

Brandon Sanderson

In a world ruled for a thousand years by the immortal Lord Ruler, ash falls constantly and the oppressed skaa live in slavery. Thief Vin discovers she is Mistborn, able to use metals to gain powers. She is recruited by rebel leader Kelsier to infiltrate noble society and attempt to overthrow the empire from within.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

After crashing in the desert, a pilot meets a boy who claims to have visited multiple tiny planets. As the Little Prince recounts his life, complete with figures like a king, a businessman, and a fox, each story reveals why he left his home and what he is searching for in the universe.

Mark Lawrence

Jorg Ancrath leads a violent outlaw band across a fractured kingdom after fleeing his royal past. Driven by revenge for the murder of his mother and brother, he begins reclaiming castles and power. His rise is shaped by brutality and increasingly dark choices about what kind of ruler he will become.

Brent Weeks

Azoth, a street orphan, becomes apprentice to Durzo Blint, the most feared assassin in the city. Trained in killing, he is renamed Kylar and pulled into political assassinations tied to the kingdom’s power struggle. As he grows stronger, he struggles to escape the identity he is being shaped into.

Guy Gavriel Kay

In a kingdom inspired by medieval Spain, rival religious and political factions compete for control of Al-Rassan. A soldier, a physician, and a poet form relationships across opposing sides. As war escalates, personal loyalties are forced into conflict with duty and survival.

V.E. Schwab

In 1714 France, Addie makes a deal to escape an unwanted marriage, gaining immortality but being forgotten the moment she leaves anyone’s sight. She learns to survive across centuries by leaving subtle marks on art and people’s lives. Everything changes when she meets someone who remembers her.

Anthony Ryan

Vaelin is taken from his family and raised in the Sixth Order, where boys are trained as warrior-monks serving the king. He rises through brutal training and battlefield trials while he uncovers secrets tied to his past and the kingdom’s leadership.

James Islington

Vis, living under a false identity, enters the Catenan Academy where obedience literally transfers power to the ruling elite. He competes in deadly academic and physical trials while investigating the empire that killed his family. As he climbs higher, he discovers the system is built on far deeper secrets than he expected.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Frodo inherits a mysterious ring from his uncle Bilbo, learning it is the weapon of Sauron, who seeks to reclaim it. He sets out to destroy it in Mount Doom while being hunted by forces of darkness. As the journey fractures the group, the Ring increasingly tempts and corrupts those who carry it.

Paulo Coelho

Santiago leaves his life as a shepherd after recurring dreams of treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. Along his journey through North Africa, he meets mentors who push him toward following his “Personal Legend.” His search for treasure gradually becomes a lesson in understanding purpose and choice.

Scott Lynch

Locke leads the Gentleman Bastards, a group of con artists who scam wealthy nobles in the city of Camorr. Their schemes work until a criminal mastermind known as the Gray King begins killing off the city’s underworld. Locke is forced into a deadly game of survival where deception no longer guarantees safety.

Joe Abercrombie

War is approaching as three lives converge: a vain noble forced into military training, a barbarian dragged south after a failed quest, and a crippled inquisitor investigating political corruption. Each becomes entangled in a larger conflict involving invasion, betrayal, and shifting power in the Union.

Olivie Blake

Six magicians are recruited into the Alexandrian Society, which controls access to lost magical knowledge. Only five will be chosen after a year of evaluation. As they study ancient magic and compete for survival, alliances form and break while they uncover the cost of the power they’re pursuing.

Evan Winter

Tau lives in a rigid caste society where warriors bond with dragons and the lower classes are expendable. After his loved ones are killed in war, he abandons a peaceful life to pursue relentless combat training. His goal becomes singular: survive long enough to take revenge against those who destroyed his world.

M.L. Wang

In a secluded mountain village trained in elemental water magic, a mother and son struggle to meet expectations of honor. When foreign forces invade, the village’s isolation is shattered and its warriors are forced into real combat. The family is pushed to confront both personal and political truths about their way of life.

Erin Morgenstern

A mysterious circus appears without warning, open only at night and built entirely around magical exhibitions. Two young illusionists are bound into a competition by their mentors, each creating increasingly elaborate displays. As the contest progresses, the circus itself becomes unstable and the competitors realize they are more connected than they thought.

Tara Sim

The heirs of four magical realms are bound to dying gods whose power once held the world together. When the gods withdraw, the realms begin collapsing into war. The heirs are forced into an uneasy alliance while uncovering why the gods disappeared and what might replace them.

S.A. Chakraborty

Nahri, a con artist in Cairo, accidentally summons a djinn and is taken to the hidden city of Daevabad. There she becomes entangled in political factions fighting over control of the djinn court. As tensions rise, she learns her own origins may be tied to the city’s deepest conflicts.

R.F. Kuang

Robin Swift is brought to Oxford to study translation magic that powers Britain’s imperial dominance. At Babel, he works on silver inscriptions that turn language into industrial force. As he learns how the system supports colonial exploitation, he is forced to choose between success and resistance.

Holly Black

Charlie Hall works as a low-level con artist in a world where shadows can be manipulated, stolen, and weaponized. When a powerful figure from her past resurfaces, she is pulled into a conflict involving shadow magic, missing secrets, and dangerous clients. Her attempts to escape the underworld only draw her deeper into it.

Leigh Bardugo

Alex Stern is sent to Yale to monitor secret societies that secretly use real magic to influence wealth and power. When a student dies under suspicious circumstances, she is drawn into investigating rituals that connect the societies to darker forces. The deeper she investigates, the more she uncovers about the cost of their power.

R.F. Kuang

Rin enters an elite military academy after escaping poverty, surprising everyone with her talent and discipline. When war breaks out, she is sent to the front lines where she discovers a connection to destructive godlike power. As the conflict escalates, she is forced into increasingly brutal decisions about survival and vengeance.

Robin Hobb

Fitz, the illegitimate son of a prince, is raised in the royal court and trained as both assassin and spy. He becomes involved in political schemes while learning the mysterious Skill, a form of mental magic. As threats rise against the kingdom, he must choose between loyalty, survival, and identity.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Bilbo Baggins is recruited by Gandalf and a company of dwarves to help reclaim their homeland from the dragon Smaug. Along the journey through wild lands and dangerous creatures, Bilbo discovers hidden courage and acquires a mysterious ring. The quest changes both him and the fate of the wider world.