There exists a particular species of reader—perhaps you are one—who finishes a beloved fantasy novel and immediately feels the pang of parting. Three hundred pages simply will not do. We require worlds so vast that we might wander them for years, series so long that closing the final volume feels like leaving a second home.
We have gathered here the grandest, most sprawling epic fantasy series ever written. These are not modest trilogies but magnificent odysseys spanning dozens of volumes, thousands of pages, and countless hours of pure enchantment.
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (14 Books)
Here stands perhaps the most ambitious fantasy undertaking ever completed—fourteen volumes, each approaching a thousand pages, telling a tale where Ages come and go like seasons.
Robert Jordan crafted a world where time moves in cycles, where prophecy and free will dance together in uneasy partnership, and where the battle between Light and Shadow shapes the fate of nations. The magic system, wherein women channel safely while men risk madness, inverts our expectations most delightfully.
Jordan wrote eleven volumes before his untimely passing, whereupon Brandon Sanderson completed the final three with remarkable grace. The result is nothing less than the deepest, most richly detailed fantasy world many readers have ever encountered.
Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson (10 Books)
For those who find ordinary fantasy insufficiently complex, Steven Erikson offers a remedy so potent it has humbled many a confident reader.
Erikson, drawing upon his training as an anthropologist and archaeologist, constructed a world spanning hundreds of thousands of years. Vast legions of gods, mages, humans, and dragons play out the fate of empires across ten volumes that demand—and richly reward—the reader’s complete attention.
The series does not coddle. It drops us into events already in motion and trusts us to find our footing. Those who persevere discover what critics have called “the bar raised for fantasy literature.” This is storytelling for the most adventurous readers among us.
The Legend of Drizzt by R.A. Salvatore (40+ Books)
Forty volumes and counting! R.A. Salvatore has spent nearly four decades chronicling the adventures of Drizzt Do’Urden, a dark elf who turned his back on his evil kin to pursue honour in the sunlit world above.
Set within the Forgotten Realms, Drizzt’s journey from the underground city of Menzoberranzan to the frozen wilds of Icewind Dale has captivated over thirty-five million readers. The series offers swashbuckling adventure, loyal companionship, and the enduring question of whether one’s nature or choices define one’s character.
For readers seeking a series so long they might never reach its end, Salvatore’s dark elf provides perhaps the most reliable companionship in all of fantasy.
The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson (5 of 10 Planned Books)
Brandon Sanderson builds worlds the way master clockmakers build timepieces—every mechanism interlocking, every detail serving the whole.
On Roshar, a land scoured by magical highstorms, mystical Shardblades and Shardplate transform ordinary folk into near-invincible warriors. The magic system of Surgebinding, powered by captured stormlight and bonded spirits called spren, unfolds with satisfying logic across each massive volume.
With the recent publication of Wind and Truth, the first arc of this planned ten-book epic stands complete. Over ten million copies sold testify to Sanderson’s achievement. We witness here the creation of a modern classic in real time.
The Riftwar Cycle by Raymond E. Feist (30 Books)
Thirty novels spanning multiple generations, two worlds connected by dimensional rifts, and a scope that rivals any fantasy ever written—Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar Cycle offers adventure enough for a lifetime.
Beginning with Magician in 1982, Feist introduced us to the twin worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan, where magicians can tear holes through space itself. The series follows heroes across decades of in-world time, from the original Riftwar through conflicts that reshape entire civilizations.
Born from university role-playing campaigns, these novels retain that sense of collaborative wonder while achieving literary heights that have earned Feist over fifteen million readers worldwide.
Shannara by Terry Brooks (30+ Books)
In the Four Lands—a world that is, remarkably, our own Earth transformed by ancient cataclysm—Terry Brooks has woven a tapestry of magic and adventure spanning over thirty novels and four decades.
Beginning with The Sword of Shannara in 1977, Brooks introduced readers to a realm where the descendants of elves, dwarves, and humans struggle against dark forces that threaten to unmake their world. The Elfstones that protect against demonic invasion, the Wishsong that carries both blessing and curse—these magical inheritances pass through generations of the Ohmsford family.
Brooks announced his retirement in 2025, having created one of fantasy’s most enduring legacies. Here awaits a world so vast that new readers may wander its forests and mountains for years before glimpsing its borders.
Heralds of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey (30+ Books)
Mercedes Lackey, named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, has constructed a world spanning three thousand years of history across more than thirty novels.
In Valdemar, white Companions—telepathic horses of human-level intelligence—choose young people with good hearts and latent magical Gifts to become Heralds, the kingdom’s protectors. This premise, so elegantly simple, provides the foundation for interconnected trilogies exploring friendship, duty, and belonging.
The series includes groundbreaking representation, with The Last Herald-Mage trilogy featuring one of fantasy’s first openly heroic protagonists navigating matters of the heart alongside magical threats. Here is comfort reading of the highest order.
Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb (16 Books)
George R.R. Martin once described Robin Hobb’s work as “diamonds in a sea of zircons.” We find it difficult to disagree.
Across sixteen novels divided into five series, we follow FitzChivalry Farseer from his introduction as a royal bastard through a life shaped by duty, loyalty, and impossible choices. Fitz possesses two magical abilities: the telepathic Skill of the royal line and the socially despised Wit that bonds him to animals.
Hobb’s character work achieves Shakespearean depth, her prose carrying what critics call “redemptive humanism.” These books will move you profoundly and leave you somehow more fully yourself. Twenty-two years of publication resulted in one of fantasy’s most emotionally resonant achievements.
The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind (25+ Books)
Fifteen novels chronicle the journey of Richard Cypher—later Richard Rahl—from humble woods guide to Seeker of Truth, wielding the legendary Sword of Truth against forces that would enslave humanity. Spin-off series The Nicci Chronicles and Children of D’Hara extend the world further, offering devoted readers over twenty-five works set in this universe.
Alongside the Confessor Kahlan Amnell and the wizard Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander, Richard confronts first the tyrannical Darken Rahl and later the Imperial Order. The series sold over twenty-five million copies and was (somewhat loosely) adapted into the television series Legend of the Seeker.
Terry Goodkind, who passed in 2020, created a world where the battle between freedom and oppression plays out across sweeping landscapes and intimate character moments. For readers who devour epic fantasy at pace, here stands a feast sufficient for any appetite.
The Saga of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt Jr. (26 Books)
Twenty-six volumes and counting! L.E. Modesitt Jr. has constructed one of fantasy’s most rigorously logical magic systems—a world where Order and Chaos exist not as simple good and evil but as fundamental forces requiring balance.
Those who wield Order become craftsmen and healers, their magic manifesting through creation. Those who command Chaos become warriors and destroyers, their power flowing through destruction. The interplay between these forces shapes civilizations across more than two thousand years of history.
Modesitt, drawing upon his experience as a political staffer and economist, imbues his world with rare practical wisdom. His mages hold jobs—they are carpenters, smiths, and engineers. With nearly three million copies sold, the Saga of Recluce proves that magic bound by rules can enchant as thoroughly as any unfettered sorcery.
The Deverry Cycle by Katharine Kerr (16 Books)
In Deverry, souls return again and again, carrying the weight of past lives into present struggles. Katharine Kerr has woven sixteen novels around this central mystery—a Celtic-inspired epic where karma shapes destiny across centuries.
The series unfolds through time-shifting narratives, wherein we witness characters in their current incarnations and then journey backwards to understand how ancient oaths and betrayals have bound them together. The magic called dweomer serves not merely as power but as a path toward spiritual wisdom.
Kerr began writing what she expected to be a short story in 1982. The project grew into one of fantasy’s most ambitious explorations of fate, reincarnation, and the long consequences of choices made lifetimes ago.
Wars of Light and Shadow by Janny Wurts (11 Books)
Two half-brothers—one the Master of Light, the other the Master of Shadow—begin as allies against a world-choking Mistwraith, only to find themselves bound by a curse that sets them against one another across eleven volumes of devastating beauty.
Janny Wurts, who completed her saga in 2024 with Song of the Mysteries, drew inspiration from the Battle of Culloden Moor and the way history paints losers as villains. The brothers’ conflict forces readers to question assumptions about heroism and villainy, light and darkness, as nothing in this saga proves quite what it first appears.
The Wars of Light and Shadow asks who writes the histories and whether good intentions can birth monstrous acts. Here is high fantasy that refuses easy answers, demanding readers judge for themselves where their sympathies lie.
Dragonlance by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, and Others (190+ Books)
Upon the world of Krynn, where dragons return to wage war and ordinary folk must become heroes, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman launched one of fantasy’s most beloved shared universes.
Beginning with Dragons of Autumn Twilight in 1984, the Chronicles and Legends trilogies introduced us to Tanis Half-Elven, Raistlin Majere, and companions whose bonds of friendship would be tested by gods themselves. What began as six essential novels has expanded into a universe of over one hundred ninety books by dozens of authors.
Weis and Hickman themselves have written over thirty novels together across Dragonlance and other worlds. For those who wish to begin, the original six novels—affectionately called “The Holy Six” by devoted readers—provide the perfect gateway into Krynn’s wonders.
Osten Ard by Tad Williams (10+ Books)
Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy transformed fantasy when it appeared in the late 1980s—George R.R. Martin himself has named it as a primary influence on his own work. But the tale did not end there.
Beginning with The Dragonbone Chair in 1988, Williams followed young Simon from scullion to hero across a world threatened by the Storm King’s undead malice. Three decades later, Williams returned to Osten Ard with The Last King of Osten Ard tetralogy, along with bridging novels and prequels, expanding the saga to more than ten volumes.
Here is high fantasy in the grandest tradition—detailed languages, rich histories, and characters who grow from innocence to wisdom. Williams built the bridge between Tolkien and modern epic fantasy, and readers may walk it still.
The Belgariad and Malloreon by David Eddings (12 Books)
Across two pentalogies and two prequels, David Eddings crafted what many readers recall as their first true fantasy love—a tale of prophecy, destiny, and a farm boy drawn into an ancient conflict between rival powers.
Garion’s journey from Faldor’s farm, guided by the ancient sorcerer Belgarath and the sorceress Polgara, unfolds with warmth and wit across The Belgariad. The sequel series, The Malloreon, expands the scope to encompass the eastern continent and threats that make the first quest seem almost quaint.
The prequel novels Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress complete this most companionable of fantasy worlds. Here is the very definition of comfort reading—familiar tropes rendered with such affection that they feel like coming home.
Finding Your Next Epic Journey
The beauty of long series lies in their promise: commit yourself, and you shall not want for worlds to explore. Whether you seek the philosophical depth of Wurts, the swashbuckling adventure of Salvatore, the intricate plotting of Erikson, or the Celtic mysticism of Kerr, a doorway awaits.
We suggest you choose based on mood rather than reputation. In contemplative spirits, reach for Hobb or Williams. Craving action, take up Feist or Salvatore. Seeking rigorously logical magic, none surpass Modesitt. Desiring warmth and companionship, Eddings and Lackey await.
Each of these series represents an author’s life work, a world built with care over years or decades. To enter one is to accept an invitation into someone’s deepest creative achievement. We can think of few honours greater—for reader or writer alike.
