There exists in the hearts of readers a particular longing—not for dragons alone, nor for swords that gleam in torchlight, but for something altogether more precious. It is the longing for belonging, for that moment when strangers look upon one another and discover, quite without meaning to, that they have become a family.
If you have felt this longing whilst turning pages late into the night, you have come to the right place.
What Makes the Found Family Trope So Enchanting in High Fantasy?
The found family trope works a peculiar magic in fantasy literature. One might say it is because these worlds of dragons and dark lords strip away the ordinary constraints of society, allowing bonds to form between the most unlikely of souls. A barbarian and a baker. A thief and a nobleman. A monster and a monk.
In these tales, family is not a matter of blood but of choice—of standing shoulder to shoulder when darkness falls and discovering that strangers have become something infinitely more dear.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Should you seek a tale that shall make your heart grow three sizes whilst simultaneously making you weep into your tea, look no further. Here we meet Linus Baker, a caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth—a man of rules and regulations who has never quite belonged anywhere himself.
When Linus is dispatched to investigate a most unusual orphanage, he discovers six extraordinary children, including one who happens to be the Antichrist. The proprietor, Arthur Parnassus, has created not an institution but a home, where even the most feared among magical children might know love.
This Lambda Award-winning novel has brought readers to tears—the good sort of tears, mind you—with its message that family is what we make of it, and that the most unexpected souls often need each other most desperately.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
In the harbor city of Ketterdam, where criminals rule the streets and danger lurks in every shadow, a young man called Kaz Brekker assembles the most improbable crew imaginable. They are thieves, spies, and outcasts—six souls with nothing in common save their broken pasts and their desperate need for one last impossible heist.
What makes Kaz’s crew so beloved is not their cleverness, though they are terribly clever. It is how these six wounded souls, who trust no one and believe in nothing, slowly become everything to each other. Inej, Nina, Jesper, Wylan, and Matthias—each carries scars both visible and hidden, yet together they become something unbreakable.
The Grishaverse phenomenon has captured millions of hearts, and this duology represents its very finest achievement in found family storytelling.
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
Picture, if you will, a world where mercenary bands are treated like rock stars, complete with adoring fans and legendary reputations. Now imagine that the greatest band of all time has grown old, fat, and thoroughly retired—until one of their number appears at a doorstep with desperate news.
Clay Cooper and his former bandmates must reassemble for one final tour through the monster-infested Heartwyld forest. Gabriel’s daughter is trapped in a besieged city, and only Saga can save her. What follows is a riotous adventure full of humor, heart, and the profound truth that a band truly is a family.
Nicholas Eames delivers what reviewers have called “escapism of the finest type”—noble quests, heart-pounding action, and characters who carve out their own definition of family.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
What happens when a battle-worn barbarian decides she has had quite enough of raising hell and wishes instead to raise lattes? Viv the orc has retired from mercenary life with a dream: to open the first coffee shop in a city that has never heard of such a thing.
What unfolds is something altogether magical—not the sort with fireballs and enchantments, but the quieter magic of friendship. A himbo builder, a charming succubus, and an absolutely adorable rattkin named Thimble become not merely employees but family.
This cozy fantasy became a sensation for good reason. It proves that the grandest adventures sometimes involve nothing more dangerous than perfecting a pastry recipe—and that chosen family tastes rather like a perfectly pulled espresso.
The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards
Rune Saint John is the last surviving member of the fallen Sun Court, and he carries his grief like a second shadow. Together with Brand, his companion and bodyguard, Rune takes dangerous odd jobs on New Atlantis—the island refuge of the magical Atlanteans.
What makes this series extraordinary is the relationship between Rune and Brand. Their bond, forged in trauma and strengthened through years of loyalty, forms the foundation upon which an ever-growing found family is built. The banter between them is delightful, but it is the small moments—the hugs freely given, the fierce protectiveness, the way Rune speaks of “my Brand”—that capture readers’ hearts.
The Tarot Sequence has been praised for weaving intricate politics with the powerful themes of loss and found family, creating something altogether irresistible.
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Be warned, gentle reader: this tale is not for the faint of heart. R.F. Kuang has crafted a grimdark masterpiece that draws upon the darkest chapters of twentieth-century history, and she does not shy from brutality.
Yet within this darkness, Fang Runin—called Rin—discovers something precious. At Sinegard military academy and throughout the horrors of war, she finds companions who become her strange and dangerous family. These bonds are tested by fire and blood, making them all the more powerful for having survived.
The Poppy War trilogy has earned nominations for the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards, and readers have called it “a towering achievement of modern fantasy.”
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Long before the Studio Ghibli film enchanted a new generation, Diana Wynne Jones gave us Sophie Hatter—a young woman cursed into old age who marches into the castle of a notorious wizard and promptly begins tidying up.
What Sophie finds within that ramshackle moving castle is a family waiting to happen. There is Calcifer, the snarky fire demon bound to the castle’s hearth. Michael, the apprentice trying his best. And Howl himself, vain and dramatic and secretly far kinder than his reputation suggests.
Sophie whips them all into shape, and in doing so, discovers that she has found where she belongs. This 1986 classic remains one of the most beloved found family tales in all of fantasy literature.
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
What becomes of children who have walked through magical doorways into other worlds, only to be returned? Seanan McGuire answers this question with Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children—a place where such children might find others who understand.
Nancy once traveled to the land of the dead. Kade lived among goblins and fairies. Jack and Jill knew a world of vampires and mad scientists. Together, these strange and wounded souls form bonds that outsiders could never comprehend.
This Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning novella has been called “a mini-masterpiece of portal fantasy,” and its exploration of belonging among the strange and broken is nothing short of magnificent.
The Lightbringer Series by Brent Weeks
Beginning with The Black Prism, Brent Weeks introduces us to a world where magic is drawn from light itself—a chromatic system as intricate and fascinating as anything in fantasy literature. At its heart is Gavin Guile, the most powerful man alive, who discovers that his kingdom and his secrets are both beginning to unravel.
Throughout five volumes, unlikely alliances form and deepen into something resembling family. The bonds between characters—forged in desperate circumstances and tested repeatedly—provide the emotional anchor for this epic tale of light, shadow, and sacrifice.
Readers who adore Brandon Sanderson’s intricate magic systems will find much to love here, along with the found family dynamics they crave.
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
In 2025, Joe Abercrombie unleashed something deliciously wicked upon the world. Brother Diaz, a monk of middling courage, is assigned to shepherd the most unlikely flock imaginable: a cursed knight, a pirate, a werewolf, a vampire, a necromancer, and an elf.
These literal monsters and outcasts must escort a thief-turned-princess to claim her throne in Troy. What emerges is, as reviewers have noted, “the fantasy Suicide Squad”—a band of misfits who keep bungling everything yet somehow get the job done.
The found family dynamics here are wickedly entertaining. These are not noble heroes learning to love each other. They are monsters learning they might actually care whether the others survive—and that is perhaps even more moving.
The Bound and the Broken by Ryan Cahill
Ryan Cahill has crafted something special for readers who hunger for epic fantasy with dragons, magic, and a chosen one navigating a shattered world. Beginning with Of Blood and Fire, this indie sensation delivers everything the genre promises—and at its heart beats a story of found family.
The band of companions who gather around our protagonist must navigate treacherous lands where everyone wants them dead. Through danger and sacrifice, strangers become brothers and sisters in arms.
The series has garnered such acclaim that The Broken Binding Press acquired it in a major six-figure deal, introducing this beloved found family saga to an even wider audience.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
Three-time Hugo Award winner N.K. Jemisin reimagines New York City as a living entity that awakens through human avatars. When the primary avatar falls into a supernatural coma, five individuals—each representing one of the city’s five boroughs—must find each other and unite.
Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island: five strangers who would never otherwise meet, forced to become something like family in order to save their city from an ancient, eldritch threat.
The found family here is born of necessity, but what grows between these wildly different souls becomes the very power that might save them all.
Honorable Mentions Worth Your Attention
For those whose appetite for found family fantasy remains unsatisfied, consider also Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, where dragon riders form fierce bonds amidst deadly training. Or seek out the delightful Bookshops and Bonedust, Travis Baldree’s prequel to Legends & Lattes.
Finding Your Perfect Found Family Fantasy
The books gathered here represent the very finest the genre offers—tales where misfits become families, where strangers discover they would die for one another, where belonging is earned rather than inherited.
Whether you prefer the cozy warmth of a coffee shop or the blood-soaked darkness of war, whether you seek humor or heartbreak, there exists a found family waiting to welcome you.
For is that not, in the end, what we all seek when we open a book? Not merely adventure or escape, but the reassurance that somewhere, even in worlds of magic and monsters, there exists a place where we might perfectly, magnificently belong.
Now then, dear reader—which family shall you join first?
