There exists in this world a particular species of reader—you know the sort—who yearns not merely for a story, but for a whole other world to inhabit. They wish to lose themselves utterly, to wander through lands where magic crackles in the air and destiny weighs heavy upon unlikely shoulders. If you are such a creature, dear reader, then come along, for we have much to discuss.
The Finest High Fantasy Books of 2025
The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
Here is a debut that arrived like a thunderclap in the spring of 2025, and what a magnificent storm it proved to be! In the Empire of Orrun, where citizens pledge themselves to eight guardian gods—the Fox, the Raven, the Tiger, and others besides—a tournament to choose the next emperor takes a decidedly murderous turn.
Our heroine is Neema Kraa, the emperor’s High Scholar, brilliant and beautifully awkward in equal measure. When one contestant is found dead in circumstances prophesied to herald the world’s end, Neema must solve the murder whilst competing in the very trials herself. At over six hundred pages, this tale should feel long, yet readers report devouring it as though enchanted. NPR declared it “the 2025 fantasy novel to beat.”
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
V.E. Schwab, that magnificent weaver of dark enchantments, delivered a vampire tale spanning centuries in June of 2025. Three women across three different eras each confront the gift—or curse—of immortality, their stories braiding together in ways both heartbreaking and horrifying.
This is no sparkling, romantic affair with the undead. Schwab explores what it means when power and age sit differently in women’s bodies, when the hunger for control in a world made by men becomes quite literal. The prose dazzles, the structure delights, and readers who surrender to its considerable length (over five hundred pages) emerge thoroughly haunted. It became a #1 New York Times bestseller and won the 2025 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy.
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
Some clever souls thought to combine the detective mystery with epic fantasy, and Robert Jackson Bennett has done so with considerable panache. Ana Dolabra is perhaps the most eccentric detective since Sherlock Holmes himself—a woman so brilliant she must live blindfolded lest ordinary life overwhelm her magnificent mind.
In this sequel to The Tainted Cup, a Treasury officer vanishes from a locked and warded tower, and Ana, accompanied by her long-suffering assistant Dinios Kol, must determine how a murderer passed through sealed doors like a ghost. Publishers Weekly called it “wonderfully clever and compulsively readable,” and indeed it is.
What Treasures Await in 2026
The coming year promises adventures aplenty. Brandon Sanderson returns with a new standalone in his beloved Cosmere universe, whilst Martha Wells continues The Murderbot Diaries. Shannon Chakraborty delivers the second volume of her Amina al-Sirafi series, and Pierce Brown concludes Red Rising with a thousand-page finale.
Freya Marske offers a magical medical school murder mystery, and T. Kingfisher asks us to love goblins as dearly as Tolkien taught us to love hobbits. The season of 2026 shall be rich indeed for readers of fantastical persuasion. Join us as we highlight these coming treasures each week.
The All-Time Classics: Where Every Journey Must Begin
As we await these upcoming volumes, let us not forget the foundational pillars upon which the genre was built—for every work of high fantasy in all the years to come stands upon the shoulders of giants.
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
One simply cannot speak of high fantasy without first genuflecting before the master himself. Tolkien did not merely write a story—he invented a mythology, complete with languages, histories, and songs enough to fill libraries. This tale of a humble hobbit entrusted with destroying the One Ring has sold over 150 million copies and been named Britain’s “Best-loved Novel.”
What makes it endure? Perhaps it is the genuine heroism of small folk facing impossible odds, or the friendship between companions who would die for one another, or simply prose so beautiful it makes the heart ache. Every fantasy novel since exists in conversation with this masterwork.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Before there was a certain boy wizard at a certain British school, there was Ged—a young man of the island of Gontish whose natural gift for magic runs dangerously ahead of his wisdom. In this slender, perfect book, Le Guin created something that reads as though it had always existed, like a myth recovered rather than invented.
Margaret Atwood called it one of the “wellsprings” of fantasy literature, and so it remains. The magic system is elegant, the themes profound, and the prose possesses a quality of oral storytelling, as though someone wise were speaking beside a fire.
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Here we enter darker territory altogether. Martin’s epic opens a door into Westeros, a world where “summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime,” where noble houses scheme and slaughter whilst an ancient evil stirs in the frozen north. This is fantasy for those who prefer their heroes morally ambiguous and their beloved characters frequently deceased.
Publishers Weekly praised it as “extraordinarily rich,” and rich it is—in intrigue, in consequence, in the kind of storytelling that trusts readers to handle complexity. Martin has been called “the American Tolkien,” though his vision is considerably bloodier than anything from Middle-earth.
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
For readers who wish their fantasy truly epic in scale, Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive awaits. This first volume alone exceeds a thousand pages, introducing a world of stone and storms where magic comes from tempests and ancient oaths may yet be renewed.
Sanderson is perhaps the most meticulous worldbuilder currently writing, his magic systems operating with the precision of scientific laws. The characters suffer beautifully—Kaladin’s depression is rendered with genuine understanding—and the heroism, when it comes, feels earned. This is the series for those who wish to be utterly, magnificently lost.
Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
I must issue a warning, dear reader: Steven Erikson’s ten-volume masterwork is not for the faint of heart. With over four hundred point-of-view characters spanning continents and dimensions, with each volume averaging a thousand pages, this series demands commitment of the most serious variety.
And yet, those who complete the journey speak of it in hushed, reverent tones. One reviewer called it “the culmination of one of the greatest literary achievements of our time.” Erikson draws upon his background as an anthropologist and archaeologist, creating a world of staggering depth and moral complexity.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
This is the story of Kvothe, a legendary figure who has retired to obscurity as an innkeeper, now telling the tale of how he became the myth. The prose is lyrical enough to make Ursula Le Guin herself offer praise, the magic system intriguing, and the mystery of what brought our hero so low genuinely compelling.
George R.R. Martin declared it “the best epic fantasy I read last year,” adding that Rothfuss is “bloody good.” A word of caution: the trilogy remains incomplete, and Rothfuss writes at what might charitably be called a contemplative pace. But what exists is genuinely magnificent.
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Robin Hobb achieves something rare and precious in this tale of FitzChivalry, a royal bastard trained as an assassin. The first-person narration is so intimate, so perfectly rendered, that readers feel they have lived alongside this boy as he navigates a court full of danger.
George R.R. Martin praised the series as “fantasy as it ought to be written,” and indeed the character work here sets a standard few can match. Hobb continued Fitz’s story across multiple trilogies, creating one of fantasy’s most beloved and thoroughly explored protagonists.
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
If you desire your fantasy dark as a moonless night and sharp as broken glass, Joe Abercrombie awaits. The First Law trilogy follows deeply flawed characters through a story that gleefully subverts every expectation of the genre. There is no chosen one, no clear virtue, only power and the terrible things people do to seize it.
And yet, somehow, it remains wickedly entertaining—funny, even, in its savage way. Abercrombie’s prose has a quality of dangerous wit, and his characters, for all their many sins, become oddly dear. This is grimdark fantasy at its finest.
The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman
Here is a rogue’s tale told in the rogue’s own delightful voice. Kinch Na Shannack is a thief who owes his guild a considerable sum for his education in the criminal arts, and when he attempts to rob the wrong knight, finds himself swept into an adventure involving goblin wars, giant battle ravens, and assassins who kill with magical tattoos.
Robin Hobb called it “dazzling,” and the comparison to Scott Lynch’s beloved Locke Lamora novels is apt. Buehlman brings his horror-writing background to fantasy, creating something genuinely original and thoroughly entertaining.
Finding Your Perfect Gateway
For those new to the genre, I might suggest beginning with A Wizard of Earthsea or The Name of the Wind—shorter, complete experiences that showcase fantasy’s possibilities. Veterans hungry for commitment might dive into Stormlight Archive or Malazan, prepared to lose themselves for months. And those who prefer their tales sharp and bloody should make directly for Joe Abercrombie’s waiting blade.
Whatever path you choose, know that each of these books represents the very finest the genre offers—worlds to inhabit, characters to love and mourn, adventures that shall linger in memory long after the final page is turned. Happy wandering, dear reader. The stories are waiting.
