The All Time Best Fantasy Books 2021
If you’ve followed me for long enough, you know I’m addicted to reading. I’m the monster that puts 10+ books on hold at the library and ends up only reading half of them. Life pro tip- don’t waste your time on books that aren’t interesting to you. There are so many books out there to read! Here is my current all time favorite fantasy books list as of this post date. I’m currently reading The Mistborn trilogy and expect that to jump up high on the list.
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
Yes, the entire series wins first place for me. Philip Pullman is a genius when it comes to creating characters, worlds, and the science that makes up the different dimensions in his books. I loved this series so much, I wish I could erase my memory of it and read it for the first time again. Something that doesn’t happen often with series is they get better with each book. That’s exactly what happened here for me. I loved Golden Compass, but the characters and plot line is more developed in The Subtle Knife. It gets even better by the the third book because you’re so invested and feel like you’re apart of the team. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and even rushed to read the prequel. The HBO series is also worth a watch after you read the books.
2. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
I know, another trilogy?! You should be excited, everyone knows life is better when you get hooked on a series of books. Much less work to find the next book to read. This series is not as popular as His Dark Materials, so I have to work a bit harder to sell it. The Amulet of Samarkand is the first book in the series and it follows Nathaniel, a young boy who is a magicians apprentice. He is humiliated by a big shot magician named Simon Lovelace at a large party. Nathaniel’s only goal at this point is to seek revenge on Lovelace. He decides to teach himself everything he can and speed up his lessons. He finally learns how to summon a djinni (spirit creature) named Bartimaeus. At this point he has him go and steal The Amulet of Samarkand (a prized possession of Simon’s)…and chaos ensues. I got hooked on this series and read all three books in a very short amount of time. Let me know if you’ve read this series or plan on it.
3. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
This is apart of The Cemetery of Forgotten books series, but I enjoyed this one the most. This is a chaotic mystery to follow, so you will have to go back and reread things to make sure you understand. But, I believe the effort is worth it in the end. This novel follows Daniel in 1945, the son of an antiquarian book seller, who is struggling with the loss of his mother. He has a strong passion for writing and reading. His father takes him to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten books to pick one out. Daniel decides on The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax, and wants to read more by this author. He discovers that someone has been destroying Carax’s books. Murder, madness, and doomed love ensue. This book hooks you from the beginning and you can not put it down. This is not a predictable ending at ALL!
4. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
A classic must read! I don’t prefer The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but LOVE The Hobbit. This books follows Bilbo Baggins and his adventure with Thorin and his group of dwarves to reclaim the treasure being guarded by Smaug the dragon.
5. The Chaos Walking Series by Patrick Ness
Yet another series! But, trust me, each one is worth your time and energy. This series is about a boy named Todd Hewitt and he lives in a town with no women. The women died when the Noise germ started infecting settlers. You might be wondering ‘what is the noise germ?’. Well, it allows you to hear what everyone is thinking, but everyone can also hear what you are thinking. Todd is the last boy in the town to become a man. He figures out that the town is hiding something from him and he runs away with his dog. While running away from the angry settlers, he runs into…a girl! Her family crashed their spaceship on Todd’s planet. They must follow a map Todd found in his mother’s diary to another town where they should be safe. This is another page turner, so make sure you have the time to read this whole thing in a few sittings.
Let me know what you’re all time favorite fantasy books are! I’m always looking to add to my reading list. Thanks for reading friends!