When you hear the term “Fantasy Books” you may picture talking animals and wizards. You may then assume that “adult” literature are better than fantasy books. It would be inappropriate to do so. There is a broad variety of fantasy literature, ranging from young adult through classics. Reality is twisted in ways that are attractive, scary, and fascinating.
Once upon a time, fantasy fans hidden their passion for sword and sorcery from the rest of the world. The only places where wizards and sorcerers were discussed were comic book conventions and gangs of sweaty adolescents hunched over card tables in suburban basements. We are now in the Age of the Nerd, a period when Game of Thrones was the most successful television shows of all time, when Amazon began investing tens of millions of dollars on fantasy intellectual property, and when Joe Manganiello and Joseph Gordon-Levitt proudly played Dungeons & Dragons.
The Illiad and Beowulf, which are extremely ancient tales, have many similarities with fantasy tales. It often utilizes magic to demonstrate how people might behave if the laws of reality were altered. Some novels have intricate worlds and characters that are spanned over many volumes so that readers will continue to return for more. Others, such as Lord of the Rings and the Marvel Comic Universe, have spawned decades of copycats and spinoffs, including a large number of high-budget films and television shows.
Literature is both an escape from and an education about the reality. It is a means to be amused while learning about the self and the spectrum of human emotions and imagination. Fantasy is one of the greatest and clearest examples of how literature can be both an escape from reality and a method to learn more about it. It is so difficult to compile a list of the 9 finest fantasy books ever written.
Top 9 Fantasy Books in 2023
Conquer the Kingdom: A Thrilling Fantasy Adventure by Jennifer Estep
In the third and last book of the Gargoyle Queen trilogy, Princess Gemma Ripley fights the hardest battle of her life. She might be the best spy, mind mage, and gargoyle rider in her kingdom, but she will need everything she has to make it through the gladiator tournament. Plus, her new relationship with Prince Leonidas Morricone makes her more open to danger than ever. Leo will always be a prince from a rival country, even though he has shown over and over that he will support her above all else. But if she doesn’t want her kingdom to fall, she will have to deal with threats from both inside and outside and win.
Nocturne: A Dark and Mysterious Tale by Alyssa Wees
Grace Dragotta’s dream has always been to be a dancer. When she loses her parents, she chooses the Near North Ballet company as her new home because she wants to live a beautiful life, unlike the poor one she had growing up as an immigrant. Years later, when the Great Depression is in full swing, Grace has reached her dream of being the best dancer at the company, but it’s not as life-changing as she thought it would be. When a mysterious customer shows her that the world is bigger than she thought, she starts to discover secrets that show her that even in the dark, there can be beauty.
The Stolen Heir: A Gripping Fantasy Mystery by Holly Black
The Stolen Heir is the first book in a new, exciting duology full of magic, mystery, and intrigue. It takes place in the magical world of Elfhame.
Since the Battle of the Serpent, which happened almost ten years ago, Suren, the child queen of the Court of Teeth, hasn’t been able to get her mother off the throne or stop her from terrorizing the human world with her monsters.
When she runs into Prince Oak, who is the heir to Elfhame and was once engaged to her, she is suspicious of what he is up to. However, she has few friends and even fewer allies, so he may be her only chance of getting back to where she belongs as Queen of the Court of Teeth.
But first, she has to help him on a mission that will take her to the heart of Elfhame and force her to face everything she left behind.
The Foxglove King: A Magical and Enchanting Journey by Hannah Whitten
When an illegal magic runner is caught by the kingdom’s warrior monks, she is given a choice: either help the King figure out why villages are dying, or she will be killed. She chooses to help the King figure out why villages are dying. Lore has learned enough about death magic to stay hidden, fed, and safe from the cult that tried to kill her ten years ago. However, she might not be able to handle the dangers she will face in order to do what the King wants. When the first book in The Nightshade Kingdom series comes out, fans of For the Wolf will be excited because it promises epic love, deadly magic, and even deadlier stakes.
The Daughters of Izdihar: An Epic Fantasy Tale of Power and Betrayal by Hadeer Elsbai
Nehal only wants to get good at water weaving so she can be useful on the battlefield. But her parents are crushed by her dad’s gambling debts, so she is forced to marry into a wealthy merchant family. Nico, her new husband, is not only cold and distant, but he also loves another woman, a bookseller named Giorgina who is a secret earth weaver. Giorgina and Nehal are very different, but they have more in common than they think. They are brought together by a radical women’s group led by Malak Mamdouh, which gives them comfort as they fight for their rights. As war looms, the women fight for their freedom, and a neighboring country threatens to end weaving and weavers for good it is one of the best fantasy books.
Song of Silver, Flame like Night: A Captivating Fantasy by Amélie Wen Zhao
In this story about colonialism and the power of love to last, Amélie Wen Zhao creates a rich fantasy world full of folklore, Chinese mythology, complex characters, and lyrical prose.
A long time ago, Lan had a different name. Now, she goes by the name the Elantian colonists gave her when they took over her city, killed her mother, and stopped her people from using magic.
When a practitioner of Zen magic finds Lan and sees a mark on her arm, he knows it is a sign of her great power and the key to getting rid of the Elantian government.
The Eye of the World: A Classic Fantasy Epic by Robert Jordan
The Dark One, a bad force locked up in a cell that is getting weaker, is a threat to the whole world. On the slopes of a snowy mountain, the Dragon Reborn is born to a dying warrior woman. The Dragon Reborn is a reincarnated saviour with powerful magical skills. In The Wheel of Time, a 14-book series, he tries to defeat the Dark One with the help of a group of village kids. The world-building is amazing, the characters are unforgettable, and the story ends in a satisfying way.
Hell Bent: A Dark and Intense Fantasy Thriller by Leigh Bardugo
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is back in this Ivy League fantasy about money, power, murder, and magic, which is the sequel to his best-selling book The Ninth House. It may sound easy to find a way to the underworld and steal a soul from hell, but very few people make it back alive, which is why it is forbidden. Alex and Dawes are determined to get Darlington out of purgatory, so they gather a questionable group of allies and travel through complicated texts, strange artefacts, and dark university secrets. Alex knows it’s not a coincidence when teachers start dying off one by one.
Bitter Medicine: A Gripping Fantasy Mystery by Mia Tsai
In this first urban fantasy book, inspired by the Chinese fantasy genre xianxia, Elle, a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine, falls in love with Luc, a half-elf client. Elle is supposed to be a doctor, but she works as a magical calligrapher at a fairy temp agency to hide from her younger brother, who is a killer. When Elle saves the top security agent at the agency, she ends up helping him find her younger brother while trying not to fall hopelessly in love with him. If you want to escape from reality, you can read these fantasy books.
About Author: The content is written by Maha. She has five years of experience in writing entertainment articles.
