10 Essential Fantasy Books You Must Read at Least Once

Image via Collins Modern Classic Published Sep 6, 2026, 7:21 PM EDT Dyah (pronounced Dee-yah) is a Senior Author at Collider, responsible for both writing and transcription duties. She joined the website in 2022 as a Resource Writer before stepping into her current role in April 2023. As a Senior Author, she writes Features and Lists covering TV, music, and movies, making her a true Jill of all trades. In addition to her writing, Dyah also serves as an interview transcriber, primarily for events such as San Diego Comic-Con, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Sundance Film Festival. Dyah graduated from Satya Wacana Christian University in October 2019 with a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, concentrating on Creative Writing. She is currently completing her Master's degree in English Literature Studies, with a thesis on intersectionality in postcolonial-feminist studies in Asian literary works, and is expected to graduate in 2026. Born and raised between Indonesia and Singapore, Dyah is no stranger to different cultures. She now resides in the small town of Kendal with her husband and four cats, where she spends her free time cooking or cycling. Sign in to your Collider account When real life gets heavy, nothing beats a short escape into fantasy. With the earliest written fantasy story dating back to 2100 BCE with The Epic of Gilgamesh, humans have always had an innate tendency to create stories about otherworldly realms, figures, and adventures. Over time, writers have either created entirely new worlds of their own or reinterpreted the stories that have been passed down for generations. While the genre can be intimidatingly massive, those new to fantasy can use these books as an entry point into the genre. From a story about the literal power of translation to a mystery passed down through seven generations of the same family, these are essential fantasy books you need to read at least once. 'The Hobbit' (1937) Image via HarperCollins For those just getting started with fantasy books, J. R. R. Tolkien is essential reading. However, The Lord of the Rings can be a little intimidating for new readers. Its companion piece, The Hobbit, is a much easier introduction to Tolkien's expansive world of Middle-earth and the creatures that inhabit it. Following a straightforward adventure, The Hobbit is a lighthearted tale about Bilbo Baggins, a meek hobbit who is tasked with helping reclaim a lost kingdom and recover its stolen treasure from the greedy dragon Smaug. Just as Bilbo experiences this magical realm for the first time, so do readers, making the book feel like an adventure of their own. 'A Wizard of Earthsea' (1968) Image via Gollancz For a more ancient alternative to the Harry Potter books, look no further than Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea. This coming-of-age tale follows village boy Ged, who shows a raw talent for sorcery. Taken under the tutelage of the mage Ogion, Ged is hungry for more, leading him to the School on Roke. The magic in A Wizard of Earthsea is rooted in a logical system, with all its elements interconnected. When Ged performs a certain spell, there is a consequence. The book thus becomes a lesson about when to use—and not use—magic, a fundamental principle in the fantasy genre that's so simple, but because of human flaws like pride and ego, gets ignored. 'Mistborn: The Final Empire' (2006) Image via Tor Books The revolution will be magical. Mistborn: The Final Empire is set in Scadrial, a world ruled by the dictator Lord Ruler for thousands of years. A half-skaa thief and powerful Mistborn named Kelsier, who notoriously survived the Lord Ruler's labor camp, gears up to overthrow the regime with a band of misfits of his own. Although fantasy often indulges in meticulous world-building and complex geopolitical wars, Mistborn: The Final Empire is more interested in the spirit of a bunch of thieves, each carrying a specialized magical skill, as they perfect a heist-like rebellion. It's fast-paced and thrilling, but what makes it stand out is its unique approach to magic, where characters swallow metal flakes to gain specific abilities. 'Babel, or the Necessity of Violence' (2022) Image via Harper Voyager R. F. Kuang's Babel reimagines language not just as a mode of communication, but also as a weapon. Set in an alternate 1830s Britain, the dark academia fantasy follows Robin Swift, a Canton-born orphan who is brought to England and trained at Oxford's Royal Institute of Translation. It is here that he learns where the British Empire's power truly comes from. Although there is a magical element in Babel, the book also explores how institutions benefit from colonial exploitation, especially those that pride themselves on being the pinnacle of knowledge. Language becomes a source of wealth and control, forcing Robin and his friends to question the system they were once proud to be part of. Collider Exclusive · Middle-earth Quiz Which Lord of the RingsCharacter Are You? One Quiz · Ten Questions · Your Fate Revealed The road goes ever on. From the green hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Ten questions stand between you and the truth of who you are. Answer honestly — the One Ring has a way of revealing what we most want to hide. 💍Frodo 🌿Samwise 👑Aragorn 🔥Gandalf 🏹Legolas ⚒️Gimli 👁️Sauron 🪨Gollum BEGIN YOUR QUEST → 01 You are handed a responsibility that could destroy you. What do you do? The weight of the world falls on unlikely shoulders. AAccept it. Someone has to, and running changes nothing. BStay by the side of whoever carries it. They shouldn't go alone. CStep forward and lead. This is exactly what I was made for. DIt's mine now. I won't let anyone else have it. NEXT QUESTION → 02 Your closest companion is heading into terrible danger. You: True loyalty is revealed not in comfort, but in crisis. AFollow them without hesitation. I'd rather die beside them than live without them. BRally others and forge a plan to help — strength in numbers. COffer wisdom and guidance. My counsel may save them where swords cannot. DLet them go. Only the strong survive, and sentiment is a weakness. NEXT QUESTION → 03 Enormous power is within your reach. Your instinct is: Power corrupts — but only those who reach for it. ADestroy it. Nothing good comes from power this absolute. BUse it to protect those I love — just this once. CWield it wisely. I have the will and the knowledge to do good with it. DSeize it. I have waited long enough. It belongs to me. NEXT QUESTION → 04 What does "home" mean to you? Where we long to return reveals who we truly are. AA simple, peaceful place — green hills, good food, no adventure required. BWherever the people I love are. Home is a feeling, not a place. CA kingdom I must earn before I can truly claim it as mine. DI lost it long ago. That loss is what drives everything I do. NEXT QUESTION → 05 When a battle is upon you, your approach is: War reveals what we are made of — whether we like it or not. ASurvive by any means. I'm not a fighter — but I'll do what I must. BFight for the person beside me, not for glory or honour. CLead the charge. Nothing inspires an army like a king at the front. DStrike from range, fast and precise — never let them get close. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Someone comes to you for advice in their darkest hour. You: Wisdom is not knowing all the answers — it's knowing which questions to ask. AListen, then offer honest encouragement. Sometimes people just need belief. BGive them practical help — words are fine, but action is better. CSpeak carefully. I have seen much, and I know what counsel can cost. DTell them what they want to hear. Trust is a tool like any other. NEXT QUESTION → 07 How do you see yourself, honestly? Self-knowledge is the most dangerous kind. ASmall and ordinary — but perhaps that's exactly why I was chosen. BDefined entirely by who I serve and love. I am nothing without them. CForged by hardship into something the world has not yet fully seen. DDiminished from what I once was — and consumed by the need to reclaim it. NEXT QUESTION → 08 Which of these best describes your relationship with the natural world? Middle-earth speaks to those who know how to listen. AI find peace in it — forests, rivers, open skies. Nature restores me. BI prefer the earth underfoot — stone, mines, solid and real things. CI have watched the world change for longer than most can comprehend. DNature offers hiding places, cold water, raw fish. That's enough for me. NEXT QUESTION → 09 You encounter a wretched, pitiable creature who has done terrible things. You: How we treat the fallen reveals the height of our character. AShow mercy. Even the most broken souls deserve a chance at redemption. BPity them — but never trust them. They made their choices. CSee them as a tool. Their knowledge or skills may still serve a purpose. DDestroy them before they can cause more harm. Mercy is a luxury we cannot afford. NEXT QUESTION → 10 When the quest is over and the songs are sung, what do you hope they say about you? In the end, we are all just stories. AThat an ordinary person did an extraordinary thing — and came home. BThat I never abandoned the person who needed me most. CThat I was worthy of the crown — and everything it demanded. DNothing. I don't need songs. I needed it, and now it's gone. REVEAL MY FATE → The Fellowship Has Spoken Your Place in Middle-earthThe scores below reveal your true character. Your highest number is your match. Even a tie tells a story — the Fellowship was never made of simple people. 💍 Frodo 🌿 Samwise 👑 Aragorn 🔥 Gandalf 🏹 Legolas ⚒️ Gimli 👁️ Sauron 🪨 Gollum You carry something heavy — and you carry it alone, even when you don't have to. You were not born for greatness, and that is precisely why greatness chose you. Your courage is not the roaring, sword-swinging kind; it is quiet, stubborn, and terrifying in its refusal to quit. The Ring weighs on you more than anyone can see, and still you walk toward the fire. That is not weakness. That is the rarest kind of strength there is. You are, without question, the best of them. Not the most powerful, not the most celebrated — but the most essential. Your loyalty is not a trait; it is a force of nature. You would carry the person you love up the slopes of Mount Doom if it came to that, and we both know you'd do it without being asked. The world needs more people like you, and the world is lucky it has even one. You were born to lead, and you have spent years running from it. The crown is yours by right, but you know better than anyone that right means nothing without the will and the worthiness to back it up. You are tempered by loss, shaped by long roads, and defined by a code of honour you hold to even when no one is watching. When you finally step forward, the world shifts. Because it was always waiting for you. You have seen more than you let on, and you say less than you know — which is exactly as it should be. You are a catalyst: you do not fight the battles yourself, you ignite the people who can. Your wisdom comes not from books but from an age of watching what happens when it is ignored. You arrive precisely when you mean to, and your presence alone changes what is possible. A wizard is never late. Graceful, perceptive, and almost preternaturally calm under pressure — you see things others miss and act before others react. You do not need to make a scene to be remarkable; your presence speaks for itself. You are loyal to those you choose to stand beside, and that choice is not made lightly. You have lived long enough to know that the most beautiful things in this world are also the most fragile, and that is why you fight to protect them. You are loud, proud, and absolutely formidable — and beneath all of that is one of the most fiercely loyal hearts in Middle-earth. You don't do anything by half measures. Your friendships are forged like iron, your grudges run as deep as mines, and your courage in battle is the kind that makes legends. You came into this fellowship suspicious of everyone and ended it willing to die for an elf. That is not a small thing. That is everything. You think in centuries and act in absolutes. Order, dominion, control — not because you are cruel by nature, but because you have decided that the world left to itself always falls apart, and you are the only one with the vision and the will to hold it together. You were not always this. Something was lost, or taken, or betrayed, and the version of you that stands now is the answer to that wound. The tragedy is that you're not entirely wrong — just entirely too far gone to course-correct. You are a study in contradiction — pitiable and dangerous, cunning and broken, capable of both cruelty and something that once resembled love. You are defined by loss: of innocence, of self, of the one thing that gave your existence meaning. Two voices war inside you constantly, and the tragedy is that the better one sometimes wins, just not often enough, and never at the right moment. You are a warning, yes — but also a mirror. We are all a little Gollum, given the right ring and enough time. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 'The Name of the Wind' (2007) Image via Hachette The first novel in Patrick Rothfuss' The Kingkiller Chronicle, The Name of the Wind introduces audiences to Kote, an unassuming innkeeper at the quiet Waystone Inn. Kote hides a legendary past as Kvothe, a gifted musician, magician, and swordsman. He recounts his fascinating memoir-like story of how a legend was born. Instead of focusing solely on building a fantasy universe, much of the charm in The Name of the Wind comes from Kvothe's story itself. It has the charm of an oral tale one might hear around a campfire, following a slice-of-life pace as Kvothe recounts his journey from child prodigy to surviving the crime-ridden city of Tarbean and pursuing university. 'The Atlas Six' (2020) Image via Tor Books Six magicians. One year. Only five will survive. Olivie Blake's The Atlas Six follows six exceptionally gifted magicians invited by Atlas Blakely to compete for a place in the Alexandrian Society, the world's most prestigious secret organization. As they study lost magical knowledge at a secluded London estate, they soon discover that one of them must be eliminated. The real fun of The Atlas Six is watching these six magicians try to outsmart one another while figuring out what they actually want from the Society. Everyone has something to hide, and even friendships come with their own complications. But with the Society withholding secrets of its own, it's only a matter of time before they team up to defeat their common enemy. 'The Last Unicorn' (1968) Image via Viking Press Even the most beautiful creature in the universe isn't immune to loneliness. Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn follows an immortal unicorn living in the lilac woods. But when she learns that she might be the last unicorn on Earth, she refuses to believe it, prompting her to search for her lost kin. The Last Unicorn is perfect for those who enjoy a more philosophical take on fantasy. As a unicorn, she is timeless but friendless. But when given the chance to become human, she is forced to face mortality and grief. It's an age-old question about what it means to be human, and whether joy is worth the pain that comes with it. 'Fourth Wing' (2023) Image via Red Tower Books Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing takes the deadly-school setup of The Hunger Games and adds a touch of House of the Dragon: dragons, magical powers, romance, and plenty of secrets. Violet Sorrengail never expected to become a dragon rider. A frail 20-year-old preparing for a life as a scribe, she is suddenly pushed into Basgiath War College's Riders Quadrant by her mother. It's here that cadets are trained to fight, and no one seems to be afraid of death. With everyone underestimating her, Violet has to depend on her quick thinking to survive. Violet's journey gets even more complicated when she discovers that her kingdom has been hiding the truth about the war. 'Circe' (2018) Image via Little, Brown Fans of The Odyssey can continue their fascination with Greek fantasy with Madeline Miller's Circe. Reimagining the lore through the experiences of the witch Circe, the novel follows her from her birth as the daughter of the sun god Helios to her banishment from the godly realm because of her growing powers, and eventually to her romance with Odysseus. Mythology has been interpreted thousands of times, but Circe gives a traditionally villainous character more nuance by exploring what motivates her transformation—which mainly comes from unfair circumstances beyond her control. Instead of being an evil curse, Circe's magic is rethought as a tool for her own survival during her isolation. 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' (1967) Image via Harper Perennial Modern Classics Some families inherit wealth; others inherit the same mistakes. In Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, the Buendía family seem destined to repeat both. Across seven generations in the mythical town of Macondo, the family's history evolves through love, ambition, war, and tragedy, with José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán at its beginning. The novel's magical realism makes the extraordinary feel almost ordinary, but its real fascination lies in how the Buendía family experiences the same loneliness in different ways. As Macondo is swept through civil wars and the Banana Massacre, the supernatural becomes part of the family's reality, reflecting the obsessions and turmoil that keep them trapped in the past. One Hundred Years of Solitude Release Date 2024 - 2026-00-00 Network Netflix Cast Gino Montesinos Melchiades the Alchemist Claudio Cataño Colonel Aureliano Buendía One Hundred Years of Solitude (2024): Based on Gabriel García Márquez's acclaimed novel, the series chronicles the multi-generational story of the Buendía family in the fictional town of Macondo. As magical realism intertwines with historical events, the family's triumphs and tragedies reflect broader themes of love, power, and destiny. Directors Laura Mora, Alex Garcia Lopez, Carlos Moreno Writers Jose Rivera Main Genre Drama Seasons 2 Producers Josep Amorós Streaming Service(s) Netflix Release Window 2024 Executive Producer(s) Alex Garcia Lopez, Andrés Calderón, Carolina Caicedo, Diego Ramírez Schrempp, Gonzalo García Barcha, Jose Rivera, Josep Amorós, Juliana Flórez Luna, Laura Moran, Rodrigo García