5 Modern Fantasy Books That Rival Lord of the Rings
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The Lord of the Rings might be the pinnacle of fantasy, but even J. R. R. Tolkien is bound to meet his match. From the defeat of Sauron to the vast landscapes of Middle-earth and Tolkien's distinctive prose, the trilogy created a world where good shines through the darkness.
But modern fantasy often takes a more complicated view of goodness, exploring the darker sides of humanity and how people interact with their powers, each other, and the worlds around them. From a historical Chinese-set fantasy to a story that reimagines the genre for the gaming era, here are modern fantasy books that rival The Lord of the Rings.
'The Poppy War' (2018)
Mainstream fantasy can be heavily Western-centric, with its medieval references, settings, and medieval-esque creatures, but R. F. Kuang's The Poppy War breaks away from that tradition by drawing heavily from 20th-century Chinese history, particularly the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanking Massacre. The novel follows Fang Runin, a.k.a. Rin, a war orphan determined to escape an arranged marriage by passing the empire-wide Keju exam. After unexpectedly ranking first in her province, she earns a place at Sinegard's elite military academy, where she faces prejudice, rivalry, and brutal training. Under eccentric Master Jiang, Rin discovers her extraordinary shamanic abilities and a dangerous connection to the gods.
Even more interesting, and arguably the most intriguing part of the novel, is how its supernatural powers aren't simply influenced by powerful gods, but also accessed through the consumption of psychoactive substances. Opium is used to help shamans reach an altered state of consciousness, making the process feel less like traditional spellcasting. However, opium becomes even more symbolic when considering the historical context of The Poppy War. It is a real-world drug with devastating historical consequences, and in the novel, it plays a central role not only in helping Rin access supernatural power, but also in showing the physical and psychological toll of relying on that power indefinitely.
'The Lies of Locke Lamora' (2006)
If The Lord of the Rings is a straightforward quest to carry the One Ring to Mordor while the Fellowship and their allies fight Sauron's forces, The Lies of Locke Lamora has no single quest. Instead, it revolves around a series of cons, disguises, and elaborate schemes. Locke Lamora leads the Gentleman Bastards, a group of skilled thieves who secretly swindle Camorr's wealthiest nobles while maintaining the appearance of being petty criminals. Their schemes allow them to operate beneath the city's criminal hierarchy, but when their latest plans attract dangerous attention, Locke and his companions become caught in a much more personal game of deception, betrayal, and revenge.
The Lies of Locke Lamora also has the same kind of camaraderie found in The Lord of the Rings, but it takes a very different form when the fellowship consists of professional thieves. Their friendship is built around shared crimes, elaborate lies, and years of relying on each other to survive. Even when things get dangerous, the Gentleman Bastards still joke around and mess with each other, but they don't hide their grief when things turn serious. They can be arrogant, dishonest, and downright annoying, yet their loyalty to one another is what makes their friendship so earnest.
'The Fifth Season' (2015)
N. K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season takes place on the Stillness, a supercontinent constantly hit by devastating earthquakes. When an orogene tears the land apart, another deadly Fifth Season begins, putting entire communities at risk. The story follows three women with different lives: Damaya, a young girl taken away after her powers are discovered; Syenite, a young woman learning to control those powers; and Essun, a mother dealing with a devastating loss. Their stories eventually come together when audiences learn a shocking thread that binds them altogether.
Like The Lord of the Rings, The Fifth Season uses fantasy to explore bigger ideas about people and society. Tolkien uses Middle-earth to explore friendship, sacrifice, power, temptation, and the struggle between good and evil. Jemisin takes a different approach. Her story asks what happens when a society depends on a group of people while also fearing, controlling, and dehumanizing them. Orogenes are needed to protect communities from earthquakes, yet they are treated as dangerous and less than human. Even the broken landscape reflects this conflict. The fractured Stillness mirrors its fractured society, while Essun's journey shows how years of fear, discrimination, and trauma can fracture a person, too.
Collider Exclusive · Middle-earth Quiz
Which Lord of the Rings
Character 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
01
You are handed a responsibility that could destroy you. What do you do? The weight of the world falls on unlikely shoulders.
02
Your closest companion is heading into terrible danger. You: True loyalty is revealed not in comfort, but in crisis.
03
Enormous power is within your reach. Your instinct is: Power corrupts — but only those who reach for it.
04
What does "home" mean to you? Where we long to return reveals who we truly are.
05
When a battle is upon you, your approach is: War reveals what we are made of — whether we like it or not.
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.
07
How do you see yourself, honestly? Self-knowledge is the most dangerous kind.
08
Which of these best describes your relationship with the natural world? Middle-earth speaks to those who know how to listen.
09
You encounter a wretched, pitiable creature who has done terrible things. You: How we treat the fallen reveals the height of our character.
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.
The Fellowship Has Spoken Your Place in Middle-earth
The 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.
'Circe' (2018)
Granted, these modern fantasy books feature a rich lore that rivals The Lord of the Rings series. Circe has the advantage of retelling existing Greek mythology, while The Lord of the Rings creates its own fantasy mythology, drawing from Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon literature, and European folklore. But the genius with Circe is that it's not about what the story is about, but how it is retold. Miller's original take on the witch Circe follows a divine daughter who spends her childhood being shamed and bullied for having no powers. However, as she grows older and encounters gods and mortals, she discovers her own abilities, ultimately changing not only herself but also how she is viewed by those around her.
While The Lord of the Rings delivers a grand spectacle about fellowship, Circe proves that a smaller, more intimate story can sometimes feel more emotionally powerful and relatable. Fantasy often separates mythical beings from ordinary humans, but in Miller's book, Circe feels remarkably human despite her divine nature, complete with insecurities. Compared to the better-known Twelve Olympians, Circe has traditionally been sidelined, appearing mainly in men's stories as the witch who turns Odysseus' men into pigs. Miller gives her a richer, more personal story about being underestimated, finding power and authority, and ultimately becoming independent.
'Dungeon Crawler Carl' (2020)
Carl and Princess Donut are an unlikely survival duo. In Dungeon Crawler Carl, a former Coast Guard veteran and his ex-girlfriend's pampered cat are thrown into an alien-run death game after Earth is devastated. Inside the World Dungeon, they battle monsters, face bosses, gather loot, unlock abilities, and complete quests while their struggles are broadcast across the galaxy. What starts as an absurd survival story becomes a showcase for LitRPG, combining storytelling with video-game systems. Every upgrade and skill can change how Carl approaches the next challenge, making the mechanics part of the story rather than a gimmick.
That gives Dungeon Crawler Carl an advantage over The Lord of the Rings for readers seeking something less traditional. Tolkien helped establish modern fantasy's blueprint, but Dinniman takes the genre somewhere Tolkien never could: A world where survival itself is entertainment. Carl knows an audience is watching people suffer for fun, turning the dungeon into commentary on spectacle and exploitation. Yet the story never loses its humor or heart. Carl's choice to help other survivors, even when cooperation makes survival harder, anchors the book with a sense of empathy amidst the ridicule. Like The Lord of the Rings, Dungeon Crawler Carl is getting a TV adaptation. Seth MacFarlane is producing the series for Peacock, along with Christopher Yost and Eric Heisserer as writers on the series. Based on how beloved this series is, we can only hope that he and the creative team manage to do justice for the fans.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
- Network
- Peacock
- Writers
- Chris Yost
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 1
- Executive Producer(s)
- Chris Yost, Seth MacFarlane, Matt Dinniman, Erica Huggins
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