8 High Fantasy Books That Rival Lord Of The Rings

Published Sep 16, 2026, 10:00 AM EDT

Once head of Screen Rant's Star Wars coverage and co-lead of Superheroes, Tom Bacon now works with the movies and books teams. He's a lifelong fan of the fantasy and sci-fi genres, and loves franchises such as Doctor Who and Marvel. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon, on LinkedIn @tabacon, or on Muckrack under tombacon.

Tom has a wide range of interests, and he continues to serve his university as a volunteer chaplain. He's heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he's into British politics too.

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J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is rightly considered one of the classics of high fantasy. For so long, fantasy had been dismissed in popular culture; but Tolkien changed that, boldly asserting that fantasy was something to take seriously. He moved from children's stories to epic fantasy in The Lord of the Rings, moving at such a slow pace that more widely-published friends like C.S. Lewis were bewildered at how slow he was to publish. But the results speak for themselves, because The Lord of the Rings is a milestone in the entire genre. There will never be anything quite like it.

And yet, although Tolkien is surely the first word in high fantasy, he himself would have been appalled at the idea he is also the last word. The Lord of the Rings does have its rivals, epic stories crafted by skilled writers packed with impressive world-building and rich characters. Some rival Middle-earth in scale, featuring worlds that feel so incredibly real. Others rival Tolkien's work in sheer ambition, leaving readers breathtaken at their creativity and sophistication. If you want to read rivals for The Lord of the Rings, these are ten series to check out.

8 Katherine Kerr's Deverry Cycle

Welcome to Deverry, a land of magic where reincarnation is the rule. Created by the American novelist Katherine Kerr, Deverry is unique because it's not written in a linear fashion; this is a story where the actions of one incarnation have an effect on the next, so Kerr weaves between time periods to show the evolution of her characters. Originally intended as a single novella, the series currently runs to 16 books in length, and is still ongoing.

The hero is Nevyn, a powerful sorcerer who once made an unwise oath that means he cannot die until he has righted a wrong. Nevyn's long life means he has come to understand the pattern of the cycles everyone else is caught up in, and he works tirelessly to change the fates of those he loves. Rich in magic, featuring everything from elves to dragons and sorcery with ties to Buddhist lore, the Deverry cycle kicks off with the phenomenal Daggerspell.

Daggerspell is available now from retailers like Amazon.

7 Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time

Speaking of series that were never intended to run quite so long as they did, Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time was originally pitched as a trilogy. His editor knew Jordan tended to go long, offering him a six-book contract instead. He launched the series in 1990; eleven books later, Jordan passed away while working on the final book in 2007. The Wheel of Time was completed by Brandon Sanderson, based on Jordan's own notes, and ultimately spanned 14 books (plus a prequel).

The Wheel of Time plays on the theme of reincarnation, too, but in a much more dramatic way than Kerr; Ran al'Thor is the Dragon Reborn, the only being with the power to defeat the Dark One (Jordan's version of Satan). Jordan created a wonderfully complex world that spans multiple continents, with everything building up to the Last Battle against the Dark One and all his forces. Expect unexpected twists, deep character arcs, and an ever-expanding cast. This is rightly one of the best-selling fantasy series of all time.

The Eye of the World is available now from retailers like Amazon.

6 Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Archive

Custom Image by Debanjana Chowdhury

Now, let's head from Deverry to Cosmere, a fictional universe created by Brandon Sanderson. Although Sanderson completed the first draft of The Way of Kings back in 2003, he did a major rewrite before publishing it in 2010, and it served as the launchpad for a five-book series (and counting). The Stormlight Archive is generally considered Sanderson's best to date, diving deep into a whole new world and introducing us to the protagonist, Kaladin, a military man turned slave.

Sanderson's world-building is absolutely incredible, and he has a deep understanding of politics that makes every story feel incredibly real. Over the course of the series, characters come together and then fall apart, relationships are made and tested, and backstories expand. If you want to read an ongoing, modern fantasy series that rivals The Lord of the Rings in depth, The Stormlight Archive is unmissable. It's a long and winding road, but the journey is a delight. And yes, a Stormlight Archives TV series is on the way, too.

The Stormlight Archive is available now from retailers like Amazon.

5 David Eddings' The Belgariad

Few fantasy series have quite the scale of David Eddings' The Belgariad, a five-book series seen as almost as definitive to the genre as Tolkien's own works. The first book, The Pawn of Prophecy, was an instant bestseller when it was published in 1982; each book blends a term from chess with a fantasy element, creating the sense that every character is a piece in some grand magical game that spans millennia. Published at a time when the genre as a whole was changing, Eddings' books are often described as the "last gasp" of traditional fantasy.

Eddings blends familiar tropes with a phenomenally inventive mind. You'll definitely recognize Campbell's Hero's Journey, which Eddings reproduces pretty much blow-for-blow, but that familiarity really isn't a problem. Some elements haven't dated well; modern readers often criticize Eddings' gender roles, for example. Still, if a reader can overlook those elements, this series will be a joy.

The Belgariad is available now from retailers like Amazon.

4 Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings

One of two pen names adopted by Margaret Astris Lindholm Ogden, "Robin Hobb" is best known for the epic fantasy series Realm of the Elderlings. This consists of a series of trilogies, featuring different characters and locations in the same world, meaning readers can dip into any one of them and get a sense of the wider world. It all began in 1995 with The Farseer Trilogy, which borrowed from Arthurian mythology and quests in the best possible way.

Hobb is a little different to Tolkien in style, because these fantasy stories are rather more "allegorical" than he would perhaps like; the magic system is deliberately designed as an image of oneness, and it works beautifully. Unlike many entries in this list, Hobb uses first-person, and that offers a very different level of creative immersion. Hobb's books are unmissable for any fans of high fantasy.

The Farseer Trilogy is available now from retailers like Amazon.

3 Ursula K. Le Guin's The Earthsea Cycle

American author Ursula Le Guin is best known for her incredible fantasy series, The Earthsea Cycle. First introduced in a short story she penned back in 1964, Earthsea evolved into a beautiful, complex world with some of the best characters in fantasy. Magic is much more central to Le Guin's world than it is for Tolkien (whose wizards actually tend to be a little more understated than film adaptations suggest). The books resemble Taoist philosophy, with a careful balancing of philosophies.

Le Guin originally intended A Wizard of Earthsea to be a standalone, but things didn't really pan out that way. The last book, The Other Wind, was published in 2001 but there are also quite a few short stories (all helpfully now found in collected editions). Considered one of the most influential series in history, every one has received a literary award. Le Guin's series was one of the first influenced by Tolkien, and it's one of the best.

The Earthsea Cycle is available now from retailers like Amazon.

2 Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn

Launched in 1988, Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is a high fantasy trilogy by American writer Tad Williams. Set on the fictional continent of Osten Ard, it kicked off with The Dragonbone Chair, which introduced readers to a complex world where several races coexist (or not). This trilogy has been praised by authors such as George R.R. Martin and Christopher Paolini, who openly consider it one of the greatest fantasy stories of all time.

It's not hard to see the influence of The Dragonbone Chair and its sequels, because the epic kicks off with a conspiracy for the throne. Unlike many entries in this list, the story proceeded pretty much how Williams hoped, hence the controlled length. It's frequently praised for an unexpected but satisfying ending, one that pays off so well on a reread.

The Dragonbone Chair is available now from retailers like Amazon.

1 George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice

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There's no way to cover modern epic fantasy without mentioning George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice, inspiration for the hit TV series Game of Thrones. Like Robert Jordan, Martin originally envisioned this as a trilogy; instead, Martin has currently published five out of the seven volumes. As influential and important as this is to modern epic fantasy, it's sadly unfinished; readers have now been waiting longer for the final book, The Winds of Winter, than it took for all the previous books to be published.

Martin's epic fantasy is very different to Tolkien's, and consciously so. He views Tolkien as the founding father of modern fantasy, but he grew frustrated by the sheer number of writers who copied Tolkien's format, and he considers his books to be in "dialogue" with Tolkien and his imitators. If readers want to see how fantasy is evolving, A Song of Fire and Ice is a vital hint of the worlds yet to come - much more brutal, more violent, but still with the same sense of bittersweet that you get from the end of The Lord of the Rings.

A Song of Fire and Ice is available now from retailers like Amazon.

The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.