7 Best Fantasy Duologies You Can Read This Weekend

Published Sep 18, 2026, 2:00 PM 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.

As a genre, fantasy tends to run long. Sometimes the books alone are mammoth; J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings may only be a trilogy, but those books are formidable tomes. On other occasions, high fantasy series that rival Tolkien have gone beyond anything their creators imagined; Robert Jordan pitched The Wheel of Time as a trilogy, and the final (fourteenth) book was eventually written by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan's passing. All this means many fantasy series require quite an investment.

Fortunately, not all fantasy writers have Jordan's habit of "writing long." There are a huge number of duologies out there, exploring everything from romantasy to epic fantasy. Granted, sometimes they serve as an introduction to an even wider universe, but they're standalone enough to be enjoyed over a pleasant weekend. Here are the pick of the crop.

7 Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Let's start with Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows and its sequel, Crooked Kingdom. This is part of Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone range, and tells the story of a thieving crew who operate in the city of Ketterdam. These books can be dark — some reviewers have compared occasional moments to the violence of Game of Thrones — but they also feature sparkling dialogue and a tremendous sense of wit. That makes them easy reading, and the pacing is absolutely admirable.

Six of Crows plots were incorporated into Netflix's Shadow and Bone series, a phenomenal adaptation of Bardugo's stories that frankly deserved to run for years. That means reders may well want to check out Netflix, just to get a sense of what the book's cast could look and sound like. That said, the show isn't essential (not least because it's sadly incomplete). The books are enjoyable in their own right.

Six of Crows is available now from retailers like Amazon.

6 Letters of Enchantment by Rebecca Ross

Now let's move to Rebecca Ross' excellent young-adult romantasy series, Letters of Enchantment. This is a fascinating story, blending real-world history with magic and the supernatural; loosely based on the First World War, it tells the story of two rival war correspondents who fall in love during a conflict fought on behalf of the gods. This duology, which began with 2023's Divine Rivals and continued into Ruthless Vows, is universally praised for its wonderfully lyrical style.

The book feels like a meditation on the power of words, a love letter to language itself. Eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow isn't concerned with the spectacular scale of divine war; all she wants to do is hold her family together. But when her letters to her brother find their way into the wrong hands, it's the beginning of an epic journey that will change the entire world.

Letters of Enchantment is available now from retailers like Amazon.

5 Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

Elizabeth Yim is a modern fairy-tale writer, and this duology lifts from Hans Christian Anderson's famous story The Wild Swans. Six Crimson Cranes and The Dragon's Promise tell the story of Shiori, the only princess of Kiata, who has forbidden magic running through her veins. The stakes are high, but at heart this duology is about the theme of family, and Lim weaves the story together beautifully.

Shiori's magic ultimately leads to her exile, and she's left penniless, voiceless, and alone. To save her country, she must place her trust in a paper bird, a mercurial dragon, and the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. What's more, she will need to learn to embrace the truth of who she is — and the magic that burns inside her.

Six Crimson Cranes is available now from retailers like Amazon.

4 The Serpent Gates by A.K. Larkwood

Now for something a little different: a true epic fantasy, often compared to the writings of Ursula Le Guin. Kicking off with The Unspoken Name and wrapping up in The Thousand Eyes, this duology stars an orc priestess named Csorwe who turns her back on the gods to become a wizard's assassin. The map in the front of the book may not look particularly vast compared to the likes of Middle-earth, but readers will find this entire world becomes incredibly well-developed.

Larkwood establishes a vast, captivating universe of flying ships and portal gates, and the plot twists and turns in so many directions it's almost impossible to predict (but deeply satisfying). This is a refreshing story exploring themes of love, loyalty, choice, and self-sacrifice, and it's absolutely captivating. That's all the more impressive given The Unspoken Name was Larkwood's debut novel.

The Serpent Gates is available now from retailers like Amazon.

3 The Shepherd King by Rachel Gillig

Rachel Gillig's Gothic fantasy series The Shepherd King introduces readers to Elspeth Spindle, a young woman who secretly conceals the mystical power known as the "Nightmare." The problem, though, is that this monster is not just something to fear; it's also something Elspeth needs. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she crosses paths with a highwayman, and it's not long before we've headed into some traditional romantasy tropes.

One Dark Window and Two Twisted Crowns aren't your standard romantasy, though. The romantic tension runs through the plot rather than overpowering it, there's a unique magic system, and the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder is incredibly memorable. Reviewers generally praise the sequel as actually exceeding the first book, so this is an unusually rewarding duology.

The Shepherd King is available now from retailers like Amazon.

2 The Sands of Arawiya by Hafsah Faizal

Next is a personal favorite, Hafsah Faizal's tremendous duology The Sands of Arawiya. A tremendous young-adult story featuring a skilled huntress and the so-called "Prince of Death," The Sands of Arawiya is an enemies-to-lovers story set against Arabian mythology. It begins when Zafira is sent to a sinister island, where she alone can recover the kingdom's lost magic and save it from destruction; but the prince, Nasir, has been sent to retrieve it and kill her.

Pacing is a little slow to begin with, but Faizal is an excellent world-builder, and it's not long before readers find themselves absolutely immersed in this story. This does mean the sequel is stronger than the first book; by the end, they're difficult to put down. While this is enemies-to-lovers, Faizal excels at giving all the cast a lot of development, including characters who only play a brief role.

The Sands of Arawiya is available now from retailers like Amazon.

1 The Books of Ambha by Tasha Suri

Finally, we have Tasha Suri's The Books of Ambha. Empire of Sand literally won awards as Suri's debut novel back in 2018, a stunning fantasy inspired by Mughal India that follows Mehr, the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled outcaste nomad. Realm of Ash shifts focus to Mehr's younger sister, giving a different view of the same world. It's a masterful strategy, one that helps this whole story feel even more immersive.

This isn't your "spectacular" fantasy. Instead, it's quieter and character-driven, exploring family bonds and trauma rather than featuring the kind of action you get in The Lord of the Rings. Suri's writing style is absolutely gorgeous, making The Books of Ambha a pleasure to read. The rich mythology differs to the typical Western focus of traditional fantasy, giving the duology something of an edge. Don't expect the world to be torn down; instead, fall in love with characters who simply endure, and are all the more admirable for it. These two books truly demonstrate the range of stories you can find in fantasy.

The Sands of Arawiya are available now from retailers like Amazon.