The Best Fantasy Book Series

A votable list of the all-time best fantasy book series, ranked by readers of fantasy fiction. Of fantasy books, readers can expect an intricately-created imaginary world with its own culture, history and rules of engagement. The setting of most popular fantasy book series is internally consistent or self-coherent, where inspiration from mythology or folklore remains a consistent theme.

Most authors of the top fantasy books use magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary plot element, theme, or setting. In the structure of a good fantasy book, the fantastical element of the story can be anywhere: the story may occur entirely in a fantasy world (like J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series) or fantastic elements like magic can exist alongside an apparently real world setting (as in the seven Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling). Fantasy follows rules of its own making, but the great fantasy books are consistent with the rules that they lay out for themselves. In the best fantasy books, the reader suspends disbelief and loses himself in the imaginary world of the book.

Some of the fantasy book series included in this list are of the grand epic fantasy genre, some are more character-driven fantasy or coming of age tales, some may be simply fantasy that's part of a series. Vote up your favorites to determine the best fantasy series of all time. And if we missed any epic tales you love, be sure to add them to this list of the best fantasy book series. Then, check out the best new fantasy books - many the start of series that may soon be new favorites.