Fantasy book series in reading order

by John Norman

by Alan Burt Akers

by Martin H. Greenberg

by Mercedes Lackey

by Derek Landy

by Adam Blade

by Paul Stewart

by Kathryn Lasky

by Erin Hunter

by Glen Cook

by Adam Blade

by Steven Brust

by Seanan McGuire

by Simon R. Green

by Greg Farshtey

by Shannon Messenger

by John Flanagan

by Roger Zelazny

by Dennis L. McKiernan

by Adam Blade

by John Peel

by Emily Rodda

by Anne Bishop

by Clark Ashton Smith

by Tessa Dawn

by Jeanne C. Stein

by Charlaine Harris

by Hugh Lofting

by Robert Adams

by P.C. Hodgell

by Simon Hawke

by Stephen R. Lawhead

Daisy Meadows is the name on the Rainbow Magic children's books, a fantasy line whose subjects include fairies, goblins, Jack Frost and two girls, Kirsty Tate and Rachel Walker. The catalogue opens in 2003 with colour-fairy titles such as Ruby the Red Fairy, Amber the Orange Fairy and Fern the Green Fairy, and runs to Nur the Vlogger Fairy (2023). Sub-series include the Weather, Jewel, Party, Pet Keeper, Dance, Ocean and Showtime Fairies. Magic Animal Friends appears under the same name.

Erin Hunter is the name on 169 catalogued books, published from 2003 onward and filed as children's fantasy fiction. Into the Wild, Fire and Ice and Forest of Secrets (all 2003) are the earliest. Series listings include Warriors: The New Prophecy, Warriors: Power of Three, Warriors: Omen of the Stars, Warriors: Dawn of the Clans and Warriors: The Broken Code. Seekers, Survivors, Bravelands and Bamboo Kingdom also appear. Subjects include cats, feral cats, bears, dogs, adventure and manga. Darktail's Judgment (2026) is the newest, with False Dawn due in 2027.

Mercedes Lackey

230 books• 52 series

Valdemar, a country in the world of Velgarth, is the setting for many of Mercedes Lackey's interlinked fantasy novels and trilogies. Lackey, an American writer born on June 24, 1950, brings human and non-human protagonists from many cultures together in the Valdemar books. A second Lackey setting resembles Earth but hides populations of elves, mages, vampires and other mythical beings. Bedlam's Bard follows a young man who works magic through music, SERRAted Edge features elves who race cars, and the Diana Tregarde thrillers star a Wiccan fighting evil. Arrows of the Queen (1987), Arrow's Flight (1987) and Arrow's Fall (1988) are among the listed titles, and Elemental Masters and Five Hundred Kingdoms are further series.

Terry Pratchett

148 books• 18 series

Terry Pratchett (28 April 1948 to 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist and satirist. Discworld, a run of 41 comic fantasy novels published from 1983 to 2015, is the work most associated with Pratchett, together with Good Omens (1990), written with Neil Gaiman. The Carpet People (1971) was the first Pratchett novel, and The Colour of Magic (1983) opened Discworld. The Shepherd's Crown, the last Discworld novel, came out in August 2015, five months after Pratchett's death. The catalogue also lists the Long Earth, Bromeliad Trilogy and Johnny Maxwell series, with The Discworld Bestiary dated 2026.

Piers Anthony is the publishing name of Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob, born August 6, 1934, an American science fiction and fantasy writer. The long-running Xanth novels, set in the imaginary realm of Xanth, are his best-known work. Anthony has counted among his chief achievements the publication of a book beginning with every letter of the alphabet, from Anthonology to Zombie Lover, and a number of his books have reached The New York Times Best Seller list. This catalogue lists 195 titles from Chthon (1967) to Knicklepede Knight (2026), including the Apprentice Adept, Cluster, Battle Circle, Mode and Incarnations of Immortality sequences.

Adam Blade is the name used by a small collective of authors who write Beast Quest, along with Team Hero, Beast Quest: New Blood and Space Wars. Beast Quest has sold more than 11 million copies. The catalogue lists 288 Adam Blade books from 2007 to 2024, opening with titles such as Ferno The Fire Dragon, Sepron The Sea Serpent and Cypher the Mountain Giant (all 2007) and reaching Pirano the Water Dragon (2024). Monsters, quests, heroes and cyborgs appear in the subjects, along with the fictional characters Tom, Elenna and Max.

Margaret Weis

109 books• 34 series

Margaret Edith Weis, born March 16, 1948, is an American fantasy and science fiction author who, with Tracy Hickman at TSR, Inc., created the Dragonlance role-playing game world. Weis founded Sovereign Press and Margaret Weis Productions, which license television and film franchises for role-playing games. Pyramid magazine named Weis one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons in 1999, and the Origins Hall of Fame inducted Weis in 2002. Dragons of Autumn Twilight (1984) is among the catalogued titles, and series include Death Gate Cycle, Darksword and Star Of The Guardians.

R.A. Salvatore

133 books• 34 series

Robert Anthony Salvatore, published as R.A. Salvatore, is an American fantasy writer born on January 20, 1959. The Legend of Drizzt, set in the Forgotten Realms and starring Drizzt Do'Urden, is the work Salvatore is chiefly known for. Other work includes The DemonWars Saga, a high fantasy series, and Vector Prime, the first novel in Star Wars: The New Jedi Order. The catalogue counts 134 books, starting with The Crystal Shard (1988); Witch of Whispervale (2025) is the newest, and Fat Rabbit is listed for 2027. US sales exceed 15 million copies, and 22 Salvatore titles have been New York Times best-sellers.

Andre Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 to March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy who also produced historical and contemporary fiction, and used the names Andrew North and Allen Weston as well. Norton was the first woman named Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and SFWA Grand Master, and the first inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. The catalogue carries 209 books from The Prince Commands (1934) onward. Witch World, Solar Queen, Time Traders, Beast Master and Forerunner are series.

Brian Jacques

42 books• 7 series

Redwall made Brian Jacques (1939-2011) a fixture of children's fantasy. The English author's 42 catalogued books open with Redwall in 1986 and close with The Rogue Crew in 2011, most of them set in and around the imaginary Redwall Abbey and peopled by mice, badgers, otters and other animals. Jacques also wrote the Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series and two short story collections, Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales and The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns. The books are pitched at grades 3-5.

Robert E. Howard

158 books• 14 series

Robert E. Howard (January 22, 1906 to June 11, 1936) was an American pulp fiction writer across many genres. Howard created Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of sword and sorcery. Born and raised in Texas, Howard lived mostly in Cross Plains, with some time in nearby Brownwood. A bookish child and a boxing fan, Howard boxed as an amateur and took up bodybuilding in the late teens. Howard wanted to write adventure fiction from the age of nine but found real success only at 23. Early catalogued titles include Spear and Fang (1925), Skull-Face (1929) and Kings of the Night (1930). Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, Cormac Mac Art and James Allison are other series on the author page.

Michael Moorcock

160 books• 29 series

Michael John Moorcock, born 18 December 1939, is an English writer who started in science fiction and fantasy and later produced literary novels, comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. Moorcock has also worked as an editor and a musician. The Elric of Melniboné novels shaped the fantasy field in the 1960s and 1970s. Other series include Jerry Cornelius, Eternal Champion, Corum, Runestaff/Hawkmoon, Von Bek Family and Colonel Pyat Quartet. The catalogue runs from The Sundered Worlds / The Blood Red Game (1962) to The Wounds of Albion (2026).

Brandon Sanderson

109 books• 28 series

Brandon Sanderson, born December 19, 1975, is an American writer of high fantasy, science fiction and young adult fiction. Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive both belong to the Cosmere, a shared fictional universe. Outside the Cosmere, Sanderson wrote the Reckoners, Skyward and Alcatraz series, and completed Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. White Sand and Dark One are Sanderson's two graphic novels. Sanderson's Laws of Magic, a framework for hard and soft magic systems, carry the author's name. The catalogue lists 109 titles, from Centrifugal (1994) through Elantris (2005) to King Lopen the First of Alethkar (2026).

L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

87 books• 11 series

The Saga of Recluce made L.E. Modesitt, Jr.'s name: 25 novels of wizards, magic and imaginary wars by 2025, with the first 18 selling close to three million copies. Modesitt, born Leland Exton Modesitt Jr. in 1943, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer whose 87 catalogued books run from The Timegod / The Fires of Paratime (1982) to Last of the First (2026). The Imager Portfolio, Corean Chronicles, Spellsong Cycle, Ecolitan Matter and Forever Hero stand beside Recluce. Modesitt also publishes poetry, columns and technical studies, and his volumes median 501 pages.

Tracey West, born October 1, 1965, is a children's author who writes for licensed series such as Pokémon and SpongeBob SquarePants. The catalogue lists 356 titles from 1988 to 2027, reaching Heart of the Ruby Dragon (2026), with Claw of the Diamond Dragon due in 2027. Named series include Pokémon chapter books, novelizations and readers, Naruto Chapter Books, LEGO Ninjago Reader, Bakugan Chapter Books, Pixie Tricks, Pet Vet Club and Scream Shop Pick Your Path. Dragon Masters and Heroes in Training appear as recurring lines. Ninja, dragons and plot-your-own stories appear among the subject headings.

Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 to 26 March 2011) was a British novelist, poet, academic, critic and short story writer. The speculative fiction of Diana Wynne Jones for children and young adults is usually called fantasy but draws on science fiction ideas such as time travel and parallel universes, along with realism. The Chrestomanci heptalogy, the Dalemark Quartet, the Moving Castle trilogy, Dark Lord of Derkholm and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland rank among the best-known works. The catalogue lists 61 books, from Changeover (1970) and The Ogre Downstairs (1974) to The Islands of Chaldea (2014). Magic, witches and wizards run through the subjects.

Tanith Lee

132 books• 22 series

Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction and fantasy, born 19 September 1947, who died on 24 May 2015, leaving more than 90 novels and 300 short stories. Death's Master (1980) made Lee the first woman to take the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel, the August Derleth Award, and Lee also won several World Fantasy Awards plus lifetime achievement honours from the World Fantasy and Bram Stoker awards. Lee wrote the Blake's 7 episodes "Sand" and "Sarcophagus", poems, and the picture book Animal Castle (1972). The catalogue lists 132 books from The Betrothed (1968) to The Earth is Flat (2023), including The Birthgrave (1975) and Don't Bite the Sun (1976). Series include Tales from the Flat Earth, Secret Books of Paradys, Claidi Journals, Blood Opera and Piratica.

Tony Abbott, born in 1952, is an American author of children's books. His Secrets of Droon fantasy series runs to more than 40 titles and is his most widely read work; he also wrote Firegirl and The Copernicus Legacy. Abbott has sold over 12 million copies and been translated into Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, Japanese, Polish, Turkish and Russian. The 105 catalogued books span Danger Guys (1994) to Junk Boy (2020), aimed largely at grades 1 to 3.

Dave Duncan (1933-2018) was a Canadian fantasy and science fiction author, and swordsmen, swordplay and magic run through most of his 67 catalogued books. The King's Blades and King's Daggers, the Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and A Handful of Men are among twelve series, with the Venice Trilogy, Years of Longdirk, Great Game and Enchanter General beside them. Historical fantasy and science fiction sit next to the epic fantasy. A Rose-Red City (1987) opens the catalogue and Corridor to Nightmare (2024) closes it, with the 1990s his heaviest decade and a median of 332 pages.

Harry Turtledove

141 books• 28 series

Harry Turtledove, born June 14, 1949, is an American historian and novelist of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction and mystery, based in Southern California. The catalogue counts 142 books, starting with Wereblood and Werenight (1979), published as Eric G. Iverson, and listing The Succulent Succubus for 2027. Other pen names are H. N. Turteltaub, Dan Chernenko and Mark Gordian. The Videssos Cycle, Southern Victory / Timeline-191, Worldwar, Colonization, Crosstime Traffic, The War That Came Early and Gerin the Fox are among the series. World War II and the American Civil War are frequent subjects.

Anne McCaffrey

96 books• 20 series

Anne McCaffrey (1 April 1926 to 21 November 2011) was an American writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. McCaffrey was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction, for the novella Weyr Search (1968), and the first to win a Nebula, for Dragonrider (1969). The White Dragon (1978) was among the earliest science fiction books on the New York Times Best Seller list. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master in 2005. The catalogue lists 96 books, from Restoree (1967) to Sky Dragons (2011), plus the Acorna, Crystal Singer and Tower and Hive series.

Epic fantasy quests define David Eddings's catalogue: the Belgariad and the Malloreon around Garion, the Elenium and the Tamuli around Sparhawk, and the Dreamers books. High Hunt (1973) is the earliest of 29 catalogued titles, Pawn of Prophecy (1982) opens the Belgariad, and Seeress of Kell closes the catalogued run. Magic, wizards and imaginary wars supply the material, and the 1990s were the densest decade.

Terry Brooks

59 books• 20 series

Terry Brooks, born Terence Dean Brooks on January 8, 1944, is an American writer of epic fantasy. The catalogue opens with The Sword of Shannara (1977) and counts 59 books through Brona (2026). Series lines include the Original Shannara, Heritage of Shannara, Genesis of Shannara, Defenders of Shannara and Dark Legacy of Shannara, alongside Word & Void and Viridian Deep, while the Magic Kingdom of Landover is a recurring setting. Two film novelizations belong to the output. Brooks has had 23 New York Times bestsellers and more than 25 million copies in print, and announced a semi-retirement from writing in March 2025.

Tom Holt, born Thomas Charles Louis Holt on 13 September 1961, is a British novelist who also writes fantasy as K. J. Parker. The catalogue lists 57 books under the Holt name, from Lucia in Wartime (1985) and Lucia Triumphant (1986) to The Eight Reindeer of the Apocalypse (2023). Recorded subjects include humorous fantasy, and titles include Expecting Someone Taller (1987), Who's Afraid Of Beowulf? (1988), Goatsong (1989) and Flying Dutch (1991). Series include J. W. Wells & Co., YouSpace and Walled Orchard.