TOP 100 FANTASY SERIES 2023!

My thoughts on Reddit's ( r/fantasy's) top fantasy list of 2023!

Lawful Times Series:

P.O. Box: PO Box 7874 Henrico, VA 23231

[nava]

I think one of the major reasons why certain books/series are rated lower than you’d expect is because they’re not seen as fantasy books. They’re being rated lower for being less fantasy, not necessarily for being less popular.

[Luka-]

These lists are always incredibly hard to put together as there will always be worthy franchises/series that miss out on a place! It’s why lists like these are helpful for new readers but people should not put too much stock in them

[i.pfreely]

So happy to see First Law in the top 3 had no clue it was so respected and loved within the larger fantasy community. Feels so right to see Joe’s name right next to George r.r. Martin’s. Always grateful to Daniel for recommending it as Last Argument of Kings and The Heroes are some of my favorite books I’ve read in my life up to this point.

[saminsanity]

Im blown away that Ascendance of a Bookworm made it into the list!!! WOW thats a light novel and not a lot of people have read it

[alvarosager]

Daniel's giddiness at being voted for just put the biggest smile on my face. That was so sweet.

[danielalexander]

Next time you do this, you should definitely include a "How it's Compiled" segment at the start. Voters just listed their top 10 fantasy series. This means that a lot of classics that are really liked but are mostly read by die hard fantasy readers have to compete against all of the big names. So many times your reaction was OMG how is this so low but with the way voting was done, the books were lucky to make the list at all. A book that is always ranked 11th wouldn't make the list at all.

[ryzvonusef]

I highly recommend Ascendance of a Bookworm, because

1) VERY good world building, loads of depth spent on the various aspects, it looks like a world actually lived in. Loads of time spent on the MC's early life, giving a lot of depth (Most isekai would jump from birth to school in a couple of chapters, here the MC goes to school in like the 4th book, so three books of worldbuilding where we are *shown* rather than told how people live, and every bit is interesting.)

2) Deals with the consequences of gods being real, magic being real, and the class system that ensues by having, ( or not having), access to that magic; plus magic has an interesting cost that keeps it on the side of soft magic but still has limits. When nobles literally have a divine right to rule....what does it mean to be a commoner?

3) an actual clash between our world and their world's "common sense". For example, to give vague spoilers, our MC's efforts to save orphans leads to a town being nuked(I will not explain further, RAFO ;p) and it's all her fault, and you are given a compelling reason why it makes sense, from that world's perspective.

I recommend everyone who likes western fantasy to try Bookworm, it doesn't have the typical japanese isekai path (y'know, escapist portal fantasy) and reads very much like something a western author might write.

[JackMorganEFLavandowska]

So so pleased that Tamora Pierce showed up twice on the list! Her books were so influential on me

[noeisnothere]

I'm happy that you're going to read The Prydain Chronicles this year. I think it's such a good saga for young readers to get into more fantasy

[AnthonyRodriguez-pezn]

Hey Daniel, just wanted to say thank you for introducing me to the wonderful world of fantasy and scifi. Been reading through Sanderson and others ever since I stumbled upon your channel. Bless you

[hatholraeg]

Classics like "The Once and Future King" receiving low number of votes is not surprising, since everyone is voting their top 10 books. For a book to remain in a top 10 spots, 60 years after it's publication and across multiple generations of readers, requires it to be extraordinarily great.

[vroomzoom]

Daniel going on hiatus before even starting to read HxH is true HxH spirit. I commend his series knowledge.

[CarbonBondedBooks]

Fahrenheit 451 was one of the few books they made us read in high school that I actually enjoyed!

[whitie]

Re: Artemis Fowl

I personally love it, but to really enjoy it, just keep in mind that it was written in the early 2000s, which gives you insight into where human tech was at the time

[appa_the_weird_bison]

Each time I finally stop procrastinating and starting to work I get distracted with either a video of yours or a twitch stream. Every. Damn. Time.

[LightningRaven]

From this list I want to recommend those that Daniel glossed over:

Book of The New Sun - Gene Wolfe's masterpiece. It's a complicated and tough reading, but if you like The Kingkiller Chronicle because you glimpsed more information with multiple rereads, this book is for you. It's the same genre also (picaresque novel).

Terra Ignota - Ada Palmer's highly regarded scifi. It's highly inventive with the best of sci-fi as its main goal. It is dense, but it's worth the investment.

The Warlord Chronicle - The actual best adaptation of Arthurian Legends (sorry Daniel). It's as good as Joe Abercrombie character-wise and with just as intense and powerful battle and duel scenes.

Temeraire - Dragon Riders and the Napoleonic Wars. Need I say more? If you liked Hiccup and Toothless, but more posh, this is for you.

Ascendance of a Bookworm - It's a series of light novels (adapted to anime already) of the isekai genre. However, unlike being just a wish-fulfillment power-fantasy as most in the genre, this novels follows the main character trying to become a librarian in a world without books (think the world before the printing press). It's an amazing character driven story with a fun main character.

The Culture Series - Iain M. Banks take on an utopian society like The Federation in Star Trek, however with more complex ideas and deeper themes.

[IndustrialQueue]

I love seeing Daniel going through this list like a sports fan watching a draft.

[oscar]

Loved seeing Daniel’s appreciation for the Belgariad being on the list. One of my favourite series growing up

[CravenWolf]

I was actually pleased to see Eddings' Belgariad so high on the list. I read my dad's Belgariad and Malloreon collection in high school, and I want to read them all again in the near future.

[TheRedHaze]

Hopefully he ends up reading A Practical Guide To Evil and decides to delve more into web serials.
Worm and Mother of Learning are must-reads.