Best Fantasy Books for Beginners

The best starting point in fantasy and one of the best adventure stories ever told. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who wants nothing more than to stay home — and gets dragged into a quest anyway. The Hobbit is shorter, lighter, and funnier than Lord of the Rings, and it works perfectly as a standalone. It also happens to be the origin of everything: every chosen hero, every quest, every magic ring in fantasy traces its lineage back to Bilbo's unexpected journey.

The ideal entry point for readers who want fantasy that takes prose seriously. Kvothe is sitting in a country inn, hiding from his own legend, and agreeing to tell a chronicler the true story of his life. What follows is one of the most beautifully written opening volumes in fantasy — a world of music, magic, and poverty that feels immediately real. Rothfuss writes so well that readers who never thought they liked fantasy find themselves unable to stop.

The best entry point into Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere and an ideal beginner fantasy: a complete heist story set in a world where the prophesied hero failed and the dark lord won. Allomancy — the magic of swallowing metals to gain powers — is explained as part of the story, not in an appendix. Vin's arc from street urchin to revolutionary is one of the most satisfying in fantasy. The trilogy is complete, so there's no waiting for sequels.

The gentlest entry point in fantasy — a bureaucrat is sent to investigate a suspicious orphanage and finds dangerous magical children and a master who loves them completely. Klune's novel has no prior knowledge requirements, no complex magic systems, no maps. It's just a beautifully warm story about found family and the courage to be kind. Particularly ideal for readers coming from literary fiction or romance who are curious about fantasy.

If the idea of doorstop fantasy novels is daunting, start here — Piranesi is 272 pages and one of the most original novels of the last decade. A man lives in a House with infinite halls and tidal staircases, and the mystery of how he got there is one of the most satisfying reveals in recent fiction. Clarke's first novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, is 800 pages; Piranesi is the ideal sampler of what her imagination can do at compression.

For readers who want something fast, funny, and completely impossible to put down. Locke Lamora is a con man, thief, and the best friend a reader could ask for, operating in the richly detailed city of Camorr with his gang of Gentleman Bastards. Lynch writes with a wit that makes you read faster, and the plot mechanics are so satisfying that the book feels like a great heist movie in novel form. One of the most reliably beloved gateway fantasies.

An angel and a demon who've gotten rather used to life on Earth have to deal with the impending apocalypse — which neither of them wants. Pratchett and Gaiman's collaboration is the funniest fantasy novel ever written and one of the best entry points for reluctant readers because it reads like comedy first and fantasy second. The Amazon adaptation is also excellent, but read the book first.

For younger readers or anyone who wants their entry point to feel cinematic. Six morally grey criminals are hired for an impossible heist, and each chapter reveals a new layer of their damaged, vivid personalities. Bardugo writes with a pace and momentum that makes 500 pages feel like 200, and the found family dynamics are irresistible. Technically a sequel series to the Grisha trilogy but works perfectly as a standalone starting point.