I read 64 fantasy books in 2023 & these are my TOP 10

I read 64 fantasy books this year and these are the 10 best so far. I am an avid fantasy reader and although I still have 36 books to read, I didn't want to wait till the end of the year to share these amazing reads. But wait, have you read Patrick's Leo favourite book of this year? Or Mike's? Or Library of a Viking? Or Murphy's book? I mean, are you a booktuber that I can truly trust? I guess you'll need to wait till the end of the video to figure that out. And let's start with the top 10, in this case with A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross. I've been very obsessed with this author. I read this book at the beginning of the year and whenever I see a rainy day, I want to read this book all over. It is a duology, so it's a very low commitment and it is so phenomenal. It currently has 4.13 stars on Goodreads and it has been rated by more than 33,000 readers. It is not the most popular book by this author. Her latest, The Divine Rivals, which is a young adult story, it's gaining so much hype and popularity and I don't agree necessarily with that. I think this one is amazing. It is adult fantasy and it is just perfect, if you love. Madeleine Miller, The Song of Achilles, Circe, it is phenomenal. And it really follows the same kind of prose structure where you are lost in the words. It is very character-driven and although the story has a mystery at its core and it has a very lush and whimsy setting, this environment where you have this island in the Scotland that it's divided in two and girls are missing but the spirits are also there, it really is a book that can be read slowly with a cup of coffee or tea and it just screams, read me slowly and savour me. In the top 9, we change completely from something that is super whimsy to something that is very, very dark with The Justice of Kings. High stakes, we follow mainly one girl and she is chasing this man that is the justice and he has these very special powers because he is able to command the dead. So you see a necromancy but you also will have this elder magic that is going to be mixed with religion, making it a story that is both religious, adventurous, war-driven, strategic and it has this small town vibes with a very gloomy setting. It took me a solid minute to get and understand the main characters, the main perspectives and it has a lot of going to solve this mystery, not trusting the village, not trusting anyone. In that sense, it really reminded me to the vibes that you can get with The Witcher and it is a little bit of a hidden gem. I know here on BookTube not as much and this one was one of the favourite books from Patrick Leo and also Mike. You can trust the hype, it is phenomenal. It has 4,000 good reads and it has been rated by 6,000 readers. So still a hidden gem that you cannot miss. In the top 8, we have The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. So the first book in the Wheel of Time series. This book was such a ride. It definitely had a lot of red flags for me and things that I did not necessarily enjoy but ultimately I acknowledge the point that it made me feel so much. It reads as classic fantasy and it has these wonderful tropes of the chosen one friendship. It has this coming to power, the good one versus the dark one. It just was so fascinating. I made a specific review for this one, a very long one. Wheel of Time is Daniel Green's favourite series of all time. And number one is The Wheel of Time. No, the show didn't drag it down below number one. It will forever be the most important series I have ever read. And I knew that I needed to read it this year, especially with the TV series coming and I don't want to be spoiled. The prologue and the first chapters of this book are so amazing and throughout the story, although I saw a lot of points that were repeated and yes, I was sick of Matt and Ryan going in through in to in. It honestly was a very good read. Also, the community with Wheel of Time, it's outstanding. So if you want a book, not just because it is amazing and I have been promised that it is just the beginning, like the harrowhead and that from that point onwards, a massive world expands and that it's going to be mind-blowing. The community, it's something else truly. It is phenomenal. In the top seven, we have a book that I was really, really surprised and we have Malice, the first book in the Faithful and the Fallen series. This is a concluded series. It has been loved by so many people. It's from John Wayne and I read before Shadow of the Gods and I enjoyed it, but I was not really a fan. So I came to this book expecting something similar, like liking it, but not loving it as much. And although it took me a solid minute to get to understand the different characters, I was so in love with the world. It reads as classic fantasy, but it's modern. It also has this fight between the good and the evil and you have such stereotypes in fantasy like the wizard. The bad is very bad, the good feels really, really good and you see things coming, but at the same time, it is savage and you cannot stop reading. I've been told that from book two onwards, the pacing is going to be incredibly fast. This one wasn't as much. It, again, has such great community and it just gave me that. Gosh, I really, really, really love fantasy, but I was not picking up from a lot of books. So really, if you want something that will get you this perfect blend of character, but also plot driven, this is amazing. In the top six, and I bet you're going to be surprised about this one, we have A Sound for the Wild, built by Becky Chambers. This is such a very short novella. It has 166 pages. It can be read in a sitting. The narration, it's also phenomenal. It won the Hugo Award last year and it is all about a cozy story. It is very reflective. It explores a topic that I did not know before, which is this solar punk subgenre of sci-fi, although it's also a blend of fantasy and it basically explains us that the future can be better. It leans more towards a future that leans towards nature, towards sustainability, rather than a dystopian future where things are just collapsing everywhere or a very steampunk, futuristic setting. I know in my heart of hearts that this is a story that potentially has four stars, but to me, and with my heart, it was five stars because it just came in the perfect moment. I loved it beginning to end. I was very stressed when I was reading it and it just soothed me to my core. It reads as a warm hug. It is so easy to read, but it is so philosophical. It follows the story of Dex. They are a tea monk and they basically are offering a cup of tea to whoever needs that. One day, they discover that they are not feeling happy or fulfilled and they start this very low-stake quest of finding happiness. And along that journey, eventually, they will meet Moscap, which is a robot. Because in this world, robots eventually gain awareness and they said, Humans, we don't want to work for you anymore. And humans were like, Okay, fine, go be happy. Imagine. In the top five, we have the favorite book or books of Patrick Leo, of Murphy, and also Larry of the Viking. And that is The Dandelion Dynasty. Yes, I loved it so much. It is still somewhat a hidden gem. I understand that in Booktube, it's been talked about more, but beyond that, people don't necessarily know it. And I really, really enjoyed it. It reads very as historical fiction. Really, as a history book. This one especially. It is very character-driven. Each chapter, it is very short, and it's a part of the story that always advances. And I loved that. I loved how well these characters are written. Ken Liu is just a master genius. I cannot imagine the capacity that you need to have in order to write something as big in scope as this story, with Aztec, with the characters, their emotions. In this book, though, I was not really connecting with their emotions because you were not actually getting into their inner thoughts of these characters. But then I read The Wall of Storms, which is the book that has been pitched as the best book for a lot of people. You go then for something that reads more as an epic fantasy because you then move towards this war that it's unravelling, these different characters, and then you get to know way more about these characters, their feelings, their inner thoughts. So in that sense, brilliant. I think I was more fascinated by Book 1 because also the world was newer, but in this case, it is phenomenal. I am pausing with Book 3 and 4 because it has been said to me that you need to read both at the same time. And my goodness, that is a huge, huge, huge commitment. It follows different characters throughout different generations and your mind will explode. While reading this, I felt that I was being smart and I loved how well-crafted the world was, how it was impossible for me to tell what was going to happen. And I was hooked to the pages. No end, very world-driven, very strategic. And it currently has the first book 3.77 stars. Like, how dare people rate this book with less than 5 stars? Oh, my goodness. And then Book 2, it is bummed with 4.33 stars, although always Book 2 are usually higher stars because if you don't like that, then you don't continue reading necessarily. But honestly, such a good read. The hype, it's all real. And I hope you enjoy it because I did not thought I was going to be one to love it. And I am consumed by this. In the top 4, and continuing with reads that I was sure I was going to hate, we have a favorite book from Patrick and Mike. And this is Empire of a Vampire. Wow, this is amazing. Granted, it took me a while, easily 40%, 50% of the book to get hooked. And it is a massive commitment. It is 800 pages long. So it's not a book that you casually lean towards and you read. No, you need to go into it and you need to pass the first part of this book, which isn't good at all to then discover this diamond, this amazing, amazing story. There are two things that I hated from the beginning and ended up working, but I hated them. The first one, you have this same narration style as you have with The Name of the Wind, same as Kvothe is telling his own story. In this story, you follow our character, who is being trapped by this vampire. And this vampire is interrogating our main character and he's telling his own story. And you have these points where the story had a peak and then cut. And then you follow the story of how these vampire and our main character are interacting and drinking wine. And I was like... And the second thing that also broke it, it's that the timeline is also all messed up. You follow this story, but it's not in chronological order. You have different parts of this book and the first part starts at the beginning of the story and then the second part, without really telling you something, goes towards the future. And I swear, I was mad with myself. I was sure I was missing pages. It took me a while to realize that, no, this was the pacing. I'm missing parts of this book. Because this is so confusing. Is this happening? Oh, human, forget your book. Eventually, though, you get into this amazing story where you follow our main character and he is this very powerful creature that is fighting vampires because one day the sun started to be as bright and vampires have emerged and it's savage. Vampires are depicted as something dark, that great blood, something very villain, very, you know, as vampires in your nightmares are. And I loved it, loved it, loved it. It has been rated by a little bit more than 40,000 readers, which isn't a lot and I was very surprised about that because in my mind, this was almost a classic. Then we move to the top three and we have Blood of a Bright Haven by ML Wang, the same author as The Sword of Kagan. This is a standalone. For me, if a fantasy story, it's amazing and it's a standalone. It has four points just for that because I think it's phenomenal to have that ability. It is still a very hidden gem. It has been rated by a little bit more than 1,000 people, so not a lot of people, but the rating in itself amazing, 4.52 stars and it's very different to Sword of Kagan. Meanwhile, Sword of Kagan brought this very familiar intensity and this drama of what is happening in Kagan. In this book, you follow a woman that is the first mage that is about to start in this school of mages. She is very smart, very ambitious and it transmits very intense emotions as well. You have this anger. You have a very similar vibe to what you get with Heir of Kuang. So it's that intensity, that anger, that violence that it's utterly consuming and that I really, really, really loved. The world in itself, it's a little bit violent because you have this light that in my imagination were like thunder. Not as gory as you can imagine, although there's a description of nothing. And as a result, mages have created the city that it's protected from that magic, but if you get outside, you can get killed. And these mages want to push that barrier. Our girl wants to be one of the first trying that, but what she discovers will impact everyone. It's dark academia and it's done in a way that it's phenomenal. It talks about really intense feelings, sexism and also colonialism. So beware of that. But it's done in a way that will fascinate you. I promise you it is amazing. And because we love contrast, in the top two, we have Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson. This was secret project number three. I loved it to pieces. The setting and the world building and the magic and the characters. It's what incredibly fascinated me about this story. I don't believe I read a Sanderson book. Well, maybe Stormlight. With a world building that was as vibrant to me. We have two worlds. In one hand, we have this very dark place where the only ways of lightning are two lines, two neon lines, one blue and one purple, and that goes all the way through. And in this world, nightmares come to life and we have these sorcerers that are able to paint those nightmares and while doing so, trapping them and ensuring that they go away. I thought that as a concept was fascinating. And also, there are illustrations that are just out of this world. This is such a phenomenal book. And in the other world, we have this more beautiful, whimsy, Asian-inspired world where people are really close to the gods. And we have our girl that is able to commune with them. And the gist of the story is that these two characters one day will be linked. You know, one will wake up in the body of the other and they will need to realize what to do. It is beautiful and I cannot recommend enough. And what about your top one? Is it going to be something that only you have read? Or is it something that all the booktubers have also read and loved? In this case, we have the most amazing book that I've read this year. The Will of the Many by James Arlington. This is the same writer as the Lycanus trilogy and I am mesmerized about how much I love this book. Still today, I am thinking about this. There are so many things that I am not sure I understand. I very easily can get into a rabbit hole into Reddit trying to understand the ending and the different perspectives or potential ideas. And I love that from a book. It has this blend of fantasy and sci-fi. It's one of Patrick's favorite books of this year. And I cannot recommend this enough. I am mesmerized. It has this Roman Empire-inspired setting with a military academic theme at its core where we follow this character where we don't know much about him. But we just know that he needs to infiltrate this school and he needs to figure out something that happens. It is very reminiscent to Red Rising, but it's done, in my opinion, better. Which is a bold statement to action scenes that are mind-blowing and that are very consuming. The pacing, it's very on point. And to me, it is a perfect blend between a character-driven but also a plot-driven story. I resented having plans. I just wanted to read this. So if you're there, you're waiting for a book to have six stars this year, please give The Will of the Many a try. You won't regret it. It has the highest rating on Goodreads from this list. It has 4.67 stars. Yeah, granted, it has only been read by 5,000 readers, but those readers know their stuff. And let me know down below what have been the best reads that you've read so far because I still have 34 books to go and I can definitely introduce your best read so far. Thank you so much to my Patreons who joined the Ingwardian Society and are helping me save the book spirits.