Best and Worst Fantasy Book in Every Major Series

Añadido: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Here are the best and worst fantasy books in every single major fantasy series I have read. Now obviously with every single series you read, you will have some books that you love and some books that you love a bit less. And sometimes every single book in the series is just amazing, Lord of Rings for example. Don't tell me there's a bad book in Lord of Rings. And then you have amazing series like The Wheel of Time where the greatest book in the series are so amazingly phenomenal, mind-blowingly good, and the worst book is so so bad. So, let's have a look at what are the best and the worst book in every single major fantasy series I read. And let's for fun tier rank these books. Before anyone asks, yes, I just got a haircut. All right, so let's get into it. So, let's start with Red Rising. What do I think is the best book in the Red Rising trilogy? Only focusing on the first three books uh cuz I've only read the first book in the second half. Iron Gold is actually my favorite book if you're wondering. I think the best one is Golden Son. So, where do I actually rank this book here? Is it an S-tier book? A, B? It's not S-tier. I probably would put it in [music] A. I definitely enjoyed it. The thing with the original trilogy, I don't know why, but I never got like fully fully invested as almost everyone else I know did with the original trilogy. With Iron Gold, the fourth book is a different story, so I look forward to actually continuing. But, what is the worst book in that original trilogy? I would say Red Rising. It's not a bad book per se, but I think just the marketing, I don't know, I expected like a proper space opera and I got Hunger Games in space.

[00:01:28]That's probably just my perception that made it feel not that amazing. I'll probably put it in C. Yeah, it's not horrible, but not amazing either. All right, let's tackle Mistborn. Oh, this is so hard. When I read this trilogy, I actually gave every single book five stars. So, let's start with my favorite book in the trilogy. And that is just because it's such a nostalgic read for me. If I reread it now, it might not be, but Mistborn. Love love this book. It made me fall in love with modern fantasy. So, I'm going to judge it on my perception that when I read it like five and a half years ago or six years ago, it wasn't S-tier book for me and I know it has helped thousands if not millions of people fall in love with modern fantasy and Brandon Sanderson. So, I'm going to rank it S. Again, if I reread it now, maybe it would have been higher.

[00:02:07]I just loved the heist element. I loved the strong female protagonist. I loved how exciting cinematic was. Loved loved loved loved it. Well of Ascension, I also gave this book five out of five stars, but I do think it's the worst even though it's not bad. It's so good.

[00:02:20]I'm going to rank it A. It's just a bit more political, a bit more slow-paced.

[00:02:24]Still a phenomenal book and it hurts my soul to put in A, but just shows the best book in the series in my opinion is S and the worst is A, at least when I read it. So, just amazing. All right, let's go with The Poppy War. Dun dun dun. It's going to be controversial. So many people are going to hate me, especially on Reddit. They hate Poppy War on Reddit. The Poppy War, I think this is the best book in the first trilogy. I am just a sucker for an underdog, a strong female lead, training montages, action, grimdark. It had all those things and this was my first exposure to Asian-inspired fantasy. I loved it. Now, not as much as Final Empire and, you know, when I read it five years ago, shortly after Mistborn actually, it was a hugely influential book for me because it really helped me just see how beautiful modern fantasy is. Or, you know, as a new reader it was. So, I'm going to actually pop it in A. Again, I think if I reread it now, it probably would be closer to C, but at that stage of my life I loved it. The Burning God is the worst book in the trilogy. I did not think it was bad when I read it, but I felt the ending was a bit rushed and Rin she's not a brat protagonist by any means cuz R.F. Kuang she has crafted intentionally a protagonist that is insufferable, but I started getting slightly tired by how how insufferable she is. I'm going to rank it in B. Not horrible, but yeah, it is what it is. The Dandelion Dynasty, the worst book in the Dandelion Dynasty is The Grace of Kings, which is still a phenomenal book. It is phenomenal for someone like me, but I again find it so hard to recommend cuz it's almost reads like a history book and it doesn't have amazing ratings on Goodreads for good reason. It is just a hard book to recommend. I still would put it in A. It blew my mind. I'll probably put it somewhere in the middle of A. And the best book in the Dandelion Dynasty, I said best, right? The worst is Grace of Kings. The best is The Wall of Storms, which is one of the best books I've ever read in my life. This is where the Dandelion Dynasty becomes more traditional epic fantasy in that sense, even though it's still punk-inspired.

[00:04:17]Like the world just opens up. So many epic moments, so emotional, so exciting.

[00:04:23]It has these epic scale stories, these more intimate stories, and it just blew my mind. It's definitely an S-tier book, and I'm going to pop it on the top of S-tier. So, very, very high praise for me. Worst book in the series is A, highest is S. Let's go for The Hunger Games. I read this a decade ago, so don't take my word here as, you know, Bible or anything. I think the best novel in this trilogy is The Hunger Games, [music] the first novel. Loved it, loved it. It's so brutal, it's so crazy, and I had never come across a concept like this, and I found it as a young teenager incredibly emotional as well. So, I'm going to pop it in A. It's just a very, very solid, solid young adult uh novel. The worst one is, in my opinion, Mockingjay. I actually loved it as well when I read it, but the ending isn't as exciting, and yeah, I don't know. I'm going to pop it >> [music] >> in B. Let's talk about The Wheel of Time. Let's talk about the best novel.

[00:05:13]This was so hard. I was going between I had four novels shortlisted that I think are the greatest, and wasn't sure. I was considering The Gathering Storm. I love the novel. I was thinking Book 11, why have I forgotten it? It's called Path of Daggers, I think so. I love the ending of Lord of Chaos, but probably the novel that made me hooked on The Wheel of Time, and which I just had a really enjoyable experience with, and the ending is great, and the pacing is great, is The Great Hunt. This novel is phenomenal, and in my opinion, it's definitely an S-tier. It's quite easy for me to say what the worst one is, though, without a doubt. And there are There's pretty, pretty horrible books in The Wheel of Time. I would even say books 7, 8, 9, and 10 are all mediocre to bad. The worst novel, and this is actually a hot take, one of the worst fantasy novels I've ever read. And that's saying a lot cuz this Wheel of Time is one of my favorite series of all time. Crossroads of Twilight, book 10.

[00:06:00]10. Why does this novel exist? If you deleted the whole book and just wrote a 50-page summary, it would have been fine. People literally just walk around for 800 pages. Nothing happens.

[00:06:09]Definitely D tier. It's crazy. Best book is S, worst book is D. The series is mad. All right, let's go to Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. So, my favorite novel in that series is The Dragonbone Chair.

[00:06:21]Oh, I loved it. After reading a lot of Robin Hobb, I was hungering for something that will give me similar vibes. Tad Williams certainly gave me that. His prose is so beautiful. This is like classic epic fantasy, but it just feels so beautiful and wholesome and epic in scale. Now, the first 200 pages are very slow, but I didn't mind. And I'm going to rank this first novel here as S tier. The worst novel here, without a doubt, is book three, which is called To Green Angel Tower. This novel is not bad, but it's just way too long. It is like 1,700 pages. In the UK, they even split it into two volumes because it's that long. And it's just too long. Way too long. I wish this novel here was as long as book one and two, around 800 pages, but no, Tad Williams just went crazy here, and it really, really suffers. The ending is great, but I'm actually going to rank this in B, bottom of B. Still not a bad I I still enjoyed it, but man, it was just way too long.

[00:07:10]The Bloodsworn Saga by John Gwynne. So, I often say I think that this is John Gwynne's strongest writing to date. It's Norse-inspired, but it's just more emotional, the pacing is better, the character work is better, in my opinion.

[00:07:20]So, what is the best and worst novel?

[00:07:21]Also a hot take. I used to think The Hunger of the Gods is the best novel in that trilogy. It's not often that you see a middle book being the greatest one, but in my opinion, it is here. I loved it. I loved the introduction to the new two POVs that showcased the point of view from the villains. And it was just emotional. It was great. I I it. I'm going to rank it in the middle of A. Really, really great. Fury of the Gods was also brilliant. I just found it to be a bit too action-packed for my taste. Still amazing and I'm going to rank it at the top of B. Very good trilogy. You should definitely check it out. All right, let's talk about Narnia by C.S. Lewis. So, my favorite novel in the seven-book series is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Probably it's something about my Christian background, the nostalgia I have for the movies, and just because how familiar I am with this story even before I read it. I knew the story inside out because if you're growing up in an evangelical household, you've probably have heard the story of Narnia so, so often cuz it's filled with Christian allegory. All seven books are, but especially this one. I love this one. Now, as not all reading it, I didn't find it mind-blowing, but I'll definitely be reading these stories to my kids. Enjoyment levels were quite low when I read it, but I think I'm going to rank this one at the bottom of A. It is middle grade or children's literature even, so don't compare it to great of kings. They're very different types of beasts. My least favorite novel is actually The Silver Chair. And the reason for it is because I was looking at the list of books there and I was like, I have definitely read all Narnia books. I don't remember having read The Silver Chair at all. I do feel like I remember all the other ones. So, the fact that this one is just I don't remember it, but I I have definitely read it. Believe me, I read all seven books and therefore I'm going to rank it at C. I just don't remember it and the fact that I don't remember it probably means I didn't love it as much. The Sun Eater's Daughter by Christopher Ruocchio. I actually haven't read all of them, but I read three of them and I need to rank it here cuz one of my favorite series that I'm reading at the moment. The worst novel I read is Empire of Silence, which is the first book, which I still, still loved and I'm definitely going to rank it firmly in A.

[00:09:16]It was so, so good. So, considering that is my least favorite and I'm ranking it at the top of A, my favorite is Demon in White, which became my favorite book of last year. This book gave me similar feelings as Words of Radiance did. Words of Radiance is one of my favorite novels of all time. One of those novels that just gave me huge dopamine rush because there's so many epic scenes that just blew my mind. Oh, so good. So, Demon Divided is one of the best books I ever read and I'm going to rank it at the very top of S tier, mate. This novel here just cemented this whole series as being [music] amazing. Lord of the Rings, I don't know what we're doing here. Okay, favorite book in that series, Return of the King, S tier. Do I need to say more? Actually, what I really loved about the last book, when I read this I had no idea that the ending is very different than the movies. You have the Is it called the Scouring of Shire when you actually see Saruman didn't die at Isengard, but he actually went back to the Shire and became this like dictator and you had this whole battle. That just blew my mind. And also, you spend more time actually traveling back to the Shire, which I loved. And it's just so satisfying to see this epic, epic, epic adventure come to conclusion. My least favorite novel in the Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring, I suppose. Maybe only because the first 100 pages are a bit slow, but I'm also going to rank it as I love these novels and even saying like Fellowship of the Ring is my least favorite is It feels stupid, but let's move on. Faith on the Fallen by John Gwynne. So, I already already talked about how I found The Bloodsworn Saga to be John Gwynne's strongest writing to date and I'll stand with that. But, Ruin, which is my favorite book in The Faith on the Fallen, I just so vividly remember reading this book. I could not stop reading. I was absolutely hooked. I remember I was in the Faroe Islands, I was sitting in my grandma's living room upstairs cuz we were staying there while while we were visiting. My wife was sitting behind and doing something on on her phone and I just kept looking at my wife and saying, "This book is so good."

[00:11:01]I just kept saying that. Every chapter is like, "Mate, my mind is being blown here. It is so emotional, so epic, so fast-paced. It does not let go." So, I'm going to pop this in the bottom of S. I Oh, mate, I loved it. I think the worst book in that series is probably Malice, only because I think find the first half to be a bit slow, a bit confusing, a bit all over the place. Not bad by any means, but when you go past the first half of that novel, things start to take a turn and the pacing just never stops.

[00:11:27]And yeah, I'll say that if you can try and read at least the very first book and then maybe the first 100 pages of book two. You'll most likely be absolutely hooked if you aren't already at that point. But yeah, Malazan is maybe a bit of a difficult entry point for some. So, I'm going to pop it top of B. Let's do that. The Echo Saga by Philip C. Quaintrell. So, another series in this universe has actually just been picked up by the Broken Binding. So, at least a part of the series is now being traditionally published. But, this is a massively, massively popular self-published series that sold millions of copies. And I read six of the books out of the nine and I'm just going to focus on the original trilogy here. I actually think the worst book in that trilogy is Bryce on the Ranger. I think it's great. It has elves, dwarves. It kind of feels like The Banded Iron Key Broken by Ryan Cahill. I think the mistake Philip C.

[00:12:12]Quaintrell maybe did with this first novel is having if I'm not mistaken, I think he has eight points of views. It's a lot. And when you get to book book two and three, it gets much easier. But, I found the first book to be a lot. So, I'm going to pop this somewhere at the bottom of B. It's not a bad book by any means. Relic of the Gods was the strongest conclusion. Now, this first trilogy here was really, really solid. I recently finished the second trilogy, which I found to be much, much better.

[00:12:37]But, I also really, really enjoyed this one. And B is not a bad rating, but I'm rating this at the top of B. Let's talk about The Dark Tower. One of my favorite series of all time. I read eight of the books in that universe. Let's talk about my favorite book first, shall we?

[00:12:48]Without a doubt, my favorite book in this series, The Waste Lands, book three in The Dark Tower. This is like an epic fantasy western. It is just so, so good.

[00:12:57]The Dark Tower like jumps between different subgenres. Goes from being like western to horror to urban. It is wacky. But, this novel here was just a masterpiece. It ends on a massive, massive cliffhanger though, which is ridiculous. I've never, ever read a book that finishes like that. It's like reading in the middle of a chapter. It is ridiculous. But, this book is amazing and definitely deserves to be somewhere in S tier. My least favorite book, and I love the series. I don't necessarily think this isn't a bad book, especially after having read this whole series. If you haven't read The Dark Tower, it's really hard to explain how your appreciation for the Gunslinger will increase after you finish the series, but you just have to trust me. That being said, when I read this book for the first time, I felt very, very overwhelmed. It's quite a short novel, but it's confusing. It's really, really weird. I'm really glad I continued though, and this series became one of my favorite, but I don't think this is a great [music] entry point to such a grand series. So, I'm going to pop it in B. All right, let's get to the Stormlight Archive, shall we? I'm going to admit, I haven't read all five books yet, but I want to rank these as well. My favorite book without a doubt, and I already mentioned this, Words of Radiance, S tier. Very, very similar to Demon Tide. I'm going to rank those two together. Actually gave me the same feelings to like watching Lord of the Rings or the recent Dune movies when I watched them in cinema.

[00:14:10]You know that feeling where you just like sitting like this, and it just feels so intense because the dopamine and everything just increases, increases, increases, and you just can't believe that something can be so epic and emotional and grand and well-paced at the same time. That is my feeling with Words of Radiance and Demon Tide.

[00:14:26]So, definitely S tier. My least favorite of the three novels I read is Oathbringer. I probably just read too much Sanderson back to back when I got to this novel, and I felt this was just too long. Has some epic moments, has great characters, and all those things, but I remember when I had 400 pages left, I was just like, "Oh, I need this novel to be over now." And unfortunately, even though there is a big Sanderson allergy at the end, that last stretch that just left me feeling so deflated, unfortunately. It's not a bad novel. So, I'm going to rank it in um probably top of B. All right, let's talk a bit about Robin Hobb, shall we? I read four of her series. I'm going to rank every single book in every series I read. Well, let's do the first ones, The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. I love this series. I've talked about this often on my channel, so I don't feel like I need to explain much about it.

[00:15:06]It's just so great because it's your introduction to one of the best fantasy characters of all time, Fitz. And it's also your introduction to one of the most beautiful writers in the genre, and it's also your introduction to heartbreak. So much heartache and break in this series. What is my favorite novel in this original trilogy, the Farseer trilogy? I would say Royal Assassin is amazing. It's book two. It's a bit longer. It's much longer actually than Assassin's Apprentice. But this is where I really got attached to all of the characters and the plot just deepens a lot. I loved it. So I'm going to rank this I'm going to rank it top of A. But my least favorite novel in the Farseer trilogy is actually Assassin's Quest. I still love this novel. It was so ridiculously long and similar to Wheel of Time actually in some ways. You just had too many pages seeing a character walk around and not doing anything. It's still beautiful. It's still heartbreaking, emotional. But I'm going to rank this on B. But my favorite trilogy by Robin Hobb is Liveship Traders trilogy. What's my favorite novel in that series? I would say Ship of Magic, the first novel, and I would definitely rank it easily somewhere in S. Let's put it there. Just the fact that you go from the Farseer trilogy, which is a single point of view, then you jump into Liveship, which is a third-person point of view, multi-POV story, and it's just much more epic. I just found it to be much more riveting.

[00:16:18]The world building is great. Oh, it's so good. I'm not going to talk too much about it cuz I talked so much about Liveship, but it's so so good. And I'll die on this hill. You can actually start with Liveship Traders if you want to.

[00:16:29]You don't have to start with Farseer. My least favorite is The Mad Ship. Not bad by any means. Still mind-blowing. It's just again a bit too long maybe. So still amazing. So I'm going to pop this in the middle of A. The Green Bone Saga, I would say my favorite novel is Jade Legacy. I definitely think that this is an S tier as well. Now, I have seen some different takes on this last novel. The reason why it just blew my mind so much is because building up to the conclusion of the story, you kind of see this long long conflict evolve and change. And then instead of giving you one explosive ending with Jade Legacy, Fonda Lee does something really really crazy. And she just says, "What happens if you actually look at how this conflict develops over 10 years?" The last novel almost reads like a short story collection where you see different things happening over 10 years, literally a decade. And it is so ambitious, and she just pulls it off. I was just mind-blown. I was like, how can you she write a conclusion to a trilogy and let it span over 10 years? And is she even able to pull that off? Well, I think she was. I've heard some kind of arguments that this last book feels more disjointed than the first two. That might be the case, but I adored it. A phenomenal, phenomenal conclusion, which also cemented Fonda Lee to be one of the greatest authors I've ever read. I recently read um Last Contract of Saka, a standalone. If you love the Green Bone Saga, check out this one. This is also like corporate gang wars kind of -ish, but it's set in space and it's very different from Green Bone, but this kind of reminded me of Green Bone, but standalone and different setting. My least favorite is also one of my favorite novels, Jade City. I love this novel. Obviously not as big-scaled as book two and three, but I also think the first 100 pages are a tiny bit rough, but still phenomenal. I'm going to pop this somewhere in the middle of A. All right, the First Law Trilogy. I struggled with these ones. So, I love this trilogy, so they're not going to be any low rankings here. Let's go with my favorite one, Before They Hang, which is book two. I loved it. I don't think the First Law Trilogy is as strong as Age of Madness, which is the second trilogy in this universe, but it's very, very good.

[00:18:28]I'm going to rank this somewhere high A.

[00:18:31]And The Blade Itself, I've often said that this book here is just like characters walking around, not that much happens. The story really starts at book two. I kind of stand with that. Still a great, great work. Anthony Ryan is just such a talented author. I'm going to pop this at the top of B. And the last series on this list, The Bound and Broken by Ryan Cahill. I actually haven't read his most recent release of Empire of Dust, which is so crazy long, just because I became a father and it's just too much. I really want to read it cuz I love the series and I love Ryan Cahill as a human being. But my favorite novel in that universe is actually not of War and Ruin, which almost everyone thinks it would be, but of Darkness and Light. I just found this novel to be so, so, so good. So, I'm going to pop this A. My least favorite. It's still a novel I've enjoyed. I don't even think the Ryan Cahill would mind me saying. It is just too similar to some of the other well-known series out there, like The Wheel of Time especially and Lord of the Rings. A Flood of Fire is still very good. I still enjoyed it, but I think Ryan Cahill would even say that his second, you know, novel and also the prequel novella The Fall are where the party really gets started. So, if you're able to push through the first book and go on to the next one, you'll have an amazing time. This first book is good, though. It is still good. It's just very, very reminiscent of a lot of other great stories. So, I'm going to pop this at the bottom.

[00:19:50]I think this probably should be in top of C tier. Still love it, though.

[00:19:54]It's not bad. So, what do you think is my worst take here? Let me know. Also, if you want to support this channel and help me do videos like this and also get extra content, then please go and check out my Patreon. You can get access to loads of extra videos for only £2 a month.