You finished A Song of Ice and Fire and now nothing else feels substantial enough. You want political scheming that spans continents. You want characters who make terrible decisions for understandable reasons. You want world-building so dense you could get lost in the appendices. Good news: epic fantasy has been thriving, and these eight series deliver exactly what made Westeros compelling.
What unites these picks isn't just length or scope—it's the willingness to treat fantasy as seriously as literary fiction treats everything else. Consequences matter. Heroes fail. Power corrupts in specific, believable ways. If that's what you're after, start anywhere on this list.
1. The Blade Itself
By Joe Abercrombie
The First Law trilogy is where grimdark fantasy found its voice. Logen Ninefingers is a barbarian trying to leave his violent past behind. Sand dan Glokta is a crippled torturer who hates himself as much as his victims. Jezal dan Luthar is an arrogant nobleman who thinks he deserves everything. Abercrombie throws them together in a war that has no good guys, only survivors. The prose is sharp, the battle scenes are visceral, and the cynicism runs bone-deep. If you loved how Game of Thrones subverted fantasy tropes, this series takes that approach further and never flinches.
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2. The Way of Kings
By Brandon Sanderson
The Stormlight Archive is Brandon Sanderson's magnum opus—a planned ten-book series that's already delivered five doorstoppers of intricate plotting and innovative magic. On Roshar, a world ravaged by magical storms, war has raged for six years over ancient weapons that glow with power. Kaladin is a slave forced to run suicide missions. Shallan is a scholar hiding dangerous secrets. Dalinar is a warlord haunted by visions of a catastrophe to come. Sanderson doesn't write morally gray characters the way Martin does, but he matches the scale, the political complexity, and the sense that every detail connects to something larger. The world-building alone justifies the page count.
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3. The Name of the Wind
By Patrick Rothfuss
Kvothe is a legend. He's killed a king, loved a woman, and been expelled from the University. Now he runs an inn in the middle of nowhere, telling his story to a chronicler. The Kingkiller Chronicle is fantasy as memoir—unreliable, beautiful, and obsessed with the gap between who we are and who we pretend to be. Rothfuss writes prose that other fantasy authors envy, and his magic system (based on names and sympathy) feels genuinely mysterious rather than systematic. Fair warning: the third book has been delayed for years. Read it anyway. The journey is worth the uncertainty.
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4. Gardens of the Moon
By Steven Erikson
The Malazan Book of the Fallen is the series readers recommend when you say Game of Thrones wasn't complex enough. Ten books. Hundreds of characters. Hundreds of thousands of years of history. Erikson drops you into the middle of an imperial war with no hand-holding—gods walk the earth, ancient races scheme from the shadows, and soldiers die for causes they barely understand. It's demanding reading. It's also rewarding in ways few fantasy series attempt. The payoffs in later books recontextualize everything that came before. If you want fantasy that trusts your intelligence, Malazan delivers. Our best sci-fi picks might also interest readers who appreciate dense world-building.
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5. The Fifth Season
By N.K. Jemisin
The Broken Earth trilogy won the Hugo Award for Best Novel three years running—unprecedented in the award's history. On a continent called the Stillness, civilization-ending earthquakes happen regularly enough to have a name: Fifth Seasons. Essun is an orogene, someone born with the power to control seismic activity. Her people are feared, enslaved, and killed by a society that depends on them. Jemisin writes in second person, which sounds gimmicky until you realize why she's doing it. The worldbuilding is scientific and mythological simultaneously. The anger is righteous. The ending hits like an earthquake.
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6. The Lies of Locke Lamora
By Scott Lynch
What if Ocean's Eleven happened in a fantasy Venice run by crime lords and nobility who both want you dead? Locke Lamora is the greatest thief in Camorr, running cons so elaborate they've become legend. When a mysterious figure called the Grey King starts murdering his way through the underworld, Locke finds himself caught between powers that could crush him without noticing. Lynch writes heist sequences with the precision of a watchmaker, and his found-family dynamics rival anything in modern fantasy. The banter is excellent. The violence is sudden. The twists actually surprise.
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7. Prince of Thorns
By Mark Lawrence
Jorg Ancrath is thirteen years old, leads a band of murderers, and intends to become emperor. The Broken Empire trilogy follows his rise through a post-apocalyptic landscape that was once Europe—the fantasy elements layer over recognizable ruins in ways that become increasingly disturbing. Lawrence writes a protagonist who is genuinely monstrous, not just "morally complex." Jorg does terrible things and the narrative doesn't excuse them. It's dark in ways that make grimdark feel like a meaningful descriptor rather than a marketing label. Read this when you want fantasy that doesn't compromise on its premise.
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8. A Darker Shade of Magic
By V.E. Schwab
Four Londons exist in parallel dimensions. Grey London is our world, drained of magic. Red London thrives with it. White London fights over it. Black London was destroyed by it. Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians who can travel between worlds—and he's been smuggling contraband across realities. When he picks up the wrong artifact, he meets Lila, a thief from Grey London who has no intention of going home. Schwab delivers the political intrigue and world-building you want with faster pacing than most epic fantasy allows. It's the entry point for readers who loved Game of Thrones but want something that respects their time. For more fantasy with edge, check out our best fantasy books of 2026.
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These eight series share the qualities that made Westeros unforgettable: stakes that matter, worlds that feel lived-in, and characters complex enough to argue about. Pick the one that matches your current mood—Malazan for commitment, Locke Lamora for fun, Broken Earth for brilliance—and settle in. Add your favorites to ShelfHop and we'll find more recommendations that fit your taste.