10 Fantasy Books Brandon Sanderson Recommends
Brandon Sanderson’s own bibliography could occupy a reader for years, but his interests reach well beyond the Cosmere. As a creative-writing teacher and lecturer on J.R.R. Tolkien, he has regularly discussed the fantasy writers and books that shaped his view of the genre.
His recommendations range from formative childhood reads to recent releases, with plenty of intricate magic, ambitious world-building and memorable political conflicts. While you wait for the next Cosmere book, these ten novels offer compelling alternatives. For more stories about games, worlds and imaginative design, explore the RETROCADE Arcade Blog.
10. Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly (1985)
Sanderson has said that reading Dragonsbane in middle school showed him how powerfully authors could connect with readers. The novel has an appeal similar to The Hobbit, bringing a prince, a lord and a witch together to confront a dragon living inside a gnomish cavern.
The quest is more complicated than it first appears. Both the creature and the mission conceal deeper possibilities, including magic powerful enough to alter the fate of the entire realm.
9. Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn (1988)
Melanie Rawn’s debut follows Rohan, a prince forced into leadership after a dragon wounds his father. Roelstra, the High Prince, has 17 daughters but no heir. He plans to marry one of them to Rohan, then kill his new son-in-law and seize Rohan’s lands.
To protect his new position, Rohan must participate in the courtship while navigating a maze of schemes that lead to brutal consequences.
8. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (1990)
Guy Gavriel Kay often reshapes real history into fantasy. Tigana draws on Renaissance Italy and the conflicts between provinces before unification. The sorcerer king Brandin has erased every memory of Tigana, leaving people born there to fight to prevent their homeland from disappearing completely.
Its central conflict combines historical atmosphere, resistance and the dangerous consequences of trying to preserve a nation’s identity.
7. Sabriel by Garth Nix (1995)
The opening volume of Garth Nix’s six-book Old Kingdom series centres on a teenage girl who inherits her father’s work as a necromancer. Her duty is to protect the Old Kingdom from the dead.
Sabriel must escape monsters, form unexpected friendships and confront a necromancer determined to break the rules that keep magical beings under control.
6. The Truth by Terry Pratchett (2000)
Sanderson has described Terry Pratchett as his favourite living author until Pratchett’s death in 2015, and he has recommended several Discworld novels. The Truth follows William de Worde as he joins forces with dwarves to establish the Ankh-Morpork Times.
The new newspaper’s investigative work soon becomes dangerous when its reporters are drawn into a murder plot. The crucial witness is a terrier.
5. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (2007)
Kote, an innkeeper, is secretly Kvothe the Kingkiller: a legendary warrior and magician who disappeared after starting a war. He agrees to tell his life story to a travelling scribe, taking readers through years spent as a performer, beggar and university student.
His memories are linked to the Chandrian, supposedly mythical killers who hunt anyone who learns too much about them. The novel is the first part of Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicle trilogy, whose conclusion had remained awaited for 15 years at the time of the source material. Sanderson, by contrast, is noted there for providing writing updates and releasing new books each year.
4. The Black Prism by Brent Weeks (2010)
Brent Weeks’ five-book Lightbringer series should appeal to readers who enjoy carefully structured magic. Gavin Guile is the Prism, the only person able to use colour magic efficiently by splitting light.
His authority is threatened when a teenage son he never knew existed appears, while a self-proclaimed king seeks independence for his territory. The first novel ends with a major twist that points directly towards The Blinding Knife.
3. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (2010)
Yeine Darr becomes central to a struggle involving a royal family and the enslaved gods it uses as weapons. While investigating her mother’s murder, Yeine develops feelings for a captive god.
The dangerous relationship reveals that her destiny extends well beyond succeeding her grandfather. It also places her against powerful enemies determined to protect the existing order.
2. Jade City by Fonda Lee (2017)
Fonda Lee’s Green Bone Saga uses six jade disciplines to create a detailed magic system. Unlike most of Sanderson’s recommendations here, Jade City is set in a world resembling a post-Second World War Hong Kong mob drama.
Rival clans fight over territory and resources amid drugs, strip clubs, shipping controls and family obligations. Several characters would rather avoid inheriting the family business, but the conflict gives them little room to do so.
1. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie (2025)
Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie have taken part in numerous talks together, and Sanderson has praised Abercrombie’s latest novel by comparing it with Pratchett’s work.
The Devils follows an unlikely group—a monk, vampire, werewolf, necromancer and elf—sent to escort a princess home to Troy. Their journey involves a shipwreck, a bargain with a crime lord, a cursed house and repeated attempts to evade bounty hunters.
Different worlds, same sense of discovery
These recommendations cover classic quests, political fantasy, inventive magic systems, comic investigation and grim adventure. If their elaborate worlds make you think about building an immersive games room, RETROCADE’s arcade machine buying guide can help you choose a cabinet, while arcade machines bring interactive worlds into the home.
For compact spaces, browse the range of bartop arcades. And if you prefer to create something yourself, DIY arcade kits offer a starting point for a custom project.
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