What qualities make fun fantasy books what they are? Why are they such wonderful escapist reading? In these novels, the authors bring us charming characters, feel-good thrills, breathtaking romance, and other worlds that we love diving into and never want to leave.
In this list of fun fantasy books, I’ve covered just about every age group and reading preference and even threw some science fiction in. What is the most popular high fantasy book? That would be the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien—not just one book but the entire trilogy. Tolkien published the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring, in 1954, so being the epic it is, it’s had a lot of time between now and then to be read and loved by millions.
Other extremely popular high-fantasy books include A Game of Thrones by R.R. Martin (however, it is not young adult), The Once and Future King by T.H. White, and the Harry Potter series (a blend of both high and low fantasy). If you’d like to learn about the differences between high and low fantasy, I discuss it in the post Why Reading YA High Fantasy Books Leaves Us Forever Changed.
What is the most popular fantasy book right now? Fourth Wing (The Empyrean Book 1) by Rebecca Yarros was published in 2023 and is a massive hit right now in early 2025. Featuring dragons and a life-or-death competition, readers are saying this unputdownable fantasy is like Divergent meets House of the Dragon. The Empyrean has already won tons of awards as one of the best fantasy book series, and it’s even in production for television!
This post is about book recommendations for fun fantasy books.
Fun Fantasy Books
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland: The Essential Guide to Fantasy Travel by Diana Wynne Jones
From the blurb: Imagine that all fantasy novels—the ones featuring dragons, knights, wizards, and magic—are set in the same place. That place is called Fantasyland. The Tough Guide to Fantasyland is your travel guide, a handbook to everything you might find: Evil, the Dark Lord, Stew, Boots (but not Socks), and what passes for Economics and Ecology. Both a hilarious send-up of the cliches of the genre and an indispensable guide for writers, The Tough Guide to Fantasyland has been nearly impossible to find for years. Now, this cult classic is back, and readers can experience Diana Wynne Jones at her very best: incisive, funny, and wildly imaginative. This is the definitive edition of The Tough Guide, featuring a new map, an entirely new design, and additional material written for it by Diana Wynne Jones.
Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
From the blurb: Sharp, mainstream fantasy meets compelling thrills of investigative noir in Magic for Liars, a fantasy debut by rising star Sarah Gailey.
Ivy Gamble was born without magic and never wanted it. Ivy Gamble is perfectly happy with her life—or at least, she’s perfectly fine. She doesn’t in any way wish she was like Tabitha, her estranged, gifted twin sister. Ivy Gamble is a liar.
When a gruesome murder is discovered at The Osthorne Academy of Young Mages, where her estranged twin sister teaches Theoretical Magic, reluctant detective Ivy Gamble is pulled into the world of untold power and dangerous secrets. She will have to find a murderer and reclaim her sister—without losing herself.
Fun Fantasy Books: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
A wonderfully witty middle-grade fantasy series for readers ages eleven and older.
From the blurb: Twelve-year-old Artemis is a millionaire, a genius-and above all, a criminal mastermind. But Artemis doesn’t know what he’s taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. These aren’t the fairies of the bedtime stories-they’re dangerous! Full of unexpected twists and turns, Artemis Fowl is a riveting, magical adventure.
Divine Rivals: A Novel (Letters of Enchantment Book 1) by Rebecca Ross
From the blurb: When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction, and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.
To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
Fun Fantasy Books: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
As one of the best fantasy books of 2017, The Girl Who Drank the Moon won the 2017 Newbery Medal. A great pick if you’re looking for funny supernatural books in children’s fantasy for readers eight years and older.
From the blurb: Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the Forest, Xan, is kind. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Xan rescues the children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.
One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. As Luna’s thirteenth birthday approaches, her magic begins to emerge—with dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Deadly birds with uncertain intentions flock nearby. A volcano, quiet for centuries, rumbles just beneath the earth’s surface. And the woman with the Tiger’s heart is on the prowl…
Lighthearted Fantasy Books: Carry On (Simon Snow Trilogy Book 1) by Rainbow Rowell
If you’re looking for funny fantasy romance books for teens, this is it! Not only is it one of the best feel-good fiction books, but Carry On was Booklist Editors’ Choice for 2015 in the Youth category, named a “Best Book of 2015” by Time Magazine, Barnes & Noble, School Library Journal, The Millions, NPR, PopSugar, and The News & Observer.
From the blurb: Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who’s ever been chosen. That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.
Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.
The Goose Girl (Books of Bayern Book 1) by Shannon Hale
From the blurb: In this first book in New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor-winning author Shannon Hale’s beloved YA fantasy series Books of Bayern, Princess Ani must become a goose girl before she can become queen.
Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life listening to her aunt’s stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. As she grows up, Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but she never feels quite comfortable speaking with people.
So when Ani’s mother sends her away to be married in a foreign land, she finds herself at the mercy of her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting, who leads a mutiny that leaves her alone, destitute, and fleeing for her life. To survive, Ani takes on work as a royal goose girl, hiding in plain sight while she develops her forbidden talents and works to discover her own true, powerful voice.
A Pirate’s Life for Tea (Tomes & Tea Book 2) by Rebecca Thorne
From the blurb: Bookshops & Bonedust meets Our Flag Means Death in this cozy fantasy on the low seas, where lesbian pirates find out if enemies actually can become lovers!
Kianthe and Reyna are on the hunt for dragon eggs to save their hometown—but it requires making a deal with Diarn Arlon, lord of the legendary Nacean River. Simply capture the river pirate Serina, who’s been plaguing Arlon’s supply chains, and bring her in for justice. Easy peasy.
Begrudgingly, the couple joins forces with Bobbie, one of Arlon’s constables determined to capture the pirate. Except Bobbie and Serina have a more complicated history than anyone realized, and it might jeopardize everything.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Maybe you’re more in the mood for humorous science fiction books? If that’s the case, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is one of the essential sci-fi books that every fan of the genre needs to read at least once. (And watch the movie too—it’s super fun!)
From the blurb: Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide (“A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have”) and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox—the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod’s girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
From the blurb: Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she’s blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks—and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.
But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.
It’s then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city’s most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each with an extraordinary talent that sets them apart—an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests—or she’ll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.
Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
From the blurb: Halla has unexpectedly inherited the estate of the wealthy distant uncle she’s been caring for for the past decade. Unfortunately, she is also saddled with money-hungry relatives full of devious plans for how to wrest the inheritance away from her.
While hiding in her bedroom to escape her family, Halla inspects the ancient sword that’s been collecting dust on the wall since before she moved in. On a whim, she pulls it down and unsheaths it—and suddenly, a man appears in her bedroom. His name is Sarkis, he tells her, and he is an immortal warrior trapped in a prison of enchanted steel.
Sarkis is sworn to protect whoever wields the sword, and for Halla—a most unusual wielder—he finds himself not fending off grand armies and deadly assassins but instead everything from kindly-seeming bandits to roving inquisitors to her own in-laws. But as Halla and Sarkis become closer, they overlook the biggest threat of all—the sword itself.
Fun Fantasy Books: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Midnight Library was one of the top 100 fantasy books of 2020. It won multiple awards and became a #1 New York Times bestseller. It’s definitely one of the best fantasy books for readers who love alternate reality!
From the blurb: Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe, there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed, finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw
Mogworld is one of the best fantasy books of 2018, especially considering what a huge hit it was among the video gaming community.
From the blurb: In a world full to bursting with would-be heroes, Jim couldn’t be less interested in saving the day. His fireballs fizzle. He’s awfully grumpy. Plus, he’s been dead for about sixty years. When a renegade necromancer wrenches him from eternal slumber and into a world gone terribly, bizarrely wrong, all Jim wants is to find a way to die properly, once and for all.
On his side, he’s got a few shambling corpses, an inept thief, and a powerful death wish. But he’s up against tough odds: angry mobs of adventurers, a body falling apart at the seams—and a team of programmers racing a deadline to hammer out the last few bugs in their AI.
What are the best fantasy books of all time? I made a list of my favorites in the post 10 Best YA Fantasy Books of All Time.
What are some underrated fantasy books? Here are some of the Best Underrated YA Fantasy Book Series with Welsh Influence.
This post was about book recommendations for fun fantasy books.
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