The Best Fantasy Book Reviews

Brisingr: The Inheritance Cycle, Book 3 by Christopher Paolini

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini (Unabridged) Audiobook
Narrated by Gerard Doyle
Running Time: 29 hrs and 39 mins

Brisingr is the third installment of the Inheritance Cycle of books. As the second-to-last book in the series, Brisingr has a more serious and pressing storyline than the first two books. With back-to-back battles and characters forming alliances with each other, this story has a non-stop fast pace that will leave readers wanting more. As such, it’s the perfect introduction to the last book in the series. [Read more…]

Eldest: The Inheritance Cycle, Book 2 by Christopher Paolini

Eldest by Christopher Paolini (Unabridged) Audiobook
Narrated by Gerard Doyle
Running Time: 23 hrs and 30 mins

Eldest is the second of four books in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. This story begins only a few days after the events of Eragon end, allowing the story to be told seamlessly as a whole. While it follows many of the same themes as Eragon, Eldest takes readers into different areas of the land of Alagaësia, introduces them to a few new characters, and delves deeper into the lives of existing characters. [Read more…]

Eragon: The Inheritance Cycle, Book 1 by Christopher Paolini

Eragon by Christopher Paolini (Unabridged) Audiobook
Narrated by Gerard Doyle
Running Time: 16 hrs and 21 mins

Eragon is an exciting tale about bravery, honor, and tradition. Written by a 15-year-old boy, this book is a coming-of-age story that discusses themes that everybody can remember from their youth. Amidst a stunning setting, an exciting plot, and relatable characters, Eragon teaches young people how to find their voice and secure a place for themselves in a world that can sometimes be overwhelming. [Read more…]

R.A. Salvatore: The Dark Elf Trilogy

When R.A. Salvatore wrote and published the Dark Elf Trilogy, it was not set in its own stage. In fact, the second trilogy in the Drizzt Do’Urden saga already had its main character defined in the Icewind Dale Trilogy first, so Salvatore had to stay within certain parameters going backwards like George Lucas and writing a prequel to an already-set story. [Read more…]

R.A. Salvatore: The Icewind Dale Trilogy

R.A. Salvatore created his famous dark elf character, Drizzt Do’Urden, in this first series, The Icewind Dale Trilogy. It’s in these three Icewind Dale books that a dark elf, trained in evil and dark mysticism, as well as a culture of brutal fighting and Spartan perspectives, learned how the rest of the world thinks and how different talents can overcome challenges working together.

The three books of The Icewind Dale Trilogy include The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver, and the Halfling Gem. However, the three together play out one of the strongest storylines [Read more…]

The Companions: The Sundering, Book 1 by R.A. Salvatore

The Companions by R.A. Salvatore (Unabridged) Audiobook Narrated by Victor Bevine
Running Time: 14 hrs and 46 mins

Prior to the latest release of R.A. Salvatore’s novel The Companions: The Sundering, Part 1, the author of the famous Forgotten Realms series featuring its paradoxical hero, a dark elf with a good heart, didn’t hit it off well. The prior release, The Ghost King, was received with muted applause by many fans and was considered a weak performance by an author who has produced far better novels, at least according to many Drizzt Do’Urden fans. [Read more…]

The Dragon’s Path: The Dagger and the Coin Book 1 by Daniel Abraham

The Dragon’s Path by Daniel Abraham (Unabridged) Audiobook
Narrated by Pete Bradbury
Running Time: 17 hrs and 22 mins

The Dragon’s Path audiobook kicks off Daniel Abraham’s The Dagger and the Coin series in superb fashion. Best know for his critically acclaimed The Long Price Quartet, Abraham takes on a more traditional fantasy setting, taking familiar genre tropes and weaving them into a complex narrative of economics and political scheming. [Read more…]

The Way of Kings: Book One of The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Unabridged) Audiobook
Narrated by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer
Running Time: 45 hrs and 37 mins

Sanderson entered the fantasy scene in 2005 with his novel Elantris and went on to write one of modern fantasy’s best series, the Mistborn trilogy, as well as completing Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series, after the author’s untimely death. The Way of Kings is the first book in a proposed ten-book series, The Stormlight Archive and sets the foundation for a truly epic fantasy series in the Jordan tradition. [Read more…]

The Wise Man’s Fear: Kingkiller Chronicles Day 2 by Patrick Rothfuss

The Wise Man’s Fear: Kingkiller Chronicles Day 2 by Patrick Rothfuss (Unabridged) Audiobook
Narrated by Rupert Degas
Running Time: 42 hrs and 49 mins

Fantasy-themed novels tend to get lumped into a single category, but most people don’t realize that the differences between them can be vast. The “fantasy” label doesn’t even say much about a book aside from that fact that it isn’t based on reality. Even so, critics of the genre like to say that all fantasy books are the same. “Once you’ve read one, you’ve read them all,” they say. Well, that’s simply not the case with The Wise Man’s Fear. [Read more…]

The Name of the Wind: Kingkiller Chronicles Day 1 by Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind: Kingkiller Chronicles Day 1 by Patrick Rothfuss (Unabridged)
Audiobook Narrated by Rupert Degas
Running Time: 28 hrs and 3 mins

One of the strongest fantasy debuts in recent years, Patrick Rothfuss’ first installment of the Kingkiller Chronicles, The Name of the Wind earned both critical and commercial success when first published in 2007. Indeed, the buzz around Rothfuss and his new book quickly spread over the fantasy scene like nothing since Martin’s A Game of Thrones. The Name of the Wind won Publisher’s Weekly “Best Books of the Year” Award, the Quill Award, and the Alex Award. Amazon.com also named it Best of 2007 in its reader’s poll. [Read more…]

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