20 books to read while you wait for The Winds of Winter

7. The Malazan Book of the Fallen

In the realm of long, epic fantasy sagas, there are very few that can stand up against The Malazan Book of the Fallen. At 10 door-stopping tomes, Malazan has literally thousands upon thousands of pages of epic battles waged between gods, sorcerers, ancient monsters, magical creatures, plains tribes, and everything else under the sun. Written by Canadian author Steven Erikson, these books feature exceptional attention to detail when it comes to worldbuilding. Erikson has a background in anthropology and archaeology, and it shines through the pages of his work.

These books are geared toward hardcore fantasy readers. If a complex magic system and even more complexly detailed setting are to your tastes, then Malazan most certainly has something to offer. This is a series that is epic in scope, and grim as death in tone.

One thing to know about Malazan before going in is that the characters don’t quite carry you through the story the way they would in some other long series. This story is bigger than any one person; the story of Malazan is about its larger world. The first book mainly follows a sorceress, a young military officer who is marked by the twin gods of chance, and a crew of hardened soldiers who are shortlisted for a bloody end by the Empress whose rule they resist. The second book has an almost completely different cast.

All that being said, talk to any person who’s read The Malazan Book of the Fallen through to completion, and they will almost always rave about how it’s one of the best series ever made. In this case, the hype is very real.