10 epic sci-fi/fantasy book series to binge

2. Malazan Book of the Fallen

If you go on to any fantasy subreddit, the two long series you will always see referenced are The Wheel of Time and Malazan Book of the Fallen. So we might as well get these “Big Two” out of the way nice and early! And if you’re daring enough to read them both, you might just finish by the time we land a person on Mars.

Written by Canadian author Steven Erikson, Malazan is the opposite of The Wheel of Time in many ways. It’s set in an incredibly dark world ruled over by Gods who treat humans as play things. Whereas The Wheel of Time is very accessible, Malazan is infamous for its complexity. If you prefer A Song of Ice and Fire or First Law over The Lord of the Rings, this is the series for you.

The first novel, Gardens of the Moon, mainly follows the Malazan Empire’s attempts to assert its dominance over the rest of the nations on the continent, focusing heavily on their southern neighbor, Darujhistan. The story circles a group of elite soldiers called the Bridgeburners — some of the last remaining warriors from the old guard, before the new Empress took over. When it becomes clear that Sergeant Whiskeyjack and the Empress will never see eye to eye, the Bridgeburners are sent on what everyone assumes will be a suicide mission. But nothing goes according to plan, and the Bridgeburners are more than a little wise to the game.

The story of Malazan is told in two distinct phases over the course of 10 door-stopping tomes. The first five of them function almost as stand-alone tales, with different settings and casts of characters. There are some overarching plot elements, of course, but for the most part, each is confined to telling the story within its pages.

The back half of the series brings all those dangling plot threads together into a sweeping epic that spans thousands of years…and thousands of pages.