I Read 170 Self-Published Fantasy Books and These Are The Top 15! (As of 2023)

Рет қаралды 12,466

Күн бұрын

Hi everyone! Today's video is my updated "top 15 self-published or indie fantasy books of all time" list as of 2023. The last time I posted my list was in March 2021, almost three years ago. And because, as of 2023, I've read 170 self-published or indie fantasy books, I think it is the right time for me to update my list before I talk about my books of the year next week. A few things to note. I include only one book per series. Fantasy books that were self-published but now traditionally published are not included in the list. And finally, the books in the number 6 up to the number 2 spot shared the runner-up spot. Thank you so much for all the support!
0:00 Intro & Rules
1:45 Top 15-11
8:56 Top 10-7
16:03 Runner-Ups & Champion
25:14 Closing
Thumbnail Art by Felix Ortiz and Omer Burak Onal
You can order the books mentioned using my affiliated link:
-The Mirror’s Truth by Michael R. Fletcher amzn.to/3GVjfFM
-Reaper by Will Wight amzn.to/3GTYvyf
-Mother of Learning ARC 4 by nobody103 or Domagoj Kurmaic amzn.to/41wu7Uc
-Esrahaddon by Michael J. Sullivan amzn.to/3GTYqdV
-Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson amzn.to/3NCzYBw
-Spirits of Vengeance by Rob J. Hayes amzn.to/4851X52
-Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan amzn.to/484YaVB
-Dragon Mage by M.L. Spencer amzn.to/3tsU8Hn
-The Death of Dulgath by Michael J. Sullivan amzn.to/3GTV76x
-Kings of Heaven by Richard Nell amzn.to/48tFFd3
-Paternus: War of Gods by Dyrk Ashton amzn.to/4atxUFR
-Of War and Ruin by Ryan Cahill amzn.to/48tH6by
-Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang amzn.to/41xKuQg
-Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau amzn.to/487FaFT
-The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang amzn.to/4ay0Tsc
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Blog: novelnotions.net

Пікірлер: 135

@mariareadsssf 7 ай бұрын

I'm taking this oportunity to thank you for your recommendation of "The Sword of Kaigen". It is thanks to you that not only I found one of my favorite books of all times, but also a favorite author. After the mindblowing impact of "Blood Over Bright Haven" I can shout from the rooftop that M. L. Wang is the queen of standalones.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

You're welcome! Glad you love M.L. Wang's books, too! 😁

@EricKay_Scifi 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for supporting the Indie author scene. As a Self Published Indie, I have seen nothing but love and encouragement from others. Specifically Hugh Howie who does a self-published sci-fi competition: SPSFC

@PetrikLeo 6 ай бұрын

Ah, it's my pleasure. So many amazing indie SFF to read. I just wish I can read and review books faster. So many I want to read! 😆

@RichardNellAuthor 7 ай бұрын

The indie scene just keeps getting more exciting. Thanks as ever for all you do Petrik, an honor to be on the list.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Totally true, Richard. I look forward to reading your next work whenever it's ready!

@jonahevarts 7 ай бұрын

ML Wang is just too good. One of the best fantasy authors out there right now!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

I totally agree, Jonah! Great to hear you love her books, too! 😊

@nicholasczech6973 7 ай бұрын

Michael J. Sullivan is grotesquely under rated. A very good writer and has quite the talent for more incredible works.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

I agree that he is a great storyteller. I think he's more underhyped than underrated in the booktube space, though. He's one of the most successful indie fantasy writers right now! :)

@aysseralwan 7 ай бұрын

Hard agree

@yassinemiri3555 7 ай бұрын

@@PetrikLeo I second that !

@voltronso 7 ай бұрын

Recommended order, chronological or publishing order?

@aysseralwan 7 ай бұрын

@@voltronso I think the author says you can start whenever but I prefer publishing order myself

@dinocollins720 6 ай бұрын

I read SOK this year finally! Was my best read of the year! So powerful! Characters I hated I loved by the end of the book!

@PetrikLeo 6 ай бұрын

Woohoo! Yeah, the character's developments are impeccable! :)

@RedFuryBooks 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for this video, Petrik! This is a great resource for readers while also giving important spotlight to all of these authors. Thanks!

@PetrikLeo 6 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for tuning in, Josh! I'm glad the video is useful! 😃

@BooksWithBenghisKahn 7 ай бұрын

I can't wait to try Sword of Kaigen soon! Also have Dreams of the Dying ready to go based on your rec -- thanks for the infectious passion for your favorite reads brother!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

You're welcome, brother! I truly hope you'll enjoy them both as much as I did! For Dreams, the sequel is coming next year so not the wrong time to read it in 2024!

@dinocollins720 6 ай бұрын

Another fantastic video! Thank you Petrik! I need to read a lot of these still haha

@PetrikLeo 6 ай бұрын

You're welcome, Dino! Haha, take your time. Many superb books to read!! :D

@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy 7 ай бұрын

An excellent list, Petrik! There are several here that I want to read, but I'm delighted to see Dreams of the Dying among your choices, and I'm still thankful that I read it on your recommendation. Also great to see Richard Nell represented here -- I need to finish the Ash and Sand series!

@petergee7943 7 ай бұрын

I need to finish Ash and Sand as well, and look forward to trying Dreams of the Dying. Another incredible self-published series I loved this year was the Edan Trilogy! Any of them would go high on my list of top books of the year, so thank you. Congratulations on the releases

@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy 7 ай бұрын

@@petergee7943 Thanks so much, Peter! I appreciate the kind words, and I’m glad you enjoyed The Edan Trilogy!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, Philip! I wish I can include Prophet of Edan in the equation but life is so busy and I'm making my way through it slowly. 😂 Really pleased you enjoyed Dreams of the Dying!

@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy 7 ай бұрын

@@PetrikLeo No rush, Petrik! I’m just grateful you’re giving POE a try, and I hope it proves enjoyable.

@RichardNellAuthor 7 ай бұрын

Mwahaha I have defeated you - I have read the Edan trilogy. And it was absolutely excellent. However you are destroying me on the review side because I have done exactly 0 of that...also let's not compare total books read...

@christhewritingjester3164 7 ай бұрын

Man, these lists you guys put out at the end of the year bump my TBR to ridiculous levels. Several were already on it, but most weren't. I can't wait to see which one grabs me and gets further up on the TBR.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Haha thank you! I have only one more list to go up and it's the best books of 2023. 😊

@ctkcradle7277 7 ай бұрын

Great video as always Petrik! Im reading Eleventh Cycle now and im so immersed. Definitely underrated.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! Glad to hear you're enjoying it! 😊

@NerdBookReview 7 ай бұрын

It makes me so happy every time I see you review a Self Published book. 2/3 of the books I read are self published or Indie presses. I am a huge world building fan and I feel like you get more of that in self published fantasy. Paternus is my favorite Urban Fantasy series ever. Ruka is my favorite character in fantasy, when he finally unveils his magic I literally jumped up and yelled "hell yeah!". Sword of Kaigen is my favorite standalone novel I've ever read. I recently backed Godeater saga by Rob Hayes which is my very first kickstarter!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! There are so many great indie fantasy books now. I definitely know which moment in Ash and Sand trilogy that made you actt that way. I was the same haha. Hopefully both of us will enjoy The God Eater Saga! I backed the campaign, too. 😁

@thedrownedkingdomsaga7847 7 ай бұрын

Awesome video Petrik! Thank you for all you do to promote self-published, and all authors! You are amazing!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

You're welcome! Thank you for the kind words. It's my pleasure to read indie fantasy books! 😁

@NicolesBookishNook 5 ай бұрын

Fantastic list! Go, indies, go! ❤ 💪🏻

@PetrikLeo 5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, Nicole! 😃

@DaveCremins 7 ай бұрын

Once again Petrik you put out a great video, tks

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, Dave!

@safinan8008 7 ай бұрын

Nice video 🎥 merry Christmas to you and wife and family too!! 🎊🎄❄️

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! :)

@L.L.MacRae 7 ай бұрын

Sword of Kaigen is sublime!!! Great list and yayyyyy for indie fantasy smashing it!!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you, Lauren! Looking forward to reading your books next year!

@ChaptersWeLove 7 ай бұрын

Your stats are impressive! I’m just going to keep adding books to my tbr list 😆

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Haha thank you so much!! 😊😊 I'm adding more books too everyday. 😂

@book_scent 7 ай бұрын

Fantastic list, Petrik!! 🙌 Some of my favorites as well, especially: Dragon Mage, Of War and Ruin, Illborn, The Sword of Kaigen, The Death of Dulgath ... okay, I guess I could list almost all of them here 😂 And thanks for reminding me to finally read Dreams of the Dying - it's been sitting of my shelf for way too long now 😅

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, Karin! It should be the right time for you to read Dreams of the Dying next year with the sequel being out in 2024. 😁

@esmayrosalyne 7 ай бұрын

Always here for the indie love! The majority of my 'best of the year' (and probably also my 'all-time favourites') consists of indie books, and I couldn't be happier about it! I can't believe I still haven't read Blood over Bright Haven, it sounds like everything I could wish for in a book. And ooooh I am so excited to do a full World of Elan reread soon and finally dive into Rise and Fall for the first time, that reallly got away from me this year! Also can't wait for more TBATB, Cahill never disappoints! Here's to finding more hidden gems 🤩

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! I think you will absolutely love Blood Over Bright Haven, Esmay. M.L. Wang never disappoints. Definitely can't wait for more books by Ryan Cahill, too! :)

@mormengil 7 ай бұрын

I hereby move to put Petrik's videos on hold, until my (and your's) financial situation improves. All those in favor raise your likes. Sigh... Thanks for these videos man, if I end up homeless I'll build a book igloo to live in ;p

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Hahahaha! 😂😂 My financial situation needs improvement, too!

@DyrkAshton 7 ай бұрын

Thank you Petrik! I'm thrilled Paternus is included :)

@DyrkAshton 7 ай бұрын

And thank you for the Kraken Rider Z shout-out 🐙🐙

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

You're welcome, Dyrk! Always have a soft spot for Paternus trilogy. I look forward to reading Kraken Rider Z! 😁

@liviajelliot 7 ай бұрын

As others had said in the comments, indie fantasy authors are killing it with top-notch books and incredible stories. I was betting that Sword of Kaigen would be the champion! Thanks for sharing this Petrik! Happy new year!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, Livia! Your bet was right. And I still have two more videos to post before the end of the year. Hopefully! :D

@DoNotLookDown 7 ай бұрын

Finished the Mother of Learning series last month and I think ARC 3 is my favorite. It has the most Zorian and Zach goofing off and felt the most fun out of all of the ARCs. Of War and Ruin gets better every time I think about it. One of the only books that length that I truly believe doesn't have a single wasted word. I'm glad booktube has made me read a lot of self-published books this year. I might be looking to read Illbnorn next.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

I can understand that. Mother of Learning ARC 3 and 4 are so good. Also, yes so much to Of War and Ruin! 😁 Glad you're finding and reading many great indie fantasy books!

@noname3609 7 ай бұрын

So many books I haven't heard of.Nice ! M.L. Wang is something I need to read in future for sure ! :)

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Yes do it. You're a fan of manga, too, so I think you will love Sword of Kaigen and Blood Over Bright Haven!

@amy_harboredinpages8272 7 ай бұрын

The Sword of Kiagenwas so good, and i have no doubt i will love Bright Haven. I also am excited to continue The Bound and the Broken in the next year!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

I think you will certainly love Blood Over Bright Haven, too! :)

@hectatereads105 7 ай бұрын

I’m onto Age of War by Sullivan form your recommendation, it is sooo good! I love his writing

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Age of War is amazing. The best book of the series, imo. Enjoy! 😊

@brokenredflag 7 ай бұрын

Amazing taist, as always. Thank you for recomending spirit of vengeance. Is now one of my favoret books and rob hayes bacame one of my favoret authurs. Im stil crying i could not get dragon mage leatherbound lol. Sword of kaigen is a masterpice. Hmm, i recomend the alquemist, pella, and odity, chronicles of light and piercing the darkness. ❤

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! Argh, such a shame you could not get Dragon Mage leatherbound. It's gorgeous. And you're so welcome on Spirits of Vengeance!

@RecordingsofaReader 7 ай бұрын

The Death of Dulgath is my favorite of the Riyria Chronicles books, and The Sword of Kaigen is still my all time favorite self published fantasy book, my favorite standalone fantasy too. I'm looking forward to reading Blood Over Bright Haven.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Death of Dulgath was so good! Glad you agree with me on The Sword of Kaigen. I think you will love Blood Over Bright Haven, too! 😊

@MohamadSobh 7 ай бұрын

10% into your #1, great so far

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

It keeps getting better. Enjoy!!

@ZOMGfantasy 7 ай бұрын

Self published has come so far. So many great books to read, and I honestly don't differentiate between trad and indie anymore Thanks for the great list Petrik! The TBR grows ever longer!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

You're welcome, Donuts! And yes, I agree. Self pub fantasy has come so far. I read both trad and indie books equally and will never go back! 😊

@litlbucky 7 ай бұрын

Impressed with the number self published books you have read!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you! I certainly will read more! :)

@chandlerrenteria9043 7 ай бұрын

perfect timing on this video

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! 😊

@trueeliz 7 ай бұрын

Hi Petrik! Video idea: could you do a list of books that feature the “framing narrative”? I’ve found I really enjoy it! For example, Name of the Wind, Empire of the Vampire, Blood Song, Realm of the Elderlings. Would love to find some lesser known works that also feature this style.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Thank you for the suggestion! I, too, am always in search of framing narrative books. On top of the books you mentioned, there's also The First Binding by R.R. Virdi (Insanely similar to Name of the Wind, though). I will certainly think about this more! :)

@trueeliz 7 ай бұрын

@@PetrikLeo thank you!

@petergee7943 7 ай бұрын

I'd love a video like that too. Another series you could try is Kevin Hearne's Seven Kennings series, which has a very clever framing narrative. It just finished and is one of my favourite ever series (hopefully not recency bias)

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

@@petergee7943 oh yay! Thank you for the recommendation. I haven't read anything by Hearne yet

@Patrick-mf1xg 7 ай бұрын

Great idea, I would love that too and I second the suggestion to include lesser-known works, in the spirit of the current video. And Petrik, I am almost done reading Dreams of the Dying. You could not talk about or praise that book enough, thank you again for that suggestion. The nuanced commentary on class society and power is impossibly perceptive and layered. This is refreshing, considering the oft childish and reductive takes on these topics. In your next video about indie/lesser-known works, any other suggestions similar to Dreams of the Dying would be welcome, though I realize that might prove challenging... Thanks as always, Petrik!

@josephwilson-doan4163 7 ай бұрын

Eleventh Cycle was the 2nd best book I read all year. Incredible character work.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Such an amazing book. Too bad it did not click with many readers too. 😅

@colew.5522 7 ай бұрын

Richard Nell should definitely get more attention. The Ash and Sand Trilogy is phenomenal. One of my favorite series of all time. Everyone who loves fantasy should check it out.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Hear hear! Such a great series!

@egilgarberg9893 7 ай бұрын

Video idea: compare best indie-books vs regular «publisher-books». Do publisher-books have any advantages such as better editor? Or is it mainly marketing and distribution?

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

I have a video on this a long time ago, maybe I'll make another one next year! 😁

@ithrahmunchswallow468 7 ай бұрын

Now that I've paused my malazan quest, I have time to get to Sword of Kaigen before the end of the year 😬🙌🏼🤩

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Yesss do it!! Hope you'll love it!

@ithrahmunchswallow468 7 ай бұрын

@@PetrikLeo I'm never sure where to look for indepently published books so thank you 🙌🏼🤓💖

@ashs5612 7 ай бұрын

Please read Shadow Slave (web novel). Not enough people are talking about it.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

I have that on my list of webnovel to read together with Lord of Mysteries and Wandering Inn!

@hectatereads105 7 ай бұрын

One of my good friends is friends with Richard Nell and was a beta reader for his first book!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Oh that's awesome! 😃

@thecomicreadern4344 2 ай бұрын

Is War to End all and Sword of kaigen out of stock? I can't find it in my country's amazon or other bookstore

@PetrikLeo 2 ай бұрын

They should be available. I can see them on Amazon US!

@mattamant915 7 ай бұрын

Do you have any plans of reading anything by Andy Peloquin? I plan on getting started on his stuff in January.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Absolutely! Darkblade is a series I look forward to reading. That said, the series is MASSIVE. It will be 12 books long, and the recent installments are 400k words each. So it might be a while. But who knows, it depends on my reading mood!

@mattamant915 7 ай бұрын

@@PetrikLeo oh boy. It didn't even click with me that it was that huge of a series.

@thecomicreadern4344 2 ай бұрын

Is War to End all out of stock? I can't find it in my country's amazon or other bookstore

@PetrikLeo 2 ай бұрын

That's odd. I can still find it on Amazon US.

@benjaminmolina3456 7 ай бұрын

Has the Eleventh Cycle's special edition from The Broken Binding been released?

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Not yet! You will hear more about it next year! :)

@zenthepoet. 7 ай бұрын

Petrik Suggesting Self Publishing

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

About time! 😊

@zenthepoet. 7 ай бұрын

@@PetrikLeo 😂

@tmancour 7 ай бұрын

You should really check out the Spellmonger Series!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

On the plan to check out someday! 😊

@tmancour 7 ай бұрын

@@PetrikLeo It's only 16 books into the series (and three anthologies and two YA trilogy spin-offs) so it's not too late. And yes, I am the author making a shameless plug. But it has a large and growing following in the indy Epic Fantasy genre. The audiobooks (narrated by the amazing John Lee) are particularly popular. I humbly recommend checking out the first three books, in particular. If you like them, you'll enjoy the rest of the series (plotted at 30 books and more spin-offs). Check it out!

@jc6229 7 ай бұрын

Have you tried The Training Grounds Mystery of the Immortals though?

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Never heard of it to be honest. :)

@kristen7623 7 ай бұрын

Blood Over Bright Haven was such an amazing book. Amazing fantasy + amazing critique of race/class/privilege. I also liked it better than Babel.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

I totally agree! 😊

@MFDOOOOM 7 ай бұрын

I'm gonna say I agree with almost every pick on here except for Eleventh Cycle. The amount of English mistakes, the grammar and the typos on almost every page was so bad that I couldn't continue. I liked the Dark Souls vibes but it desperately needed a good editor.

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

I am used to reading ARCs and they are almost always filled with typos. But that aside... I legitimately thought the English mistakes (that didn't bother me too much) were intentional because Ardalan tried to emulate the Dark Souls cryptic storytelling hahaha! Apparently not. The author did say he will get this fixed eventually, though. Definitely lessons learned for him!

@Belsebbe 7 ай бұрын

I'm scared everytime you post a big video like this since I buy Audiobook/Kindle & physical books. Just ordered half of these on kindle today!

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Hahaha. Just one more big video and then we will close the year! :D

@dAPERize 7 ай бұрын

This might be a silly question but how do you find all the self published books out there?

@PetrikLeo 7 ай бұрын

Not silly at all. I got them from review requests, word of mouth, and browsing on Amazon. MANY beautiful cover art that makes me want to check further. 😂

@dAPERize 7 ай бұрын

@@PetrikLeo oh nice! For review requests, how do you accept those?