Here is the list where I found the longest series for anyone interested! I think most series are on this list but it might not be 100% accurate since I haven't gone through and verified every single number: www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fzybw5ojrdyma1.png%3Fwidth%3D2186%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26v%3Denabled%26s%3D959896c304bdcaef2aa0c8877146ac3a42900e76
@turbokid87195 ай бұрын
Loved wizards first rule need to get back in the series people hate Goodkind because Zed the wizard has fantastic wisdom to live by.
@spudthepug5 ай бұрын
@@turbokid8719it’s Goodkind’s love of Ayn Rand’s philosophy that they really hate.
@turbokid87195 ай бұрын
@@spudthepug yeah people tend to hate intelligence… she seems to be right up there with JK Rowling people just hate them 🤷
@JasperJanssen4 ай бұрын
No Perry Rhodan though.
@theFrozeman4 ай бұрын
@spudthepug I think some of the hate comes from the politics, but a lot comes from how much of a juvenile power fantasy it is. It always kind of struck me as being written by a horny 14 year old DMing a campaign with his favorite character as a DMPC. Scenes of the mc punching through a guys guts and ripping his spine out the front, the lead trying to lure in someone to mind control by spreading herself open, the entire second book centers around magical dominatrixes... Content wise the whole thing comes off like an over the top comedy/erotica like Everyone Loves Large Chests, except it is painfully obvious that it isn't satire. I finished the original series out of sheer momentum, but with all the good stuff available now I'd never even think of recommending it.
@ClayHales6 ай бұрын
I have a real hard time calling King's books a series. He wrote a bunch of stand alone books and then decided after the fact they were all in a shared universe.
@84tand5 ай бұрын
They’re not. The Gunslinger is a series, the rest (minus the Bill Hodges trilogy) are stand alones. I also don’t think his more recent books are in that universe.
@AndrewFishman5 ай бұрын
In Tommyknockers, Nancy sees Pennywise looking from the drain in Derry, the books are all set in Castle Rock. There are references to other events from other King books in many of these, as local memories or things that happened in the area. Cujo is reference in, I think it was, The Dark Half, as a rabid dog. There is a reference also to the high school disturbance from Carrie in another of the Castle Rock novels. There is a universe, sure, but how connecte4d are the stories, only vaguely. The Walking Dude is Flagg from Tears of a Dragon.
@GideonsRecruit6 ай бұрын
Glad to see a booktuber talking about pre-90s fantasy. Don’t see enough love for some of these oldies.
@AndrewFishman5 ай бұрын
Those oldies are the besties. Shannara, Magician, Belgariad (all the versions whether Garion or Sparhawk), Thomas Covenant, Gemmel. So many great series and authors.
@bozman16786 ай бұрын
Start with Riftwar first, it gives you a better understanding of what is going on in Daughter of the Empire. There are also some cameos that will make more sense from reading Riftwar first.
@MarkKing56065 ай бұрын
Or at the very least Magician. But he's correct in what he said about The Empire Trilogy being the cream of the Riftwar series.
@terry98195 ай бұрын
Agree with this, read Magician first but Empire is an amazing trilogy.
@Johan_g5 ай бұрын
I would say Magician first, then Empire, followed by the rest.
@AndrewFishman5 ай бұрын
@@Johan_g I would think this was kind of a given. I read them as they were released, and then whenever I re-read them, I read Magician then the Empire, then Siverthorn, Sethanon.
@MS-io6kl4 ай бұрын
I hink I've read them all. But the only ones I come back to are the Daughter of the Empire trilogy.
@lyngelinnethartmann20054 ай бұрын
Considering you did the list based on universes I think both Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms are kind of missing from the list… just Legend of Drizzt is listed with more than 3mio words on the Reddit list
@masster716 ай бұрын
The Wandering Inn has become one of my favourite series up there with the Cosmere but for different reasons. I think its length lends it a lot of benefits, things don't ever feel rushed and I think that can lead to some really solid payoffs, and the length also means that you get a very good balance of extremely tense moments paired with moments that are muchcmore relaxing and more slice of life which is something I love. This series truly does include nearly every subgenre in fantasy and ao it has something for everyone. The main character Erin may not be for everyone, she is a very upbeat character, but there are so many great characters in this series that I think anyone can find someone to love. I listen to the audiobooks between other series I read and that has let me catch up on the officially published works while still reading other series.
@GPTWisdomNugets5 ай бұрын
I don't know if you'll see this, but let me explain the wandering inn. The wandering inn is actually 12 million words now! Which is insane! And its currently split between 10 Volumes on the web serial. Not books the books are coming out after the web serial, and they come out as audiobooks, or eBooks. So there are 12 books, but they only come up to volume 5, or 6? There's about 3 audiobooks every year because it's already written. When the series is finished it will be over 40. She writes about 20,000 words a week on average, so have fun catching up hahaha
@arthurmoreira495 ай бұрын
is it even good? sounds to me like something people would read just to be able to say: "i did it"
@nibblitman5 ай бұрын
@@arthurmoreira49 I quit after the first book. There were a lot of words but they really were not saying a lot was the issue I had with it.
@myrany84075 ай бұрын
Sometimes number of words does not equate to the best series. Shanara definitely is a great read. As are the Deryni books and the Pern books.
@braillemasterjustin4 ай бұрын
@@arthurmoreira49it really is good. Trust me, I can’t read a series I hate just for the bragging rights. It’s won best web serial of the year three times on the fantasy subreddit. I’m around 10 million words in. Though I think a good edit would cut out maybe half a million words, she makes almost every scene with important character development or builds things that either move the plot forward or sets up something that matters a few million words later.
@jamellelangfordiii35864 ай бұрын
So, Dragonlance has like over 100 books... no mention here?
@christopherlambert52644 ай бұрын
I said the same thing. And I think it's actually at 190 books now, but I stopped reading after the second generation. Nope, haven't even read Raistlin chronicles yet.
@dragonlee4204 ай бұрын
Agreed, if Steven King made it then Dragonlance should.
@matttedford70174 ай бұрын
Xanth is a big one too.
@MelLarrabee-vl8vc4 ай бұрын
Was literally looking for this. Honestly (though a few books out of the hundred plus were weird) the most epic fantasy series I've ever read. Currently very underrated for some reason.
@PrinceMeNb14 ай бұрын
I guess it's not on here for the simple reason that there are so many different authors that wrote for this universe. It gained massive popularity with DnD so many just hopped on. I think if it would have been just Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman it would count and be inhumanly impressive. Even if they would have had co-writers like feist it would be ok. But that's just not the case
@susanp73866 ай бұрын
Thank you for these suggestions! Plenty there to keep us busy :-) I'm reading the Raymond E Feist series at the moment, and I would recommend starting with "Magician", which is the first book of the first trilogy. I can see that you could also start with Daughter of the Empire, which is set in the world on the other side of the rift to the first trilogy, but I think it helps to know the history of the conflict before you see it from the other side. "Magician" is 99p for the Kindle version in the UK at the moment, too!
@micahhendrickson98096 ай бұрын
Yes, start with Magician for sure!
@michaelldennis6 ай бұрын
I agree starting with Magician. And do note that some editions split the book into two parts because it was a chunker when it first came out. I do love that first book but I do agree that the Empire trilogy is fantastic and has a different tone than Magician.
@TheSwedeMcCoy5 ай бұрын
Yes, start with Magician:Apprentice and Magician:Master. Then you read the whole Empire trilogy before you continue with Silverthorn and the rest och the Midkemia books. That way you keep the Tsuruani mystical in the beginning. Riftwar should in my mind include the Empire trilogy as well in the word count considering the connection they've got. One thing that is epic is to first read of a certain event with Pug's view and then later on relive the same event through the eyes of Mara and the uther horror she experienced during the event in question...
@AndrewFishman5 ай бұрын
@@michaelldennis I have the original Trade Paperback and the Extended Edition signed by Feist. They aren't THAT big.
@nowimpanickin71674 ай бұрын
Fun fact, 11.3million words is on average 5081 words written a day(rounded down!) Which is insane since it’s one person. I’m on book 5 of the Wandering Inn currently, and the quality has only gotten better, which is even MORE mind boggling. There have been story beats I haven’t been particularly happy with recently but that’s more to me thinking “SERIOUSLY! Give this character a break!” But overall it has been an absolute pleasure!
@MrKommienezuspadtАй бұрын
As someone who has read all 13+ million words of The Wandering Inn I forget how short the largest epic fantasies are. It will take around 9-10 years for audiobooks to catch up to where the story is currently at, given its current pace. If they up the pace to 4 audiobooks a year then it ‘ll be more like 5-6 years. I’d say the series feels about 2/3rds of the way done. I think it’ll be about 20 million words when it’s finished, of course I could be hard wrong and it’ll go on on for 30 million words, or it may never finish lol just a new generation will be written about. But it doesn’t bother me, since it’s an amazing story that I love to see keep going.
@CatOnFire5 ай бұрын
Did you exclude all liscensed media? I expected the Legend of Drizzt to appear somewhere on this list. It is currently 39 books long and counting, all by the same author. I know that the books aren't massive tomes, like Stormlight, but I figured that total book count would easily make up for the difference.
@krishogan35035 ай бұрын
The Drizzt Novels are at over 4,000,000 words.
@CatOnFire5 ай бұрын
@@krishogan3503 Sounds about right. Salvatore just reliably pumps out trilogies for decades and shows no signs of stopping.
@krishogan35035 ай бұрын
@@CatOnFire most of it is good though
@CatOnFire5 ай бұрын
@@krishogan3503 Agreed!
@shawnr61174 ай бұрын
And that's not even counting all the interconnected Forgotten Realms* books. *or whatever they're calling themselves now.
@danielgrey71095 ай бұрын
Curious to know where Terry Brooks' Shannara falls in terms of length if Terry Goodkind managed to get more words into Sword of Truth than Brooks did Shannara, as well as Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
@CalamityKitty5 ай бұрын
Same. I kept thinking it would pop up on this video
@ReeveProductions5 ай бұрын
At 0:58 he tells you discworld is in stop #19.
@danielgrey71095 ай бұрын
@@ReeveProductions yeah, I wasn't concerned with Discworld. Shannara has more books of similar thickness to the Sword of Truth, plus a lot of supplementary material like novellas and a comic book, and somehow doesn't make the list? Doesn't seem possible.
@Archadies4 ай бұрын
@@danielgrey7109 He missed Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of PERN also. And thats 24 books.
@DianaW34314 ай бұрын
If you look at the list pinned in the comments, it comes in at #11.
@michaelldennis6 ай бұрын
So weird to hear someone say that fantasy books written in the 80s and 90s are "classics". LOL. I've read at least some books in all of those series except Malazan and the Wandering Inn.
@libraryofaviking6 ай бұрын
Haha fair point!
@jmaa935 ай бұрын
Fall out boy is now on the classic rock satiation.
@Kalyahna5 ай бұрын
Malazan and The Wandering Inn are both wonderful but in very different ways. Malazan is *dense* with characters and lore and it felt very sink or swim to me. There's no slow introduction as there is in most other series. But the worldbuilding is far and away the best I've ever read, the characters are complex and memorable from the start. It's very much a story of friendships and companionship and survival. It goes very dark at times. TWI is a slow lead-in sort of story. It starts very small and local and then starts expanding and keeps expanding into the wider world. The characters are simple at first, but I'd compare it more to how when you meet someone new, you get that first simple impression and as you get to know them better, you find they have layers and secrets and quirks. You don't always like each of those things, but it makes them feel like real people to me, and real people can be smart and stupid, wonderful and annoying, compassionate and judgmental all at the same time.
@jonweman61285 ай бұрын
Tolkien only became really big in the 60:s I think and only in the 70:s "fantasy" appeared as a genre. It was more or less in the 80:s that the fantasy formula of trilogies or longer series with an overarching big conflict (generally between good and evil in some form) became established with authors who at the same time made it their own rather than straight-out imitating Tolkien.
@AndrewFishman5 ай бұрын
@@jonweman6128 Being along for the ride was great. Authors like Brooks, Feist and Gemmel releasing new works, looking forward to new authors. A great time to be a reader.
@grumpyoldstudios4 ай бұрын
Where does the The Dragonriders of Pern series fit in? With 26 primary books and a total of 52 total works I could not find a word count on it.
@scottbeavan68964 ай бұрын
I was waiting for this series to pop up
@oliverdemille83885 ай бұрын
For what it's worth, The Saga of Recluse does have modern entries. The most recent book came out January 2024 and there's another one scheduled for release in November. In addition, if all your numbers are from last year, you're probably not counting that January release.
@CalamityKitty5 ай бұрын
42 books in Terry Brooks Shannara series. Should definitely be on here.
@DianaW34314 ай бұрын
If you look at the list pinned in the comments, it comes in at #11.
@aceshigh31225 ай бұрын
Katherine Kerr Deverry cycle got me back into reading. good 15 books
@greciafilia53435 ай бұрын
It's strange not to see Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms in the reddit list! Btw I'm curious about The Wandering Inn... it can't be a physical publication, right? 😱
@grahamoliver14705 ай бұрын
Honestly Dragonlance was one of the first to come to mind for me. I remember reading so many of then when I was younger. If I recall correctly, someone told me there are over 200 books in the series.
@toddellis52944 ай бұрын
I was waiting for Dragonlance as I understand it's closer to 300 books now.
@adorabell42534 ай бұрын
I just did a dirty count and with the lowest estimate and only counting Weiss and Hickman we're at 2305955 and that's missing 3 books that I don't have page counts for and that's with 250 words per page as listed on wiki.
@kylefultz864 ай бұрын
Was scrolling down to look for this before I posted since this was my exact thought, by the description he gave in the video during the Stephen king section stand-alones in the same universe. Dragonlance is a giant pile of trilogies in the same universe
@Harley249865 ай бұрын
I am surprised Dragonlance isn't on this list somewhere with 38 books in the series. One of my favorites.
@Ian_-gf3cp5 ай бұрын
There are 190+ Dragonlance books.
@wtfserpico5 ай бұрын
The Malazan books remain my favorite story(ies) of all time. I've done 4 readthroughs to date, taking a break to read other things in between, and each time I go back to Malazan I appreciate it more.
@purplelibraryguy87294 ай бұрын
I found the Malazan books really impressive (the main sequence, so far have only read a couple of the others). But I would have to say that particularly in the later books, they could have used some editing. There were some ridiculously long stretches of nothing much happening except soldiers bitching about everything, which is realistic but I could have used to read about a third as much of it. Aside from that, though, there was some amazing storytelling, powerful emotion, massive depth, philosophical impact, cool plot bits . . . I'd say it's the most important fantasy series of the 21st century so far. Not of all time, that's LoTR obviously.
@wtfserpico4 ай бұрын
@@purplelibraryguy8729 Fair points all around. I find that my tolerance for the Malazan bloat has actually increased greatly over time with each reread, especially compared against a LOT of the other stuff I've read in between.
@lostwizard4 ай бұрын
The Malazan stuff is insane. It covers something like 250,000 years of its world history in some manner in the main series. It could have stood a little tighter editing in the later volumes of the main series, but most of that sitting around complaining type stuff actually serves a purpose in the grander narrative or at least from a character development perspective. What I remember most strongly, though, is that the first volume felt like an entire series all on its own, to the point that when I reread it years later when I went on to read the whole main series, I was surprised to discover that what I remembered was only the first book.
@mikepalmer22194 ай бұрын
It is a very damn good series.
@Arsenal.N.I72426 ай бұрын
Don't forget Michael Moorcock's Multiverse series ( The Eternal Champion ). Loads of books and characters and worlds to explore.
@nightmarishcompositions45366 ай бұрын
Yup. They’re all extremely short and fast paced though. You could read 12 Eternal Champion books faster than a Game of Thrones book.
@Arsenal.N.I72426 ай бұрын
Yea true but with 60 odd books, not counting the short stories I'd say it's a big enough series to keep anyone busy for awhile. For me personally I love the short fast paced style of Moorcock's writing... He packs a lot of story and wonder in his tight prose that lets the reader use there imagination more instead of having every detail wrote out for them.
@nightmarishcompositions45366 ай бұрын
@@Arsenal.N.I7242 Totally agree. He’s my favorite fantasy writer. Corum, Elric, Erekose and the rest of the gang are some really fascinating characters that have some of the most wicked designs and creative story arcs in fantasy history.
@Arsenal.N.I72426 ай бұрын
@@nightmarishcompositions4536 checking out your content on your channel man great stuff 👍🏻 🙂 I've subscribed.
@examenesinternacionalesaf35765 ай бұрын
@@nightmarishcompositions4536 Thankssss guys for the recomendation! I'm learning English and I've never read fantasy in English, so I was looking for fast-paced or easy fantasy to start. I add Moorcock's Multiverse, also I want to read "Deltora Quest" by Rodda Emily (middle grade) and "The Chronicles of Amber" by Roger Zelazny, those two series have really short books (less than 180-200 pages each book)
@fezzman98984 ай бұрын
Pirate is actually just a super advanced version of chatgpt. Also, Dragonlance has nearly 200 books (More of a universe than a single series). I would say the crown still goes to Kaoru Kurimoto's Guin Saga, at 147 volumes and 26 side novels.
@Fianna17756 ай бұрын
I was very happy to hear you mention Xanth. My birth father loved that series as a child and he gave the whole series to me the first time I went to visit his family. I have read some of them and they can be a real trip. I went into the first one thinking it would be a cute kids story kind of like Redwall. It threw in some.elements that I wouldn’t give young kid. Still really funny and I would recommend. The map of the world is literally Florida. Hmmm….maybe this isn’t really a fantasy series after all. 🤔 🐊
@jayt96084 ай бұрын
I was rather surprised that the Star Wars EU from Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978) through April, 25, 2014 was not counted here, unless it is considered more science fiction. This seemed like a good place for it.
@keltdavies87925 ай бұрын
For the Riftworld series, you should read Magician first (both Apprentice and Master). Then you should read Daughter and Servant of the Empire, then finish the Riftwar books, and then Mistress of the Empire.
@Archadies4 ай бұрын
I loved every character from the first two trilogies.
@dangauldin64974 ай бұрын
I grew up reading the Xanth series. Good stuff, especially in the beginning. The first 10 or so are the best part. I would agree with another commenter below, the later books fall off as it becomes "forced" to be punny, where the entire series is rooted in puns and humor. It came much easier in the early books. But conceptually, its still a fun series.
@godofthemodernlands2 ай бұрын
Okay ENOUGH. The true longest piece of literature and a stand alone on top of that - no other shared universe and stuff involved - is the novel Bringing a Farm to Live in Another World. This novel has a whooping 14,000 chapters! With each chapter having around 1,500 words so you multiply that 14,000 multiplied by 1,500 then you get a Whooping 21 MILLION word count AND this novel is still ongoing, it could potentially reach 20,000 chapters. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK
@AtalantaAsh955 ай бұрын
I've read 80-90% of The Sword of Truth series and enjoyed it. I read it before I was really exposed to more of the fantasy world and now that I'm more familiar with so much more Sci-fi/Fantasy... I still think it holds up.
@orinrayner5 ай бұрын
The Xanth series is actually a fantastical alternate reality of the state of Florida (not joking.) And the concepts of the the world revolve around puns and plays on words. A "Night Mare" is a literal horse. "Isle of View" = "I Love You". "Centaur Isle/Center Aisle" etc. It's a playful, tongue-in-cheek series. Not sure if I'd compare it too closely to Discworld, because it's a lot more of a surface-level kind of humor. But it's still funny and epic in it's own way. A lot of the series is broken up into sets of trilogies. Hope that helps. (UPDATE: Since posting this comment, I've looked into Xanth again and realized that is has a lot of problems I didn't understand before. I'm gonna have to withdraw my recommendation for it. It, uh, doesn't old up well.)
@BariiAlyn5 ай бұрын
I used to love these books but I tried them recently along with his Incarnations of Immortality but I just can't get past the ah, shall we say, "male gaze" issue he has. I was a early-mid teen when I first read them but as an adult I just can't do it. Not to mention that having had kids makes this even harder to read.
@Cathowl4 ай бұрын
@@BariiAlyn God yeah I tried to reread it as an adult -- used to LOVE them, so much -- and his treatment of female characters is... uncomfortable. I had quit previously because I got up to the book with the goblin protagonist and found it exceedingly repetitive and the way the narrative framed the protagonist's personality really displeased me. It's tied up with spoilers so I don't want to be more specific. It's a shame because there's still so many fun ideas and puns in the stories. I don't even mind the weird implications of the Love Springs (never think too hard about the love springs) But I just can't go back any more.
@tautology_zero4 ай бұрын
The first 9 are good, although they get weaker as they go on (with some exceptions, e.g. Night Mare); but after that they just get very samey with a lot of dodginess in reference to the young teen female characters. I think I got to book 18 before I just had enough and got rid of them to make space for better books.
@orinrayner4 ай бұрын
@@BariiAlyn *Sigh* Yeah... can't argue that it didn't age well.
@orinrayner4 ай бұрын
@@Cathowl Yeah, it really doesn't hold up well. Kind of a bummer in retrospect.
@guycullum39274 ай бұрын
I will admit i have only listened to the audio books, but the Wandering Inn is an amazing vast world that is constantly growing and filling in more and more of the world as it goes. It has an amazing fleshing out of the goblin race to a point you totally care about them in a way i haven't seen done anywhere else. There are multiple races, cities, continents and different systems of government that even when appalling you can understand why they exist in the place they do exist. Historical reasons for all kinds of things are hinted at building a great world. Let alone the magic systems, that are used really well as plot movers. There is so much left to discover in the world and love that it exists. If you don't think you can read it it is definitely worth a listen. Especially as each book is around 40 hours so well worth a credit on audible, and great performance as well.
@pappywinky47492 ай бұрын
The wandering inn felt intimidating but its surprisingly easy and fast to read. My wife has already read 9 of them in just a couple of months and only reads casually. The world building is very slow, so you dont feel overwhelmed by a ton of descriptions or info dumps. Its a serial so she barely edits, she just writes and give sort of a cursory edit. Apparently the community provides edits. The author has talk about her process a lot, its pretty fascinating.
@claudiamcfie12655 ай бұрын
First one that came to mind (before seeing the video) was Terry Pratchet's disk world series... based on numbers of books.
@onionscoop5 ай бұрын
Krynn world with the dragonlance books?
@howardadamkramer5 ай бұрын
There's at least forty Dragonlance books. Definitely don't know how this didn't make the list.
@iandeveroux48154 ай бұрын
I cut my teeth on Pierce Anthony's Xanth series when I was a child. The creativity kept my young mind enthralled and was what had me reading throughout my childhood. If you have kids, I would definetely see if they are interested.
@enchantingaudiobooks6 ай бұрын
Thanks to you now I added more books in my TBR list
@MercenaryPen4 ай бұрын
Would be interesting to see a list of this sort done for Science Fiction as well- I've read some longish SF series but I wonder whether they'll even feature on such a list
@meganfoster88385 ай бұрын
Some favourites on that list, especially Valdemar. Valdemar isn't the only series by that author, either, so if you haven't read any Mercedes Lackey yet, give it a go. Surprised not to see Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern novels on there, as there are certainly a lot of those.
@katrinaedgar8165 ай бұрын
I think mercedes lackey is some of the best books out there and would recommend it to any fantasy reader so many excellent story's but the one that had me tearing up was Brightly Burning.
@pearlkonopa60884 ай бұрын
Love this series! And it's still going, 2 books in the last year.
@Archadies4 ай бұрын
@@katrinaedgar816 Brightly Burning.... I read that like 20 years ago. That one hits hard. One of the books, can't remember what one. Has an ending where you learn how committed a small group of souls are to the kingdom. It makes you sit there just thinking about all the books before it. I wish I could remember what book it was though.
@JoHenn4 ай бұрын
I love Valdemar series and have all of them, just finished the latest one! McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern is considered Science Fiction since the Dragons were (originally) lab-created, and the later books showing it to be a planet colonization .
@JoHenn4 ай бұрын
@@Archadieshave you got any more details on the one you’re trying to remember ? I’ve got all of them. I might be able to help figure out which one it is.
@IowaJay6 ай бұрын
If you would have grown up in the 1980s in the U.S., you would have seen how Anthony and Lackey dominated the fantasy shelves of mall bookstores. There are still lots of copies circulating in used bookstores.
@ten7prime1796 ай бұрын
These would be my go to books from the library when I ran out of things to read. New ones always seem to pop up.
@gossamerabba6 ай бұрын
And McCaffrey
@nicholastaylor96875 ай бұрын
The only books of Anthony's I have enjoyed are the Incarnations of Immortality. Xanth had too many descriptions of girls panties and though I usually have a strong constitution I got a seriously Icky feeling from them and then there is Tyrant which was somehow worse. (*spoiler alert* the main character who is around 15 years old gets graped by his 12 year old sister whilst he is delirious.) After that I just couldn't look at his work the same way or ever revisit it.
@ten7prime1795 ай бұрын
@@nicholastaylor9687 agreed. I read Anthony’s book as a teen. Tried a reread and stopped. Prefer the nostalgia in memory.
@tychozzyx94395 ай бұрын
On the one hand, Anthony's books have some excellent characters and amazing worlds with an ability to theme otherwise surface-level books very well. His series feature Multiverse travel between parallel worlds by a plane running across them where you walk world to world in about 10 yards, an exploration of cold war politics by personifying planets, a hero so chosen because of his unspectacular person, and a schmuck barely getting by because he's too nice to take proper advantage of people for profit. On the other hand, reading his books may frequently leave you feeling like you're reading an old man's wet dreams. Exciting as a teen, but more sleazy as an adult
@kevinschultz60915 ай бұрын
The Dragonlance saga (based off of the D&D module and later campaign setting) has 205 books in its series; don't know if it counts though, as it's done by different authors.
@DBShouse695 ай бұрын
I was wondering where the Dragonriders of Pern came in at, or possibly it's considered science fiction not fantasy.
@miketogwell10005 ай бұрын
Probably Counts as sci-fi , they arrive in spaceship and the dragons are genetically modified (so are the dolphins), I was expecting the dragonlannce books at approaching 200 novels
@hhamziee4 ай бұрын
Just for people who are wondering, a book classifies as a "novel" if it has 40,000 words or more. books consisting of 100,000+ words are considered "long"
@84tand6 ай бұрын
I think their should be a distinction between a series that is on continuous story, like WOT and a series that is several distinct but interconnected stories, like 1st Law or Realm of the Elderlings
@masoodvoon89995 ай бұрын
I don't know if we know for sure how 1st law ends yet because I feel like there will be another series to tie in the end of the last to the beginning.
@84tand5 ай бұрын
@@masoodvoon8999 that’s fair and maybe I should have used a better example. The thing with 1st law is that you can pick up and read The Heroes or Best Served Cold without having first read the original trilogy. Sure you might not get some of the Easter eggs, but you’ll still know what’s going on. With WOT, you can’t just read Path of Daggers without reading the previous books because it’s all one continuous story.
@spudthepug5 ай бұрын
Continuous story thread vs universal story thread. Like WoT vs The Cosmere.
@Firu-jd4vq5 ай бұрын
Honourable mention: Reverend Insanity with 5.0 million Words, and it is not completed yet. But one of the best book series ever.
@lvht19484 ай бұрын
I've read all of the Wandering Inn series so far, and I can confirm it's a single, extremely prolific author. The first book was... not great. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't in my top 100 books of all time, but it was interesting enough for me to try the second book, and the third... and by the time I was reading the fourth I realized I was hooked. It's not the most well written series of all time, but it does have the time to do all the world-building and in-depth character stories that you could ever want... and when this series hints at a checkov's gun... you may have to wait a couple MILLION words for the payday... but after all that buildup, those paydays are always really good. Took me nearly 6 months to read! Now I check every week for updates... it's one I'm absolutely going to continue reading. I've read a large number of the series you featured here... I love longer stories, but the Wandering Inn is certainly worth your time if you want to get seriously invested in an absolutely massive story.
@shroom2ma4 ай бұрын
What about Dragonlance? Over 190 books! Lots of authors, but the same world. No idea how many words though....
@johnherrmann3026 ай бұрын
I have been reading the Wandering Inn as my "supplemental" read for almost 3 years now and am still nowhere near catching up. It's what I read at night in conjunction to my "primary" book. It is easily one of my all time favorite series and one I recommend constantly to my friends. I know its daunting but everyone should give it a try if they are looking for a series that tackles every subgenre possible in a fantasy world
@JRCSalter6 ай бұрын
It honestly sounds impossible for something with twice the output of Stephen King's entire career released in about a tenth of the time to be anywhere near good. I'd be happy if it were good, as I really like long series (pretty much the only reason I picked up WoT in the first place)
@itrololo1946 ай бұрын
@@JRCSalterIt's written so fast because it's an internet series. The author publishes chapters as they're written. And I don't think there's any editing.
@JRCSalter6 ай бұрын
@@itrololo194 I suppose that makes sense. Editing is often a necessity to make a story even remotely good though. I know Dean Wesley Smith, a successful author, is dead set against editing as a requirement, and I've read some of his stuff. It's readable, but far from brilliant. I myself have published stuff that isn't heavily edited, and I don't believe it's all that great. I'm wondering whether this is just a really well written series of blogs, and as such is liked for that achievement, rather than being judged on being a book. I'll have to check it out myself to see.
@nibblitman5 ай бұрын
@@JRCSalter It’s long and people say oh keep with it for a few books(3,000,000+ words) and you start to really get into it but honestly if you need that long to hook people I feel like it might be Stockholm Syndrome setting in.
@JRCSalter5 ай бұрын
@@nibblitman I picked up the audiobook with a free trial, and listened to it while doing housework, as I didn't think I'd be able to actually read something like that with all the other books I'm reading. I am about 3 quarters the way through the first volume, and I must say I am loving it.
@JadeDragonSilkPhoenix5 ай бұрын
So, after watching this video I decided to read The Wandering Inn. As the author states in the epilogue, there are some typos, grammatical errors, etc. throughout the book, but I couldn't put it down. Read book one in 4 days. Starting book 2 now. Have to say, I'm kind of into it. At some point you might need to give it a try.
@safinan80086 ай бұрын
Wow 😯 liked ur video 🎥 didn’t know some of these books on ur list !! Thank you!! 😊
@libraryofaviking6 ай бұрын
Thank you, Safina!
@jonathanholifield75806 ай бұрын
In regards to the wandering inn, the author writes 2 chapters a week and posts them to a website where you can read for free. They are broken up into 9 volumes. Only recently has a publisher been breaking up the volumes into books with 11 books out so far. Those 11 books only cover the first 6 volumes so there are still many more books that will come out.
@libraryofaviking6 ай бұрын
That is very helpful! An insane amount of words though!
@danielgwynne72666 ай бұрын
Writing volume 10 atm and well those 11 books cover under 1/3 of all the currently written stuff
@mandyhuybregts32355 ай бұрын
You should check up on Dragon Lance books. There are so much. And apparently all connected. I have read some. But i gave up collecting haha
@dannyboi19754 ай бұрын
OMG, I have read the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey and she has created such a full and diverse world with her Valdemar novels. It's so immersive and completely enthralling, that I have trouble putting her books down to sleep much less doing anything else. I highly recommend any and all of her books, especially the Valdemar novels.
@chrismcknight71643 ай бұрын
After reading the dark tower series, I went through a phase of re-reading Stephen King novels to spot the DT references I missed the first time.
@sobecin4 ай бұрын
Spell for Chameleon is one of the funniest books I have ever read. And Saga of Recluse is an incredible series, and my favorite author of all time.
@DianaW34314 ай бұрын
Spell for Chameleon was a fun book!
@willow5146 ай бұрын
I’m only on book 2 but for the Wandering Inn, I’d recommend listening to the audiobook.
@libraryofaviking6 ай бұрын
It is on my tbr but it is such a commitment!
@AncaBenca5 ай бұрын
I second that 👆
@willow5145 ай бұрын
@@libraryofaviking they are a big time commitment but if you listen to them at a higher speed like 1.5x you can shave 20 hours off them.
@ReeveProductions5 ай бұрын
Oh, if you like the realm of the elderlings you will definitely love the realm of valdemar. While you can start anywhere I recommend starting at the first published, and then going in roughly release order. Release order isn’t necessary, but at the very least read each trilogy release order, and be aware of which trilogies are expansions of previous trilogies. I’m honestly surprised how many of these giant universes I’ve at least dabbled in, I think I’ve read at least one book in a third of the ones you mentioned.
@dustmaker10005 ай бұрын
What should be on this lis list is “Wild Cards” by George RR Martin. There are about 18 books and one of my favorite fantasy series. An alien race with a biology similar to humans, releases a virus on the earth that kills over 90% of the population. Those that survive are classifies as Aces or Jokers. The Aces have favorable powers, each unique. The jokers have unfavorable mutations. This series is definitely for adults and very entertaining
@Iansco14 ай бұрын
People get pissed over Sword of Truth because Goodkind acted like he was an ORIGINATOR and it was unique. There were clear, obvious and intentional DIRECT steals from WOT, LOTR and others.
@amateurcrastinator95235 ай бұрын
I've read many of the Xanth books. They are actually a lot of fun. In some ways they are classic fantasy. In other ways, a bit less so. They have a few more adult elements. But I read them in junior high and wasn't concerned. If I'm not mistaken, he is STILL writing them.
@YoFool.15065 ай бұрын
I was waiting for Xanth! Yup I've read around thirty ish of them. Quite a saga. You can read the first 6 ish and get an idea of it. The series is broken into sequels, trilogies, standalone stories. Sometimes it focuses on a character for a few books, then moves on and uses that character as a supporting character in subsequent books. You gotta appreciate puns. Lots of puns in the fantasy naming conventions of piers Anthony.
@AndrewFishman5 ай бұрын
Xanth is brilliant
@alananimus91453 ай бұрын
I was confused when you included some books but then i realized you were including books that aren't saga's. The wandering inn is epic.
@morleywritesbooks6 ай бұрын
hm. I'm surprised the Drizzt series and Dragon Lance series didn't make the cut. Lackey, though, i knew had quite a lot, but I didn't know it was quite that many
@masoodvoon89995 ай бұрын
dragonlance probably because it was weiss and hickman's books weren't too long and the rest of the books were other authors. Salvatore's #13. If you look at the graphic his books are like 25-20% of some the other authors' books in length.
@morleywritesbooks5 ай бұрын
ahhhh, understood@@masoodvoon8999 :)
@tammy27865 ай бұрын
I agree, if you include Stephen kings "series" dragonlance should be looked at, regardless of who authored it
@adorabell42534 ай бұрын
@@masoodvoon8999 Weiss and Hickman are at 2413955 words. They should be up there.
@DianaW34314 ай бұрын
If you look at the list pinned in the comments, Drizzt comes in at #13.
@danielbanks99783 ай бұрын
The first 6 books of the Realm of the Elderlings are free on Audible (you might need a subscription, but it doesn't cost credits) and I started with the 4th book, Ship of Magic, and am addicted to it. Robin Hobbs can write some awesome characters!
@firenthefire26 ай бұрын
I've been going through Saga of Recluce and other Modesitt works like The Imager Portfolio and his most recent series The Grand Illusion and he has become one of my favorite authors but he's definitely not for everyone. Even though Recluce is a fairly standard medieval fantasy it's got a very interesting structure where each book is set during a different period of the world, for example one book might be set in an early medieval period and the other is set in an industrial revolution period and you get to see how the world changes and develops/regresses with each book and the magic system is fairly interesting as well with a great focus being put on the effect the use of magic has on the world. He generally focuses on the day to day activites of a character and slowly building up the story over constantly moving the plot forward thus people could find his stuff slow or boring, especially in Imager and The Grand Illusion where there is a great focus on the economics and the politics of the world and Modesitt goes into great detail when those two areas are in question.
@michaelldennis6 ай бұрын
I do like his books, particularly the Imager books, specifically because you get to see someone think through how to make something work and the day-to-day progression of that effort. I mentally use the phrase "procedural fantasy" for this type of work (I know, it only makes sense to me). But a lot of people won't enjoy that kind of novel.
@libraryofaviking6 ай бұрын
Very insightful! Thank you!
@firenthefire26 ай бұрын
@@michaelldennis Yes, and another thing I really like about his works is that his main characters are all very skilled. The don't just know combat/magic skills but they all know some sort of a craft. In Recluce one is a carpenter, another a blacksmith and in Imager Rhenn is a potraiturist. The rest of the characters tend to be just as skilled, competent and intelligent including the antagonists.
@bozman16785 ай бұрын
So far the only Modesitt works I've read is the Corean Chronicles, which I loved. I purchased the ebook bundle they had on humble a while ago and will work through Recluse eventaully.
@karenlp58675 ай бұрын
I love fantasy novels that are on a really epic scale. I’ve read The Wheel of Time, The realm of the elderlings, and The stormlight archive multiple times, and now I’m looking for something new. After reading your comment, I’m really looking forward to trying out Saga of Recluce. I love the idea of a series that goes through different time periods so you can see how things develop. I really hope I will enjoy them as much as you do.
@MarcusHCrawford5 ай бұрын
Wooh! Malazan mentioned! If you have any interest in large scale battles, warfare, or fantasy tactics, Erikson is that guy. Edit: Come on, King doesn’t count. What even is that. Come on. Dark Tower is a series, but the “Stephen King Universe” isn’t a thing. Mentioning Maine and retconning characters doesn’t count as a greater narrative. If that’s the case, then how many words are written in the entire Forgotten Realms universe?
@darrickdean18499 күн бұрын
If you count series written by multiple authors, the winner would probably be Dragonlance with over 150 books.
@tempestbooks5 ай бұрын
If we're looking at the numbers for books written in a universe, I wonder where Warhammer 40K books would rank? It’s all the one universe and has many writers contributing to it that have rules they have to follow to ensure continuity. (Yes, I know it's scifi, this has just made me wonder) A quick google seems to indicate that there are over 300 books at a minimum. If we apply an average of 40,000 words per book (standard novel length) to the number of books indicated to be in the universe according to FictionDB, 338, we get 13,52,0000 (thirteen million five hundred twenty thousand). That’s a lot of words…
@Gefardino5 ай бұрын
Definitely finish Malazan! Absolutely worth the effort
@larryladeroute9715 ай бұрын
Sanderson should probably counted as the entire Cosmere. I think this should be a 'by one author list' which would shorten Malazan, Riftwar, and WOT at least. If you include multiple authors then the Forgotten Realms amd Dragonlance come into play. Conan may even make the list. Probably some others as well.
@Cueil4 ай бұрын
LITRPG coming in kicking down the door like "What!?"
@SpyroCynderFan6 ай бұрын
Finally someone talks about The Sword of Truth series! It is hands down my favorite fantasy series of all time!! I highly recommend it!
@coffeewithstas6 ай бұрын
OMG I never realised it’s so long worlds wise. My favourites are : Wizard’s First Rule, Faith of the Fallen , Confessor, Warheart,
@libraryofaviking6 ай бұрын
Oh interesting!
@danielgwynne72666 ай бұрын
It ain’t really held in that high regard among modern fantasy fans
@Asomii6 ай бұрын
I think Joe Dever's Lone Wolf gamebook series have also insane amount of word count (2.5M fosho, dunno if more) and it ended at like 31 books, with now all of them getting an extended editions that add previously cut content making them even larger
@wolfme40305 ай бұрын
Thank you so much for introducing me to The Wandering Inn series. The first 2 were on a buy one get one free on Audible so I spent a credit. I’m only on chapter 2 but am loving it. I’m not too sure that this would be a series for you, though as it is a humorous litrpg/iseki series. The narrator so far has been brilliant and I don’t think I will have a problem listening to her for the next 43 hours, that’s just the first book. 😂 For anyone who reads digitally, on Kindle at least, the books are only a few £’s each in the UK, so I suppose they won’t be too expensive in other countries. 🎉 Alternatively, it is legally free online 😂
@howardadamkramer5 ай бұрын
The Xanth series is a lot of fun. It contains a lot of dad humor. The author still refers to it as a "trilogy". The first eight are excellent, but they kind of go downhill from there. Also, I was stunned not to see the Dragonlance series. There has to be at least 40 books by now.
@Narohime5 ай бұрын
Would have thought the Forgotten Realms would be at the top, with 40+ books just about Drizzt, with Dragon Lance not far behind.
@bensnykers57296 ай бұрын
Sword of Truth is controversial mostly due to the author being very disrespectful towards the Fantasy Genre itself, if I’m not mistaken. Like Rowling, Goodkind regards himself as something better than Fantasy, and is very condescending. He also made some iffy remarks about Robert Jordans health etc. So many fantasy fans don’t include him as a legit fantasy writer, because he doesn’t consider himself as one and sees himself as better than it.
@harshgarg14485 ай бұрын
I highly recommend going through wandering inn author's interview with matt fantasy book reviews before judging it. You will get the vibes of the series from the interview A common pitch for recommending wandering inn is it being called malazan lite.
@HeavyTopspin5 ай бұрын
I can't see how Wandering Inn qualifies when for all I can see, none of these "books" have ever been released in print format.
@nibblitman5 ай бұрын
And it’s mostly just line after line of rambling without a plot or purpose.
@harshgarg14485 ай бұрын
Don't be initimated by wandering inn, it seems daunting if you see its length, but once you start reading it you will not stop. I caught up to wandering inn 2 years ago and have re tead it once more and am caughtup to series , and I find it much more bingeable than cosmere. As I have only read stormlightarchive , it is below wandering imo.
@margueritecorbett8835 ай бұрын
I love seeing older fantasy books mentioned! I've read many many Xanth books, they are middle grade to YA, but some other works by that author are decidedly NOT. I've read every single book in the Valdamar series including the book that came out last year! I'm so glad she is still writing books that instantly transport me back to my collage days. The Valdamar books are YA, as are most of her many other series she has also written. I finished the last Robin Hobb book in December, and have one Dresden Files book to be up to date. I think I've read all of Sir Terry Pratchett's works. I don't really read Steven King anymore, but I've read at least half his work.... An amazing author with 20 books in one universe in two connected series is Patricia Briggs, I recommend her Mercy Thompson/Alpha and Omega series. Which author should I take a deep dive into next?
@AndrewFishman5 ай бұрын
The Xanth books are great. Piers Anthony was definitely an author worth reading. Some of his work is top notch, all of it is entertaining and amusing. A Spell for Chameleon, Source of Magic and Castle Roogna are still some of my favourite books to reread.
@jasonking34665 ай бұрын
Piers Anthony reads like it was written by teenage boys. But I still like his Incarnations of Immorlaity
@shawnw87175 ай бұрын
I have to disagree with the Stephen King "universe." He himself said his stories/novels were set in multiple universes/realities. But some of his characters, like Randall Flagg, were able to traverse his "Multiverse" and move from one universe to another. Flagg is the main villain/antagonist in the Stand and the Dark Tower series. Since I brought up Flagg as an example,The Stand itself is definitely not in the same universe as the rest of his work. When first published in 1978, it was set in 1985, and the story tells the tale of people surviving a "superflu" that was developed in a government lab, accidentally escaped or released to the outside world, and proceeded to kill off 99% of the US (and it is assumed the world) population. In 1988-89, King published a revised and greatly expanded version of the novel, and moved the date of the action to 1995, where it still stands. Other novels published since the Stand revision are set in the "present" day (for the most part) with no mention of an apocalyptic plague that essentially knocked modern society back into the stone age (in terms of electric power usage and modern conveniences) or the big battle between good and evil in the novel's climax as described by the author. Therefore it can't be the exact SAME universe... Obviously the stories set in and around Derry, Maine share common ground and characters (like Faulkner's fictitious Yaknapatawpha County Mississippi), but other books don't feel part of the SAME universe, other than they're written by the same man with an instantly recognizable writing style.
@dougsundseth69045 ай бұрын
Valdemar is excellent. You can probably start with any of the series, though I'd start with Arrows of the Queen, which is the first published book. And you can't count Goodkind, since he doesn't write fantasy: "First of all, I don't write fantasy. I write stories that have important human themes. They have elements of romance, history, adventure, mystery and philosophy. Most fantasy is one-dimensional. It's either about magic or a world-building. I don't do either." - Terry Goodkind Finally, King is a fantasy writer like Clancy was a fantasy writer. (All of Clancy's books escept for Red Storm Rising are set in the same alternate history, which is certainly a subgenre of fantasy.)
@josem5524 ай бұрын
About King's universe, yes and no. Yes, they're all connected but there are different dimensions and parallel universes. For example: in some universes, IT is dead and in others, alive
@DavidHixson4 ай бұрын
I've fallen off a couple of these, but I'm 100% on the Recluse books and I've read them since it started. Great to see Feist and Lackey getting a shout out from the past. I was huge on Piers Anthony but things definitely went off the rails a couple decades ago.
@EarhirX5 ай бұрын
Why wasn’t Warhammer 40k included? I think Horus Heresy has like 50 books and Siege of Terra as well. And that’s only what happens before actually getting to 40k
@joncarroll20405 ай бұрын
He's probably only counting series by a single author. Otherwise Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms would both be up there.
@trentblades66685 ай бұрын
@@joncarroll2040 or even just star wars in general
@AndrewFishman5 ай бұрын
Sci fi not Fantasy
@adorabell42534 ай бұрын
@@joncarroll2040 I did a rough count and just the Weiss and Hickman books are 2mil+ words at the lowest count so they would for sure be up there but I'm guessing the compilers forgot they exist.
@ericF-175 ай бұрын
If we're doing universes then forgotten realms definitely belongs on this list.
@jonathangurkin52964 ай бұрын
The discworld books are amazing
@purplelibraryguy87294 ай бұрын
The Recluce books are interesting. They tend to be almost standalone--characters in one are more likely to have heard of the characters in another as historical "greats" than to actually know them personally. And they have as far as I can tell two major themes: 1. Deep philosophical questions of the values and uses of order, disorder and different sorts of compromise between the two, along with musings on craftsmanship. 2. The idea that any political problem can probably be solved by assassinating someone. No, really. On that first thing, I think Modesitt's thinking on the subject developed and shifted over time; where the first book treats order vs chaos as an almost good vs evil deal, pretty one dimensional, over time there's a fair amount of nuance introduced. I haven't read all of 'em, but now and then I'll pick another up if I'm pretty sure it's not one of the ones I already have . . . they do get a bit same-ey after a while.
@shadowdancenz5 ай бұрын
It is an easy read. Online chapters are in effect mini stories, so if you do take a break and then go back to it, you will be fine. The author cites on her website it is at 12.4 million words now. She is a machine of a writer. And yes - it is an incredible story. Fun, entertaining, thought provoking and has hidden depth. I am loving it
@DrDraco6 ай бұрын
What about the Legend of Drizzt? 39 books so far.
@DrDraco6 ай бұрын
Nevermind, I just looked at that list. Looks like it’s based on word count, not number of books. Almost cracks the top 10 at number 13
@michaelldennis6 ай бұрын
the list has it as #13
@adamnesico6 ай бұрын
Yes, D&D books would totally top the list.
@io.nebulae5 ай бұрын
@@adamnesico Star Trek books. I dont even have them all and i own 364 of theit physical books. All series counfounded tho.
@adamnesico5 ай бұрын
@@io.nebulae Srar Trek fantasy? I know it has gods, but don’t sound as fantasy.
@ReidMac4 ай бұрын
Feist, Modesitt, and Anthony are some of my favorite authors and I highly recommend reading their works. All things equal, it is best to read them in chronological order.
@cryingdemon5 ай бұрын
If it is about "universes" that are huge, I'm surprised the Dragonlance universe wasn't included.
@Spiderweb4445 ай бұрын
The wandering inn being the longest and that just started 6-7 years ago.. this is insane. No words.
@eddiefriend25464 ай бұрын
The DragonLance universe has 190 books.
@sarahb46155 ай бұрын
The Xanth series by Piers Anthony is comparable to the Terry Pratchett Disc World Series. A lot of silly humor and all the stories are set in the same world but with different characters. I remember reading these books as a kid and I still reference some of the books and characters 😊
@davidstigant4574 ай бұрын
Did the series have to be by a single author? Because otherwise, and if Stephen King’s books are all one universe, then Dragon Lance (~150 novels according to Wikipedia) and Forgotton Realms (-400 books) have to make this list if not take the top spot by a comfortable margin
@RosLanta6 ай бұрын
The only one new to me is the series by Michelle West, which I'll now have to look up. I suspect I've read a lot more older/classic fantasy than most people on BookTube though
@MargueriteKrux26 ай бұрын
Same. I haven't read all the books in the mentioned series, but I have read some of each series except for Michelle West's.
@SaduranYT5 ай бұрын
Shouldn't Warhammer 40.000 novels be in the lists? There are like 200 books from that universe