By Michelle Doshi
10-30-2020
In case you are someone looking to escape into an epic that just keeps going and going and going and going, this blog is for you.
Below you will find Sci Fi, Fiction, and Fantasy epics that are large in scope, often involve war, with heroes, villains, and the gray area in between. Books by authors who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color are noted with “BIPOC”.
Find this blog’s accompanying Instagram live video at https://www.instagram.com/p/CG-qIQknmhH/.
Sci Fi Series
The Expanse By James S.A. Corey (adaptation) (9 books)
The Expanse begins with Leviathan Wakes and has been adapted by Amazon. Captain Jim Holden stumbles upon an abandon ship and discovers a secret that threatens to throw the system into war. In another story line, A missing girl’s parents have Detective Miller out looking for her. The search leads him to the Scopuli and Holden. The world in the Expanse is totally unique, spanning Earth, the asteroid belt, Mars, and the moon. Find the books here.
Dune by Frank Herbert (adaptation) (8 books)
Dune has most recently been adapted into a film, set for release in October of 2021. Paul Atreides comes from a noble family that rules over an inhospitable world where a drug called the “spice” is the only thing of value. When Paul’s family is betrayed, Paul will be sent on a journey involving a mysterious man called Maud’Dib. Find the books here.
Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown (5 books)
Darrow is part of the Red caste, the lowest in his color-coded society. He works hard all day believing that his people will make Mars livable in the future, until he learns that humanity already reach the surface a long time ago. Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate an institute for the dominate gold caste, where Darrow competes for his life and will do anything to bring down his enemies. Find the books here.
Broken Earth Saga by N.K. Jemisin (BIPOC) (3 books)
Jemisin’s award winning series begins with The Fifth Season. It is a post-apocalyptic novel with magical elements where the gods decide to create a rift in the continent, blowing away entire cities and spewing ash that will keep the sky dark for years to come. The same day, a woman named Essun, discovers that her son has been brutally murdered by her husband. Among the chaos of the rift, war breaks out between nations. Find the books here.
Fiction Series
The Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante (adaptation) (4 books)
Beginning with My Brilliant Friend, the Neapolitan novels have been adapted into a series by HBO and center around the lives of Lila and Lenu as the grow up and grow old. It’s the story of a friendship across decades. Find the books here.
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell (adaptation) (13 books)
Adapted by Netflix, the Last Kingdom introduces Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a fictional version of an actual historical figure in Britain. The story centers around the conquest of Britain by the Danish and King Alfred’s quest to unite the kingdoms into one. Find the books here. Many of these titles are also available in Hoopla.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin (BIPOC) (437 pages)
The City We Became takes place in New York City and has magical elements. In this book, five New Yorkers must work together to defend the city from an ancient evil threatening to destroy it. Find it here. This is the first book in a potential trilogy.
Fantasy Books
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (848 pages)
This title is one of the few fantasy epics not part of a sprawling series. House of Berethnet has ruled for a thousand years. Queen Sabran the Ninth needs to have a daughter to protect her realm amidst assassins closing in on her. Lady in Waiting Ead Duryan is an outsider loyal to the society of mages who keeps an eye on the Queen. Tane is a trained dragonrider that is forced to make a choice that could unravel her life as she knows it. Find the book here.
Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James (620 pages) (BIPOC)
Drawing from African history and mythology, James writes an epic tale with elements of fantasy. Tracker is a mercenary searching for a lost child. While he usually works alone, this time he ends up as a part of a group. In an adventurous fight for survival, Tracker starts to ask himself questions about who this boy really is. Find the book here.
Fantasy Book Series
Wheel of time series by Robert Jordan (adaptation) (14 books)
Beginning in Eye of the World, a village is attacked and five villagers flee into the night with dangers awaiting them at every turn. First published in 1990, the now classic series was finished by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan died in 2007. The series is being adapted by Amazon and is set for release in 2021. Find the books here.
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang (BIPOC) (3 books)
Rin is a dark-skinned orphan working in her foster parent’s shop and is about to be married off when she convinces a tutor to help her study for the Keju exam. To everyone’s surprise and dismay, she passes, and tests into the top military academy. There, she must compete with elite students who target her because of her poverty, gender, and color. She also discovers that she has an aptitude for the near mythical art of shamanism. Written by R. F. Kuang, the Poppy War incorporates East Asian history in this unique and magical epic. Find the books here.
Terry Brooks / Shannara (34 books, 10 different sub-series)
Shannara is a long running book series first published in the 1970s that is comprised of 10 different sub-series within the world of Shannara. Books can be read in chronological order, publication order, or Terry Brook’s suggested order for new readers. There is also Terry’s suggested order for readers revisiting the series. Or, you could pick a Shannara sub series and read each series how and when you like.
According to Terry, new readers should start with The Sword of Shannara, where a deadly warlock is threatening to destroy everything. Only the sword of Shannara can be used to fight back against this darkness, and only a true heir of Shannara can wield it. The weight of the world rests on Shea’s shoulders to save everyone. So begins the spellbinding, adventurous saga of magic and myth. Find the books here.
Lady Trent Memoirs / Marie Brennan (5 books)
Readers who enjoy Naomi Novak’s novels might also enjoy Marie Brennan’s Lady Trent Memoirs. The series starts with A Natural History of Dragons where Lady Trent is the Jane Goodall of Dragon Kind in these fictional memoirs. A Natural History of Dragons was nominated for several awards when it first came out in 2013. Find the books here.
The Witcher saga (adaptation) (6 books)
The Witcher follows Geralt, a trained, mutated monster hunter and assassin with magical powers, as he wanders the country finding gigs taking care of monsters for his clients while waiting on a prophecy. Written by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Adapted into a TV show by Netflix. Previous to the TV show, The Witcher was also adapted into video games, available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Find all eBooks, eAudiobooks, and video games here.
Queen of the Tearling / Erika Johansen (3 books)
Kelsea was raised in hiding after the death of her mother. On her 19th birthday, her mother’s Queen’s Guard comes to get Kelsea so that she may ascend to the throne left behind by her mother. Kelsea must deal with old rivalries at court, which Kelsea throws out of balance after discovering evil festering in the queendom. Becoming a young ruler is a trial by fire.
The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty (3 books)
Nahri is a con woman in Cairo pretending to do ceremonies for clients. Until the day where she accidentally summons a Djinn warrior, who takes her to the city and court of Daevabad. The Daevabad trilogy is steeped in lush description of a metropolis, magic, romance, court politics, and war. Find the books here.
Game of thrones (adaptation) (5 books)
Game of Thrones starts out when the Hand of the King has died and the King travels north to name his friend as the to name a new Hand of the King. This book takes place in a world with subtle twists on our own, including magical elements and seasons that last years instead of months. The series is intended to be 7 books long. Only five have been released so far. Game of Thrones was adapted by HBO and has since completed. Place a hold on the DVDs here. Locate the books here.
Two accompanying books, The World of Ice and Fire and Fire and Blood, are worth a read once you have read the first five. Fire and Blood is being adapted by HBO into a series currently set for release in 2022.