Want to know who will be the next George R.R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, or Brandon Sanderson?  The authors below represent the next “big names” in Fantasy.  Even better, they are all absolutely great guys who are very approachable on Reddit Fantasy or Twitter.  Get ahead of the curve, and check out these books now!  You won’t be sorry you did.

Author: Jonathan Renshaw

Notable Work: Dawn of Wonder

Renshaw’s very first book, Dawn of Wonder, has already earned too many awards to name, and is almost always the #1 selling Epic Fantasy book on Amazon.com. Why?  Dawn may be the best Coming of Age Fantasy work we’ve read in a long time, driven by the protagonist, Aedan.  Picture the cunning of Scott Lynch’s Locke Lamora with the tactical genius of Orson Scott Card’s Ender Wiggins.

Oh yes…..

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Back Blurb: When a high-ranking officer gallops into the quiet Mistyvales, he brings a warning that shakes the countryfolk to their roots. But for Aedan, a scruffy young adventurer with veins full of fire and a head full of ideas, this officer is not what he seems.

The events that follow propel Aedan on a journey that only the foolhardy or desperate would risk, leading him to the gates of the nation’s royal academy – a whole world of secrets in itself.

But this is only the beginning of his discoveries. Something is stirring in the land, something more ominous than the rising threat of hostile nations. Fearful travellers whisper of an ancient power breathing over Thirna, changing it, waking it. In the very heart of these stirrings, Aedan encounters that which defies belief, leaving him speechless with terror – and wonder.

Author: Brian Staveley

Notable Work: The Emperor’s Blades

Unlike certain other authors (e.g. Rothfuss and Martin), Staveley managed to publish his full trilogy, Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne in just two years, and it is absolutely epic, with a finale that is completely satisfying while simultaneously leaving you begging for another work in the same world.

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Back Blurb:  The emperor of Annur is dead, slain by enemies unknown. His daughter and two sons, scattered across the world, do what they must to stay alive and unmask the assassins. But each of them also has a life-path on which their father set them, destinies entangled with both ancient enemies and inscrutable gods.

Kaden, the heir to the Unhewn Throne, has spent eight years sequestered in a remote mountain monastery, learning the enigmatic discipline of monks devoted to the Blank God. Their rituals hold the key to an ancient power he must master before it’s too late.

An ocean away, Valyn endures the brutal training of the Kettral, elite soldiers who fly into battle on gigantic black hawks. But before he can set out to save Kaden, Valyn must survive one horrific final test.

At the heart of the empire, Minister Adare, elevated to her station by one of the emperor’s final acts, is determined to prove herself to her people. But Adare also believes she knows who murdered her father, and she will stop at nothing—and risk everything—to see that justice is meted out.

Author: Robert Jackson Bennett

Notable Work: City of Stairs

The amazing BrentNew York Times bestselling author of The Way of Shadows and The Lightbringer Series said it best: “Robert Jackson Bennett deserves a huge audience. This is the book that will earn it for him. A story that draws you in, brilliant world building, and oh my God, Sigrud. You guys are going to love Sigrud.”

We agree with Brent, but Mulaghesh is even better than Sigrud.

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Back Blurb:  The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world’s new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself—first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it—stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy.

Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov’s oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country’s most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem—and that Bulikov’s cruel reign may not yet be over.

Author: Anthony Ryan

Notable Work: Blood Song (Raven’s Shadow #1)

Anthony Ryan is in our Top Fantasy Books List, and frankly speaking, we are amazed that he is not already in the upper echelons of Fantasy fame. Blood Song was originally independently published by Ryan, but following its viral success Ryan was quickly picked-up by Penguin Books for a 3-book deal.

Blood Song beings as a gripping tale of ten youths, volunteered by their families for lifelong service into the realm’s elite fighting force.  Those who survive to adulthood (spoiler alert: not many of them do) quickly find themselves in the schemes of a much larger (and even more dangerous) world.

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Back Blurb:  “The Sixth Order wields the sword of justice and smites the enemies of the Faith and the Realm.”

Vaelin Al Sorna was only a child of ten when his father left him at the iron gate of the Sixth Order—a caste devoted to battle. Vaelin will be trained and hardened to the austere, celibate and dangerous life of a warrior of the Faith. He has no family now save the Order.

Vaelin’s father was Battle Lord to King Janus, ruler of the Unified Realm—and Vaelin’s rage at being deprived of his birthright knows no bounds. Even his cherished memories of his mother are soon challenged by what he learns within the Order.

But one truth overpowers all the rest: Vaelin Al Sorna is destined for a future he has yet to comprehend. A future that will alter not only the Realm, but the world.

Author: Max Gladstone

Notable Work: Three Parts Dead (The Craft Sequence #1)

As stated by the team at Fantasy Book Critic: “Power armor and gargoyles and god wars together, not to mention raising gods from the dead? Who does that? Gladstone packed as much awesome as he could into one world, and it totally paid off.”

We know she appears to be carrying a lightsaber on the cover, but we promise it isn’t.  What she is carrying is even better!

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Back Blurb:  A God has died, and it’s up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart.

Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb.  Without Him, the metropolis’s steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot.  Tara’s job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in.  Her only help is Abelard, a chain-smoking priest of the dead God, who’s having an understandable crisis of faith.

But when the duo discover that Kos was murdered, they have to make a case in Alt Coulumb’s courts—and their quest for truth endangers their partnership, their lives, and the city’s slim hope of survival.

Author: Brian McClellan

Notable Work:  Promise of Blood (Powder Mage #1)

Often compared to Brandon Sanderson, if you enjoy the “flintlock fantasy” of Mistborn and highly detailed, original magic systems Powder Mage is the next series for you.  One of our favorite things about this series is that every single POV character is unique and amazing.

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Back Blurb: It’s a bloody business overthrowing a king…

Field Marshal Tamas’ coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and the greedy to scramble for money and power by Tamas’s supposed allies: the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces.

 BONUS (WEB SERIES)

Author: Wildbow

Notable Work: Worm (A Web Series)

What started in 2011 as humble web serial has grown into a massive, 1,750,000 saga (the equivalent of 10-11 large novels), receiving high praise from almost everyone who reads it.

The bad news: it’s still only available in a web version, but there are great comments sections at the end of each chapter for those of us who like to discuss what we’ve read with fellow fans.  The good news: it’s COMPLETELY FREE, and you can read it all here.

Back Blurb: An introverted teenage girl with an unconventional superpower, Taylor goes out in costume to find escape from a deeply unhappy and frustrated civilian life. Her first attempt at taking down a super-villain sees her mistaken for one, thrusting her into the midst of the local ‘cape’ scene’s politics, unwritten rules, and ambiguous morals. As she risks life and limb, Taylor faces the dilemma of having to do the wrong things for the right reasons.

If you liked that…..

Want to know which protagonists were voted the Top 200 Fantasy Characters of all Time?

Check out the Results from our HUGE poll, with over 21,000 votes cast, representing 359 characters from 136 of the top fantasy book series!