5 Books That Prove This is a Great Fall for Epic Fantasy

It seems you can’t turn around in the bookstore these days without bumping up against a stack of the next great fantasy doorstopper, but even by those standards, this fall is a particularly strong one for epic fantasy, featuring long-awaited installments of a few of the best series going and the return of characters we’ve been waiting years—or a whole decade—to see again. Plus, you have to enjoy any season that includes the release of a Patrick Rothfuss book. They come along so rarely, and must be treasured when they do.
Severed Souls, by Terry Goodkind
Goodkind published Wizard’s First Rule, the first book in the long-running Sword of Truth saga, 20 years ago, and readers have been glued to the series ever since. Severed Souls is the 14th book overall, but also the third entry in “phase two” of the story arc, which provides new readers with another place to start. Regardless, this is fantasy at its most epic (the fate of everything is at stake, naturally), and healthy doses of politics and philosophy. (Available now in hardcover and NOOK.)
The Broken Eye, by Brent Weeks
After breaking through with The Night Angel trilogy, Weeks threw caution to the wind with the Lightbringer series, which is bigger and more ambitious in nearly every way, and quickly added his name to the list of the best writers working in the genre today. The Broken Eye is the third installment in a planned quartet of books set in a pre-industrial world where magic is based on an ability to manipulate light and color, and bastard-born Kip Guile is working to master magical craft and confront his destiny. (Available now in hardcover and NOOK.)
The Slow Regard of Silent Things, by Patrick Rothfuss
It’s been three years since the release of The Wise Man’s Fear, book two in the lyrically written, massively popular Kingkiller Chronicles. And no, this novella isn’t The Doors of Stone, the long-awaited conclusion. Rather, it’s a side story focusing on Auri, the strange girl who lives below the magical University, who has previously crossed paths with series hero Kvothe. Even if it isn’t the book we’re all waiting for, we’ll take what we can get if it means spending more time in the Four Corners. (Available Oct. 28 in hardcover and NOOK.)
Fool’s Assassin, by Robin Hobb
Released in 1995, Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice, following the misadventures of Fitzchivilary Farseer, a young boy trained to kill for the king, premiered to great acclaim and predicted many of the elements that have come to define modern fantasy: amoral heroes operating in shades of grey, story lines that aren’t afraid to leave the reader in a dark place, and an anything-can-happen atmosphere where no character is safe. After 10 years penning related works that explore the larger world of the Seven Duchies, Hobb finally returns to the story of Fitz in Fool’s Assassin, the start of a monumental new trilogy. (Available now in hardcover and NOOK.)
Rise of the King: Companion’s Codex Vol. II, by R.A. Salvatore
It’s easy to see why this one’s a huge deal: introduced in 1988’s The Crystal Shard, the reformed dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden has gone on to star in some 26 novels and become one of the most popular fantasy characters of all time. This book chronicles his latest adventures and is the second volume in the Companion’s Codex series, following Night of the Hunter. (Available Sept. 30 in hardcover and NOOK.)
What fantasy books are you looking forward to this fall?