Rebel of the Sands Author Alwyn Hamilton’s Top 10 Fantasy Worlds

The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
I will never forget The Blue Sword being the first fantasy book I read in which the world didn’t resemble medieval Europe. Instead of castles and knights, there were almost modern-feeling houses, set on the contested desert border between the Homeland and the mysterious kingdom of Damar. When Harry Crewe is kidnapped by the King of Damar and starts a desert crossing, the world we get to discover through her eyes is filled with elements that make it seem real, from horses guided without reins to the rich tradition of the King’s Personal Guard of Riders. And then there’s the history and legends of Lady Aerin, which are so rich McKinley wrote a whole prequel to really delve into her at her dragon slaying best.

The Winner’s Curse Trilogy, by Marie Rutkoski
The Winner’s Curse brings something to the shelf I had never seen before, a wholly invented world without any magic. The Valorian Empire parallels the Roman Empire as much as the Napoleonic attempt at an Empire in Europe, and the enslaved country of Herran has echoes of a conquered Greece, but this world is all its own. There’s a pantheon of unique Gods which are part of the daily vocabulary of the characters, and the invented strategy game Bite and Sting, which pepper the world so effortlessly it seems impossible they aren’t all real. This world kind of defies the traditional fantasy label for me, but the invented world is put to great use to raise the stakes of both an all-out war and the fate of two characters in love, in a way that just can’t be done in books set in our world, where we already know the outcome of history before the end of the story.

Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson
I initially read what is now the fantastic complete graphic novel Nimona week by week when it was coming out serialized online. What started out as a seemingly simple comic about a girl with a propensity for transforming into a shark with legs quickly evolved into one of the most interesting mergers of technology and magic I’ve ever read about. Knights in armor wield energy guns in castles equipped with high-tech labs. Even Nimona’s initially quirky magical shapeshifting turns into something much more sinister when science gets involves.

The Grisha Trilogy, by Leigh Bardugo
The Grishaverse started off in the Russian-inspired kingdom of Ravka in Shadow and Bone. The kingdom of Ravka on its own is fully realized, its magic system is so well articulated it’s easy to believe it has been in place for generations, and easy to believe in the saints and legends that fill the country’s history. But what really made Ravka a believable country for me was that it never existed in a bubble. As readers we always knew there were other countries in play beyond the borders, all with their different takes on magic, some seeing it as an abomination, some worshipping it, some seeing it as a business opportunity. And from those countries came wares, travelers, immigrants, wars, and eventually, we as the reader got to explore them, too.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, by Patricia C. Wrede
After years of fairytale kingdoms that never made all that much sense, here was a world that gave logic to the tropes! The series kicks off when the un-princesslike Princess Cimorene goes off to willingly indenture herself to a dragon, bringing nothing but handkerchiefs and promises of cherry jubilee with her. Not only does this open a fascinating world of dragon politics, but we finally get to see how captured princesses fill their time (sending away their would-be rescuers and negotiating with genies, since I know you were wondering). It just gets better, with magic swords defeating clogged drains and a Rumpelstiltskin type who has found himself accidentally running a too-expensive foster home for all the first-born children he has accumulated because of their parents not being able to guess his name. Every cracked world that subverts the fairytale tropes since, from Shrek to The Hero’s Guide to Saving your Kingdom, owes a debt to the world created by Wrede in my mind.

The Crown & Court series, by Sherwood Smith
I read these books as pure fantasy but have recently been led to understand that the world in Sherwood Smith’s brilliant duology is supposed to be ours, set far in the future on a distant planet, where magic is alien science. This would certainly explain why they share many touchstones with our world, while also having two moons for the characters to gaze up at and trees willing to exact revenge. But the true magic in these books for me is in the complexities of the ballroom. Smith has created a complete court to rival Versailles in intrigue, with fan language, complicated symbolism woven covertly into jewelry, long lineage that gives you the feeling every character has a twisting family tree, and old traditions so tangible you’re sure they must have been in fashion once in our world, too.

The World of Valdemar, by Mercedes Lackey
The World of Valdemar is big and complicated and sprawling. It is covered in quite a few different books, which explore different nations across different time periods, and I know I have only gotten to a small corner of the world in spite of how avidly I devoured these books as a young reader. I came to Valdemar through Talia in Arrows of the Queen, then Kerowyn in By the Sword, and Finally Elspeth in Winds of Fate. They were a runaway, mercenary, and princess, respectively (now that I say that I realize I must have missed the books that covered the rest of the Breakfast Club), all chosen as Heralds to protect their country and their queen. What makes this world so exceptional compared to a lot of other worlds based on medieval culture is that misogyny is treated very much as the exception, not the rule. Women are considered totally equal to men and are allowed into every role men are, including ruling over the whole country. And when the Queen hears about some unsettling child bride practices in the fringes of her country, she sends someone to check it out.
Also it has magical psychic white horses called companions and an amazing secret messages system based on arrow code.

The Young Elites series, by Marie Lu
Italy is my favorite country to visit, and I remember how excited I was when it was announced that Marie Lu’s second series would not just be fantasy but would be set in a world that resembled that of Renaissance Italy. And it did not disappoint. Masks and opulence reminiscent of Venice, horse races reminiscent of the Sienna Palio, and myths reminiscent of Roman gods all come together to build a deliciously lush and complex world.
And that’s before you even get to the magic. Powers are brought on by a plague that leaves people marked and outcast at best, hunted and burned at the stake at worst. A world steeped in magic but where that magic is seen as a threat is always fascinating to me, and the conflict of power between magic and mortality makes for a great setting.

Poison, by Bridget Zinn
The world Bridget Zinn creates in Poison has exactly the right mix of colorful fairytale, realistic world-building, and humorous twists of the classic tropes. I sincerely wish it was one I’d get to explore more of, but sadly the author passed away before the book came out, so this wonderful world is contained only in those 276 pages, but hints at ways it could bleed off into hundreds more. What we do get is a fantastical kingdom full of potions and poisons and girls with wittily sharp tongues and a tendency to get into scrapes. It stands out to me because it feels familiar to fairytale kingdoms in some of our classic reads, but with some tongue in cheek and a lot more fun. It’s no mean feat to be able to pay homage like that without seeming like you’re mocking, but it’s achieved here.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns series, by Rae Carson
It feels only appropriate to both open and close this list with a sprawling desert kingdom. Joya D’Arena and its neighbors are all drawn so visually it’s easy to picture the sun over the Spanish-inspired capitol and to drool over the food served in the palace kitchens. But what really sold me on this world was the sense that it had existed long before we got there as readers, and would exist long after we leave. Princess Elisa is the latest in a long, sometimes unhappy tradition of “chosen ones.” Getting to follow Elisa as she learns more about the other chosen, as well as comes to grips with the complicated current political situation, is what makes the reader feel truly immersed in the world right alongside her as she sets out to save it.
Rebel of the Sands is available now.