Books

15 New Fantasy Books Like 'Game Of Thrones' To Read While You Wait For The New Season

Courtesy of HBO

If you're a fan of Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, you're used to waiting — on the next episode, the next season, the next book. Instead of letting your reading list stagnate while you wait for The Winds of Winter, check out the 15 new fantasy books for Game of Thrones fans that I've put on the list below.

Most of the books on this list are parts of series, and all of those series have had at least one new entry hit store shelves in 2017 and/or 2018, even if the first book came out a few years ago. Some are even finished book series, so you can experience the exquisite joy of reading through a long story from beginning to end.

No matter whether you read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series for its grimdark fantasy setting or the political intrigue therein, you'll find something to love among the books below. Young adult titles mingle here with indie hits and new entries from fantasy stalwarts. Readers looking to escape the typical, Eurocentric fantasy setting will find plenty of material here, with titles inspired by Middle Eastern and African folklore:

An Ember in the Ashes Series by Sabaa Tahir

The orphaned daughter of Resistance fighters, Laia loses all family ties when her grandparents are killed and her brother captured by the Martial Empire. In order to save the only family she has left, Laia disguises herself as a slave to gain access to the Blackcliff Military Academy, where she becomes a spy for the Resistance.

Books in the series:

'City of Lies' by Sam Hawke

When their mentor and ruler are poisoned, the new Chancellor Tain and his protectors, siblings Jovan and Kalina, find themselves taking on new roles at the center of a covert war.

City of Lies is the first book in the Poison Wars duology.

'The Fall of Gondolin' by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien

Published as a standalone work for the first time in 2018, The Fall of Gondolin is one of the earliest surviving stories from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth saga. This is one of the foundational narratives for Middle-earth's history, standing alongside Beren and Lúthien and The Children of Húrin.

The Shattered Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima

The first book of Cinda Williams Chima's Shattered Realms series, Flamecaster centers on Ash, a healer who wants revenge on the king who disrupted his mother's queendom, and Jenna, a mage on the run from the king's forces.

Books in the series:

'Lost Gods' by Micah Yongo

In Lost Gods, Neythan has grown up as part of the Shedaím, a small brotherhood of assassins. But when Neythan's best friend is murdered on a mission, and Neythan becomes a wanted man in the case of the other boy's death, he must leave the brotherhood in order to have his revenge on the killer who framed him.

'The Poppy War' by R.F. Kuang

In The Poppy War, an orphan from the poor Rooster Province, Rin, beats the odds by achieving a place at Sinegard, an elite military academy for the Nikara Empire's best students. While there, she discovers an innate talent for shamanism. It's a rare gift, and one that might prove to be her nation's salvation in the Third Poppy War, which is inching ever closer to the Empire's doorstep.

The Winnowing Flame Trilogy by Jen Williams

Once upon a time, the city of Ebora saved the world from the monsters known as Jure'lia. Now, the Jure'lia threaten civilization again, but Ebora's internal strife prevents it from coming to the rescue. Instead, an explorer named Vintage and her comrades, Tourmalin and Noon, find themselves responsible for saving their world from destruction.

Books in the series:

The Titan's Forest Series by Thoraiya Dyer

In a world where 13 gods and goddesses die and are reborn in mortal bodies, Unar devotes herself to Audblayin, the goddess of growth and fertility, whose bodyguard she hopes to become one day. When Audblayin dies, Unar must leave the Canopy to journey deep into the forest Floor in search of the newborn goddess.

Books in the series:

The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin

Under constant threat of destruction from cataclysmic earthquakes, the Stillness survives thanks to the labor and abilities of the orogenes: people born with the power to control seismic activity, who are feared and often murdered by their communities. Heroine Essun lives in hiding, and has taught her children how to control their orogeny to avoid detection, but her husband has learned the truth — and has done the unthinkable.

Books in the series:

The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy by Robin Hobb

Formerly a member of the king's court, Fitz has retired, and now lives a quiet, family life under an assumed name. When menacing forces show up and abduct his daughter, however, Fitz reunites with his old companion, Fool, and sets out in pursuit of justice.

Books in the series:

The Empires of Dust Series by Anna Smith Spark

Sorlost is a city complacent in its position of power, under the rule of an Emperor with no business owning the title. Fed up with the debauchery and decadence into which Sorlost has descended, nobleman Orhan Emmereth hires mercenaries to kill his compatriots and their ruler. But one of the mercenary band is not at all what he seems.

Books in the series:

The Loom Saga by Elise Kova

After losing the war, Ari's country now lives under the rule of the Dragon King, and she works to subvert her occupiers at every opportunity. When saving an enemy gives her a chance at wish fulfillment, however, Ari teams up with a dragon named Cvareh in a race against the Dragon King to find the Alchemist Guild.

Books in the series:

The Godblind Trilogy by Anna Stephens

After escaping her life as a slave among the Mireces, Rillirin finds safe harbor in Rilpor, the country that exiled the Mireces a millennium before. With her former captors planning an assault on Rilpor, Rillirin has more inside knowledge of the would-be invaders' society than anyone else in her new country, a quality that could make her key to winning the war. Inside the country's highest chambers, however, Rilpor's elite have begun to serve the Mireces' dark gods.

Books in the series:

The Legacy of Orïsha Series by Tomi Adeyemi

Eleven years ago, King Saran carried out a genocide against the powerful magicians known as maji. Now, his daughter Amari is on the run with a missing scroll that can activate diviners' latent magical abilities, turning them into maji, and she's not alone. Escorting Amari are the diviner Zélie, her non-magical brother Tzain, and their horned lion Nailah, and they're all on a mission to bring magic back to their world.

Books in the series:

The Book of the Ancestor Series by Mark Lawrence

The first book in a new series from Prince of Thorns author Mark Lawrence, Red Sister centers on Nona Grey, an eight-year-old who has been falsely accused of murdering the son of a powerful family. Whisked away from the gallows by a nun, Nona becomes a student at the Convent of Sweet Mercy, where young girls train to be brutal killers.

Books in the series: