Go to establishedtitles.com/CAPTURED10 and help support the channel. They are now running a massive Early Black Friday Sale, plus 10% off on any purchase with code CAPTURED10. Thanks to Established Titles for sponsoring this video! Let me know your top 10 fantasy worlds of all time!
Established titles is a scam... if you hadn't already heard. It is a lie from a company based in Hong Kong. There is at least one TH-cam channel that reported on this.
@CapturedInWords Ok, so one thing that I'm not sure you know, but Professor Tolkien called the world that he created his Legendarium. And second, I was just wondering if you ever read The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. He did a pretty good job at world building in it. Personally, I think he could have done a better job of writing them, but still enjoyable all the same.
The Lord of the Ring is the first epic fantasy I ever read. It is such an incredible story and every time I picked it up to read I felt like I was there in middle earth, it felt comfortable because Tolkien helped me understand his world so deeply.
well considering that Middle earth was Tolkien's lifetime work (the world itself, not counting stories which are great too because of their power to suck the reader into the world just as you say), it has to be one of the best worlds
It's a bit bloated tbh. Not every fucking hill and stream needs a detailed description and story. It's not a dig at the world-building, that's unrivalled, but the trilogy could've used a proper editor with all the side-stories, songs and tangents...
@@Emanon... Remind me again when every hill and stream has a detailed description and story? Tolkien describes things in enough detail to make it feel realistic but not to the point of excess. The magic of Tolkiens world is getting lost in the lore so I totally disagree about him editing out all the wonderful side stories, songs and tangents. Makes the whole thing feel much larger and realistic
@@Pierre_David_Colbert_Chabanais it's a dumb hot take that people think they can adopt, when they've obviously never experienced real overly detailed literature. It is a cope, usually for a poor reading ability or a short attention span.
I agree with Tolkien as #1. Personally I think one of his best stories is The Children of Hurin. It feels like a real ancient tragedy like Beowulf or Gilgamesh.
Saddest, most depressing thing I've ever read. I went into it knowing it wouldn't be like LOTR. I expected some darkness. But yegads, I didn't realize it was going to be like that!
@@Bt-cq6te The thing with Middle-earth that no other fantasy series has is that it is often treated as an actual historical document. Tolkien wrote many versions of each story and so you'll have people discussing "Well, according to this source, orcs are corrupted elves." But that's not always the case. These discussions feel similar to those historians have when interpreting old documents. Add to that the several constructed languages that Tolkien invented that have been expanded with their own rules and grammar, and now Middle-earth takes shape as a location and less a fantasy world. Even WoT, as massive as that world is....we still know what happened, and how, and why. It's a linear history that, while very deep, remains linear for the most part.
Indeed, the fact that Tolkien of all people feels cliché, says a lot about his influence. He has become common knowledge in fantasy world design, and most others are but variations with a personal spin.
Nirn is a world so deep with lore and abstract fantasy concepts, it completely transcends the video framework in which it derives. The amount of in-game books detailing lore, plot development and world building, within Skyrim alone adds up to 316,000 words. That's a fairly thick book in its own right, and that doesn't even include the dialogue and experiential elements. Morrowind alone is worthy of mention on this list. The difficulty of the ES world is that one really needs to engage deeply with the games to fully tackle it.
While i agree, i would still advise the continent of Zemuria from the Kiseki (Legend of Heroes) series, the world building is of the chart, the 13th games was announced (and each of the games are 50-70hours long for the early ones, more than 130 hours for the latter ones), country, politics, magic, technology, devil, religion, parallel dimension, mercenaries, terrorisme, curse, cult so evil that even big criminal/terrorist organisation attack them on sight, tragedy, history, there is everything in there, if someone love world-building as much as i am, he's gonna have a blast playing those (and as i said earlier, all the games combined must be more than 1500 hours of fun exploring), one of the most underrated series i played
@@Mancub2024 Agreed, TES can get really metaphysical and deep. For instance a oversimplified summary of the main villain of Morrowind Dagoth Ur is that he achieved a higher level of understanding of the nature of existance, wich is basically that all of reality including the physical world and the gods exist inside a sort of ''dream'' inside of a being called the Godhead. And while most that fully achieve this understanding cannot rationalize their existance any more and therefore seize to exist, Dagoth Ur was deluded into thinking that rather than him being a ''dream'' of the Godhead, he was the Godhead and everything in existance was his dream, basically he thought he was the God of all of existance and was therefore entitled to everyones worship. But really he was just a experience of the Godhead like everyone and everything else. The history, religion and time itself can get really weirdly complex, like the gods may experience time in different directions and several contradictionary timelines can be true at the same time an so on. A writer at Bethesda had a degree in comparative religion I believe and he had a lot of influence on the lore.
Not the first time I say this but I have to reiterate: Jay is truly unrivaled in the BookTube community. Your style of editing never ceases to amaze me! It's simply gorgeous and beautiful to watch. Your videos have the right balance of humor and insightful thoughts and are simply a treat to watch! Thank you Jay for the consistently amazing content!
The Midkemia and Kelawen from Raymond Feist, Mithgar from McKiernan (although derivative of Tolkein he makes it unique), Mars from Burrows John Carter series is also a great fantasy setting
People tend to forget what Tolkien did, he wrote insane books, insane story, with maps, LANGUAGES, he "invented" races that are used still in nowadays films, insanely written history, characters, details. Thats a lifetime work and it really shows
However the books and its characters were rather flat (even back then but esspecially nowerdays), the maps are flawed (not just from a story biased view) and only the languages and the sheer amount of history (not its quality, that is where you want people like Sanderson or Martin) made the franchise what it is. People who look back at Tolkien do mostly so because he was the first fantasy author that became really big and succesfull, or because they adore his linguistic skills. Then there are also those who watched the movies first and expect the books to be equally action driven. And while Middle Earth still stands above other franchises because of its languages, it has been surpassed in terms of quality storytelling, character developement, mapping and maybe even history. It is, however, still one of the most influencial works within modern fiction, for better or for worse.
@@RealCodreX You are forgetting that Tolkien did all that in a time in history where no one had ever made such an extensive world-building work before.
Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion books which include Elric of Melniboné, Dorian Hawkmoon, Erekose, and Corum definitely deserves a mention. Elric’s world contains a boiling sea, a sighing desert, and many unique settings, with chaos looming at its edges. Moorcock laid the blueprint for a Multiverse. A concept adapted by Marvel, and several others. His work inspired the Witcher series, and George R. R. Martin. I certainly feel that Michael Moorcock’s work deserves much more praise than it receives.
Two worlds I have loved are the planet of Pern from the Dragonriders of Pern series. Also the world built in David Eddings The Belgariad series of books.
@@tanyahardman4321 The 12 Books in the Belgariad & Mallorean series (5 each plus the prequels) flesh out the world and explain the repetitions in all manner of life until the final Choice has been made and the Universe can proceed quite well. I also loved the Pern books; they were some of my first Fantasy books to own.
Im glad you mentioned Forgotten Realms. That was my first introduction to fantasy with The Crystal Shard waaayyy back in the late 80's. I thought you did a great job on the video!
My first video game experience was the original Neverwinter, but Gormengast might be my favourite, if the Discworld didn't have so much depth and believability. Years ago I read an odd and rather flawed book called Orouburos, which is set on the world occupied by the races Fairies and Demons, neither quite as they are imagined today. My copy has Aubrey Beardsley type illustrations which is exactly right for the tone of the book.
Me too. I was doing laundry. Next door, someone had a yard sale. I found the crystal shard in a pile with no cover, bought it, and went on reading forgotten realms for years.
Even though you’re not as big as you should be, your content is by far some of the best on TH-cam. The music choice, the background scenes, your narration, everything comes together so well! Continue making videos, I’ll definitely continue watching!
Not really. The entire franchise is oot. And when everyone is oot, no one is. It exists so players can say " my character is literally 109 times stronger than yours from your game" but if EVERYONE is, then no one is.
@Regarded69 he should have said OTT "over the top". The Old World is the role-playing component of warhammer fantasy (WFRP) and has been a part of the franchise since the 80s. That's the world that should be included, not the fantasy battles game, or Age of Sigmar.
Middle Earth is always a strong choice for #1. It's literally the world that all other fantasy worlds are compared to. It may not be your favorite, but it's the benchmark that all other fantasy worlds are measured by.
Great list! I would probably toss in Kelewan/Midkemia from Raymond Feist's books. Also, while it was never explicitly stated in WoT, I always enjoyed that it hinted at it being post-apocalyptic Earth.
This video is so well done man! Loved seeing Narnia on this list. I read them for the first time as a senior in high school and they are the books that made me love reading! Your production quality is top notch btw. Loved watching this!
The only thing that was missing imo in the list was Malazan, can't wait till you read more of it, it's absolutely amazing. Overall great list, I'm glad Realm of the Elderlings got a mention, I think that series is very underrated. Love your content btw, very high quality ;)
Couldn t agree more with this comment,thankyou for posting it. malazan is a dark jewel, thats still yet to be recognized by the general book crowd.Overal great work nontheless❤
The Malazan world is breathtaking with several large continents and hundreds.of.thousands of years of history and races like the Jaghut and the different Tiste and Toblakai and T'llan I'Mass and the gods and ascendants and Soltaken and D'ivers and Warrens and Holds and the Deck of Dragons and demons and too many amazing characters to list.
I was going to speak up about Mercedes Lackey’s Velgarth (within which is the land of Valdemar, the subject land in which most of her Valdemar novels are set). As you know, a world with magical beings; with a society set at a stage that’s kind of a blend of our Medieval & Renaissance; a developed magic systems, including mind magic, magic from the land, elemental and demonic; multiple religions and active deities; politics; eon-long recovery from apocalyptic disaster that still could destroy the world-engineered by deity appointed servants in secret; Autocratic empires, Kings/Queens… a history that spans more than 2000 years. Fun times!
I'm surprised that Fionnavar, the world created by Guy Gavriel Kay, is not mentioned here. This author is phenomenally talented and writes simply mind-blowing books. If you haven't read the books of the Fionnavar Tapestry (and all his other books as well), then you have missed some truly elegant world building. This guy is amazing.
Bro, I really love the way you commit to your channel, it’s incredible how you make more than 20 minutes feels like 5. I am truly learning a lot from you! 🤟🏾
Shannara Chronicles is good for the level of reader it’s trying to attract but I don’t think it’s on the same level of these. I’d put it in the same category as Enders game, Harry Potter, Alchemist, Locke & Key etc.
This was fun! Amazing editing as always, just a random factoid the world building of Discworld with the world on elephants on a turtle's back is straight out of Hindu mythology. It's still super cool though!!
I'm missing two fantasy worlds: the setting of Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series and the setting of the Terry Brooks's Shannara Chronicles. It's only near the end of each series original set of books that we learn that these worlds are in fact future or alternate versions of earth. And I would also like to mention Dune, even though technically speaking it's sci-fi. The world building Frank Herbert did is superb and deserves at least an honourable mention ;-).
Even though the author defines his work as Sci-Fi, Dune definitely has many elements bordering on Fantasy: mysterious mental powers such those of the Guild navigators, the Mentats, the Bene Gesserit Reverend mothers, Paul Atreides, enhanced by using a mysterious natural substance, the Spice, produce of the strange ecological cycle of Arrakis, implying fantastical creatures as the Sandworms, of mystical importance for the Fremen people... All that in the political context of a feudal and commercial Galactic Empire. I agree that this should qualify Dune for at least an honourable mention.
@@chernobyl68sadly Gygax’s novels were not on par with the world building for the game setting IMO. I don’t think many people, including many current ttrpg players, know that there are books set in the Greyhawk setting by several different authors. Personally I really enjoyed Paul Kidd’s books following the Justicar.
@@dennismokry258 I wasn't into reading the fantasy novels from RPG settings, but I enjoyed other fantasy books like Xanth and the Apprentice Adept series. Big Piers Anthony fan
Camorr is awesome!! I always find it so interesting how the skeleton of the city is this network of Elderglass towers and bridges that were left over from a lost civilization
I enjoyed these as a youth to begin with, but as an adult and knowing by the end how the protagonist became more and more unsavory. All I would now hope for is Thomas to die asap. Plus has not aged well with the very shaky ground where the author appears to find rape excusable.
@@jaxr2958 Good point, but do you avoid watching television with unsavory characters? I am re-watching the Sopranos and it is full of unsavory characters who do all sorts of horrible things, rape just one among them.
@@filegumbo I guess I do avoid, I haven't watched an episode of Sopranos. I strongly don't think it is OK to have a protagonist that corrupt though, that should be the antagonist. Especially if it's a bit of a journey. It's kind of conditioning and so many people can point to their heroes now and say, see it's OK to be an ahole. An example to me was George Lucas leading a generation through the corruption of Anakin. He made that character a role model for children, then had him shoot up a school and beat/kill his wife.
@@jaxr2958 I see where you're coming from. That's an older generation of film and literature where there was the John Wayne good guy and the moustache-twirling bad guy. Now every hero has to be an "anti-hero" or conflicted in some way. I don't think it will go back to the old days.
@@filegumbo Agree, but don't think it's just an older generation. I think it's been the way of stories for millennia. Stories were always used to reinforce good social behavior and the benefits of such. Greek mythology, bible stories various myths and folklore.
An Interesting world was by Roger Zelazny in the Chronicles of Amber. Nine Princes of Amber was the novel that got be interested in Fantasy as a young teenager. Ahh, to walk the shadow. I don't know if it would be a top 10, but definitely an honorable mention for originality.
I don'f know. I am rereading it now, there are crazy good ideas, but the world building is not the biggest strength of Zelazny. I feel the characters and the plot take precedence, the world/s is lacking, cannot be compared with the meticulous building of lore of Talking, Spakowski or GRRM.
I’m so glad that Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey books are mentioned several times here. Two of my favorites. Let me add one more. The world of Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley. A planet with very little heavy metals so they developed a science of psi technology to help them. Great series!
I agree that even though Darkover is a mixed Sci-Fi/Fantasy world it is likely worth an honourable mention. More generally, the distinction between Sci-Fi and Fantasy is often tenuous, a matter of point of view. Many authors are ambiguous regarding this question, some of the most notable fictive worlds mixing both such as Pern (Mc Caffrey), Darkover (M.Z. Bradley), Dune (Herbert), while a master world builder such as Jack Vance, mixes various worlds described more or less through the Sci-Fi or Fantasy lenses in the same universe.
Great video! I hope to see Malazan on this list soon when you get a chance to read it. I was at your Zelda livestream yesterday and just wanted to say that you should really keep up streaming because it was a great time!
My 6th grade teacher Mrs. Hunter read to us The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe as well as The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring after we had to read The Hobbit ourselves for homework. And both of these books inspired not just myself, but many of my friends and fellow classmate, to continue reading the following editions to these amazing worlds. I ended up reading The Two Towers, Return of the King as well as The Silmarillion before graduating 6th grade. And with C.S. Lewis I read every book in the series. Which just goes to show how an amazing teacher coupled with a gift for storytelling amazing tales can inspire so many children.
While I am probably revealing my age, but Edgar Rice Borroughs created many fantasy worlds including Barsoom. Also L. Frank Baum's was a gifted writer who created the world of Oz - a marvelous fantasy world.
@@CapturedInWords It seems to be kind of a forgotten gem nowadays. There was some revival of interest back when the BBC tv serial came out, but it is such an odd duck that it's no surprise that few read it. Which is a shame, it is an amazingly evocative story.
Great list! I’m excited for you to dive into the Malazan books. That series is truly my favorite and the Path to Ascendency prequel books are top tier as well even if the series isn’t finished yet. It’ll be interesting to see how you rank it into a future list if you do.
Great video! I'm towards the end of Before They Are Hanged, and I really like the world of First Law. Yes, the characters are the main focus (as they should be, because they are Glocta and Logen and so on) but the world is really interesting. All the history with devils, the magi, the spirits and everything else is just wonderful.
I'm very happy to see someone putting love on Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. It doesn't get mentioned enough for what it did for Fantasy. I still reread it every few years and treasure my copy as it's getting harder and harder to find. Simon's journey and growth still impress me even thirty years later.
@@CapturedInWords I almost always watch everything at 1.5x speed but I had to slow this down so I could admire all the amazing art and I ended up watching multiple multiple times because it was so good! Seriously amazing! I never rewatch videos either haha
You're the best, bro. Of course I'm here here for the book/fantasy details, but man... I love your editing style, transitions, and humor. This channel is easily one of the best on TH-cam!
Solid list. I think you got all the important ones. A couple more I'd throw into the mix for contention: - Some of the settings from Warhammer, the Gotrek and Felix novels in particular do a decent job of worldbuilding here. - Arguably more Sci-fi with additional fantasy elements, and also not literature, but Final Fantasy 7 is underrated in this regard, the world sticks with you, Midgar and the underplate, Golden Saucer, Wutai etc. - Similar to the above but the setting from Dishonoured is also memorable.
I think we need to draw a distinction here between what's a good fantasy book and what counts as good worldbuilding. There isn't really a ton of worldbuilding to Elric; I always felt like he was just landing in these random places that had no real relationship to each other. Sometimes they were cool places, and Melnibone itself is cool as all get out. And in Howard's case . . . I mean, he probably did more worldbuilding than anyone from his era, but at the same time, I've read historical fiction stories of his that were literally Conan stories with the names changed, or vice versa, so.
This video was posted a year ago before the Established Titles controversy. At the time a lot of TH-camrs were working with them, and I just assumed it was like a novelty gift. I stopped working with them though after all that, so the sponsor portion hasn't aged well
Why Berserk? It is rather shallow in its setting and worldbuilding. If anything stands out from Japanese works, it is Fate (or rather the entire Nasuverse).
Jay I loved this video, all of your videos are top tier, but this one blew the roof off. The art, the reasoning, the way you explain your reasoning = Fantastic!
Discworld, the Realm of the Elderlings and Arda! Also the world of the Belgariad, which you didn't mention, but you can't get all the greats into a list of ten 🙂
I absolutely watched the BBC movies for The Chronicles of Narnia. We used to stay at our friend's cabin in Wyoming every summer for vacation and the only VHSs they had were the BBC Chronicles of Narnia and another classic about a dog and a dolphin called Zeus and Roxanne. Nostalgia at its height!
What a beautiful and elaborated video. If someone watches this video and they have still not read any fantasy I guess they might start reading it. Your video once again made me realise just how amazing books can be.
I think the best world for me that is not included on the list is the world of Pern By Ann Macaffrey. It may not be the most epic of all but the unique science fantasy planet origins to the re accruing threat of the thread, to the relationship the riders have with there dragons as well as the feudal type system with holds, lords, guilds etc makes it a brilliant world to get lost in!
While explaining Martin's world, you forgot about Essos(the bigger continent). Not much is shown in the series but in the books...... don't even ask me. There are places like The Free Cities, Lhazaar, Slaver's Bay, Ruins of Old Valyria, The Great Grass Sea and after the Bones, begins the Far East, a place filled with magic and strange people featuring places like Ib, Leng, The Great Moraq, Ten Thousand Isles, The Plains of Jogos Nhai, N'Ghai, Golden Empire of Yi Ti(on which HBO will be making a series called the Golden Empire), The Grey Waste, The Deep Dry, The Shadow Lands, Asshai and Stygai and many more. Martin has literally wrote a whole book only on the known world called The World of Ice and Fire(TWOIAF). No matter what one says, in worldbuilding, none can beat Martin, not even JRRT. Don't believe my, read TWOIAF yourself online and you'll know what I am saying. The reason this series do not get much attention is because of the bad ending of the TV series and and the last book being published in 2011 and also the fact that it's adult fantasy which many do not like. Edit: 19:44 you say he made 3000 years of history, GRRM made more than 15000, each detailed af. From the Great Empire of the Dawn which ended during the long night to the Targaryen history. Martin literally told in an interview that he made so much that if he put all of it in TWOIAF, it would be at least 15 books.
Agreed, there's so much that we still have to see in the east too! Some of my favourite locations were along the river where Tyrion was sailing in Dance of Dragons. And the Valyrian road that was solid stone, I literally loved the descriptions about that!
Well everything before the Andal invasion of Westeros is highly speculative. Of course it's said that Bran the Builder built the wall some 8000 years before Aegons Conquest but all this very old stuff is as historical in the world of ASOIAF as Methusalem and Adam living for more than 900 years each in our World. Sure there are stories but does the chronology hold up? Who knows. Martin is deliberately vague about this stuff. The Valyrian Freehold, the Ghiscari Wars, the Andal Invasion these are the first in Universe events whose dates are historic and not mystical. Depending how Marrin feels the timeliness could be as long as 15000 or as short as 5000 years.
@@MS-io6kltrue but honestly the vagueness is part of what makes George’s world feel so real. The fact that historians argue about what did and didn’t happen in the real world all the time and how George was able to capture that feeling in his world is absolutely mind blowing. Not to mention it gives the reader so much leeway to play around with the world and make it something unique to them which only strengthens the readers connection to the story and lore of the world as a whole. I can completely understand LOTR being number 1 but number 2 should have 100% been ASOIAF. Sometimes being popular doesn’t automatically mean it’s overrated, sometimes the story/world is just that damn good it should be highly rated. There are a lot of obscure books/worlds that are really good but there is also a reason ASOIAF captured the imagination of almost the entire world.
The main attraction for me in Alagaësia is the magic system. I love the idea behind how the Grey Folk bound their language to wild magic and thus giving "The Ancient Language" its properties. That and the way telepathy is also interwoven into magic. Add to that the way he wrote Dragons. Wild dragons as well as Bonded dragons. The Eldunari. Their unique form of magic. How there are other types of magic (even though he didn't really get into Sorcery or Witchcraft that much). And so many other little tidbits that never got explored but could have been entire series of their own. Like Angela's teacher and how he taught her to basically dilate time (how she killed the priests in the church in Dras Leona like she was the Flash). Angela in general. The Nïdhwalar, and the fact that this all took place in a country a little bit bigger than California, which leaves all kinds of possibilities.
Enjoyed this video :) Some of my favourite worlds not mentioned here are Midkemia and the Recluce worlds. My all time cozy, back to reading after a slump is the world of the Elenium.
The BBC series of Narnia was one of my absolute favorite shows as a kid when it came to Sweden in the late 80s, premiering on christmas-eve 1989, what a great gift that was.
There are a few I would put forward, Jack Vance for "The Dying Earth" series and the "Lyonesse" books....but I have so many favourites, I think these two rank up there with some of those presented here.
Dying Earth is a great series where often the "hero" of the story is slightly less evil than the villain. It was also one of the big influences for Archaeus, the setting for the Talislanta RPG. Also Lovecraft's dream world.
Vance is definetely a very noteworthy world/universe builder some of the worlds in his universe, the Oikumene or Gean Reach leaning more to a Sci-Fi setting, while others clearly lean towards fantasy. I feel he would derverve a spot in the top ten, even though most of his worlds are likely as least partly mixed Sci-Fi/Fantasy, if only for worlds such as the Dying Earth or Lyonesse.
Awesome video!! My top ten Book Fantasy worlds. 1. Valdemar 2. Middle Earth 3. Pern 4. Darkover ( Marion Zimmer Bradley) 5. The Four Lands ( Shannara) 6. Narnia 7. Earthsea 8. Belgariad ( David Eddings) 9. Xanth ( Piers Anthony ) 10. WofT But actually my #1 favorite Fantasy world is Tamriel. But as the list was book series, I didn't go there.. For anyone that doesnt know, Tamriel is the world on which The Elder Scrolls games is set. If you want to check it out.... TES The Imperial Library...
@@jared8268 In the era that the books are written, yes. But at one time it was Italy, there was even a pun about a boot in the rear. At least I remember a reference, but I started reading the books in Jr High school, though if I remember correctly the 1st books came out in the late 70's. For reference I graduated High School in 88... I think the last time I read the full series ( as it was at that time ) was in the late 90s and then I gave all the books I had to my son and bought on Kindle my favorites. Not just Xanth books, but a collection of over 2k books. I downsized.
@@tracylamb2971 I’m class of 89 and probably started reading the books around the same time you did. Funny. Now that you mention the boot reference, it rings a bell. So many puns in that series. I too have a large library, but haven’t been able to bring myself to downsize. Worse! I’ve been buying books I remember from my youth, like Thieves World and the Elric Saga. They cost me more than they should because I insist on the cover art of he books had when I read them. 😀
@@jared8268 Yeah, I read those, I love Thieves World. Thankfully my cover art obsession was with Andre Norton and M.Z.B. ... and Louis Lamour... not quite as expensive. When I gave my collection to my son, I had 4 different versions of cover art for Hondo. the original, 2 made for TV versions on with John Wayne, and the Anniversary edition.
I think I would have included : The worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan in Reymond E Feist's Magician series ahead of Gormanghast, if you have not read this fanatasy series I highly recommend it.
Great video, love the edit and your commentaries! It's not just a top 10 because I say so haha so thank you for putting a lot of effort to do it. I haven't read a few of those but I agree with almost all of your list and the mentions (Earthsea is so good). I would add the world of The Dark Tower and a personal favourite, Liliana Bodoc's Saga of the Borderlands (Think Tolkien but in the American Continent).
I think the biggest "problem" with Temerant is the world is very much a mystery since we are only seeing it via 1 POV that shows us the world mainly as he visits it. If we knew more, I think it's likelyhood of being a top 10 could rise drastically.
I do think that despite that, Temerant is still better developed and just plainly more interesting than, say, the world from Mistborn. Scale ≠ Depth, imo
@@andreescalona8902 Well, when an author has only written 3 books in the last twenty years that's to be expected. I love Rothfuss' writing and his story, but he takes way too long. Sanderson's prose may not be as good as Pat's, but his stories move a lot more people (apparently--I've only read his first: Elantris... and the first 100 or so pages of the first Mistborn book) than Pat seems to even with his superior prose. I'll be happy if Pat publishes The Doors of Stone before he leaves for the afterlife.
There is quite a lot not discussed lately. You certainly deserve props for including Gormenghast, but there are a few (not ten) you should consider. 1. Pegana by Lord Dunsany. Ursula LeGuin said when they start out everyone tries to write like Dunsany then they realize they can't. Lovecraft's Dreamland stories, Moorcock's Stealer of Souls and Stormbringer, Tanith Lee's Flat Earth spring to mind. 2. Fletcher Pratt's world of the Blue Star. This is probably his greatest work period. 3.C. S. Lewis Malacandra and Perelandra. Narnia is not even my favorite Lewis. His Space Trilogy shows why. 4. Witch World. Andre Norton was incredible. End subject. 5. Tormance from David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus. In the 1970's top-ranked literary critic Harold Bloom humiliated himself by publishing a "novel" which was an inferior copy of this. You'd have to understand the state of Gnostic Studies at the time for the why to make sense. But I couldn't help give Bloom props for his choice while my friends just laughed. 6. Barsoom.Yeah, Burroughs couldn't write and it's Science Fiction. However like Howard and Henry Kuttner Burroughs was heavily influenced by Theosophy and the reason so much of John Carter was familiar was that so many authors have stolen from him.
1.malazan 2.lotr 3.song of ice and fire 4.name of the wind 5.Wheel of time 6.Stormlight 7.demon saga (peter v. Brett) 8.mistborn 9.narnia 10.locke lamora
Not sure if this even counts or if you’ve read it, but after reading berserk I fell IN LOVE with its world. It has so many interesting themes that the world is used to express through itself like concepts of fate/free-will, morality, destiny, spirituality, Will Power and Human Spirit, religion etc…, ON TOP of that having some the most sick (I mean that in two ways) characters and creatures
I don't know if the world itself has a name, but i love the world building of the Powder Mage series by Brian McClellan. Many distinct nations, multiple classes of magic that are all very different from one another, all spread over multiple continents. A very enjoyable read, and great world building IMO.
I was glad to see the Malazan world mentioned! I’d love to hear what you think after you’ve read the series. Honestly I might put it at number 1 if I were engaged in your ambitious task! Thanks for the video.
You could have included Ann Mcaffrey's Pern. Some might object that this is more science fiction than fantasy. Pern is a planet colonized by people from Earth, who came in perfectly natural, science and technology based space ships. But it has dragons. And telepathy. Telepathic dragons. With the power of psychic teleportation. So it is fantasy.
Pern is definitely a unique world, where an apparent very fantasy setting (telepathy, dragons, dragon knights, quite rusctic and traditionnal society, natural calamities of the Threads....) is little by little discovered to be the result of a quite old Sci-Fi setting of planetary colonization, by members of an interstellar civilization aiming to return to a simpler, more natural world. I think it obviously is at least worth an honorable mention.
The Land, from Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. My overall feelings about this series are mixed, but there are things I love about it, and one of those things is its setting. This is easily one of my favorite fantasy worlds. But before any of the ones listed here, there was Oz, setting of the series of books by Frank Baum. How can you have a list of great fantasy worlds without Oz?
A question. Raymond E Fiest shaped my view as a young lad on what books were, the leap from JK Rowling, my first ever book I read, to Raymonds many many books was what got me hooked on reading, like all reading. How come you never mentions his works in an emense world building, or any other theme you present? Is he considered like "to tropy" in fanstasy genere or? No lists from youtubers on notewordy fantasy ever mentions his work, and Im just wondering why :) Loved your series on Kingkiller, so hyped for book 3!
Fantastic list, wholeheartedly agree with the order as well. I’m on book 8 of Malazan and would definitely put it high up on the list, but understand it being an honorable mention due to you not having gotten to them yet.
Incredible video! Mention of the BBC The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe takes me back! I didn't know that Mervyn Peake suffered from early onset dementia while writing Gormenghast. Loved hearing your reasons for each choice, and yes, I'm a little surprised Kingkiller did not make the list 😁!
Thank you for a fantastic video. Yes, LeGuin's Earthsea series is awesome and thank you for mentioning it. LeGuin doesn't seem to get the attention she deserves.
The world of DISHONORED is remarkable and always overlooked. Everythign about it is fascinating, from the City of Dunwall, The Outsider, The Whales and the Plagues. And the steampunk, pre-scifi setting truly makes it a unique fantasy world. The lore alone is one of the most unique in all fantasies, it has a very Lovecraftian backdrop.
@@xiiir838 1. Pick any city in the West based on its politic: republic, monarchy, duchy, principate, etc. 2. Structure its mythology, history, culture and aesthetics to the point where the city feels lived in. 3. Write a story about one particular event in an era that becomes its defining characteristic.
Go to establishedtitles.com/CAPTURED10 and help support the channel. They are now running a massive Early Black Friday Sale, plus 10% off on any purchase with code CAPTURED10. Thanks to Established Titles for sponsoring this video!
Let me know your top 10 fantasy worlds of all time!
Established titles is a scam... if you hadn't already heard. It is a lie from a company based in Hong Kong. There is at least one TH-cam channel that reported on this.
Hey what soundtrack do you use for your video intro. Love your content.
Wait what about ONE PIECE?!
@CapturedInWords Ok, so one thing that I'm not sure you know, but Professor Tolkien called the world that he created his Legendarium.
And second, I was just wondering if you ever read The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. He did a pretty good job at world building in it. Personally, I think he could have done a better job of writing them, but still enjoyable all the same.
Being it scam (would be sad and a bit of lack of proofing on your end) or not - a great ad you've done, love it :D
The Lord of the Ring is the first epic fantasy I ever read. It is such an incredible story and every time I picked it up to read I felt like I was there in middle earth, it felt comfortable because Tolkien helped me understand his world so deeply.
well considering that Middle earth was Tolkien's lifetime work (the world itself, not counting stories which are great too because of their power to suck the reader into the world just as you say), it has to be one of the best worlds
It's a bit bloated tbh. Not every fucking hill and stream needs a detailed description and story.
It's not a dig at the world-building, that's unrivalled, but the trilogy could've used a proper editor with all the side-stories, songs and tangents...
@@Emanon... Remind me again when every hill and stream has a detailed description and story? Tolkien describes things in enough detail to make it feel realistic but not to the point of excess. The magic of Tolkiens world is getting lost in the lore so I totally disagree about him editing out all the wonderful side stories, songs and tangents. Makes the whole thing feel much larger and realistic
@@Pierre_David_Colbert_Chabanais it's a dumb hot take that people think they can adopt, when they've obviously never experienced real overly detailed literature. It is a cope, usually for a poor reading ability or a short attention span.
I agree with Tolkien as #1. Personally I think one of his best stories is The Children of Hurin. It feels like a real ancient tragedy like Beowulf or Gilgamesh.
Saddest, most depressing thing I've ever read. I went into it knowing it wouldn't be like LOTR. I expected some darkness. But yegads, I didn't realize it was going to be like that!
im gonna have to diagree with tolkien as #1, its more nuanced than wot but wot feel more immersive to me, and much more relatable than tolkeins.
@@Bt-cq6te The thing with Middle-earth that no other fantasy series has is that it is often treated as an actual historical document. Tolkien wrote many versions of each story and so you'll have people discussing "Well, according to this source, orcs are corrupted elves." But that's not always the case. These discussions feel similar to those historians have when interpreting old documents.
Add to that the several constructed languages that Tolkien invented that have been expanded with their own rules and grammar, and now Middle-earth takes shape as a location and less a fantasy world.
Even WoT, as massive as that world is....we still know what happened, and how, and why. It's a linear history that, while very deep, remains linear for the most part.
Of course Tolkien and CS Lewis but I also love Shannarra- the third series I read.
Indeed, the fact that Tolkien of all people feels cliché, says a lot about his influence. He has become common knowledge in fantasy world design, and most others are but variations with a personal spin.
You gotta try the Elder Scrolls series. The early games are weird, and the world of tamriel is one of the best.
cant believe it wasnt even on the top 10 list
Nirn is a world so deep with lore and abstract fantasy concepts, it completely transcends the video framework in which it derives. The amount of in-game books detailing lore, plot development and world building, within Skyrim alone adds up to 316,000 words. That's a fairly thick book in its own right, and that doesn't even include the dialogue and experiential elements. Morrowind alone is worthy of mention on this list. The difficulty of the ES world is that one really needs to engage deeply with the games to fully tackle it.
While i agree, i would still advise the continent of Zemuria from the Kiseki (Legend of Heroes) series, the world building is of the chart, the 13th games was announced (and each of the games are 50-70hours long for the early ones, more than 130 hours for the latter ones), country, politics, magic, technology, devil, religion, parallel dimension, mercenaries, terrorisme, curse, cult so evil that even big criminal/terrorist organisation attack them on sight, tragedy, history, there is everything in there, if someone love world-building as much as i am, he's gonna have a blast playing those (and as i said earlier, all the games combined must be more than 1500 hours of fun exploring), one of the most underrated series i played
The asshole didn't even mention it. I disliked it, you should too
@@Mancub2024 Agreed, TES can get really metaphysical and deep. For instance a oversimplified summary of the main villain of Morrowind Dagoth Ur is that he achieved a higher level of understanding of the nature of existance, wich is basically that all of reality including the physical world and the gods exist inside a sort of ''dream'' inside of a being called the Godhead. And while most that fully achieve this understanding cannot rationalize their existance any more and therefore seize to exist, Dagoth Ur was deluded into thinking that rather than him being a ''dream'' of the Godhead, he was the Godhead and everything in existance was his dream, basically he thought he was the God of all of existance and was therefore entitled to everyones worship. But really he was just a experience of the Godhead like everyone and everything else.
The history, religion and time itself can get really weirdly complex, like the gods may experience time in different directions and several contradictionary timelines can be true at the same time an so on. A writer at Bethesda had a degree in comparative religion I believe and he had a lot of influence on the lore.
I’m glad you mentioned Narnia, which is nostalgic for me, because it would be nice to explore a land that the chances of survival are much greater.
Until you hop on a boat, then you're bound to end up turned to stone, turned to a dragon or just go past the edge of the world
Not the first time I say this but I have to reiterate: Jay is truly unrivaled in the BookTube community. Your style of editing never ceases to amaze me! It's simply gorgeous and beautiful to watch. Your videos have the right balance of humor and insightful thoughts and are simply a treat to watch! Thank you Jay for the consistently amazing content!
I’ve only just come across booktubing and I couldn’t agree more
I still miss the geek furioso.
He was both booktuber and comedian.
I laughed so much while he roasted YA fantasy with good and funny editing.
The Midkemia and Kelawen from Raymond Feist, Mithgar from McKiernan (although derivative of Tolkein he makes it unique), Mars from Burrows John Carter series is also a great fantasy setting
Definitely the Riftworld saga. I read those first 3 books so many times the pages started falling out.
Totally agree
People tend to forget what Tolkien did, he wrote insane books, insane story, with maps, LANGUAGES, he "invented" races that are used still in nowadays films, insanely written history, characters, details. Thats a lifetime work and it really shows
However the books and its characters were rather flat (even back then but esspecially nowerdays), the maps are flawed (not just from a story biased view) and only the languages and the sheer amount of history (not its quality, that is where you want people like Sanderson or Martin) made the franchise what it is.
People who look back at Tolkien do mostly so because he was the first fantasy author that became really big and succesfull, or because they adore his linguistic skills.
Then there are also those who watched the movies first and expect the books to be equally action driven.
And while Middle Earth still stands above other franchises because of its languages, it has been surpassed in terms of quality storytelling, character developement, mapping and maybe even history.
It is, however, still one of the most influencial works within modern fiction, for better or for worse.
@@RealCodreX You are forgetting that Tolkien did all that in a time in history where no one had ever made such an extensive world-building work before.
There's a reason why he's regarded as the Father of Modern Fantasy.
@@RealCodreX subjective
@@RealCodreXbad bait
Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion books which include Elric of Melniboné, Dorian Hawkmoon, Erekose, and Corum definitely deserves a mention. Elric’s world contains a boiling sea, a sighing desert, and many unique settings, with chaos looming at its edges. Moorcock laid the blueprint for a Multiverse. A concept adapted by Marvel, and several others. His work inspired the Witcher series, and George R. R. Martin. I certainly feel that Michael Moorcock’s work deserves much more praise than it receives.
His Rune Staff books, were just wonderful
Check out Razorfists video on how the Witcher is essentially an Elric ripoff.
Two worlds I have loved are the planet of Pern from the Dragonriders of Pern series. Also the world built in David Eddings The Belgariad series of books.
I feel like not enough people have read the Dragonriders series.
The Belgariad is a really simple series. A quest and clear good vs evil. A great book but lacking in depth history for the 7,000 years shown.
@@tanyahardman4321 The 12 Books in the Belgariad & Mallorean series (5 each plus the prequels) flesh out the world and explain the repetitions in all manner of life until the final Choice has been made and the Universe can proceed quite well.
I also loved the Pern books; they were some of my first Fantasy books to own.
The Belgariad is a wonderous place. Some of the lore slips now and again, but it is a place I love to go.
@@jaxr2958 Really not so comon known, its shame
Im glad you mentioned Forgotten Realms. That was my first introduction to fantasy with The Crystal Shard waaayyy back in the late 80's. I thought you did a great job on the video!
My first video game experience was the original Neverwinter, but Gormengast might be my favourite, if the Discworld didn't have so much depth and believability. Years ago I read an odd and rather flawed book called Orouburos, which is set on the world occupied by the races Fairies and Demons, neither quite as they are imagined today. My copy has Aubrey Beardsley type illustrations which is exactly right for the tone of the book.
Me too. I was doing laundry. Next door, someone had a yard sale. I found the crystal shard in a pile with no cover, bought it, and went on reading forgotten realms for years.
Me too. I own most of the "Forgotten Realms" books as well as all of the similar "DragonLance" novels.
Even though you’re not as big as you should be, your content is by far some of the best on TH-cam. The music choice, the background scenes, your narration, everything comes together so well! Continue making videos, I’ll definitely continue watching!
Wow this comment makes my day :D Thanks!
I agree whole heartedly! Keep up the amazing stuff!
I think Warhammer Fantasy definitely deserves an honorable mention.
Not really. The entire franchise is oot. And when everyone is oot, no one is. It exists so players can say " my character is literally 109 times stronger than yours from your game" but if EVERYONE is, then no one is.
@Regarded69 he should have said OTT "over the top". The Old World is the role-playing component of warhammer fantasy (WFRP) and has been a part of the franchise since the 80s. That's the world that should be included, not the fantasy battles game, or Age of Sigmar.
I was like "nah he didn't exclude Middle earth and put Warhammer at #1?"
Just to be saddened that it didn't even get an honorable mention.
I think he's doing worlds from books he's read. I don't think he's including video games.
@@bz6046 Warhammer is not a video game...
That's a World told in books as a setting for a table top war game.
Middle Earth is always a strong choice for #1. It's literally the world that all other fantasy worlds are compared to. It may not be your favorite, but it's the benchmark that all other fantasy worlds are measured by.
And its our favourite 😂
not to mention by far probably the most in depth world with entire languages able to be learned. detailed accounts of cultures etc
Great list! I would probably toss in Kelewan/Midkemia from Raymond Feist's books. Also, while it was never explicitly stated in WoT, I always enjoyed that it hinted at it being post-apocalyptic Earth.
Oh man especially Kelewan! The empire trilogy was an absolute masterpiece!
Gorgeously edited video Jay, really enjoyed it!
Should get into editing videos for construction companies
@@AnotherBrownAjah long story but I ended up quitting with them since they basically ripped me off 2 months of pay 😅
Thanks man!! I spent so much time editing this one ahahaa
Right this is amazing
This video is so well done man! Loved seeing Narnia on this list. I read them for the first time as a senior in high school and they are the books that made me love reading!
Your production quality is top notch btw. Loved watching this!
The only thing that was missing imo in the list was Malazan, can't wait till you read more of it, it's absolutely amazing. Overall great list, I'm glad Realm of the Elderlings got a mention, I think that series is very underrated. Love your content btw, very high quality ;)
I can't wait to dive more into Malazan! I plan on getting into it more in 2023 :) Thanks for watching!
agreed, malazan deserves to make this list
Couldn t agree more with this comment,thankyou for posting it. malazan is a dark jewel, thats still yet to be recognized by the general book crowd.Overal great work nontheless❤
The Malazan world is breathtaking with several large continents and hundreds.of.thousands of years of history and races like the Jaghut and the different Tiste and Toblakai and T'llan I'Mass and the gods and ascendants and Soltaken and D'ivers and Warrens and Holds and the Deck of Dragons and demons and too many amazing characters to list.
I like Anne McCaffrey’s Pern as well as Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey
I was going to speak up about Mercedes Lackey’s Velgarth (within which is the land of Valdemar, the subject land in which most of her Valdemar novels are set). As you know, a world with magical beings; with a society set at a stage that’s kind of a blend of our Medieval & Renaissance; a developed magic systems, including mind magic, magic from the land, elemental and demonic; multiple religions and active deities; politics; eon-long recovery from apocalyptic disaster that still could destroy the world-engineered by deity appointed servants in secret; Autocratic empires, Kings/Queens… a history that spans more than 2000 years. Fun times!
Love Anne McCaffrey!
I wholeheartedly agree.
I'm surprised that Fionnavar, the world created by Guy Gavriel Kay, is not mentioned here. This author is phenomenally talented and writes simply mind-blowing books. If you haven't read the books of the Fionnavar Tapestry (and all his other books as well), then you have missed some truly elegant world building. This guy is amazing.
Bro, I really love the way you commit to your channel, it’s incredible how you make more than 20 minutes feels like 5. I am truly learning a lot from you! 🤟🏾
The Shannara Chronicles and Ranger's Apprentice are also really good
Shannara Chronicles is good for the level of reader it’s trying to attract but I don’t think it’s on the same level of these. I’d put it in the same category as Enders game, Harry Potter, Alchemist, Locke & Key etc.
This was fun! Amazing editing as always, just a random factoid the world building of Discworld with the world on elephants on a turtle's back is straight out of Hindu mythology. It's still super cool though!!
Love this and yes, I feel that Ankh-Morpork from Discworld is my favourite city.
Yesss! Gotta love Discworld
I'm missing two fantasy worlds: the setting of Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series and the setting of the Terry Brooks's Shannara Chronicles. It's only near the end of each series original set of books that we learn that these worlds are in fact future or alternate versions of earth.
And I would also like to mention Dune, even though technically speaking it's sci-fi. The world building Frank Herbert did is superb and deserves at least an honourable mention ;-).
Even though the author defines his work as Sci-Fi, Dune definitely has many elements bordering on Fantasy: mysterious mental powers such those of the Guild navigators, the Mentats, the Bene Gesserit Reverend mothers, Paul Atreides, enhanced by using a mysterious natural substance, the Spice, produce of the strange ecological cycle of Arrakis, implying fantastical creatures as the Sandworms, of mystical importance for the Fremen people... All that in the political context of a feudal and commercial Galactic Empire.
I agree that this should qualify Dune for at least an honourable mention.
I think the original D&D world Greyhawk and Robert E. Howard's Hyboria deserve honorable mentions as well.
Can't believe they included dragonlance and not greyhawk
@@chernobyl68 But it clear that they don't know Dragonlance is also a D&D setting
@@chernobyl68sadly Gygax’s novels were not on par with the world building for the game setting IMO. I don’t think many people, including many current ttrpg players, know that there are books set in the Greyhawk setting by several different authors. Personally I really enjoyed Paul Kidd’s books following the Justicar.
@@dennismokry258 I wasn't into reading the fantasy novels from RPG settings, but I enjoyed other fantasy books like Xanth and the Apprentice Adept series. Big Piers Anthony fan
Amazing video, Jay! One of my favorite worlds is the one from the Gentleman Bastards (especially the city of Camorr).
Camorr is awesome!! I always find it so interesting how the skeleton of the city is this network of Elderglass towers and bridges that were left over from a lost civilization
The Land-The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I find the environments of those novels (especially the first two trilogies) to be extremely intriguing.
I enjoyed these as a youth to begin with, but as an adult and knowing by the end how the protagonist became more and more unsavory. All I would now hope for is Thomas to die asap. Plus has not aged well with the very shaky ground where the author appears to find rape excusable.
@@jaxr2958 Good point, but do you avoid watching television with unsavory characters? I am re-watching the Sopranos and it is full of unsavory characters who do all sorts of horrible things, rape just one among them.
@@filegumbo I guess I do avoid, I haven't watched an episode of Sopranos. I strongly don't think it is OK to have a protagonist that corrupt though, that should be the antagonist. Especially if it's a bit of a journey. It's kind of conditioning and so many people can point to their heroes now and say, see it's OK to be an ahole. An example to me was George Lucas leading a generation through the corruption of Anakin. He made that character a role model for children, then had him shoot up a school and beat/kill his wife.
@@jaxr2958 I see where you're coming from. That's an older generation of film and literature where there was the John Wayne good guy and the moustache-twirling bad guy. Now every hero has to be an "anti-hero" or conflicted in some way. I don't think it will go back to the old days.
@@filegumbo Agree, but don't think it's just an older generation. I think it's been the way of stories for millennia. Stories were always used to reinforce good social behavior and the benefits of such. Greek mythology, bible stories various myths and folklore.
An Interesting world was by Roger Zelazny in the Chronicles of Amber. Nine Princes of Amber was the novel that got be interested in Fantasy as a young teenager. Ahh, to walk the shadow. I don't know if it would be a top 10, but definitely an honorable mention for originality.
Amber, yes. Number three on my list.
I don'f know. I am rereading it now, there are crazy good ideas, but the world building is not the biggest strength of Zelazny. I feel the characters and the plot take precedence, the world/s is lacking, cannot be compared with the meticulous building of lore of Talking, Spakowski or GRRM.
You forgot about the amazing creation of Anne MacCaffrey, Pern, home of the Harpers, Dragon Riders and all of the different Weyrs.
I’m so glad that Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey books are mentioned several times here. Two of my favorites. Let me add one more. The world of Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley. A planet with very little heavy metals so they developed a science of psi technology to help them. Great series!
I agree that even though Darkover is a mixed Sci-Fi/Fantasy world it is likely worth an honourable mention.
More generally, the distinction between Sci-Fi and Fantasy is often tenuous, a matter of point of view. Many authors are ambiguous regarding this question, some of the most notable fictive worlds mixing both such as Pern (Mc Caffrey), Darkover (M.Z. Bradley), Dune (Herbert), while a master world builder such as Jack Vance, mixes various worlds described more or less through the Sci-Fi or Fantasy lenses in the same universe.
Really loving your new space (and as always, the heart you put into editing your videos)!
Great video! I hope to see Malazan on this list soon when you get a chance to read it. I was at your Zelda livestream yesterday and just wanted to say that you should really keep up streaming because it was a great time!
My 6th grade teacher Mrs. Hunter read to us The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe as well as The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring after we had to read The Hobbit ourselves for homework. And both of these books inspired not just myself, but many of my friends and fellow classmate, to continue reading the following editions to these amazing worlds. I ended up reading The Two Towers, Return of the King as well as The Silmarillion before graduating 6th grade. And with C.S. Lewis I read every book in the series. Which just goes to show how an amazing teacher coupled with a gift for storytelling amazing tales can inspire so many children.
While I am probably revealing my age, but Edgar Rice Borroughs created many fantasy worlds including Barsoom. Also L. Frank Baum's was a gifted writer who created the world of Oz - a marvelous fantasy world.
Oz was my first and favorite.
Wow, nice to see a shoutout for Gormenghast, that was hugely influential on me when I was younger. One of the more uniquely written books I've read.
Awesome to see someone else who's read it!!! I never see people talking about it and nobody I know has read or heard of it
@@CapturedInWords It seems to be kind of a forgotten gem nowadays. There was some revival of interest back when the BBC tv serial came out, but it is such an odd duck that it's no surprise that few read it. Which is a shame, it is an amazingly evocative story.
I actually read them BECAUSE of this channel, and they are amongst my favorites now!
Great list! I’m excited for you to dive into the Malazan books. That series is truly my favorite and the Path to Ascendency prequel books are top tier as well even if the series isn’t finished yet. It’ll be interesting to see how you rank it into a future list if you do.
Great video!
I'm towards the end of Before They Are Hanged, and I really like the world of First Law. Yes, the characters are the main focus (as they should be, because they are Glocta and Logen and so on) but the world is really interesting.
All the history with devils, the magi, the spirits and everything else is just wonderful.
I'm very happy to see someone putting love on Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. It doesn't get mentioned enough for what it did for Fantasy. I still reread it every few years and treasure my copy as it's getting harder and harder to find. Simon's journey and growth still impress me even thirty years later.
I watch basically all your videos and I think this was my favorite you have ever made!!! It was soooooo good!!!
Thanks so much, that makes me happy to hear!!! I put a lot of work into this one!
@@CapturedInWords I almost always watch everything at 1.5x speed but I had to slow this down so I could admire all the amazing art and I ended up watching multiple multiple times because it was so good! Seriously amazing! I never rewatch videos either haha
You're the best, bro. Of course I'm here here for the book/fantasy details, but man... I love your editing style, transitions, and humor. This channel is easily one of the best on TH-cam!
Solid list. I think you got all the important ones. A couple more I'd throw into the mix for contention:
- Some of the settings from Warhammer, the Gotrek and Felix novels in particular do a decent job of worldbuilding here.
- Arguably more Sci-fi with additional fantasy elements, and also not literature, but Final Fantasy 7 is underrated in this regard, the world sticks with you, Midgar and the underplate, Golden Saucer, Wutai etc.
- Similar to the above but the setting from Dishonoured is also memorable.
Your production is off-the-charts! Well done!!
And a fine list!
Also are worth mention the world of Elric of Melniboné and the Hyborian Age of Conan.
I think we need to draw a distinction here between what's a good fantasy book and what counts as good worldbuilding. There isn't really a ton of worldbuilding to Elric; I always felt like he was just landing in these random places that had no real relationship to each other. Sometimes they were cool places, and Melnibone itself is cool as all get out. And in Howard's case . . . I mean, he probably did more worldbuilding than anyone from his era, but at the same time, I've read historical fiction stories of his that were literally Conan stories with the names changed, or vice versa, so.
Love that fantasy video is sponsoring established titles. A literal fantasy product.
This video was posted a year ago before the Established Titles controversy. At the time a lot of TH-camrs were working with them, and I just assumed it was like a novelty gift. I stopped working with them though after all that, so the sponsor portion hasn't aged well
@@CapturedInWords Love the video. Just thought this was funny and ironic
As far as books go, Dark Tower definitely deserves a high spot on the list. If we're allowed to bring up manga I'd also include Berserk.
Don't forget One Piece.
Why Berserk? It is rather shallow in its setting and worldbuilding. If anything stands out from Japanese works, it is Fate (or rather the entire Nasuverse).
@@jenkips9026I don't think constructing a detailed metaphysical reality is shallow.
@@TheTrueRandomGamer which berserk doesn't...it's a character focuses series
@@TheTrueRandomGamerI still wouldn't put it here
Jay I loved this video, all of your videos are top tier, but this one blew the roof off. The art, the reasoning, the way you explain your reasoning = Fantastic!
Thank you very much!! I put a ton of work into this video, I'm glad you enjoyed it 😄
The world of the Belgariad series (David Eddings).
The world of the Might & Magic video games.
Discworld, the Realm of the Elderlings and Arda! Also the world of the Belgariad, which you didn't mention, but you can't get all the greats into a list of ten 🙂
I absolutely watched the BBC movies for The Chronicles of Narnia. We used to stay at our friend's cabin in Wyoming every summer for vacation and the only VHSs they had were the BBC Chronicles of Narnia and another classic about a dog and a dolphin called Zeus and Roxanne. Nostalgia at its height!
What a beautiful and elaborated video. If someone watches this video and they have still not read any fantasy I guess they might start reading it. Your video once again made me realise just how amazing books can be.
I think the best world for me that is not included on the list is the world of Pern By Ann Macaffrey. It may not be the most epic of all but the unique science fantasy planet origins to the re accruing threat of the thread, to the relationship the riders have with there dragons as well as the feudal type system with holds, lords, guilds etc makes it a brilliant world to get lost in!
Yes! I’m so glad you mentioned this! My absolute favorite. I would love to see a movie based on this.
A wonderful world, one of my favorites. Not a fantasy world, however. Pure science fiction.
Great video man! Makes me want to get into reading and rereading some of these greats.
You should! Thanks for watching!
Prydian from Lloyd Alexander's The High King and The Black Cauldron. It has been a while, but i spent a lot of tims with Taran and company as a kid.
Hell yeah! Glad to see Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn getting some love. It's still my favorite take on traditional elves.
I’m honestly so impressed by your editing in these videos. Great work as always!
Really liked the way you did this video, nice job jay
Thank you! It took a lot of editing!
While explaining Martin's world, you forgot about Essos(the bigger continent). Not much is shown in the series but in the books...... don't even ask me. There are places like The Free Cities, Lhazaar, Slaver's Bay, Ruins of Old Valyria, The Great Grass Sea and after the Bones, begins the Far East, a place filled with magic and strange people featuring places like Ib, Leng, The Great Moraq, Ten Thousand Isles, The Plains of Jogos Nhai, N'Ghai, Golden Empire of Yi Ti(on which HBO will be making a series called the Golden Empire), The Grey Waste, The Deep Dry, The Shadow Lands, Asshai and Stygai and many more. Martin has literally wrote a whole book only on the known world called The World of Ice and Fire(TWOIAF). No matter what one says, in worldbuilding, none can beat Martin, not even JRRT. Don't believe my, read TWOIAF yourself online and you'll know what I am saying. The reason this series do not get much attention is because of the bad ending of the TV series and and the last book being published in 2011 and also the fact that it's adult fantasy which many do not like.
Edit: 19:44 you say he made 3000 years of history, GRRM made more than 15000, each detailed af. From the Great Empire of the Dawn which ended during the long night to the Targaryen history. Martin literally told in an interview that he made so much that if he put all of it in TWOIAF, it would be at least 15 books.
Agreed, there's so much that we still have to see in the east too! Some of my favourite locations were along the river where Tyrion was sailing in Dance of Dragons. And the Valyrian road that was solid stone, I literally loved the descriptions about that!
Well everything before the Andal invasion of Westeros is highly speculative. Of course it's said that Bran the Builder built the wall some 8000 years before Aegons Conquest but all this very old stuff is as historical in the world of ASOIAF as Methusalem and Adam living for more than 900 years each in our World. Sure there are stories but does the chronology hold up? Who knows. Martin is deliberately vague about this stuff. The Valyrian Freehold, the Ghiscari Wars, the Andal Invasion these are the first in Universe events whose dates are historic and not mystical. Depending how Marrin feels the timeliness could be as long as 15000 or as short as 5000 years.
@@MS-io6kltrue but honestly the vagueness is part of what makes George’s world feel so real. The fact that historians argue about what did and didn’t happen in the real world all the time and how George was able to capture that feeling in his world is absolutely mind blowing. Not to mention it gives the reader so much leeway to play around with the world and make it something unique to them which only strengthens the readers connection to the story and lore of the world as a whole. I can completely understand LOTR being number 1 but number 2 should have 100% been ASOIAF. Sometimes being popular doesn’t automatically mean it’s overrated, sometimes the story/world is just that damn good it should be highly rated. There are a lot of obscure books/worlds that are really good but there is also a reason ASOIAF captured the imagination of almost the entire world.
Should've just said ASOIAF Or Planetos
How does this video not have more views??? This is top tier content!
Totally agree with number 1! ❤❤❤ I also loved the world of Eragon, Alagaesia!
The main attraction for me in Alagaësia is the magic system. I love the idea behind how the Grey Folk bound their language to wild magic and thus giving "The Ancient Language" its properties. That and the way telepathy is also interwoven into magic.
Add to that the way he wrote Dragons. Wild dragons as well as Bonded dragons. The Eldunari. Their unique form of magic. How there are other types of magic (even though he didn't really get into Sorcery or Witchcraft that much). And so many other little tidbits that never got explored but could have been entire series of their own. Like Angela's teacher and how he taught her to basically dilate time (how she killed the priests in the church in Dras Leona like she was the Flash). Angela in general. The Nïdhwalar, and the fact that this all took place in a country a little bit bigger than California, which leaves all kinds of possibilities.
Enjoyed this video :) Some of my favourite worlds not mentioned here are Midkemia and the Recluce worlds. My all time cozy, back to reading after a slump is the world of the Elenium.
Your editing is so fantastic! Always so entertaining watching your videos.
The best fantasy content Ive ever seen!! Great work!
The BBC series of Narnia was one of my absolute favorite shows as a kid when it came to Sweden in the late 80s, premiering on christmas-eve 1989, what a great gift that was.
A wonderful video. Your visuals were fantastic.
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed!
I feel like Pern definitely deserved an honorable mention.
There are a few I would put forward, Jack Vance for "The Dying Earth" series and the "Lyonesse" books....but I have so many favourites, I think these two rank up there with some of those presented here.
Dying Earth is a great series where often the "hero" of the story is slightly less evil than the villain.
It was also one of the big influences for Archaeus, the setting for the Talislanta RPG. Also Lovecraft's dream world.
Vance is definetely a very noteworthy world/universe builder some of the worlds in his universe, the Oikumene or Gean Reach leaning more to a Sci-Fi setting, while others clearly lean towards fantasy.
I feel he would derverve a spot in the top ten, even though most of his worlds are likely as least partly mixed Sci-Fi/Fantasy, if only for worlds such as the Dying Earth or Lyonesse.
Awesome video!!
My top ten Book Fantasy worlds.
1. Valdemar
2. Middle Earth
3. Pern
4. Darkover ( Marion Zimmer Bradley)
5. The Four Lands ( Shannara)
6. Narnia
7. Earthsea
8. Belgariad ( David Eddings)
9. Xanth ( Piers Anthony )
10. WofT
But actually my #1 favorite Fantasy world is Tamriel. But as the list was book series, I didn't go there.. For anyone that doesnt know, Tamriel is the world on which The Elder Scrolls games is set. If you want to check it out.... TES The Imperial Library...
Yeah Belgariad deserves a mention at least.
Isn’t Xanth technically just Florida?
@@jared8268 In the era that the books are written, yes. But at one time it was Italy, there was even a pun about a boot in the rear.
At least I remember a reference, but I started reading the books in Jr High school, though if I remember correctly the 1st books came out in the late 70's. For reference I graduated High School in 88...
I think the last time I read the full series ( as it was at that time ) was in the late 90s and then I gave all the books I had to my son and bought on Kindle my favorites.
Not just Xanth books, but a collection of over 2k books. I downsized.
@@tracylamb2971
I’m class of 89 and probably started reading the books around the same time you did. Funny. Now that you mention the boot reference, it rings a bell. So many puns in that series.
I too have a large library, but haven’t been able to bring myself to downsize. Worse! I’ve been buying books I remember from my youth, like Thieves World and the Elric Saga. They cost me more than they should because I insist on the cover art of he books had when I read them. 😀
@@jared8268 Yeah, I read those, I love Thieves World. Thankfully my cover art obsession was with Andre Norton and M.Z.B. ... and Louis Lamour... not quite as expensive.
When I gave my collection to my son, I had 4 different versions of cover art for Hondo. the original, 2 made for TV versions on with John Wayne, and the Anniversary edition.
The witch world by Andre Norton. 9 princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny. Swords series by Fred Saberhagen. So many others. Good job over all.
I think I would have included : The worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan in Reymond E Feist's Magician series ahead of Gormanghast, if you have not read this fanatasy series I highly recommend it.
Great video, love the edit and your commentaries! It's not just a top 10 because I say so haha so thank you for putting a lot of effort to do it. I haven't read a few of those but I agree with almost all of your list and the mentions (Earthsea is so good). I would add the world of The Dark Tower and a personal favourite, Liliana Bodoc's Saga of the Borderlands (Think Tolkien but in the American Continent).
A really underrated world is the world from Bloodsworn by John Gwynne. The way Gwynne incorporated the gods into the landscape was phenomenal.
Brilliant, as always Jay!
Thank you!!
I think the biggest "problem" with Temerant is the world is very much a mystery since we are only seeing it via 1 POV that shows us the world mainly as he visits it. If we knew more, I think it's likelyhood of being a top 10 could rise drastically.
Yeah that's a great point, I 100% agree!
I do think that despite that, Temerant is still better developed and just plainly more interesting than, say, the world from Mistborn. Scale ≠ Depth, imo
@@andreescalona8902 Well, when an author has only written 3 books in the last twenty years that's to be expected. I love Rothfuss' writing and his story, but he takes way too long. Sanderson's prose may not be as good as Pat's, but his stories move a lot more people (apparently--I've only read his first: Elantris... and the first 100 or so pages of the first Mistborn book) than Pat seems to even with his superior prose. I'll be happy if Pat publishes The Doors of Stone before he leaves for the afterlife.
This is really a great video, amazing contents and edition!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
There is quite a lot not discussed lately. You certainly deserve props for including Gormenghast, but there are a few (not ten) you should consider.
1. Pegana by Lord Dunsany. Ursula LeGuin said when they start out everyone tries to write like Dunsany then they realize they can't. Lovecraft's Dreamland stories, Moorcock's Stealer of Souls and Stormbringer, Tanith Lee's Flat Earth spring to mind.
2. Fletcher Pratt's world of the Blue Star. This is probably his greatest work period.
3.C. S. Lewis Malacandra and Perelandra. Narnia is not even my favorite Lewis. His Space Trilogy shows why.
4. Witch World. Andre Norton was incredible. End subject.
5. Tormance from David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus. In the 1970's top-ranked literary critic Harold Bloom humiliated himself by publishing a "novel" which was an inferior copy of this. You'd have to understand the state of Gnostic Studies at the time for the why to make sense. But I couldn't help give Bloom props for his choice while my friends just laughed.
6. Barsoom.Yeah, Burroughs couldn't write and it's Science Fiction. However like Howard and Henry Kuttner Burroughs was heavily influenced by Theosophy and the reason so much of John Carter was familiar was that so many authors have stolen from him.
The art in this video was so sick!!!!!!
The Myst series of videogames had some pretty cool imaginary worlds.
Ahhh Myst!! Haven't played any of those forever! But yes they definitely do!
The Belgariad series deserves to be on the list. Also the Shannara series too. Hyborea (Conan the Barbarian) as well.
This is my favorite video of yours... maybe a new top 10 world's? 🤔🤔🤔
The grishaverse series could also deserve an honorable mention which is still expanding but is still cool
YES!! Bardugo created an A+ tier setting
1.malazan
2.lotr
3.song of ice and fire
4.name of the wind
5.Wheel of time
6.Stormlight
7.demon saga (peter v. Brett)
8.mistborn
9.narnia
10.locke lamora
Locke lamora mentioned
Great video Jay! The editing is amazing (as always) and it is so well done that I will sure watch it multiple times!
Thanks a ton! I''m glad you enjoyed it, I put a lot of work into this one
Roshar is a vast world! I am loving it!
Wooo!! Glad you're reading Stormlight!
Not sure if this even counts or if you’ve read it, but after reading berserk I fell IN LOVE with its world. It has so many interesting themes that the world is used to express through itself like concepts of fate/free-will, morality, destiny, spirituality, Will Power and Human Spirit, religion etc…, ON TOP of that having some the most sick (I mean that in two ways) characters and creatures
I don't know if the world itself has a name, but i love the world building of the Powder Mage series by Brian McClellan. Many distinct nations, multiple classes of magic that are all very different from one another, all spread over multiple continents. A very enjoyable read, and great world building IMO.
I was glad to see the Malazan world mentioned! I’d love to hear what you think after you’ve read the series. Honestly I might put it at number 1 if I were engaged in your ambitious task! Thanks for the video.
You could have included Ann Mcaffrey's Pern. Some might object that this is more science fiction than fantasy. Pern is a planet colonized by people from Earth, who came in perfectly natural, science and technology based space ships.
But it has dragons. And telepathy. Telepathic dragons. With the power of psychic teleportation. So it is fantasy.
I love that series!
Pern is definitely a unique world, where an apparent very fantasy setting (telepathy, dragons, dragon knights, quite rusctic and traditionnal society, natural calamities of the Threads....) is little by little discovered to be the result of a quite old Sci-Fi setting of planetary colonization, by members of an interstellar civilization aiming to return to a simpler, more natural world.
I think it obviously is at least worth an honorable mention.
Fantastic video as always Jay! Thank you!
The Land, from Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. My overall feelings about this series are mixed, but there are things I love about it, and one of those things is its setting. This is easily one of my favorite fantasy worlds.
But before any of the ones listed here, there was Oz, setting of the series of books by Frank Baum. How can you have a list of great fantasy worlds without Oz?
Obviously. I grew up on oz! I love oz so much
I am so glad you mentioned "DragonLance Chronicles". I own all of these books and loved them.
A question. Raymond E Fiest shaped my view as a young lad on what books were, the leap from JK Rowling, my first ever book I read, to Raymonds many many books was what got me hooked on reading, like all reading. How come you never mentions his works in an emense world building, or any other theme you present? Is he considered like "to tropy" in fanstasy genere or? No lists from youtubers on notewordy fantasy ever mentions his work, and Im just wondering why :)
Loved your series on Kingkiller, so hyped for book 3!
They hate him because is world is too White and traditionally male.
Recency bias.
@@darkwitnesslxx Yeah, no Stephen Donaldson!
Fantastic list, wholeheartedly agree with the order as well. I’m on book 8 of Malazan and would definitely put it high up on the list, but understand it being an honorable mention due to you not having gotten to them yet.
I can't wait to dive into Malazan, I know it will be one of my favorites for sure
Nice video. Sad that Robert E. Howard and Hyboria doesn't get the love it deserves from book tubers
Maybe because it's not so well known nowadays. I just found out about the Conan stories reading the comments of this video
I read the three Gormenghast books, it was amazing! I lived in that castle as I read it. Melvyn Peake describes every detail beautifully.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Gormenghast! I 100% can relate, I feel like I've lived in that castle. Mervyn Peake was such a talented author
Incredible video! Mention of the BBC The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe takes me back! I didn't know that Mervyn Peake suffered from early onset dementia while writing Gormenghast. Loved hearing your reasons for each choice, and yes, I'm a little surprised Kingkiller did not make the list 😁!
Nice to see another person that remembers that BBC miniseries!! Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the video! 😀
the kingkiller probably didnt make it in cause, well, how much do u actually know about the world
Thank you for a fantastic video. Yes, LeGuin's Earthsea series is awesome and thank you for mentioning it. LeGuin doesn't seem to get the attention she deserves.
The world of DISHONORED is remarkable and always overlooked. Everythign about it is fascinating, from the City of Dunwall, The Outsider, The Whales and the Plagues. And the steampunk, pre-scifi setting truly makes it a unique fantasy world.
The lore alone is one of the most unique in all fantasies, it has a very Lovecraftian backdrop.
1. Pick any western European country as base.
2. Sprinkle some fantasy particles on it.
3. You have now the empire of the isles.
@@xiiir838
1. Pick any city in the West based on its politic: republic, monarchy, duchy, principate, etc.
2. Structure its mythology, history, culture and aesthetics to the point where the city feels lived in.
3. Write a story about one particular event in an era that becomes its defining characteristic.
Great Job! This was awesome!
Now that's a cool sponsor