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I hate having these stupid ticks where I couldn't continue reading first law due to the character names just making me bite my tongue when I pronounce them. So I decided to just read them completely differently to keep up. Is there a name for this.
I know this is a personal list, but I have an question: why does everyone rank the Cosmere as a whole, and not break it down into a smaller series held within? I feel like it’s a disservice to the heavy hitting series within that series to include it alongside some of the lesser works or earlier works like Elantris. I agree the Cosmere as a whole is borderline top 10, but Mistborn era 1 and Stormlight Archive are top tier. Again, I totally get that this is Daniel’s personal top 11, but why can we disregard the weaker books in the Dune series (as an example) but must include every work in the Cosmere?
I agree, its a very weird choice. Booktubers seem to do this because they don't want their lists to have multiple entries from the same author. If they do it makes them seem less reliable and more of a fanboy of an author. It looks like most people would have Mistborn, Stormlight Archive and Tress in their top 10...and having 3 from the same author makes the top 10 list seem less objective. The same people also hate Elantris. But the way its currently done feels really odd. Same for Dark Tower.
I agree. It's like ranking the Middle - Earth as a whole, and not like separated series. They rand Long of the Rings individually, but Cosmere as a whole, makes no sense to me 🤔
Hard disagree on Mistborn being top tier, it is a decent tech demo for Allomancy but everything else is painted cardboard. But to your main point: Yeah, I don't get why the Cosmere is ranked as a whole - it is loosely connected, but the series all stand on their own. No one would rank Stephen King's World as a whole instead of single books/series. However, maybe Daniel actually just loves all of it and that is why it is this high on his list.
Absolutely understand that this happens for lists like these, but I do think it's funny that Sanderson released 2 books that Daniel ranked S tier since his last top 10 in 2021 and he somehow dropped from 4 down to not even on the list at all.
Yeah its really strange for me. In my opinion when you read something ongoing for a long time you can tend to forget the best parts of it and remember more recent entries. I love the recent cosmere entries but sometimes I think "yeah... the hero of ages was the best ending I have ever read " and remember why I love this universe
I guess he might’ve soured on some of the books that came out before that period. Happened with me. Stormlight is kind of dropping in quality, as is Mistborn. The hype took some time for me to realize.
Or maybe he’s just read other things he likes more? The absence of the Cosmere doesn’t mean it’s bad in any way, just that Daniel has other preferences. He’s discovered a lot more manga and less conventional SFF recently so it makes sense that that new exposure might push other things out. This could be recency bias but it might remain this way.
@@danevans551 So, we know what he's read since that last top 10 most of it is stuff he was reading before 2021, he just has softened on the Cosmere as a whole (which is fine!). I only commented because these last two Cosmere books he gave really high recommendations for, said they were some of the best Cosmere stuff yet, and then he removed Cosmere all together from the top 10.
Red rising series truly deserves a full HBO series adaptation. It’s sooo good, and would be perfect for a big budget tv show. It’s had the potential to be the next game of thrones; games of thrones in space!😊
true I say take their time and don't f it up. I don't know if you've read and watched Chaos Walking, but that adaptation makes my soul hurt.@@maxfan6303
@dihvocfoscocudvyvdd8101 Pierce has said in a recent interview (around LB release) that “there are also a lot of interesting things going on in animation if that doesn’t work out” when he was talking about how it’s not going to be a movie and is currently trying to be made into a tv show Also the golds are a lot more than just tall blondes 😭 every single gold would still be bulkier as well as taller and MY GOD THE EYES 😭 if they mess up the eyes of ANY of the colors the whole thing is kinda screwed (also violets would be really hard to do too 👀)
Berserk is the epitome of the aesthetic of evil, and because Miura is able to depict evil in such a powerful way, it therefore makes the beautiful moments in the series that much more meaningful. Whenever you read it, the despair can seem like it drags on and on, but in a good way because it's so tragic and well written. Then you get a panel of simplistic beauty such as a character smiling and it makes you feel like a comforting respite from the darkness, and you pause to appreciate what Miura as a writer can do.
Hyperion Cantos is such a masterpiece, because the writing is SO SOLID, despite the fact that the author writes in every imaginable style, from funny and vulgar, to just beautiful prose, to horror, to poetry, and it just nails everything, I devoured this series in short bursts, while also taking my time to reflect on what the author wants to teach, and it was the best time I've had reading. Its a MUST read for Sci-Fi lovers and for people who just love good, clean, clever writing, I believe there's something in this book for everyone interested in fiction.
My personal top 10: 1.A Song of Ice and Fire by GRRM 2.Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb 3.Second Apocalypse by R Scott Bakker 4.The Bas Lag Trilogy by China Mieville 5.The Masquerade by Seth Dickinson 6.First Law by Joe Abercrombie 7.The Craft by Max Gladstone 8.The Coldfire Trilogy by C.S Friedman 9.Tower of Babel by Josiah Bancroft 10.Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
@@laconsuela69 Death Gate is beautiful - at least so thought teenage me. The world(s) building is really unique/creative and I love many of the characters. And there's a dog! I've been itching to go back to it for a while.
Malazan makes you work for it, but OMG is it worth the effort. Several years after I first finished the series I am going through it again. Knowing where the series is headed, where the characters paths will lead them, the ancient histories that lead to where the story is makes the series even more epic and many of the character arcs even more poignant.
@@randomperson99895 Don't force yourself to read it immediatly, I bounced off the first book 5 times and one day it randomly just clicked maybe I was in the right mood. The book will always be there read it when you feel ready as a whole to tackle 10 books with many parts answered only if you read the total 25 in the universe. Read when you want to read something, if you force it too much it will just become hate
@@bobbob-cd9yl honestly the same thing happened i just finished the first book and it clicked finally. I got about half way through my second time but dropped it, and I don't really know why. It wasn't even that I wasn't enjoying it or anything, I think because it almost feels like a world history as much as a story. Granted this is only after finishing book 1 having tried 4 separate times.
My list has to be: 10. The Patternist - Octavia Butler 9. The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan 8. Greenbone Saga - Fonda Lee 7. The Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson 6. Malazan - Steven Erikson 5. Discworld - Sir Terry Pratchett 4. Long Price Quartet - Daniel Abraham 3. First Law - Joe Abercrombie 2. ASOIAF - GRRM 1. Realm of the Elderlings - Robin Hobb
The One Piece format is sort of a double-edged sword for itself, because binging it is great and helps with the pacing, but once you done and have to follow weekly, it can feel like a drag and a grind, and it can takes years to get accostumed to it. however, i believe that Daniel has not read past the ending of Wano, and we already 25 chapters past it, and each and every one of those chapters have been great, and the Manga is now at an insane peak naratively speaking.
I’ve just started One Piece, I had been holding off until I had every volume and I couldn’t get the 3 box set for ages. But I’ve now started and can’t wait to get through it.
@@InfamyOrDeath-__- you in for a ride! are you more of a book reader or you have tried Manga before? people who don't know Manga and aren't used to them could be a bit weirded out, since One Piece art is a bit cartoonish(on purpose) and also quite outdated especially the older chapters since they were drawn 25 years ago. but One Piece is one of the greatest stories of modern times.
@@illithidlore me 2, but there are a lot of things about One Piece that people need to get used to when starting it, especially if they are not Manga/Anime fans.
The Green Bone saga got me back into reading, nor could I have imagined that I would finish a trilogy in 2 weeks; coming from not reading for pleasure for the better part of 12 years.. I'm happy.. what can I say?. Buying a bookshelf .. starting Red Rising, and The Poppy War.
This is great. I LOVED The Green Bone Saga and still think about it all the time. Also enjoyed The Poppy War trilogy. Haven't read Red Rising yet but it's on the list.
Hopefully Dresden Files redeems itself for you once 12 Months comes out and you do see the full after effects of Peace Talks/Battlegrounds (which def. needs to be read as a single book). I agree with you that The Law felt weird in the fact that there was a tiny mention of aftermath, and then they just tried to plod on like nothing really happened. I think a short story that took place, not between the gargantuan events of Battle Grounds and 12 Months would have been better.
I have high hopes for 12 Months as well. Butcher showed with Ghost Story that he knows the story needs to slow down a bit after big events like Changes/Battle Ground.
I just finished Battle Ground, and my mind is blown. I absolutely love Dresden Files. I haven't read The Law. Actually I don't read any of the novellas. No particular reason... I just stick to the novels. There's enough of them lol. I'm guessing I'm not missing too much by skipping those?
Dresden files is absolutely amazing series battle grounds had it problems but show me wrighter with 15 20 books to his. Name in. A single series let alone all together who cares if a few books at the end were a bit off the ending wasn't what I wanted but I respect it
I do respect one aspect of the criticism.... I miss the ways of the early books, even if not as well crafted in some ways... the setting of the private eye with magic in a mundane world, facing the bizarre, but not things that threaten thousands, or millions, of people. The curse that kills a couple, not the one that kills a bloodline, or a species... smaller scale, more real.... I mean, one baddie was so tough a character led it to an atomic testing site.... I think Jim has improved as a writer, but this is like Superman originally jumping over buildings, he couldn't fly, and eventually being capable of flying faster than light...
I have to say, this video felt very classic Daniel. Very well put together, transparency about what he has and hasn't read, no fence sitting (not putting LOTR as a default number one and actually taking a stance on that) some solid takes and all round just a fun video. Good to be back.
If you want to get more into Octavia Butler, I highly recommend the Earthseed books. Never have I encountered something so bleak yet somehow so hopeful, if only in the sense of “this is necessary to survive.”
Just gave the Witcher saga a reread and it is great. I think the best aspect of the saga is how Sapkowski satirizes the fantasy genre and makes use of its tropes to enrich the story. It is victim to some classic tropes though (sadly), but overall its best aspects outnumber the bad. Hopefully they grow on you again.
If he reread it again hed remember how good it is. Witchers biggest problem is how forgettable the plot is, but reading it during the moment is incredible.
As someone with a deep attachment to the Dresden Files, it was the series that made me start reading again as an adult, it hurts to agree with you. Jim Butcher's next entry might addresses some of the issues you rightfully called out. Unless plans have changed from about a year ago, the next entry is supposed to spread over the next year following the events of Peace/Grounds. I'm hoping we get time for Harry to be introspective.
You got me started on Discworld and I could not agree more! My recommendation - start w/ Pyramids, then Small Gods, then Death series. Love all you do! ❤
It always makes me so happy when ever I see Discworld on a list!!! No matter where it places (for me it's no.1 but I acknowledge other people have more attachments to other series)
Hey Daniel, great list. I'd love if you got into Gene Wolfe sometime. He's sort of the SFF writer's SFF writer. Dude holds an official Grand Master Award from SFWA, even Le Guin called him "the Melville of science fiction", but he's not covered a lot because his books tend to be complex and full of secrets you only catch on a reread. My favourite SFF series of all-time is his four-part Book of the New Sun (with an optional fifth book as a coda). I'd highly recommend that, along with an accompanying podcast (Alzabo Soup). He also engineered the machine that makes Pringles. So that's another cool thing about him.
I know Dark Tower is a hard one for many to go full out balls to the wall and put it in a top favorite series video. But since it’s my number one all time favorite, I’ve read it 3 times now (16 more to go) I love seeing it even come into honorable mentions for someone as big as Goblin Green so maybe even a few more of the masses can give it a shot.
@@Beekeeper8011 literally none are required. Zero. I had read The Stand before reading it but I hadn’t read Salems Lot until recently and it didn’t hinder my enjoyment and now reading both it really honestly wouldn’t effect your reading. None of the Tower will be ruined if you haven’t read any of the connected books. The thing is they’re all just little nods here and there it’s not like John Gwynne where you have to read The Faithful and the Fallen before Of Blood and Bone ya know?
@@Beekeeper8011tbh only Salem's lot it'll help later on in the series to know a certain character. Otherwise nothing is required. Don't listen to anyone saying the stand 😂
My top ten are (in no order) Gentleman Bastards, Rivers of London, Wayward Children, Skulduggery Pleasant, Earthsea, Abhorsen, Song of the Lioness, Shannara, Discworld, and Gunpowder Mage. I do have some honourable mentions: Howl's Moving Castle (only read the first book), Wheel of Time (only read the first book), The Last Dragon Slayer, and Nevermoor.
The Hyperion Cantos changed me. The Bobiverse was an extremely fun thought experiment. I'd like to add my own honorable mention: The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir was a ton of fun. Hard to compete with space necromancers and an evolving love story that doesn't follow the formulas.
Hyperion was so good, but the Endymion books were not great IMO. Near the end I just couldn't care about the whole made-up religion aspect of it, like yes I get it that Aniya is Jesus, I don't care though!!!
I was surprised that Asoiaf didn’t even make your honorable mentions. I think I remember a top 10 video of yours where it was around number 4. Did anything happen to make you really fall out of love with the series?
I noticed that too. He also really dropped Dresden Files without anything changing since the last book. I think he's just mostly changing things up a bit so some new titles get discussed. After all, if his yearly top 10 was the same every year it wouldn't very interesting now would it.
Berserk and One Piece are two of my favorite series of all time so it’s so cool to see them both land on your Top 10, the content you’ve made on them is some of my favorite too especially Berserk
@@apostle9209 He had quite invalid opinions for example Wyalds criticism Etc But I enjoyed them When talking about alexenterprises He has good analysis but his critics of bonebeard(important character for Isidro development) and puck while not providing proper reasoning is what I didn't like.
@@mr.gamerkabir8142 bonebeard part is subjective, the boat arc took 7 long years to complete for a relatively slow paced arc with low tensions, people who binged the arcs shouldn't find any major issue with it. Some of max derrat's videos on berserk are top tier material too, if you haven't watched
@@apostle9209 I loved those max derrat videos Would highly recommend berserkdude I completely understand your bonebeard part Plus, that section of story is like 30 chapters long and we have crazy stuff If you will watch Alex definitely showed those as more objective than subjective critics
I love the direction Dresden Files has taken. The slow opening of the world was done incredibly well in my opinion and I think Battle ground blew open the door
Ouch , that dresden fall hurts. I found Daniel around the time he started reading it and following his discovery is part of what kept me around in the beginning.
My Current Top 10 1. The Wheel of time 2.The Cosmere 3. A Song of Ice and Fire 4. The Lord of the Rings 5. First Law World 6. Inheritance Cycle 7. The Green Bone Saga 8. The Realm of the Elderlings (still reading this series) 9. Kingkiller Chronicle 10. Lightbringer Saga Honorable mentions: Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus series, and the Hobbit all got me into the Fantasy Genre Really want to get into the Dark Tower Series after I finish the Realm of the Elderlings series. The Stand and 11-22-63 by Stephen King were fantastic!
@Sebastian Tavera Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle is immature and derivative by comparison to the rest on the list, but it's a particularly popular series, at least for those of us who read it earlier in our fantasy journey. It can be very entertaining for teens and is still highly valued by many of us adults. It's relatively simple and accessible high fantasy. If you tend to enjoy most fantasy and read Paolini's with low expectations, you might enjoy it.
I have such complicated thoughts on Kingkiller chronicles. Name of the Wind might be, stand alone, my favorite fantasy book I've ever read. I also do really love the Wise Man's Fear. I think its mostly held back by the facts I no longer believe it will be completed.
The one piece comment, as a life long fan whose been with it since 12, I 100% agree that post timeskip, I have been feeling less invested. The underdogness of the crew has filled and since the crew has been getting larger, it's been harder to give everyone appropriate screen time. It's getting easier and easier for members of the straw hat to feel lost in the frills in the arc
My favourite part of One Piece was the discovery, the adventure and the crew just being goofballs or interacting, with the occasional epic or sad moment. Now everything is more serious, we stay wayyyy longer on each island and the crew is separated the vast majority of the time. The One Piece magic is gone for me, and I'll probably read it when it's finished.
While i also love the feeling of the pretime skip world, one piece actually is doing something that few other shonen manga dare to do (aside from being 1100 chapters xD) but its lets its protagonists advance in the world not just in power, most shonen end with the protagonist being like the strongest person on earth yet somehow still being treated like a novice, while everything feels more serious and i miss the old tone and i think a middle ground could be found i respect that oda let his character grow in more than just power and that the crew actions have tangible effects in the world
Personally I find it difficult to group the Cosmere altogether as 1 entity. Despite a few connections here and there, at present the stories are not intertwined enough for me to view them as a collective. My personal top 10: 1. A Song of Ice and Fire (first 3 books only, don't like 4-5) 2. Chronicles of Amber 3. The Stormlight Archive 4. Harry Potter 5. Malazan Book of the Fallen 6. The Wheel of Time 7. Mistborn 8. Lord of the Rings 9. His Dark Material 10. Discworld Lots of others that are very very good as well, we are very spoilt for choice in this genre.
My top 10, this is largely subjective. (also not listing any manga) 1.) Kingkiller Chronicles (the series that got me into reading as an adult) 2.) Cosmere 3.) Greenbone Saga (honestly really surprised it's this high, but very well deserved) 4.) Realm of the Elderlings (Fitz is my son) 5.) Sun Eater by Christopher Ruocchio (favorite scifi series of all time. Patrick Rothfuss prose, with dune politics/world. The Author likes to sell this series as and I quote "what if Anakin becoming Vader was the right choice") 6.) Dungeon Crawler Carl (the only series I actually laughed out loud in. System Apocolypse, and very fun and enjoyable read. Favorite audiobooks of all time) 7.) He who fights with monsters (I'm a big fan of Anime/manga in general, especially isekai stuff, and this is at the top for me in that type of genre. Litrpg/isekai) 8.) Dresden Files (always a fun time) 9.) Kings dark tidings (if your a fan of Kvothe (kingkiller chronicle) you'll enjoy this alot. Semi-epic fantasy that has (almost) John Gwynne level of fight scenes and romance!) 10.) Mother of Learning (Harry potter if it had a hard magic system, and a time loop story. Self-Pub. Just recently finished releasing on kindle.) Honorable mentions: First Law, Gentlemen bastards, Arcane Ascension, Red Rising Saga, WOT.
I'm sitting down and reading Lord of the Rings to my daughter right now, and just floored at how good it is. I would have also said, it's not what I'm feeling right now, but about ten pages in I was like... Oh yeah, yeah this is great. Mostly because the prose is beautiful and economical. Yes it's wordy, but it's a dense kind of wordy that communicates a ton in a small space. I mean I'm reading Rhythm of War right now too, and I love stormlight, but bruh. Dem words.
One of the more unique lists I’ve seen. I’ve not read a lot of fantasy, but my current personal favorite is ASOIAF and it’s hard to imagine a series being as good.
I got into reading and fantasy as an adult because of Asoiaf and it’s one of my favourite things ever, but you need to read The First Law series. It’s largely inspired by Asoiaf and has a lot of the same strengths. It’s the only series that I think has better characters than Asoiaf. The plot starts a little slow, but once it picks up, it’s easily the best book series I’ve read. The series start with The Blade Itself and it’s two sequels. After that there are 3 standalone books and a short story collection that dive into different characters and parts of the world. Then there is another trilogy called the Age of Madness, which mostly follows the children of people from the first trilogy. If you like Asoiaf and can handle a bit of depression I can guarantee you will love the series
@@smuckfuzzer Debatable, there are series that do certain things better, but aSoIaF is overall one of the best in doing everything extraordinarly well. It doesn't need to be your favorite, but it's unfair saying there is "sooooo much better fantasy" then it, there are series I would consider as good as it, but it's still with those series at the pinnacle of the genre.
My top ten, and I don't care how basic I am bc of it: 1. Realm of the Elderlings - Robin Hobb 2. ASOIAF - GRRM 3. Stormlight Archives - Brandon Sanderson (not the whole cosmere) 4. Coldfire Trilogy - C.S. Friedman 5. LOTR - Tolkien 6. Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan 7. Lightbringer - Brent Weeks 8. Broken Earth Trilogy - N.K. Jemisin 9. Dragaera Series - Steven Brust 10. Chronicles of Lumineia - Ben Hale
My top ten (ranked but many of them could switch places based on my mood tbh): 1. Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin 2. Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb 3. The Culture by Iain M Banks 4. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman 5. A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin 6. Hainish Cycle by Ursula K Le Guin 7. Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold 8. Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons 9. First Law by Joe Abercrombie 10. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
1. Wheel of Time, always and forever! 2. Dune series…all of them… 3. Kingkiller Chronicles 4. Song of Ice & Fire, so far 5. LOTR 6. Stormlight Archive 7. Greenbone saga 8. Dragonriders of Pern 9. Rift War Saga (Magician Apprentice series) 10. Dark Elf trilogy 11. Rings of the Master, for some light SciFi fun
What I love most about these lists and is they were the first videos I watched of yours several years ago and when I first watched them did not recognize a single series. Now not only do I recognize all of them but I’ve read half of them. Thank you so much for getting me into reading as an adult. You the best❤
It’s tough to make a top 10 list because you have to exclude people’s personal favourites. I appreciate that you’re giving your honest opinions and I hope you never feel like your have to lie to us in order to placate others.
I like how consistent you are, because even though we heavily disagree (WOT isn't even in my top 20) you are consistent. It makes your reviews easy to level with my own thoughts and understand if I will or won't like a book. Thanks for the content!
Great list and gave me some new stuff to check out! 1. Lord of the Rings 2. Wheel of Time 3. Cosmere 4. The First Law 5. Harry Potter 6. Red Rising 7. The Kingkiller Chronicle 8. Percy Jackson and the Olympians 9. Artemis Fowl 10. The Poppy War
Loved this video! I can’t do a top ten really, I am indecisive as heck. But here are some that are currently in my feels: -Terra Ignota by Ada Palmer -One Hundred Years of Solitude -Hexarchate series by Yoon Ha Lee -anything sci-fi by Le Guin -Realm of the Elderlings -Ancillary series by Anne Leckie
I read Terra Ignota recently. It's not at all the kind of series I usually read, but I found myself loving so many aspects of it regardless. Definitively my favorite sci-fi series ever, although I haven't read much sci-fi.
Hopefully one day you have the time to reread The Dresden Files series again. I'm pretty sure the series will shot through our top once again. Butcher managed to create such a fast paced story without sacrificing characterization and depth, that it feels like magic sometimes. This is also true for Peace Talks and Battle Ground, that while not the pinnacle of Dresden, they're still good entries.
I just finished Battle Ground... and it makes me want to go back and re-read Dresden from the start. Such a great story. It's gone on long enough though and I hope there is a finality coming for it. It's certainly getting epic enough for it.
I enjoy the subtle changes and little shifts in your top 10(11) list and the mentions. I love to see the dark tower in there, it was the first of the longer series I've read and it's kind of like my childhood as a reader - I will always love those books, and the nostalgic effect is very strong.
Personal top 10 rn: 1. Discworld 2. Middle Earth 3. First Law 4. Realm of the Elderlings 5. Malazan 6. Warlord Chronicles 7. Hainish Cycle 8. Guy Gavriel Kay stuff 9. Conan 10. Wheel of Time I have you to thank for getting me into my favorite series of all time--Discworld I look forward to trying out Jade City, Hyperion, and Berzerk.
Nice that you got Conan on your list, I think Robert E. Howard is kinda overlooked when looking at the current state of the genre, considering his amount of influence. Did you read the Del Rey editions? If not, I do recommend them.
I only just got back into reading, so I don't feel like I've read enough to have a "top 10" yet, but the books/series that I've read this year that I've thoroughly enjoyed (in no particular order) - Mistborn Trilogy (Eras 1 & 2) - The Dresden Files (1 - 6) - Eye of the World - Elantris - The Hobbit - Forgetting Moon In the process of reading more & hopefully will get to Warbreaker, then Stormlight Archives by the holiday season.
Dune: House Atreides and Dune: House Harkonen are narrated by Tim Curry. So regardless of what you think of the other Dune books or of Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson's writing...it's a must-listen. Last I checked the Tim Curry version was still on TH-cam but if it's not I'll send you the old cassettes.
My top ten would be 10. The Scholomance - Naomi Novik 9. The Shades of Magic - V.E. Schwab 8. The Poppy War - K.F. Ruang 7. ASOIAF - GRRM 6. Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling 5. Outlander - Diana Gabalton 4. Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo 3. Percy Jackson series - Rick Riordan 2. The Kingskiller Chronicles - Patrick Ruthfuss 1. The Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson
Loved seeing this top 10! I’m right with you on loving Murderbot and Bobiverse even if it’s not so hip these days. Bobiverse is indeed like a comfort read (especially the audio with Ray Porter), but it still has great depth and is full of intriguing thought experiments.
Some day -not today, not tomorrow, not even the day after tomorrow- but some day, the Goblin will read all of the Realm of the Elderlings book and rate them as a complete series and not just the assassin's quest apprentice trilogy. A man gotta dream..some day...
@@altaccount5991 the hero of ages, I actually liked the second book the most so I think when I got to that one I just kind of struggled but I picked it back up and I’m little over half way hoping to finish this weekend
My personal list: 1. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson 2. The Greenbone Saga by Fonda Lee 3. The Gentleman Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch 4. Red Rising by Pierce Brown 5. Mistborn Era One by Brandon Sanderson 6. Fullmetal Alchemist by Hirmomu Arakawa 7. Middle-earth by J.R.R. Tolkien 8. Saga by Brian K. Vaughn 9. Book of the Ancestor by Mark Lawrence 10. The First Law and The Great Leveler by Joe Abercrombie Honorable Mentions: Bobiverse by Dennis E. Taylor The Legend of Drizzt 1 - 6 by R.A. Salvatore Dishonorable Mentions: The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski The Dune Chronicles by Frank Herbert Potential Risers: The Burning by Evan Winter Glass Immortals by Brian McClellan The Legend of Drizzt by R.A. Salvatore Yes, I need to read more series. And yes, I need to read more Red Rising, and more Middle-Earth, and I need to start Malazan, and I need to read Discworld, and Wheel of Time, and everything else too. And also I do need to read more First Law.
I'm not really into anime/manga anymore after consuming a lot of it when I was younger, but FMA and a few others will probably always remain in my mind as some of the best stories I've ever experienced
Man I never get tired of hearing you gush about Berserk, it's something I'm also relatively new to, only discovering the anime about a month before Miura passed and reading the deluxe editions (and watching your reviews) genuinely kept me going through some of the darkest parts of the pandemic. It's a deeply personal story to me now, and I'm glad it seems to resonate with you in a similar way as it did to me.
Okay man this is gonna take a minute to think about... #5: Percy Jackson: I'm sure if I thought about it more I could find 100 different series that are better than Percy Jackson but I feel like i have to include it because it was the first series I was completely lost in. When I was a kid I would read the entire series then do it again less than a month later. It cemented my love of Mythology. #4: Bloodsworn Saga, honestly this series is among what I would consider as the greatest books of all time. Also this was the first series that put me in a genuine reading slump because nothing would compare, but since its unfinished i'm not ready to bump it up further and I don't think it'll surpass 1 or 2. #3: Stormlight Archive, even though it isn't finished I still think about it all the time and have even gone out of my way to buy copies of this to try and force people to read. #2: Wheel of Time, this was my top series for YEARS and honestly if I do a full reread of the series it could potentially be back to number one, but recently number one has edged it out. #1:Tolkienverse, Recently I have dove so much deeper into the lore of Middle Earth and it's reinforced my love of it exponentially, if I had to choose one book in the Tolkienverse I would probably choose the odd answer by saying the Silmarillion. I know a lot of people struggle with it but I loved every page and I have been thinking of picking up another copy of it to annotate it. The lore in every single ounce of the tales of Middle Earth are just oozing with heart and even though the Silmarillion is BRUTAL and genuinely the people of Beleriand are just handed L after L there still is a fragment of hope within that really resonates with me. Also the fact that the written language (Tengwar) is so cool that i've been learning how to read and write it has brought another level of appreciation for me to Tolkien. anyways sorry for the lengthy response I just got into it lol
Just because someone isn't a fan of Berserk doesn't mean they don't understand it or are missing its' beauty. I wish people would stop assuming that anyone who doesn't enjoy a work that has wide critical acclaim has a bad taste or is simply ignorant and remember that personal tastes and preferences exist. Also, am i the only one who feels like Bobiverse is just one huge fanfiction? Like, the main character is an obvious author self-insert and it just feels like a Dennis E. Taylor's power fantasy where he is the super competent and smart protagonist solving humanity's problems.
Subscribed for, including number five on this list. I’ve been watching a couple of these list videos and this is the first time that my favorite manga of all time in one of my favorite fantasy series is getting the recognition it deserves. Thank you.
I just finished Assassin's Apprentice for the first time, and it's possibly one of the best works I have read. You are spot-on on how incredible it is as a piece of character work and something writers can learn from.
You could check out "The Legend of the Galactic Heroes." It's a great series (10 books, but they are not that big). It's considered a sci-fi masterpiece. It's like A Song of Ice and Fire, but better
It's personally Interesting hearing that the Red Rising series is up there for you. I loved the first 3 books but dropped the 4th fairly early on. It drug the series down for me. Maybe I'll give them another shot after hearing your praise of the new stuff
Personally I thought Iron Gold was a slog to get through but it sets up a lot for the next book. Dark Age was one of the best books I've ever read and makes getting through Iron Gold completely worth it!
Agreed I had a hard time getting through Iron Gold but after I moved to the next book and got used to the more POVs I found myself really enjoying the sequels
Same, I loved the first book, liked the next two then dropped the series after book 4, I wasn't enjoying the extra povs and some of the conflicts just started to feel like a drag for me.
Having read the Liveship Trilogy & Stormlight Archive books 1 to 4 in no small part due to your channel; i am very interested to see what made it on the list.
I actually think book five of Dune, Heretics of Dune, is really really good! It gets into the galaxy wide consequences of the Tyrant in Book 4. The Scattering and the return are incredibly interesting and creative world-building ideas. Book six is very skipable if you want, but book five has the best lore and world building of the series, even if the classic structure of the hero’s journey from book one isn’t there.
@@heatherauton655 I love 1, 5, 3, and 4, probably in that order. Book 2 is fine, just not as much there there. By no means is Chapterhouse a bad book but I thinks it a clear step behind the rest, just my opinion.
@@esperensnare A lot of it had to do with it being so far in the future that all of the characters were new faces, (except for a Ducan ghola cause of course there was another one) plus there was so much you had to learn again with planets having different names, and I've never been a fan of the Bene Gesserits. Also didn't care for the Honored Matres and their sex powers.
Be sure to check out danielbgreene.com
Thanks again to Warframe for sponsoring today’s video! This offer is available for a limited time and only one per player. Head over to
wrfr.me/duviri-daniel-greene-01 and use code “DUVIRI-STYANAX”.
I hate having these stupid ticks where I couldn't continue reading first law due to the character names just making me bite my tongue when I pronounce them. So I decided to just read them completely differently to keep up. Is there a name for this.
@@jwcarlson Believe it or not, somehow witcher names flow easily, maybe because I'm slavic?
@@vilevagrant4632 I could see that.
You went and got a Warframe sponsorship like 3 days after I got back into it, what impeccable timing
You went and got a Warframe sponsorship like 3 days after I got back into it, what impeccable timing
You can tell how much you respect LoTR because you set it gently in the honorable mentions box instead of chucking it. Such reverence!
yeah but the back of the box reads "trash"
The place it belongs in, lmao.
@@SupremeDP :((((
@@SupremeDP funny bro, funny 😐
@@SupremeDP wrong
The list may change over time but...everything is within the flow of causality!
I've been reading way too much Jojo's lately. I swear you wrote flow of calamity and was like "Hell Yeah"
@@TheJumpinJr lol me too
Somehow I could hear that last line.
I heard this in the voice of Skullnight dub voice haha
@@TheJumpinJr Honestly I feel like Daniel would like Jojo; yeah he’ll have problems with the story but he’ll definitely find it very entertaining
I know this is a personal list, but I have an question: why does everyone rank the Cosmere as a whole, and not break it down into a smaller series held within? I feel like it’s a disservice to the heavy hitting series within that series to include it alongside some of the lesser works or earlier works like Elantris. I agree the Cosmere as a whole is borderline top 10, but Mistborn era 1 and Stormlight Archive are top tier.
Again, I totally get that this is Daniel’s personal top 11, but why can we disregard the weaker books in the Dune series (as an example) but must include every work in the Cosmere?
I agree, its a very weird choice. Booktubers seem to do this because they don't want their lists to have multiple entries from the same author. If they do it makes them seem less reliable and more of a fanboy of an author.
It looks like most people would have Mistborn, Stormlight Archive and Tress in their top 10...and having 3 from the same author makes the top 10 list seem less objective. The same people also hate Elantris.
But the way its currently done feels really odd. Same for Dark Tower.
I agree. It's like ranking the Middle - Earth as a whole, and not like separated series. They rand Long of the Rings individually, but Cosmere as a whole, makes no sense to me 🤔
I wonder about that too, especially because he referred to Farseer and not Realm of the Elderlings. Inconsistent
I agree, my personal top 10 has Stormlight (at the top) and Mistborn era 1 (at 3 or 4) counted separately
Hard disagree on Mistborn being top tier, it is a decent tech demo for Allomancy but everything else is painted cardboard. But to your main point: Yeah, I don't get why the Cosmere is ranked as a whole - it is loosely connected, but the series all stand on their own. No one would rank Stephen King's World as a whole instead of single books/series. However, maybe Daniel actually just loves all of it and that is why it is this high on his list.
my heart hurts with the placement of the Dresden Files, but I understand
Ey Yoo you're here
For me personally, Dresden is so much better when reading multiple books in a row. It really sucks that I have been caught up for a few books now.
Recency bias at work
Absolutely understand that this happens for lists like these, but I do think it's funny that Sanderson released 2 books that Daniel ranked S tier since his last top 10 in 2021 and he somehow dropped from 4 down to not even on the list at all.
Yeah its really strange for me. In my opinion when you read something ongoing for a long time you can tend to forget the best parts of it and remember more recent entries. I love the recent cosmere entries but sometimes I think "yeah... the hero of ages was the best ending I have ever read " and remember why I love this universe
Kinda try hard imo
I guess he might’ve soured on some of the books that came out before that period. Happened with me. Stormlight is kind of dropping in quality, as is Mistborn. The hype took some time for me to realize.
Or maybe he’s just read other things he likes more? The absence of the Cosmere doesn’t mean it’s bad in any way, just that Daniel has other preferences. He’s discovered a lot more manga and less conventional SFF recently so it makes sense that that new exposure might push other things out. This could be recency bias but it might remain this way.
@@danevans551 So, we know what he's read since that last top 10 most of it is stuff he was reading before 2021, he just has softened on the Cosmere as a whole (which is fine!). I only commented because these last two Cosmere books he gave really high recommendations for, said they were some of the best Cosmere stuff yet, and then he removed Cosmere all together from the top 10.
Red rising series truly deserves a full HBO series adaptation. It’s sooo good, and would be perfect for a big budget tv show. It’s had the potential to be the next game of thrones; games of thrones in space!😊
I believe red rising adaptation is confirmed to be in the works
Red Rising needs Avatar level budget tho... How would they make literal gold people without huge budget.
true I say take their time and don't f it up. I don't know if you've read and watched Chaos Walking, but that adaptation makes my soul hurt.@@maxfan6303
@dihvocfoscocudvyvdd8101 nah obsedians are like the mountain
@dihvocfoscocudvyvdd8101 Pierce has said in a recent interview (around LB release) that “there are also a lot of interesting things going on in animation if that doesn’t work out” when he was talking about how it’s not going to be a movie and is currently trying to be made into a tv show
Also the golds are a lot more than just tall blondes 😭 every single gold would still be bulkier as well as taller and MY GOD THE EYES 😭 if they mess up the eyes of ANY of the colors the whole thing is kinda screwed (also violets would be really hard to do too 👀)
I tried Red Rising due to your recommendation. It got me bad. (especially the ending in book 2) THIS SERIES IS SO GOOD
yes! it should be more popular its that good.
So good
Yeah, it's one of my favorites. I plan to read the final book after I finish the one I'm currently on.
@@MagetoLp agree but it’s very popular for a sci fi
WOT the goat
Berserk is the epitome of the aesthetic of evil, and because Miura is able to depict evil in such a powerful way, it therefore makes the beautiful moments in the series that much more meaningful. Whenever you read it, the despair can seem like it drags on and on, but in a good way because it's so tragic and well written. Then you get a panel of simplistic beauty such as a character smiling and it makes you feel like a comforting respite from the darkness, and you pause to appreciate what Miura as a writer can do.
These are awesome videos because this is the exact kind of thing that new fantasy readers look for.
Hyperion Cantos is such a masterpiece, because the writing is SO SOLID, despite the fact that the author writes in every imaginable style, from funny and vulgar, to just beautiful prose, to horror, to poetry, and it just nails everything, I devoured this series in short bursts, while also taking my time to reflect on what the author wants to teach, and it was the best time I've had reading. Its a MUST read for Sci-Fi lovers and for people who just love good, clean, clever writing, I believe there's something in this book for everyone interested in fiction.
My personal top 10:
1.A Song of Ice and Fire by GRRM
2.Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb
3.Second Apocalypse by R Scott Bakker
4.The Bas Lag Trilogy by China Mieville
5.The Masquerade by Seth Dickinson
6.First Law by Joe Abercrombie
7.The Craft by Max Gladstone
8.The Coldfire Trilogy by C.S Friedman
9.Tower of Babel by Josiah Bancroft
10.Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
I recently discovered the death gate cycle and was debating reading it. I guess this is a sign I should move forward
Thanks for this list, I haven't heard of some of these series so I might have to give them a try!
It's always nice to see Coldfire on a top ten. Gerald Tarrant is one of the best characters I've read.
@@laconsuela69 Death Gate is beautiful - at least so thought teenage me. The world(s) building is really unique/creative and I love many of the characters. And there's a dog! I've been itching to go back to it for a while.
Has Daniel read the second apocalypse? i'd like to hear his thoughts on it.
Red Rising has had me in a chokehold . I have been saying this needs to be adapted it would be the next big thing . Amazing characters
I honestly don't trust modern TV to do it right.
@@TheRayfield77 i would be perfectly happy with an animated series but pierce said he would prefer live action. Hbo could do it
Ughhhh same!! There's been nothing comparable. Sometimes I wish I never read this one 😂 I've read every book at least twice
@@Teknik_OveRride my friend just told me she started today I’m so excited
Malazan makes you work for it, but OMG is it worth the effort.
Several years after I first finished the series I am going through it again. Knowing where the series is headed, where the characters paths will lead them, the ancient histories that lead to where the story is makes the series even more epic and many of the character arcs even more poignant.
yeah there's no way Murderbot is better than Malazan lmao and I'm only on book 4
I've tried a few times, but it's tough to get through. Maybe it's just too long of a series that I'm not excited.
@@randomperson99895 Don't force yourself to read it immediatly, I bounced off the first book 5 times and one day it randomly just clicked maybe I was in the right mood. The book will always be there read it when you feel ready as a whole to tackle 10 books with many parts answered only if you read the total 25 in the universe. Read when you want to read something, if you force it too much it will just become hate
I'm placing this series in the wish list. Never started them, but seeing that it's actually a completed work makes me want to pick them up even more.
@@bobbob-cd9yl honestly the same thing happened i just finished the first book and it clicked finally. I got about half way through my second time but dropped it, and I don't really know why. It wasn't even that I wasn't enjoying it or anything, I think because it almost feels like a world history as much as a story. Granted this is only after finishing book 1 having tried 4 separate times.
My list has to be:
10. The Patternist - Octavia Butler
9. The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
8. Greenbone Saga - Fonda Lee
7. The Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson
6. Malazan - Steven Erikson
5. Discworld - Sir Terry Pratchett
4. Long Price Quartet - Daniel Abraham
3. First Law - Joe Abercrombie
2. ASOIAF - GRRM
1. Realm of the Elderlings - Robin Hobb
Have you tried Magician trilogy and Empire trilogy, probably a fit given your list ❤
@@heatherauton655 Feist has been in my plans for a while now! Thank you for the recommendations!
Great list!
I have finished Daniel Abraham's other series "The Dagger and the Coin" a few months back and absolutely loved it! Have you tried it?
I love a #1 Realm of the Elderlings list 💜
@@heatherauton655by which authors are those?
The One Piece format is sort of a double-edged sword for itself, because binging it is great and helps with the pacing, but once you done and have to follow weekly, it can feel like a drag and a grind, and it can takes years to get accostumed to it.
however, i believe that Daniel has not read past the ending of Wano, and we already 25 chapters past it, and each and every one of those chapters have been great, and the Manga is now at an insane peak naratively speaking.
I’ve just started One Piece, I had been holding off until I had every volume and I couldn’t get the 3 box set for ages. But I’ve now started and can’t wait to get through it.
@@InfamyOrDeath-__- you in for a ride! are you more of a book reader or you have tried Manga before? people who don't know Manga and aren't used to them could be a bit weirded out, since One Piece art is a bit cartoonish(on purpose) and also quite outdated especially the older chapters since they were drawn 25 years ago. but One Piece is one of the greatest stories of modern times.
Bah! I've been reading weekly for over 15 years and I love it!
@@illithidlore me 2, but there are a lot of things about One Piece that people need to get used to when starting it, especially if they are not Manga/Anime fans.
@@MrGalRoz yeah, they need to get used to not being little bitches!
The Green Bone saga got me back into reading, nor could I have imagined that I would finish a trilogy in 2 weeks; coming from not reading for pleasure for the better part of 12 years.. I'm happy.. what can I say?. Buying a bookshelf .. starting Red Rising, and The Poppy War.
nice. I'm almost done with mistborn era 2, green bone saga is next
This is great. I LOVED The Green Bone Saga and still think about it all the time. Also enjoyed The Poppy War trilogy. Haven't read Red Rising yet but it's on the list.
I'm most of the way through Jade City right now. It's alright. I'm not entirely certain what the hype is about.
Hopefully Dresden Files redeems itself for you once 12 Months comes out and you do see the full after effects of Peace Talks/Battlegrounds (which def. needs to be read as a single book). I agree with you that The Law felt weird in the fact that there was a tiny mention of aftermath, and then they just tried to plod on like nothing really happened. I think a short story that took place, not between the gargantuan events of Battle Grounds and 12 Months would have been better.
I have high hopes for 12 Months as well. Butcher showed with Ghost Story that he knows the story needs to slow down a bit after big events like Changes/Battle Ground.
I just finished Battle Ground, and my mind is blown. I absolutely love Dresden Files. I haven't read The Law. Actually I don't read any of the novellas. No particular reason... I just stick to the novels. There's enough of them lol. I'm guessing I'm not missing too much by skipping those?
Dresden files is absolutely amazing series battle grounds had it problems but show me wrighter with 15 20 books to his. Name in. A single series let alone all together who cares if a few books at the end were a bit off the ending wasn't what I wanted but I respect it
I do respect one aspect of the criticism.... I miss the ways of the early books, even if not as well crafted in some ways... the setting of the private eye with magic in a mundane world, facing the bizarre, but not things that threaten thousands, or millions, of people. The curse that kills a couple, not the one that kills a bloodline, or a species... smaller scale, more real.... I mean, one baddie was so tough a character led it to an atomic testing site....
I think Jim has improved as a writer, but this is like Superman originally jumping over buildings, he couldn't fly, and eventually being capable of flying faster than light...
I have to say, this video felt very classic Daniel. Very well put together, transparency about what he has and hasn't read, no fence sitting (not putting LOTR as a default number one and actually taking a stance on that) some solid takes and all round just a fun video. Good to be back.
If you want to get more into Octavia Butler, I highly recommend the Earthseed books. Never have I encountered something so bleak yet somehow so hopeful, if only in the sense of “this is necessary to survive.”
I read those books in June 2020 and oh man, that added an extra layer of impact to what were already impactful stories.
You can count on me pushing Red Rising to the top of my TBR, and then auditioning for a role in the adaptation
Just gave the Witcher saga a reread and it is great. I think the best aspect of the saga is how Sapkowski satirizes the fantasy genre and makes use of its tropes to enrich the story. It is victim to some classic tropes though (sadly), but overall its best aspects outnumber the bad. Hopefully they grow on you again.
agreed it's in my top 5
If he reread it again hed remember how good it is. Witchers biggest problem is how forgettable the plot is, but reading it during the moment is incredible.
Daniel really gets his favorites impacted by recency. It's quite interesting.
That is kind of the point of a yearly top 10 though
Thats the point lol
As someone with a deep attachment to the Dresden Files, it was the series that made me start reading again as an adult, it hurts to agree with you. Jim Butcher's next entry might addresses some of the issues you rightfully called out. Unless plans have changed from about a year ago, the next entry is supposed to spread over the next year following the events of Peace/Grounds. I'm hoping we get time for Harry to be introspective.
You got me started on Discworld and I could not agree more! My recommendation - start w/ Pyramids, then Small Gods, then Death series. Love all you do! ❤
I started with Pyramids 21 years ago 😢 The series is just absolutely astonishing!
It always makes me so happy when ever I see Discworld on a list!!! No matter where it places (for me it's no.1 but I acknowledge other people have more attachments to other series)
Hey Daniel, great list. I'd love if you got into Gene Wolfe sometime. He's sort of the SFF writer's SFF writer. Dude holds an official Grand Master Award from SFWA, even Le Guin called him "the Melville of science fiction", but he's not covered a lot because his books tend to be complex and full of secrets you only catch on a reread. My favourite SFF series of all-time is his four-part Book of the New Sun (with an optional fifth book as a coda). I'd highly recommend that, along with an accompanying podcast (Alzabo Soup).
He also engineered the machine that makes Pringles. So that's another cool thing about him.
I'll second that recommendation. Even ignoring the ideas he explores, his writing is just beautiful.
The Bobiverse is so much fun that if I find out someone doesn't like it I automatically question all of their life decisions up until that point.
@@Caliban743 "It's fun"
Thats all I ask it to be. :)
I found it to be a pretty eye rolling self insert, though I did enjoy it overall
Question: would Cosmere rank on this list if you broke it up into individual series e.g. would Mistborn or Stormlight make it in individually?
Very, very likely knowing how much he loved mistborn era 1 and stormlight
It makes mine. Especially Mistborn.
I know Dark Tower is a hard one for many to go full out balls to the wall and put it in a top favorite series video. But since it’s my number one all time favorite, I’ve read it 3 times now (16 more to go) I love seeing it even come into honorable mentions for someone as big as Goblin Green so maybe even a few more of the masses can give it a shot.
I only like berserk more
What SK books should one have read before starting the dark tower series?
@@Beekeeper8011salems lot, the stand, and apparently eyes of the dragon tho I haven’t read that one
@@Beekeeper8011 literally none are required. Zero. I had read The Stand before reading it but I hadn’t read Salems Lot until recently and it didn’t hinder my enjoyment and now reading both it really honestly wouldn’t effect your reading. None of the Tower will be ruined if you haven’t read any of the connected books. The thing is they’re all just little nods here and there it’s not like John Gwynne where you have to read The Faithful and the Fallen before Of Blood and Bone ya know?
@@Beekeeper8011tbh only Salem's lot it'll help later on in the series to know a certain character. Otherwise nothing is required. Don't listen to anyone saying the stand 😂
My top ten are (in no order) Gentleman Bastards, Rivers of London, Wayward Children, Skulduggery Pleasant, Earthsea, Abhorsen, Song of the Lioness, Shannara, Discworld, and Gunpowder Mage. I do have some honourable mentions: Howl's Moving Castle (only read the first book), Wheel of Time (only read the first book), The Last Dragon Slayer, and Nevermoor.
Liking for skulduggery pleasant. Although only the first nine in the original series for me
The Hyperion Cantos changed me. The Bobiverse was an extremely fun thought experiment. I'd like to add my own honorable mention: The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir was a ton of fun. Hard to compete with space necromancers and an evolving love story that doesn't follow the formulas.
Hyperion was so good, but the Endymion books were not great IMO. Near the end I just couldn't care about the whole made-up religion aspect of it, like yes I get it that Aniya is Jesus, I don't care though!!!
I was surprised that Asoiaf didn’t even make your honorable mentions. I think I remember a top 10 video of yours where it was around number 4. Did anything happen to make you really fall out of love with the series?
I noticed that too. He also really dropped Dresden Files without anything changing since the last book. I think he's just mostly changing things up a bit so some new titles get discussed. After all, if his yearly top 10 was the same every year it wouldn't very interesting now would it.
Berserk and One Piece are two of my favorite series of all time so it’s so cool to see them both land on your Top 10, the content you’ve made on them is some of my favorite too especially Berserk
his one piece reviews were nothing special but his berserk reviews was the best on youtube barring alexenterprises
@@apostle9209
He had quite invalid opinions for example
Wyalds criticism
Etc
But I enjoyed them
When talking about alexenterprises
He has good analysis but his critics of bonebeard(important character for Isidro development) and puck while not providing proper reasoning is what I didn't like.
@@mr.gamerkabir8142 bonebeard part is subjective, the boat arc took 7 long years to complete for a relatively slow paced arc with low tensions, people who binged the arcs shouldn't find any major issue with it. Some of max derrat's videos on berserk are top tier material too, if you haven't watched
@@apostle9209 I loved those max derrat videos
Would highly recommend berserkdude
I completely understand your bonebeard part
Plus, that section of story is like 30 chapters long and we have crazy stuff
If you will watch
Alex definitely showed those as more objective than subjective critics
@@mr.gamerkabir8142 haven't watched berserkdude, will check him out
I love the direction Dresden Files has taken. The slow opening of the world was done incredibly well in my opinion and I think Battle ground blew open the door
Daniel: "I am surprised to see book this high"
Daniel: Also created the list
Love to see The Bloodsworn on there 🤩. Happy that Red Rising, Farseer and First Law are here as well!
Bruh…. Dark Age (red rising book 5) was insane, I’ve never had a book pull me in and feel what the characters were feeling 😵💫
Ouch , that dresden fall hurts. I found Daniel around the time he started reading it and following his discovery is part of what kept me around in the beginning.
That was my thought too
What's funny is he dropped Dresden and there really hasn't been any new books since he ranked them high. I wouldn't put too much stock into that.
Holy crap I loved red rising. Loved the way the book ended honestly. Book 2 is really freaking amazing as well
My Current Top 10
1. The Wheel of time
2.The Cosmere
3. A Song of Ice and Fire
4. The Lord of the Rings
5. First Law World
6. Inheritance Cycle
7. The Green Bone Saga
8. The Realm of the Elderlings (still reading this series)
9. Kingkiller Chronicle
10. Lightbringer Saga
Honorable mentions: Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus series, and the Hobbit all got me into the Fantasy Genre
Really want to get into the Dark Tower Series after I finish the Realm of the Elderlings series. The Stand and 11-22-63 by Stephen King were fantastic!
Lightbringer severely underrated. Glad to see it on your list!
what about the Inheritance Cycle? is it good? worth it?
@Sebastian Tavera Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle is immature and derivative by comparison to the rest on the list, but it's a particularly popular series, at least for those of us who read it earlier in our fantasy journey. It can be very entertaining for teens and is still highly valued by many of us adults. It's relatively simple and accessible high fantasy. If you tend to enjoy most fantasy and read Paolini's with low expectations, you might enjoy it.
inheritance over kingkiller??
I have such complicated thoughts on Kingkiller chronicles. Name of the Wind might be, stand alone, my favorite fantasy book I've ever read. I also do really love the Wise Man's Fear. I think its mostly held back by the facts I no longer believe it will be completed.
The one piece comment, as a life long fan whose been with it since 12, I 100% agree that post timeskip, I have been feeling less invested. The underdogness of the crew has filled and since the crew has been getting larger, it's been harder to give everyone appropriate screen time. It's getting easier and easier for members of the straw hat to feel lost in the frills in the arc
My favourite part of One Piece was the discovery, the adventure and the crew just being goofballs or interacting, with the occasional epic or sad moment.
Now everything is more serious, we stay wayyyy longer on each island and the crew is separated the vast majority of the time.
The One Piece magic is gone for me, and I'll probably read it when it's finished.
While i also love the feeling of the pretime skip world, one piece actually is doing something that few other shonen manga dare to do (aside from being 1100 chapters xD) but its lets its protagonists advance in the world not just in power, most shonen end with the protagonist being like the strongest person on earth yet somehow still being treated like a novice, while everything feels more serious and i miss the old tone and i think a middle ground could be found i respect that oda let his character grow in more than just power and that the crew actions have tangible effects in the world
From the person who sent you Parable of the Sower back in 2020, I’m SO HAPPY to see Octavia Butler on this list!! 💚💚
Personally I find it difficult to group the Cosmere altogether as 1 entity. Despite a few connections here and there, at present the stories are not intertwined enough for me to view them as a collective.
My personal top 10:
1. A Song of Ice and Fire (first 3 books only, don't like 4-5)
2. Chronicles of Amber
3. The Stormlight Archive
4. Harry Potter
5. Malazan Book of the Fallen
6. The Wheel of Time
7. Mistborn
8. Lord of the Rings
9. His Dark Material
10. Discworld
Lots of others that are very very good as well, we are very spoilt for choice in this genre.
My top 10, this is largely subjective. (also not listing any manga)
1.) Kingkiller Chronicles (the series that got me into reading as an adult)
2.) Cosmere
3.) Greenbone Saga (honestly really surprised it's this high, but very well deserved)
4.) Realm of the Elderlings (Fitz is my son)
5.) Sun Eater by Christopher Ruocchio (favorite scifi series of all time. Patrick Rothfuss prose, with dune politics/world. The Author likes to sell this series as and I quote "what if Anakin becoming Vader was the right choice")
6.) Dungeon Crawler Carl (the only series I actually laughed out loud in. System Apocolypse, and very fun and enjoyable read. Favorite audiobooks of all time)
7.) He who fights with monsters (I'm a big fan of Anime/manga in general, especially isekai stuff, and this is at the top for me in that type of genre. Litrpg/isekai)
8.) Dresden Files (always a fun time)
9.) Kings dark tidings (if your a fan of Kvothe (kingkiller chronicle) you'll enjoy this alot. Semi-epic fantasy that has (almost) John Gwynne level of fight scenes and romance!)
10.) Mother of Learning (Harry potter if it had a hard magic system, and a time loop story. Self-Pub. Just recently finished releasing on kindle.)
Honorable mentions: First Law, Gentlemen bastards, Arcane Ascension, Red Rising Saga, WOT.
thanks so much! I needed more book recs!
I'm sitting down and reading Lord of the Rings to my daughter right now, and just floored at how good it is. I would have also said, it's not what I'm feeling right now, but about ten pages in I was like... Oh yeah, yeah this is great. Mostly because the prose is beautiful and economical. Yes it's wordy, but it's a dense kind of wordy that communicates a ton in a small space.
I mean I'm reading Rhythm of War right now too, and I love stormlight, but bruh. Dem words.
One of the more unique lists I’ve seen.
I’ve not read a lot of fantasy, but my current personal favorite is ASOIAF and it’s hard to imagine a series being as good.
I'm reading those now, and I do enjoy the books, but there is sooooo much better fantasy that ASOIAF.
I got into reading and fantasy as an adult because of Asoiaf and it’s one of my favourite things ever, but you need to read The First Law series. It’s largely inspired by Asoiaf and has a lot of the same strengths. It’s the only series that I think has better characters than Asoiaf. The plot starts a little slow, but once it picks up, it’s easily the best book series I’ve read. The series start with The Blade Itself and it’s two sequels. After that there are 3 standalone books and a short story collection that dive into different characters and parts of the world. Then there is another trilogy called the Age of Madness, which mostly follows the children of people from the first trilogy. If you like Asoiaf and can handle a bit of depression I can guarantee you will love the series
@@smuckfuzzer Debatable, there are series that do certain things better, but aSoIaF is overall one of the best in doing everything extraordinarly well. It doesn't need to be your favorite, but it's unfair saying there is "sooooo much better fantasy" then it, there are series I would consider as good as it, but it's still with those series at the pinnacle of the genre.
I just refuse to start that series until I know there's an ending coming.
Even if ADOS never comes out, you will miss out on so much by skipping it entirely@@TheRayfield77
My top ten, and I don't care how basic I am bc of it:
1. Realm of the Elderlings - Robin Hobb
2. ASOIAF - GRRM
3. Stormlight Archives - Brandon Sanderson (not the whole cosmere)
4. Coldfire Trilogy - C.S. Friedman
5. LOTR - Tolkien
6. Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
7. Lightbringer - Brent Weeks
8. Broken Earth Trilogy - N.K. Jemisin
9. Dragaera Series - Steven Brust
10. Chronicles of Lumineia - Ben Hale
I was literally sitting there yesterday wondering what series I should try next, so this is great timing!
My top ten (ranked but many of them could switch places based on my mood tbh):
1. Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin
2. Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb
3. The Culture by Iain M Banks
4. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
5. A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin
6. Hainish Cycle by Ursula K Le Guin
7. Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
8. Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
9. First Law by Joe Abercrombie
10. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
Was mildly miffed at LOTR at 10 but then got excited because if there's something better than LOTR I'm in for a treat
1. Wheel of Time, always and forever!
2. Dune series…all of them…
3. Kingkiller Chronicles
4. Song of Ice & Fire, so far
5. LOTR
6. Stormlight Archive
7. Greenbone saga
8. Dragonriders of Pern
9. Rift War Saga (Magician Apprentice series)
10. Dark Elf trilogy
11. Rings of the Master, for some light SciFi fun
What I love most about these lists and is they were the first videos I watched of yours several years ago and when I first watched them did not recognize a single series. Now not only do I recognize all of them but I’ve read half of them. Thank you so much for getting me into reading as an adult. You the best❤
I'll do fantasy/SciFi top 5
5. The Infinite Timeline
4. Mistborn
3. The Faithful and the Fallen
2. The Expanse
1. Red Rising
Do you think your view of Dresden files is affected by reading most of them in a row and now we have a large break for the next book?
It’s tough to make a top 10 list because you have to exclude people’s personal favourites. I appreciate that you’re giving your honest opinions and I hope you never feel like your have to lie to us in order to placate others.
I like how consistent you are, because even though we heavily disagree (WOT isn't even in my top 20) you are consistent. It makes your reviews easy to level with my own thoughts and understand if I will or won't like a book. Thanks for the content!
Great list and gave me some new stuff to check out!
1. Lord of the Rings
2. Wheel of Time
3. Cosmere
4. The First Law
5. Harry Potter
6. Red Rising
7. The Kingkiller Chronicle
8. Percy Jackson and the Olympians
9. Artemis Fowl
10. The Poppy War
I love red rising and Pierce Brown dude. My favourite series of all time, was super happy to see it make it on here!!!❤
Loved this video!
I can’t do a top ten really, I am indecisive as heck. But here are some that are currently in my feels:
-Terra Ignota by Ada Palmer
-One Hundred Years of Solitude
-Hexarchate series by Yoon Ha Lee
-anything sci-fi by Le Guin
-Realm of the Elderlings
-Ancillary series by Anne Leckie
I read Terra Ignota recently. It's not at all the kind of series I usually read, but I found myself loving so many aspects of it regardless. Definitively my favorite sci-fi series ever, although I haven't read much sci-fi.
Hopefully one day you have the time to reread The Dresden Files series again. I'm pretty sure the series will shot through our top once again. Butcher managed to create such a fast paced story without sacrificing characterization and depth, that it feels like magic sometimes. This is also true for Peace Talks and Battle Ground, that while not the pinnacle of Dresden, they're still good entries.
I just finished Battle Ground... and it makes me want to go back and re-read Dresden from the start. Such a great story. It's gone on long enough though and I hope there is a finality coming for it. It's certainly getting epic enough for it.
@@TheRayfield77 The series just gets better with multiple rereads. You get so much nuance and make so many new connections in the story. It's great.
I enjoy the subtle changes and little shifts in your top 10(11) list and the mentions. I love to see the dark tower in there, it was the first of the longer series I've read and it's kind of like my childhood as a reader - I will always love those books, and the nostalgic effect is very strong.
Personal top 10 rn:
1. Discworld
2. Middle Earth
3. First Law
4. Realm of the Elderlings
5. Malazan
6. Warlord Chronicles
7. Hainish Cycle
8. Guy Gavriel Kay stuff
9. Conan
10. Wheel of Time
I have you to thank for getting me into my favorite series of all time--Discworld I look forward to trying out Jade City, Hyperion, and Berzerk.
Nice that you got Conan on your list, I think Robert E. Howard is kinda overlooked when looking at the current state of the genre, considering his amount of influence. Did you read the Del Rey editions? If not, I do recommend them.
I've read a few GGK stuff. I really enjoyed his work too. I'm not seeing him mentioned much so I thought I'd second it.
I only just got back into reading, so I don't feel like I've read enough to have a "top 10" yet, but the books/series that I've read this year that I've thoroughly enjoyed (in no particular order)
- Mistborn Trilogy (Eras 1 & 2)
- The Dresden Files (1 - 6)
- Eye of the World
- Elantris
- The Hobbit
- Forgetting Moon
In the process of reading more & hopefully will get to Warbreaker, then Stormlight Archives by the holiday season.
So. Stormlight is not in your top 10? I would definitely seperate it from the cosmere as one series.
Even if it separated , not every1 need to Like it.
Im Huge fantasy lover and think Sanderson books sucks.
Dune: House Atreides and Dune: House Harkonen are narrated by Tim Curry. So regardless of what you think of the other Dune books or of Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson's writing...it's a must-listen. Last I checked the Tim Curry version was still on TH-cam but if it's not I'll send you the old cassettes.
I think DG needs to read Chapter House and Heretics first 😊
The Cosmere not being in the top ten is shocking. But also, respect!!
Me watching from afar knowing that the Nasuverse exists and Daniel (and a lot of other people) probably will never get into it: 😶😶
It feels like he wanted to seem different so didn't put stormlight in since thats usually in everyone's top 3.
@@demetter7936 Yeah probably. lol
My top ten would be
10. The Scholomance - Naomi Novik
9. The Shades of Magic - V.E. Schwab
8. The Poppy War - K.F. Ruang
7. ASOIAF - GRRM
6. Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
5. Outlander - Diana Gabalton
4. Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo
3. Percy Jackson series - Rick Riordan
2. The Kingskiller Chronicles - Patrick Ruthfuss
1. The Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson
Loved seeing this top 10! I’m right with you on loving Murderbot and Bobiverse even if it’s not so hip these days. Bobiverse is indeed like a comfort read (especially the audio with Ray Porter), but it still has great depth and is full of intriguing thought experiments.
Some day -not today, not tomorrow, not even the day after tomorrow- but some day, the Goblin will read all of the Realm of the Elderlings book and rate them as a complete series and not just the assassin's quest apprentice trilogy. A man gotta dream..some day...
But at least he has started reading them
There are a lot of “older” series that the under 30s are yet to discover
After reading the Green Bone saga I can also say it's a tie with The First Law series in my head
remember that Berserk is supposed to be bump up one number on the ranking ;)
I love the Bobiverse! glad to see it on a list. I think it's pretty underated.
You’ve always given great recommendations. I’ve loved most of them - thanks for the great content Daniel!!
7:22 I'm staring at the movements of the head on Daniel's shirt in response to his arm movements and it's utterly mesmerizing
That "undulate" at 8:36 felt personal 😂
I've been waiting for more Hyperion. Thank you Daniel.
Judging Cosmere as a whole seems weird imo. They barely connect.
Combining them does allow him to fit an extra entry into the list. I think that's probably his reason.
Yeah Stormlight is in my top ten but i really dislike Mistborn.
@@waslasch I’m struggling to get through mistborn rn lol, I want to give stormlight a try tho
@@Duncdunc2377 in my opinion stormlight is much more difficult to get through, but I also love Mistborn. May I ask which book you’re on?
@@altaccount5991 the hero of ages, I actually liked the second book the most so I think when I got to that one I just kind of struggled but I picked it back up and I’m little over half way hoping to finish this weekend
Posted at the same time as I'm looking for a new series to read. Excellent timing!
Berserk also makes me want to grab people and go "READ THIS. I need you to feel the emotions it has inflicted on me too!"
Yea it’s without compare for me, such an incredible story.
My personal list:
1. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
2. The Greenbone Saga by Fonda Lee
3. The Gentleman Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch
4. Red Rising by Pierce Brown
5. Mistborn Era One by Brandon Sanderson
6. Fullmetal Alchemist by Hirmomu Arakawa
7. Middle-earth by J.R.R. Tolkien
8. Saga by Brian K. Vaughn
9. Book of the Ancestor by Mark Lawrence
10. The First Law and The Great Leveler by Joe Abercrombie
Honorable Mentions:
Bobiverse by Dennis E. Taylor
The Legend of Drizzt 1 - 6 by R.A. Salvatore
Dishonorable Mentions:
The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
The Dune Chronicles by Frank Herbert
Potential Risers:
The Burning by Evan Winter
Glass Immortals by Brian McClellan
The Legend of Drizzt by R.A. Salvatore
Yes, I need to read more series. And yes, I need to read more Red Rising, and more Middle-Earth, and I need to start Malazan, and I need to read Discworld, and Wheel of Time, and everything else too. And also I do need to read more First Law.
I'm not really into anime/manga anymore after consuming a lot of it when I was younger, but FMA and a few others will probably always remain in my mind as some of the best stories I've ever experienced
Hyped to see Berserk at #4 after completely catching up. This is what I wished for since Daniel dropped it 2 years ago 🙏
Honestly, the best way to describe Red Rising is exactly how you said it: "It's Fu**ing COOL!" Has become my #2 favourite series.
What's #1?
Man I never get tired of hearing you gush about Berserk, it's something I'm also relatively new to, only discovering the anime about a month before Miura passed and reading the deluxe editions (and watching your reviews) genuinely kept me going through some of the darkest parts of the pandemic. It's a deeply personal story to me now, and I'm glad it seems to resonate with you in a similar way as it did to me.
Someone explain to me how at 5:29 he counts to four on his hand using every finger but his pinky.
I agree on your opinion on the witcher books. As time went by, Sapkowski's work has not stuck with me the same way others like Joe Abercrombie's has
Abercrombie's character work in the first law etc is on another stratosphere compared to sapkowski.
@@RadiantMan08 agreed ✊🏾
i completely agree with your opinions on dune! genuinely thought i was the only one that felt that way
Okay man this is gonna take a minute to think about...
#5: Percy Jackson: I'm sure if I thought about it more I could find 100 different series that are better than Percy Jackson but I feel like i have to include it because it was the first series I was completely lost in. When I was a kid I would read the entire series then do it again less than a month later. It cemented my love of Mythology.
#4: Bloodsworn Saga, honestly this series is among what I would consider as the greatest books of all time. Also this was the first series that put me in a genuine reading slump because nothing would compare, but since its unfinished i'm not ready to bump it up further and I don't think it'll surpass 1 or 2.
#3: Stormlight Archive, even though it isn't finished I still think about it all the time and have even gone out of my way to buy copies of this to try and force people to read.
#2: Wheel of Time, this was my top series for YEARS and honestly if I do a full reread of the series it could potentially be back to number one, but recently number one has edged it out.
#1:Tolkienverse, Recently I have dove so much deeper into the lore of Middle Earth and it's reinforced my love of it exponentially, if I had to choose one book in the Tolkienverse I would probably choose the odd answer by saying the Silmarillion. I know a lot of people struggle with it but I loved every page and I have been thinking of picking up another copy of it to annotate it. The lore in every single ounce of the tales of Middle Earth are just oozing with heart and even though the Silmarillion is BRUTAL and genuinely the people of Beleriand are just handed L after L there still is a fragment of hope within that really resonates with me. Also the fact that the written language (Tengwar) is so cool that i've been learning how to read and write it has brought another level of appreciation for me to Tolkien.
anyways sorry for the lengthy response I just got into it lol
No asoiaf is wild but respect the boldness
Just because someone isn't a fan of Berserk doesn't mean they don't understand it or are missing its' beauty. I wish people would stop assuming that anyone who doesn't enjoy a work that has wide critical acclaim has a bad taste or is simply ignorant and remember that personal tastes and preferences exist.
Also, am i the only one who feels like Bobiverse is just one huge fanfiction? Like, the main character is an obvious author self-insert and it just feels like a Dennis E. Taylor's power fantasy where he is the super competent and smart protagonist solving humanity's problems.
I need to delve into some of those. Haven't had much time for reading lately. But I need to pick it up back again.
You should give The Traitor Son Cycle a shot. Definitely one of my favorites for this year.
Subscribed for, including number five on this list. I’ve been watching a couple of these list videos and this is the first time that my favorite manga of all time in one of my favorite fantasy series is getting the recognition it deserves. Thank you.
Sanderson: *Blast everyone out of the water with several excellent books.*
Daniel: *Ehhhhh, still not good enough.*
Least obvious troll comment 😂
I just finished Assassin's Apprentice for the first time, and it's possibly one of the best works I have read. You are spot-on on how incredible it is as a piece of character work and something writers can learn from.
You could check out "The Legend of the Galactic Heroes." It's a great series (10 books, but they are not that big). It's considered a sci-fi masterpiece. It's like A Song of Ice and Fire, but better
you’re so real for putting green bone saga and first law high up there (and in close contention with each other too)
It's personally Interesting hearing that the Red Rising series is up there for you. I loved the first 3 books but dropped the 4th fairly early on. It drug the series down for me. Maybe I'll give them another shot after hearing your praise of the new stuff
Personally I thought Iron Gold was a slog to get through but it sets up a lot for the next book. Dark Age was one of the best books I've ever read and makes getting through Iron Gold completely worth it!
Agreed I had a hard time getting through Iron Gold but after I moved to the next book and got used to the more POVs I found myself really enjoying the sequels
Same, I loved the first book, liked the next two then dropped the series after book 4, I wasn't enjoying the extra povs and some of the conflicts just started to feel like a drag for me.
Iron Gold does a slow build up but when you get to the ending and then to Dark Age you get to see the brilliance of the sequel series.
@@sarahcox8926 I've tried 3 times to read Iron Gold and failed
Having read the Liveship Trilogy & Stormlight Archive books 1 to 4 in no small part due to your channel; i am very interested to see what made it on the list.
I actually think book five of Dune, Heretics of Dune, is really really good! It gets into the galaxy wide consequences of the Tyrant in Book 4. The Scattering and the return are incredibly interesting and creative world-building ideas. Book six is very skipable if you want, but book five has the best lore and world building of the series, even if the classic structure of the hero’s journey from book one isn’t there.
I hated Heretics. Still think it's the worst Dune book and I haven't gone on to book 6 because of it.
I loved 5 and 6, and after at least 4 rereads of entire series, they are two I look forward to the most, along with books 1 and 4
@@heatherauton655 I love 1, 5, 3, and 4, probably in that order. Book 2 is fine, just not as much there there. By no means is Chapterhouse a bad book but I thinks it a clear step behind the rest, just my opinion.
@@esperensnare A lot of it had to do with it being so far in the future that all of the characters were new faces, (except for a Ducan ghola cause of course there was another one) plus there was so much you had to learn again with planets having different names, and I've never been a fan of the Bene Gesserits. Also didn't care for the Honored Matres and their sex powers.