I'm a simple man. I see a top ten by Mike, I click on it at the speed of light.

I never get sick of these videos

GRRM's prose can be really addictive. Especially in Clash of Kings.

I totally agree. People are starting to lose interest in Asoiaf because it has been a long time since the last release, the books aren't getting finished and the show finale sucked, but these five books are still incredibly good!

Totaly agree with your opinion on Harry Potter. I read it last year, as a 19 year old, and absolutely loved it. My grandma of 72 is reading it right now and is loving it!

My top 1) The first law
2) Discworld
3) Dresden files
4) Stormlight archives
5) Harry Potter

1- Elric of Melniboné - Michael Moorcock

I would include Robert E. Howard's fantasy universe, including Conan, Kull, Solomon Kane, & Bran Mak Morn. One of the greatest writers who ever lived.

ASOIAF will always be my favorite. It was my first love. I thought that it would lessen my enjoyment of other books since it was my first time reading fantasy but no. And it still stands the test of time with me now that I’m 200+ deep in to SF&F.
Best dialogue, best characters.

10: Realm of the Elderlings
9: Stormlight Archives
8: Faithful and the Fallen
7: Dresden Files
6: Wheel of Time
5: The Dark Tower
4: Harry Potter
3: The First Law
2: Lord of the Rings
1: ASOIAF

My top 5 because I just got back into fantasy 2 years ago
1. Malazan
2. A song of ice and fire
3. First Law
4. Mistborn
5. Ranger’s Apprentice (went unbelievably hard when I was 11)

ASOIAF is #1 for me, and there is no close second. The plot, characters and world building are all amazing. I don’t expect to ever read other books as good as those.

I think the only way it gets finished is if another author completes it after GRRM’s death, similar to Sanderson with WoT.

Dude it feels pretty great to have found your channel years ago when you first started your wheel of time read and to see it in your top ten. I've read it six times and there's still so much to unpack in that series that I pick up on rereads. I just wish you continued Berserk without taking a break for so long, it's easy to forget everything that happens if you put it down partway through but I'm happy that you at least got through a good chunk of it.

I'm about one third of the way through book 3 of the First Law trilogy and I like the series a lot but for some reason it didn't feel like it grabbed me as much as I thought it would from what I've heard about it. Book two honestly was kind of "meh" for the most part, sure there were some very cool moments but it wasn't as great as I was hoping. I will say though that the characters are amazing, I don't think I've ever related to a character more than I have with Glokta and not in the good ways haha. I'm 40 now and I've had a lot of major physical issues and surgeries throughout my life that left me with many physical scars and missing body parts. At 19 I had cancer which required a major jaw surgery including removing an entire 14 inch section of leg bone from my left tibia, which had me limping with a cane for nine months and I still have to be careful with how much weight I put on my leg. The right side of my jaw from the center to my right ear was removed, teeth and all (I had a large malignant tumor in my jaw so the tibia I mentioned was grafted as a replacement jaw and is held with a titanium chain, the x-rays of it look crazy). Five years later i was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and that caused many many issues including erosion of tooth enamel, so I had to have nine teeth pulled and now i have dentures up top. This is along with missing teeth on the entire lower right side of my mouth from the cancer surgery, so I truly understand Glokta when he's talking about missing teeth🤣 Throw in a ruptured intestine last year that almost killed me so there's another major surgery with months of recovery and the list goes on. I should stop rambling now about my problems but the point stands that I truly sympathize with my man Glokta, I just don't share his proclivity for "enhanced interrogation" techniques😅

Anyway sorry for the T.M.I., just wanted to throw in a comment to not only show my appreciation for what you've done with this channel but to explain a bit on why the character of Glokta really resonates with me. Thanks for all you do here Mike I'm a big fan, much love🙏

I'm just thankful we were blessed with 5 awesome books for ASOIAF. Even if the series remains unfinished, it does not diminish the quality of the released books

No.1 Well deserved for ASOIAF, it’s just on another levels imo.

Was glad to hear about you continuing Malazan, I'm looking to start it this year and wondered your thoughts since you haven't talked about it in a while.  Absolutely agree with Song of Ice and Fire, I reread the whole series last year and it's just so good! I think your praising Storm of Swords is actually what got me into your channel since that book is just amazing. I recommend Jemisen's Broken Earth trilogy if you haven't read it yet, we read it for my book club and I enjoyed the world building.

There is something about HP. I was an adult already when they were coming out and as addicted. AND I actually went to Waterstones on Piccadilly and queued overnight for the last book. It was magical. So many people, of all ages, from all around the world, all there for the same thing. The atmosphere was unreal, and I got my book at 2 am. Still remember fondly 😊

Always interesting to see how people's lists change over time. And always a delight to watch your videos and heard your insights!

Found you through your Dresden reviews and I've been here since. Glad it made the list.

A Storm of Swords is perfection