Books like Sanderson and ACOTAR: epic fantasy to read next
If you love hard magic, ancient gods and characters worth crying over, here is where to go next, plus a new 2026 trilogy written for exactly that reader.
By Vasif Naseer, fantasy author · 28 October 2026
What readers of Sanderson and Maas have in common
Sanderson readers come for magic with rules and a world with history under every stone. A Court of Thorns and Roses readers come for immortal courts, danger and love that costs something. The books that satisfy both crowds tend to share three things: a world older than its characters, power that is inherited and dangerous, and a found family at the centre.
Six books to read next
Mistborn: The Final Empire
Brandon Sanderson
A heist against an immortal emperor in a world of ash, powered by one of fantasy's best-loved hard magic systems.
The Way of Kings
Brandon Sanderson
The first Stormlight Archive novel: a vast world, ancient oaths returning, and characters carrying enormous burdens.
The Fifth Season
N. K. Jemisin
The first Broken Earth novel: a world that keeps ending, people born with dangerous power, and a hunted family.
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas
A human huntress taken into a fae land of courts, curses and old powers, with romance at its core.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon
A standalone epic of dragons, queens and an ancient evil stirring after a thousand years.
Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo
A young woman discovers a rare inherited power and is pulled into a war fought by those born with magic.
New for 2026: Fractured Light
Fractured Light: Echoes of the Ancients is my debut, the first book in a new epic fantasy trilogy, and I wrote it for readers who live in those worlds. The gods of this world, the Ancients, were sealed away a thousand years ago to hide the world's power from a thing that eats it. Now the seal is failing.
Thrain, the last of a hunted giant bloodline, finds Fen, a white-haired boy who becomes a great black wolf. The magic runs on bloodlines and costs, the Sanderson thread. The immortal realm of elves, fae and old court politics is the ACOTAR thread. A broken world under a cracking sky, with gods who are far from gentle, is the Jemisin thread. And at its heart is the found family between a giant and a wolf-child who should never have met.
It is free with Kindle Unlimited, and you can read the whole first chapter here before you decide.
Try Fractured Light
Free with Kindle Unlimited, £3.99 on Kindle, or £14.99 in paperback.
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