Best Fantasy Books of 2022

The Fantasy Novels of 2022 That Won Awards and Readers' Votes

See the ranking

Which fantasy novels defined 2022? This list ranks the year's books by how many independent signals back them: the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy and Locus awards, and the Goodreads Choice Awards, where readers vote.

Books that won or were shortlisted for several awards come first, followed by the books readers voted for most.

The ranking

1

Babel

Babel

From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use o...

Buy on Amazon About this book

2

Nettle & Bone

Nettle & Bone

by Kingfisher, T

After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself....

Buy on Amazon About this book

3

Legends & Lattes

Legends & Lattes

by Baldree, Travis

Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to...

Buy on Amazon About this book

4

Spear

Spear

by Griffith, Nicola

A girl raised alone in the woods by her mother has a gift for talking to animals and a love of fighting. Disguised as a boy, she sets out to find the court of King Arthur and prove that she belongs among his knights, und...

Buy on Amazon About this book

5

Saint Death's Daughter

Saint Death's Daughter

by Cooney, C. S. E.

Lanoree Stones is a necromancer who can't stand violence, raised by the ghost of her family's servant in a mansion in the city of Liriat, where her father was the Royal Assassin and her mother the Chief Executioner. When...

Buy on Amazon About this book

6

House of Sky and Breath

House of Sky and Breath

by Maas, Sarah J.

Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar are trying to get back to normal―they may have saved Crescent City, but with so much upheaval in their lives lately, they mostly want a chance to relax. Slow down. Figure out what the futur...

Buy on Amazon About this book

7

Fairy Tale

Fairy Tale

by King, Stephen

A #1 New York Times Bestseller and New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice!Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who...

Buy on Amazon About this book

8

The Atlas Six

The Atlas Six

by Blake, Olivie

The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will...

Buy on Amazon About this book

9

The Ballad of Perilous Graves

The Ballad of Perilous Graves

by Jennings, Alex

In Nola, an alternate New Orleans where magic runs on music, Perry is a failed magician who knows the city's rhythm better than anyone. When the city's Great Magician starts turning up in strange places and nine songs of...

Buy on Amazon About this book

10

Siren Queen

Siren Queen

In a Hollywood of the 1930s where the studios run on magic and every starlet is paid for in blood, Luli Wei, a young Chinese American woman, is determined to be a movie star, even though the roles that are open to her ar...

Buy on Amazon About this book

11

The Lost Metal

The Lost Metal

by Sanderson, Brandon

An all-new 120-page Stormlight Archive novella, "Edgedancer," will be the crown jewel of Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection, the first book of short fiction by #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderso...

Buy on Amazon About this book

12

The Golden Enclaves

The Golden Enclaves

by Novik, Naomi

De Gouden Enclaves is het superspannende slotdeel van Naomi Noviks SCHOLOMANCE-serie. Het verhaal over een duistere tovenares wier lot het is om de regels van magie te herschrijven.\ \ El is uit de Scholomance ontsnapt,...

Buy on Amazon About this book

13

Daughter of the Moon Goddess

Daughter of the Moon Goddess

by Tan, Sue Lynn

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the powerful Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin's magic flare...

Buy on Amazon About this book

14

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

by Mandanna, Sangu

Mika Moon is a witch who has spent her life hiding her magic, and posts jokey videos online pretending to be one. When a retired actor recognises her as the real thing, he invites her to Nowhere House in Norfolk, to tuto...

Buy on Amazon About this book

15

The Book Eaters

The Book Eaters

Truth is found between the stories we're fed and the stories we hunger for.Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book's content after eating it. To them...

Buy on Amazon About this book

16

When Women Were Dragons

When Women Were Dragons

by Barnhill, Kelly

In 1955, thousands of American women, wives and mothers among them, change into dragons in a single day and fly away. Alex Green is a little girl when her aunt Marla goes with them, and everyone around her pretends that...

Buy on Amazon About this book

17

Kaikeyi

Kaikeyi

by Patel, Vaishnavi

This is the story of the chief 'Bad Girl' of the Hindu epic the 'Ramayana.' imaginative and well-written, it is a defiantly feminist view of the start of the myth, and the forces that drove her to her present situation a...

Buy on Amazon About this book

18

The World We Make

The World We Make

by Jemisin, N. K.

Every great city has a soul. A human avatar that embodies their city’s heart and wields its magic. New York? She’s got six.But all is not well in the city that never sleeps. Though Brooklyn, Manny, Bronca, Venezia, Padmi...

Buy on Amazon About this book

19

The Stardust Thief

The Stardust Thief

by Abdullah, Chelsea

Neither here nor there, but long ago…Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws...

Buy on Amazon About this book

20

A River Enchanted

A River Enchanted

by Ross, Rebecca

Jack Tamerlaine left the island of Cadence ten years ago to train as a bard. Now he is called back to the home he hoped to leave behind, where young girls are disappearing. His childhood rival, Adaira, needs his help to...

Buy on Amazon About this book

Load more books

Trending Books in Best Fantasy Books of 2022

A River Enchanted

A River Enchanted

Buy on Amazon

The Book Eaters

The Book Eaters

Buy on Amazon

Daughter of the Moon Goddess

Daughter of the Moon Goddess

Buy on Amazon

Spear

Spear

Griffith, Nicola

Buy on Amazon

Saint Death's Daughter

Saint Death's Daughter

Cooney, C. S. E.

Buy on Amazon

House of Sky and Breath

House of Sky and Breath

Buy on Amazon

Fairy Tale

Fairy Tale

Buy on Amazon

The Atlas Six

The Atlas Six

Buy on Amazon

When Women Were Dragons

When Women Were Dragons

Barnhill, Kelly

Buy on Amazon

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Mandanna, Sangu

Buy on Amazon

Trending Fantasy Booklists

Top 25 Best Fantasy Books

Love fantasy novels? Hate wasting time reading trash? Then read this definitive guide to the top 25 Fantasy books in the genre.

Top 100 Fantasy Books

The Top 100 Best Fantasy Books Ever Written

Top 50 Best Epic Fantasy

The Absolute Best Epic Fantasy Series

Fantasy Books of the Year

Every Fantasy Release of 2026, Ranked by Reader Votes

Top 25 Best Fantasy Books of the 90's

The Best Fantasy Books Published in the 1990's

Best Fantasy Books of 2026 So Far

The Standout Fantasy Releases of 2026 So Far