10 best fantasy books for teens
Authority! Identity! Hormones! In this world, being a teenager is hard. Rather than slam your head into the brick walls of this mundane reality, why not use your brain to escape to a faraway world in the pages of a book? Fantasy has always been a way to explore and understand real-life issues. Sometimes, you just have to turn your back on the real world for a minute before it makes sense, or flip this reality the bird and retreat to a made-up one! I don’t judge! Instead, I’ll recommend the 10 best fantasy books for teens to help you do it!
The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell
Author Paul Stewart and illustrator Chris Riddell combine their powers to bring about one of the most underrated youth fantasy series on the market. The Edge Chronicles series is set in what is easily one of the most interesting worlds ever dreamed up: The Edge, a continent-sized mass of rock hanging over oblivion. On the one end: a deep forest teeming with flora and fauna so deadly that no being has made it to the other side. On the other end: the lip of rock that juts out into the open sky.
The Edge Chronicles tells the story of everything that happens between these two poles: a boy raised by trolls goes on a quest to find his real family. A young academic joins a legion of knights to thwart an environmental disaster. A city boy fulfills his dream of becoming a sky pirate captain. In a dazzling world of steampunk and high fantasy, The Edge Chronicles tells captivating tales that can’t be missed.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin is known primarily as a science fiction author whose instant classic The Left Hand of Darkness took a shot at the gender binary decades ahead of its time. Le Guin also tried her hand at young adult fiction and penned a perfect series. A Wizard of Earthsea is the first of her Earthsea saga, set in the globe-spanning archipelago of islands known as Earthsea. The story centers around a young wizard named Ged, who journeys away from his home to become the greatest wizard in the world.
Rather than just throwing fireballs, Earthsea’s magic is based on the true names of things. By learning the ancient names of the wind, the sea, and the sky, a wizard can manipulate the workings of the natural world while maintaining harmony alongside it. Earthsea is a series about the pursuit of wisdom and the courage and restraint a wizard must cultivate to become a true master of magic.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Written by Nigerian-American novelist Tomi Adeyemi, Children of Blood and Bone tells the story of Zélie, a young girl who is part of a magical people known as diviners. Jealous of the diviners’ abilities, King Saran of the Kosidán figured out a way to sever their connection to the magical world for good, forcing them into servitude. To restore her people’s connection to their magic, Zélie sets out to defeat King Saran with the help of his rebellious daughter, Princess Amari. Children of Blood and Bone is unique among fantasy stories for its West African-inspired setting and tackles mature themes surrounding race, class, oppression, and revolution.
His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series has the most badass one-sentence summary: a little girl sets out on a quest to kill God. In an Edwardian world almost like London, the young Lyra Belacqua runs afoul of a globe-conquering religious organization after learning a secret of the universe that is heretical to the church’s teaching. Using an ancient compass that allows her insight into the future, Lyra sets out on a quest to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos, even if it means toppling Heaven itself.
While Lyra’s journey sends her bounding through a multiverse full of talking polar bear warriors, gay angels, and soul-sucking ghosts, at the center of it all is a love story that turns the religious concept of original sin on its ear. In Pullman’s world, sin isn’t just a natural part of the human experience—it’s what makes us divine.
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim takes place in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world and centers around a young princess named Shiori’anma, daughter of the Emperor of Kiata. We find Shiori on what’s supposed to be the happiest day of her life—her wedding day—ruined by the fact that she never wanted to get married in the first place. Her emotions reach a boiling point, sending the long-forbidden magic that flows through her veins cascading out.
As punishment, she’s banished by her stepmother, who also turns Shiori’s six brothers into the titular cranes. Shiori’s step-mom hits even lower by putting a curse on Shiori: for every word she speaks, one of her brothers will die. Broke, banished, and silenced, Shiori now has to go on a quest to save her brothers and her throne. But she’s got help! A paper crane, a dragon, and her ex-fiancé. Name a better dream team. I’ll wait.
Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White
Andrew Joseph White’s Hell Followed With Us is the story of a trans boy named Benji stuck in the last situation any trans person wants to find themselves in: on the run from a religious cult. Tragically, this cult was actually right about some theological matters and used its theological knowledge to bring about the literal End of the World. More tragically, before Benji could escape, the cult infected him with a super-virus meant to mop off the survivors of Armageddon.
Lucky for Benji, he’s able to join a teenage group of ragtag queer rebels led by the charismatic Nick, who may hold the secret to controlling Benji’s mutations. It’s an allegory for religious trauma set during the events of Revelation—I can’t imagine any setting more fitting.
The Bartimaeus Sequence by Jonathan Stroud
Johnathan Stroud’s The Bartimaeus Sequence is a bit like The Edge Chronicles, a series of absolute bangers denied its due. The Sequence takes place in a parallel world not unlike our own, save for one minor detail: demons are real. It turns out that most of human history can be explained by demons. How did the British Empire conquer the world? Demons. How did modern technologies like lightbulbs and cars get invented? Demons. The book’s plot? You guessed it, demons—one in particular.
The demon protagonist Bartimaeus is summoned into service by a 12-year-old magician’s apprentice named Nathaniel, and while the relationship between human and demon can be described as transactional at best, Bartimaeus’ cold heart slowly warms up to his human masters, and they end up becoming something like friends. Teaming up to defeat a demon with the power to topple a nation will do that sometimes.
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
The first novel in Stephen King’s seven-part Dark Tower series, King began working on The Gunslinger when he was a teenager. At 19 years old, King laid the foundations for his greatest character, the gunslinging knight errant Roland Deschain. Inspired by Robert Browning’s 1852 poem Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, King’s taciturn gunman quests across a wasteland world on the heels of a mysterious Man in Black, who he believes can lead him to the Tower he seeks.
The Dark Tower series serves as the central hub of Stephen King’s multiverse and features characters and locations from other King favorites like It, The Stand, and Salem’s Lot. A sprawling epic about a warrior torn between love and honor, no fantasy novel is as weird, chilling, and heartbreakingly romantic as The Dark Tower. Like the Tower itself, it’s one of a kind.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Unlike the sword-swingin’, spell-slingin’ high fantasy epics on this list, TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea brings magic to an unenchanted world. 40 year old Linus Baker leads a humdrum life. He’s a caseworker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth and spends most days pushing a pencil around a desk. One day, he’s given an assignment: write a report on a coastal orphanage for magical kids. After journeying to the titular house, Linus’ bureaucratic “here to observe” exterior is worn down by the children and their middle-aged caretaker. Reading Cerulean Sea is like being zipped into a house-sized baked potato fresh from the microwave. It envelops you in warm and fluffy feelings and reminds you that, at the end of the day, love is the most magical thing in this mundane world.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Samantha Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree is the story of a queen whose kingdom is threatened by the return of an ancient dragon so evil that no one wanted to name it. While the looming shadow of the Nameless One is bad enough, Queen Sabran has also been tasked to produce an heir or get assassinated. Thankfully, she’s got her trusted magical handmaiden, Ead, to prevent the latter, but Sabran’s budding feelings for her lady-in-waiting distract her from doing the former. Meanwhile, across the sea, a young dragon rider has her fate forever altered after she makes a costly political mistake. The characters of Orange Tree all fight the same fundamental battle: deciding between what they want to do and what the world demands. Any teen can relate.
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