Best Royal Fantasy Books for Fantasy Nerds

Welcome, Fantasy Nerds! Today we are talking about our favorite books in the royal fantasy sub-genre. We are looking for fantasy books that focus on a battle for the throne. Here are the ones we recommend:

Game of Thrones

This series is the first one I think of when you mention royal fantasy. It has a medieval fantasy world with vicious ruling families and noble heroes fighting over the throne. There are epic battles, cold-blooded murders, and political intrigue. And there are dragons. While the families’ original conflicts are with each-other, evil beings begin awakening and threaten to destroy the entire Seven Kingdoms. 

I absolutely love, or love-to-hate, the characters in this book. I don’t think there are any that I’m not passionate about, one way or the other. The true-to-life injustices and cruelties make this series so intense and surprising. No character is safe. It’s no wonder this series was made into a hit HBO show. 

Red Queen

In this book, the royalty have silver blood and magic abilities, while those with red blood are just normal, or so everyone thought. Then Mare Barrow, a red-blooded girl, upends society when she turns out to have lightning magic. The royal family forces her to pretend to be silver and become engaged to the prince in order to keep her secret from getting out and destroying their hold over the reds. 

I enjoyed so many things about this series, especially the range of magical abilities that the characters have and how Victoria Aveyard uses and combines them so brilliantly in the battle scenes. The world-building and inventiveness were phenomenal. Also, the villains throughout this series were so realistically evil and gave me goosebumps with their viciousness and obsession. I don’t normally read the add-on novellas with a series, but I’m glad I did with this one, because I still think about Cruel Crown and shiver. I just really felt like this is a villain. I highly recommend this series for all Fantasy Nerds!

The Shattered Court

I know we have mentioned this one in a previous post, but it certainly falls into this category perfectly! The entire premise of this magical series is based around a Royal Court of witches. It’s a matriarchal Court with one queen and only other witches ever come into power. 

The main character Sophie is far back in the line for ruling but when her power finally surfaces it’s astronomical. Her power is so immense that she gains many enemies and has to choose between survival and love, or being loyal to the royal court of witches that has been around for generations.

Kill the Queen

Evie, a low-ranking member of the royal family with little magical ability, is an outcast at court. After surviving the assassination of the entire royal family by her cousin, due to her ability to smell magic, Evie goes on the run and joins a gladiator troupe. There she learns to battle and hone her magical abilities, intent on killing the new Queen. 

This book was action packed from start to finish. The massacre at the beginning was both tense and heart-wrenching. I loved Evie’s journey, from unskilled outcast to tough warrior. Her dedication to revenge and saving the kingdom fueled her into becoming a worthy hero. 

Queen of the Tearling

This series is one of my favorites in general, and is a great twist on royal fantasy. The books take place in the kingdom of Tear, which people came to find in “the Crossing”, a mysterious exodus from America. Kelsea inherits her mother’s throne at the age of 19, and from the beginning her reign, and her life, are threatened. Although the first book focuses on Kelsea, the second introduces Lily, a pre-Crossing character who Kelsea sees visions of through her magic sapphire necklace. As the stories of these two characters weave together, we begin to understand more about the Tearling and the Crossing. 

The story combines medieval fantasy and dystopian in a unique way that I have never seen before. The twists were fantastic and the world-building was immersive. I devoured the series and loved every bit. It has one of my favorite endings to a series that sticks with me to this day. 

Berserk

So this series is a manga, but I think it’s interesting to have on this list. Berserk was introduced to me by my little brother and I have to say it is a story that is literally life changing. The storyline and the character development is some of the most well written work I’ve had the pleasure to read. Some of the characters that you love in the beginning you will despise by the end, as well as the other way around.

The setting of this manga is a medieval type world where one man named Griffith has the goal of becoming the ultimate ruler of the kingdom he grew up in as a poor boy. His arguably best friend Guts is by his side throughout most of this journey, and they form a small army called Band of the Hawks and are well loved by commoners. They go through so many struggles and horrifying obstacles to get to where they want to be. This story is utterly heart wrenching and sometimes difficult to even read because of how emotionally invoking it is. I could easily write pages about this series but I don’t want to give too much away, it’s honestly something everyone should read whether you like manga or not. It’s also an anime if you would prefer to watch, but I highly recommend reading the manga.

What Do You Think?

Do you agree with our list? Are there any royal fantasy books that you would recommend? We would love to know your thoughts! If you are interested in any of the books, click here to view the our list on bookshop.org and support local bookstores! As an affiliate, we do earn if you make any purchases. If you found this post helpful, we would love for you to leave a comment, or even buy us a cup of coffee! We promise to share!

Thanks so much for reading!

-Clever & WTF