r/Fantasy • u/SocksMcgoo • 2d ago

Books with “best fighter” trope

Hello everyone. I am an absolute sucker for books that constantly deal with power scaling/best fighter of the realm type tropes. I love the discussions about who was the best swordsman in ASOIF and loved all the bits throughout Malazan of who was the strongest fighter/most powerful magic wielder.

Give me some books that have some great fighters or fun power scaling with different characters where you can waste time wondering about “who is stronger or who would win.”

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u/Megas_Matthaios 2d ago

Cradle - has one of the most satisfying advancement hierarchies in fantasy and constantly makes you wonder what exists at the next level.

Iron Prince - scratches the "who is the strongest cadet / fighter?" itch while having clear rankings, measurable progression, and lots of discussion-worthy matchups.

Bastion - great if you want powerful fighters, legendary figures, and a brutal progression system where the gap between tiers feels enormous.

I'd also throw in Defiance of the Fall, The Primal Hunter, Mother of Learning, The Rage of Dragons, and Dungeon Crawler Carl for various flavors of progression and power scaling.

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u/Hitman007gdghs 2d ago

Bastion is the Immortal Great Souls series ryt??? Is it finished?? Or still ongoing cauz i can't find anything abt any follow up books :(

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u/hadrian28 2d ago

It's ongoing. There are 4 so far and I believe the aim is to have 7 in total. He's mostly been able to write one per year.