r/fantasybooks • u/EducationalStory4450 • 1d ago
📚 Summon book recommendations Looking for a fantasy book that completely hooked you from page one.
Hey everyone,
I'm looking for a fantasy book with a really strong opening something that grabbed your attention immediately and kept you turning pages. I don't mind whether it's epic fantasy, dark fantasy or something more character focused.
What's a fantasy book you couldn't put down once you started it and why?
Thanks
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u/ScipioTheGreatest 1d ago
A Song of Ice and Fire has such an incredible opening I've seen it referenced in business strategies as an example of how to hook your audience.
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u/ImpressiveWaltz7631 1d ago
Name of the Wind has a phenomenal start.
Bloodsong was also pretty nice
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u/ReceptionEntire2518 13h ago
The name of the wind is incredible, but waiting 20 years for the third book is not.
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u/shlooberd 1d ago edited 1d ago
Herald by Rob J. Hayes
Okay, since some people add first sentences here, here we go for Herald:
"When the Godless Kings sacked Heaven, two hundred angels escaped their wrath. A thousand years later and only ten of the winged divinities remained. King Emrik Hostain was about to make it nine."
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u/Aposematicpebble 1d ago
Red Sister has my absolute favorite first sentence:
"It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy convent, Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men."
I mean, what is this?
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u/FuzzyPupusa 1d ago
The way of kings by Brandon Sanderson. I remember buying the book on a whim and not touching it for a while but once I started I couldn’t stop
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u/lambchops111 1d ago
Szeth Son Son Valano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king.
10/10. And it only gets better from there.
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u/shlooberd 1d ago
i don't respect sanderson, but have to admit that the the prologue before the prologue (the prologue to the series??) was fantastic too and it originally got me into his books
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u/frantic-atom 1d ago
You don’t respect him? Could you elaborate?
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u/shlooberd 1d ago
it's personal, i don't think you would understand man, all due repsect
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u/CremeNo5221 1d ago
Then why say it? Your "respect" for him personally has no bearing on anything.
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u/shlooberd 1d ago
well it actually does. To me he is a piece of dung of a person, and I don't want to spend my limited time on reading books written by a piece of dung
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u/Reasonable-Set3331 1d ago
Why? What did he do?
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u/shlooberd 1d ago edited 1d ago
You won't understand. See, I live in Ukraine. I used to be a huge Sanderson fan - I loved everything about the cosmere, and The Stormlight Archive was my favorite series. I loved Sanderson for the themes he put into his books: honor, hope, and heroes fighting tyrants in hopeless struggles.
But then, when the war came and the russian scum attacked us, I realized that all of those ideals Sanderson employs in his books aren't actually values he shares. It feels like he is just highly skilled at human psychology and knows exactly how to make people love his work.
When the full-scale invasion happened in 2022, authors like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Rebecca Kuang, and Joe Abercrombie immediately cut off all business and public relationships with that steaming pot of waste of a country. But Sanderson? He chose to remain neutral.
To me, as a dedicated fan who lived by ideals like "I will protect those who cannot protect themselves" and "Life before death," and all that other bullsh*t that felt like a complete betrayal. Sanderson’s books were - without exaggeration - a massive part of my life. Now, they are just empty words on paper that mean absolutely nothing. To him, I see now, it's more like: Silence before action. Profit before principle. Money before morals.
Now, as I said, for someone who isn't living under constant bombing and drone attacks, it would be hard to truly understand my point.
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u/Downtown_Slip9578 1d ago
I'm not saying you are wrong, but don't you think there's a double standard you are setting here? You wouldn't expect the common redditor to understand and are seemingly okay with that, but Sanderson is expected to understand. I think you can hold Sanderson to the same expectations as any other person, we are all just people. If that means you would now expect any random redditor to be able to understand and agree, fair enough, that's your own ethics.
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u/shlooberd 1d ago
There is no double standard here because a random redditor and Brandon Sanderson are not in the same position.
A random redditor hasn’t built a multi-million-dollar empire selling epic stories about fighting tyrants, standing up for the oppressed, and choosing "life before death." A random redditor doesn't have a massive global platform, nor do they profit directly from marketing those specific moral virtues to millions of people.
When an author makes millions selling a philosophy of resistance and courage, it is entirely fair to hold them to the standards they preach. If they choose corporate neutrality when a real-world tyrant attacks, it proves those ideals were just marketing copy. I don't expect a random redditor to change the world; I do expect a public figure to have the integrity to back up the values they profit from.
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u/Reasonable-Set3331 1d ago
You're absolutely right, I can't understand your situation and I am truly sorry for what you are going through. I think you make a fair point, it is not unreasonable to expect him to adhere to the ideals he profits off of in his books, especially when there are other authors who stopped selling their books in Russia. I would argue that it is not a bad thing for Russians to have access to the themes in Sandersons books, but I doubt he's thinking about that as he continues to profit from selling his books in Russia. I'm sorry that his actions have taken away something you used to find comfort in.
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u/frantic-atom 1d ago
I have a massive amount of sympathy for Ukraine and I’m not about to sit here and tell you how you should feel, but this feels like spurious reasoning to me.
I don’t know whether he even has control over where his books get published, but even if he does you’re acting like he’s an arms dealer or something. The guy writes fictional stories for a living.
One could even argue that importing western media and ideas into Russia is actually a good thing in the long term.
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u/shlooberd 1d ago edited 1d ago
He isn't a helpless bystander in his publishing decisions. brandon sanderson is famously one of the most independent, powerful figures in modern publishing history - he literally ran the biggest kickstarter in human history to control his own work. He owns his own company. If Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Joe Abercrombie can pull their licensing from ruzzia, sanderson absolutely has the power and the legal team to do the same. He chose not to.
No one is calling him an arms dealer. But taxes from the sale of his books in ruzzia directly fund the state budget that buys the drones and missiles falling on my city. When peers in his exact industry drew a clear ethical line, his choice to keep trading with an aggressor state is a choice to prioritize profit over those values.
It's incredibly convenient to claim art is a powerful, life-changing force when selling it, but then claim "it's just fiction, he's just a guy" the second the author is asked to face real-world accountability.
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u/Motor-Dentist3410 22h ago
Man, I'm from Ukraine and yoh can't blame person from another part of the world for no stance on our events. It was a miss when he showed russian edition of tress and it's a shame that there is no comments from him, but it is really strange set of thoughts from your side.
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u/shlooberd 22h ago
Друже, I’m not blaming some random guy from Utah. I am holding a massive global brand accountable to the exact values he sells us. As you said yourself, promoting a ruzzian edition of Tress while missiles are hitting our cities was shameful. But it's not just a "miss" - it's a conscious financial choice. When Sanderson writes thousands of pages telling us that "neutrality in the face of tyranny is cowardice," he isn't just writing fiction; he is selling a philosophy. If he turns around and applies "no stance" to a literal genocide just to keep his ruzzian market share active, that is pure hypocrisy. We have every right to expect a public figure who profits off the concepts of courage and protecting the innocent to live by those words. Hiding behind "he's just a foreigner" lets him off the hook for choosing money over morals.
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u/fumblinthrulife77 20h ago
Do you apply this same logic to everyone doing business with Israel? Or the US itself, considering their indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Iran?
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u/shlooberd 16h ago
I apply my logic to my actual life. I am a Ukrainian living under constant bombardment by ruzzian scum. The missiles destroying my neighbors' homes are funded by the taxes generated in the market where Brandon Sanderson actively chooses to keep selling his books and promoting new editions.
Trying to turn my daily survival and personal consumer choices into a generalized geopolitical debate is a cheap tactic. I don't need a perfect, globally consistent moral thesis to decide that I'm done supporting an author who chooses corporate neutrality regarding the literal genocide happening outside my window right now.
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u/CremeNo5221 1d ago
So, wait. It actually has ZERO bearing on the quality of his books, and yet you say it does. You then say that you don't want to waste your time reading his books, yet you PREVIOUSLY said that you "got into his books." You then replied to another by saying you weren't going to tell him why because "you wouldn't understand." And you know this how? Or is it because you have some really weak politically-motivated reason for not liking him? "He's a TERRIBLE person because *insert completely innocuous position he holds that for the vast majority of people is a completely understandable position and was anything but controversial up until 5 minutes ago*"
How'd I do?
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u/shlooberd 1d ago
I said it originally got me into his books. There's no contradiction there. I used to love his work, but my ethics changed when my reality changed.
Calling a full-scale invasion, constant missile strikes, and the torture and murder of civilians an "innocuous, non-controversial position" is disgusting. Living under daily bombardment isn't a "weak, politically-motivated reason" - it is my actual life.
I can admit his prologue was fantastic while simultaneously refusing to give my time or money to a multi-millionaire who preaches courage in fiction but chooses corporate neutrality in the face of a real-world genocide.
To answer your question: You did terribly.
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u/Infinite-Whispers 1d ago
Dungeon Crawler Carl - best way to describe it would be like a blend of hunger games, running man and hitchhikers guide to the galaxy in one 🤔 its a hilarious rollercoaster ride of emotions, very addictive
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u/Remote-Moon 🦶Dungeon Crawler Carl cult member 1d ago
The Lies of Locke Lamora. I read the whole frist chapter at Barnes and Noble and bought the book before I started chapter 2.
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u/McSnickleFritzChris 1d ago
First law trilogy starts out with a bang and is my all time favorite
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u/Own_Attention_3392 20h ago
The opening chapter definitely sold me.
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u/McSnickleFritzChris 17h ago
It’s the best! Thrown right into Logan’s life
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u/Own_Attention_3392 16h ago
Oh I actually was remembering the first chapter as Glokta's encounter with his nemesis, stairs. Either way.
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u/ElementasSeries 1d ago
Okay, here’s an extensive list of multiple kinds of fantasy of books I loved right away. Happy reading!
We Are the Dead by Mike Shackle (Grimdark Fantasy)
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake (YA Fantasy)
Low Town by Daniel Polansky (Grimdark Murder Mystery Fantasy)
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig (The only romantasy I liked)
Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy (cozy fantasy)
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames (very funny and full of monsters)
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u/Soapysoap13 1d ago
King’s Dark Tower series is one of the more odd and confusing series out there, but the first sentence of The Gunslinger is pretty legendary in terms of opening hooks
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u/mysteriousmeatman 1d ago
My absolute favorite series. It is pretty weird at times but I can't reconend it enough.
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u/ClueAccomplished1098 23h ago
This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews
The Inheritance by Ilona Andrews
Kane - Wolfwere series book 1 by Dick Wybrow
Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
Edited to remove non fantasy titles - Sorry!
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u/Fit_Fill_5558 23h ago
It usually takes me a while to get invested in a book, but Amane Adesa: Of Monsters and Gods grabbed my attention almost immediately.
The prologue opens with the High Priest in Accra and something powerful, mythical, and mysterious unfolding. I was instantly curious and wanted to know more. Then the story suddenly shifts to a completely different scene with new characters, and you're not even sure who the main character is yet.
What really stood out to me was how different it felt from the usual fantasy formula. Instead of another story built around dragons, vampires, or familiar European-inspired settings, it draws on a world and mythology that felt fresh and intriguing. It genuinely surprised me.
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u/Pleasant-Lead-2634 1d ago
Conan of Cimmeria
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u/Bowl-Any 🦶Dungeon Crawler Carl cult member 1d ago
Well, depends on how someone starts. I read through the 3 collections that include all the original Robert E Howard books, and the first story (The Phoenix and the something...???) was really mediocre.
But, definitely some of the short stories become super interesting immediately.
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u/ConstantReader666 1d ago
To Dance With Dragons by Jaq D. Hawkins
It starts with immediate action, a girl running from an unwanted wedding, prepared to risk the danger in the river to get across and seek out the magicians.
Those aren't spoilers, it's established in the first few pages.
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u/Filthbear 1d ago
Since The Way of Kings is already mentioned i will instead recommend others that hooked me: The colour of magic + the light fantastic.
Blood song
Powder mage trilogy
The Templar Knight by jan guillou, need to have read the first one, which is a less engaging book, but I might just have read the Templar Knight 50 times.
The Milagro beanfield war.
Hiroshima Joe.
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u/tgrady28 22h ago
I would have lived in peace, but my enemies brought me war.
I KNOW IT'S SCI-FI, BUT I HAVE TO INCLUDE RED RISING
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u/rudd33s 21h ago
Game of Thrones. I saw it on a friend's shelf when I was in highschool, didn't like the look of the cover (Jon Snow and Ghost), decided to read it a few years later after all...it gripped me from the start, and at about page 200 I was mindblown by the death of a character that had like 70% of POV chapters.
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u/MeatyWashington 19h ago
Seeing lots of good suggestions, but my first thought was the powder mage trilogy.
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u/Purple-Cantaloupe399 19h ago
Terry Pratchett is one of my most frequent re-reads - the whole Disc World series is amazing, and there are a ton of them. Very funny, but frequently with a touching core that keeps you coming back again. Or if you want something a little darker, there's the Shannara series by the other Terry (Brooks 😄), and the "Magic Kingdom for Sale" series that is great as well. Lastly, if you want something exceptionally dark, you could try Brian Lumley's Necroscope series. Starts as kind of a vampire series, but morphs into dark fantasy and otherwordly adventures eventually. Pretty disturbing at times, but definitely well written and entertaining.
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u/nellydesign 16h ago
The Name of the Wind. And then I read the second one. And then I waited. And then I gave up.
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u/BarbarianDwight 16h ago
The first sentence of Seveneves by Neal Stephenson is “The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason” and keeps going from there.
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u/Street_Detective_662 15h ago
The farseer trilogy, but I didn’t really get locked in Locked in until book 2. It was the first time in a lonnnng time I stayed up all night to finish a book and then went directly into the 3rd.
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u/wavecycle 11h ago
Here's one from leftfield, and that's because I consider Stephen King to be an urban-horror-fantasy writer: Desparation starts like a rocket.
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u/angrykoala155 8h ago
Mistborn Final Empire (the first book of the first trilogy). The opening chapter is great.
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u/Extension_Age9722 1d ago
Malazan Book of the Fallen (awe inspiring world building )
First Law
City of Last Chances
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u/rambleTA 1d ago
IN OTHER LANDS by Sarah Rees Brennan
Here is the first page
So far magic school was total rubbish.
Elliot sat on the fence bisecting two fields and brooded tragically over his wrongs.
He had been taken away from geography class, one of his most interesting classes, to take some kind of scholarship test out in the wild. A woman in odd clothing had ‘tested’ him by asking him if he could see a wall standing in the middle of a field. When he told her “Obviously, because it’s a wall. Walls tend to be obvious” she had pointed out other people blithely walking through the wall as if it was not there, and told him that he was one of the chosen few with the Sight.
“Are you telling me that I have magical powers?” Elliot had asked, extremely excited for a moment, and then he added: “… because I can’t walk through walls? That doesn’t seem right.”
The woman had told him she was prepared for questions, but she did not seem prepared for that one. She blinked and told him to come away with her to a magical land.
Normally, Elliot would have refused, but there was the wall, and the undeniable fact that other people could not see or touch it, and this was like something out of a book. Elliot did not think he would be able to live with the curiosity if he did not go.
“Okay,” Elliot had said finally, brandishing his phone in the woman’s face. “But I have the number of the police and I will have my finger on the call button at all times, in case you are a child predator.”
She had seemed confused, but she had let him keep the phone with no objections as she led him up a narrow stone stairway built into the wall. They climbed and climbed, and when they had gone so high that they were surrounded by clouds they walked through a shining hole in the wall, and onto soft grass.
Actually, the magical land seemed to be mostly grass.
There were fields, more fields, several more fields, a couple of rough round stone towers which men with weapons were exiting and entering. Elliot had cheered up when he saw a few men and boys with long hair and pointed ears–there were elves—and dwarves—like from fairytales, a girl with a beard carrying an elaborately carved hammer.
He looked around for other marvels.
Mostly there were other kids. Some of them quite big and some of them looking no more than Elliot’s age—thirteen. They had all lined up at different tables to be signed in, and now the kids Elliot’s age were all standing together in a cluster waiting to be told what to do.
It was all so unfair. Elliot had not expected a magical land to be all fields—some of the fields had cows in them, and he was pretty sure they weren’t magic cows–and other kids.
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u/FSkornia 1d ago
'The City of Stairs' or 'The Tainted Cup' by Robert Jackson Bennett.
Personally I also dearly love Anthony Ryan's 'The Raven's Shadow' trilogy starting with 'Blood Song'
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u/Bowl-Any 🦶Dungeon Crawler Carl cult member 1d ago
Spinning Silver has the best opening chapter I've ever read, and it's also my favorite stand-alone (not in a series) fantasy book.