7 standalone fantasy novels for when you can’t face another unfinished series

Good Omens lets you read two iconic fantasy authors for the price of one: the book is co-authored by Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Stardust) and Terry Pratchett (the Discworld books). Good Omens brings together the former’s gift for imaginative worldbuilding and the latter’s sense of humor. It’s about an angel and a demon who have found that they enjoy living in the material world, and are none too happy to discover that there’s an apocalypse scheduled. The book is hilarious, pointed, and a perfect blending of the sensibilities of these two titans.

Good Omens was also turned into a binge-worthy Prime Video series starring Michael Sheen as the angel Aziraphale and David Tennant as the demon Crowley. There are two seasons and a movie, all of which are worth a watch.

Credit: Orbit

Joe Abercrombie is a popular fantasy author known for writing gritty, bloody stories with a dark sense of humor. The Heroes is one of his best. It takes place over an intense, 72-hour period when the Union army, manipulated from afar by the wizard Bayaz, clash with the Northmen over a strategic hill. The book is told from a variety of perspectives of people on the ground, and the writing for the battle scenes is every bit as thrilling as you could hope.

Technically, The Heroes is set in Abercrombie’s First Law universe, but it takes place years after the conclusion of the original trilogy and can be safely read on its own.

Credit: Little, Brown and Company

With The Odyssey being such a big hit at movie theaters, why not a book that engages with Greek mythology? Circe tells the story of the titular sorceress, who is banished to an isolated island by the Gods, who fear her growing power. There, she grows in skill and interacts with a number of famous figures from Greek myth. The writing is lyrical, Circe is a sympathetic protagonist, and the way the book reimagines her backstory is very clever.

Miller’s book The Song of Achilles provides another fascinating alternate take on an ancient Greek classic, in this case The Illiad. And if you enjoy the idea of reimagining a classic story for modern audiences, you might want to check out Grendel by John Gardner, which tells the story of Beowulf from the perspective of the famous monster.

Credit: Tor Fantasy

Brandon Sanderson is a hugely successful fantasy author whose work is only now getting adapted for the screen. He’s famous for series like Mistborn and The Stormlight Archives, but his first book is a standalone story called Elantris.

Elantris is about a cursed city populated by rotting, undead outcasts. When Prince Raoden is struck by this curse, he is exiled to the city, where he tries to bring hope and order to the people.

Elantris, which was originally published in 2005, has a lot of the things Sanderson would become famous for, including a complex, logic-driven magic system. The characters are rich and memorable, and the story is wrapped up by the end. That said, Sanderson is planning to write a sequel, so it may not be a purely standalone work much longer.

Credit: Anchor Books

The Night Circus is about a magical circus that appears at random when the sun goes down. Its origins are mysterious, the attractions are possible, and the possibilities are endless.

The conflict of the book involves two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who are forced by their mentors to fight with their magic. The rivals have a feud that goes back centuries, but Celia and Marco end up falling in love and using their magic to collaborate creatively.

The story of The Night Circus is told in a non-linear way. The tone is dreamy and atmospheric, making the story feel like a forgotten fairy tale. Published in 2011, the book has become a modern fantasy classic.

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The Goblin Emperor is about Maia, the youngest, gentlest, and most unappreciated son of an elven emperor. When his father and brothers all die in an airship crash, Maia inherits the throne, and finds himself needing to navigate court politics and govern the realm.

Maia, who is half-goblin, is unfailingly empathetic and kind despite a lifetime of abuse, which makes him very easy to root for. The book eschews a focus on war, which is what you might expect of a fantasy novel, and instead explores how Maia adjusts to his new role as ruler, and the decisions he makes about his subjects. It’s a surprisingly warm read.

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This 1968 book is about a unicorn who ventures out of her safe, magical forest to look for the last of her kind. It’s a classic novel with high stakes, poetic prose, and a lot of sharp wit.

The Last Unicorn was turned into an animated movie in 1982, which also became a cult classic. The book remains an enchanting read to this day.