My Precious: Lord of the Rings Readalikes

“One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them.” 

This July marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring, and I remember the first time I read the trilogy. I did it in semi-secret because I was a grown woman and these were books written for pre-adolescent boys. WRONG! These books are for everyone. How can you not love a sweeping epic where an unlikely hero triumphs over the powers of evil? I had really been missing out. If you've come to the end of Mordor and still want more, check out the following series for a high fantasy fix.

The Dragonbone Chair is the first installment in the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series by Tad Williams. This high fantasy epic introduces a wise magician, a struggling realm and band of heroes fighting to defeat evil. Sound familiar?

Often compared with Tolkien’s Middle Earth, Ursula K. Le Guin’s mythical land, EarthSea, draws readers into another magical world full of wizardry and peril. Ged, a powerful magician with a tumultuous past, is on a quest to right past wrongs and restore balance. A Wizard of Earthsea begins this captivating quartet.

A desolate world littered with warring nobles, magical weapons promising immunity and a sweeping cast of characters make up Brian Sanderson’s The Way of Kings. It's full of magic, intrigue and well-timed battle scenes, and readers will want to see the Stormlight Archive series to its end.