The best fantasy books for book club — from romantasy to myth retellings. Each pick sparks real discussion, with kits ready in 30 seconds.
Generate a complete book club kit in 30 seconds — discussion questions, icebreakers, food pairings & more.
Generate Your First KitFantasy is having a moment in book clubs — and it's not hard to see why. The best fantasy novels are packed with moral dilemmas, power dynamics, complicated relationships, and world-building choices that give a group so much to dig into. The problem is picking the right one.
Some fantasy is hard to discuss. The kind where you spend the first twenty minutes of your meeting just catching people up on the lore. These picks are not that. Every book below has strong characters, real emotional stakes, and questions that don't have easy answers.
This was the fantasy breakout of 2024 and it hasn't slowed down. War college. Dragon riders. A forbidden romance with real consequences. It reads fast, but there's more beneath the surface — loyalty, power, what we owe to the systems we're born into.
The discussions tend to get heated around Xaden. Is he trustworthy? What does Violet actually know by the end? Groups that have read it report 90-minute discussions running over time.
Get the Fourth Wing book club kit — includes 20 discussion questions, themed recipes, and a meeting guide.
If your group loved Fourth Wing, the sequel is a natural next pick — but it works as a standalone discussion too. The revelations about the Riders Quadrant and the war upend everything the first book established. Trust becomes the central theme, and your group will not agree on who deserves it.
Get the Iron Flame book club kit for discussion questions that push into the deeper political and ethical territory.
The third in the Empyrean series raises the stakes again. If your club has been following Violet and Xaden from the beginning, this is the meeting where the long-running arguments come to a head. Who's been right all along? What costs are acceptable? The ending leaves plenty to argue about.
Get the Onyx Storm book club kit — especially useful for groups who want to discuss the series arc, not just this installment.
ACOTAR has been a book club staple for years and it earns it. The first book in the series is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast that gets progressively darker — and the discussion questions practically write themselves. Tamlin vs. Rhysand is a debate that runs every time.
Get the A Court of Thorns and Roses book club kit — the icebreakers alone are worth it for this one.
See more Sarah J. Maas picks on the Sarah J. Maas author page.
This is the fantasy pick for groups who want literary credibility alongside their magic. Madeline Miller takes a minor character from Greek mythology and builds one of the most compelling portraits of feminine power and isolation in recent fiction. It's quieter than romantasy but hits harder in discussion.
Questions about agency, loneliness, motherhood, and what it means to be powerful in a world that fears you — this book generates a different kind of conversation than the Yarros or Maas picks, and that's exactly why it belongs on the list.
Get the Circe book club kit for themed recipes (yes, there are witch-appropriate pairings) and deep mythology-focused discussion questions.
Browse more on the Madeline Miller author page and the full fantasy genre page.
A few questions worth asking before you commit:
Is everyone in the group a fantasy reader? If not, Circe is the most accessible entry point — it reads like literary fiction that happens to have magic. ACOTAR is the most genre-recognizable. The Yarros books assume some fantasy comfort.
How much time does your group have to read? Fourth Wing is long but propulsive — most readers finish it fast. Circe is shorter and denser.
What mood does your group want? Action, romance, and plot twists → Yarros. Mythology, loneliness, and identity → Miller. Epic world-building and morally complicated romance → Maas.
Fantasy meetings work best with a little extra atmosphere. A quick themed snack or drink goes a long way — the book club food ideas guide has specific suggestions that work for fantasy themes. And if your group has newer members who haven't read fantasy before, starting with one of the icebreaker prompts helps ease the lore conversation.
Every book above has a complete kit ready on Instant Book Club — discussion questions, icebreakers, food pairings, themed decorations, and a meeting guide. Search for your book on Instant Book Club and get everything you need before your next meeting.
If you're still deciding on a book, the best book club books for 2026 has picks across every genre.
Related: The House in the Cerulean Sea Book Club Questions: Found Family