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What to read after the Stormlight Archive: 5 epic series to start
Finished the Stormlight Archive and want another big epic? Five series openers with the same scale, hard-edged magic and long-arc payoff.
The Will of the Many by James Islington
A hidden-identity academy epic in a Rome-like empire where power flows from those who cede their will.
+ Ambitious dark academia with a cool magic system, morally grey characters who all have agency, and a wild ending.
− Leans on school tropes, training montages and philosophising; not for readers who dislike those. (summed up from Grimdark Magazine)The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington
A classic chosen-one epic with a twisting, time-bending mystery at its core.
+ Complex magic, political intrigue and a big cast; a confident debut that grew in popularity.
− Some critics found it uneven, short on tension and close to classic epic-fantasy formulas. (summed up from Wikipedia (reception))Red Rising by Pierce Brown
A low-caste miner infiltrates the ruling Golds of Mars; brutal, fast and full of reversals.
+ Cinematic, fast action blending Roman myth and science fiction, building to a gripping final act.
− Some reviewers found it derivative of The Hunger Games, with little originality or plausibility. (summed up from Wikipedia (reception))Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio
A vast space-empire saga told as the memoir of a disgraced nobleman.
+ Rich, detailed space opera with a strong character focus, for fans of slow-building stories.
− Heavy description and flashbacks sap momentum, and there is little action. (summed up from Publishers Weekly)Unsouled by Will Wight
The start of Cradle, a fast progression-fantasy series about a weak boy climbing a martial-arts ladder.
+ Masterfully paced, with an intricate magic system and a rich non-Western setting; hard to put down.
− Feels like the prologue to a bigger story, with a couple of brief info dumps. (summed up from r/Fantasy (Reddit))
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