The Fantasy Review’s list of 7 Brilliant Epic Fantasy Series with Complex Magic Systems that Aren’t by Brandon Sanderson.
The Draconis Memoria by Anthony Ryan
From the blurb of book 1:
Throughout the vast lands controlled by the Ironship Trading Syndicate, nothing is more prized than the blood of drakes. Harvested from captive or hunted Reds, Greens, Blues and Blacks, it can be distilled into elixirs that bestow fearsome powers on the rare men and women known as the Blood-blessed.
But not many know the truth: that the lines of drakes are weakening. If they fail, war with the neighboring Corvantine Empire will follow swiftly.…
Powder Mage by Brian McClellan
From the blurb of book 1:
Civil unrest cripples the citizens of Adro in the aftermath of the revolution that obliterated the monarchy. Now, Field Marshal Tamas and his lieutenants must confront the true cost of freedom in book one of the Powder Mage Trilogy.
It’s a bloody business overthrowing a king. . .
Field Marshal Tamas’ coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving….
The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett
From the blurb of book 1:
The time has come to stand against the night.
At sunset, the corelings rise—demons who well up from the ground like hellish steam, taking on fearsome form and substance. Immune to mortal weapons, they burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years corelings have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and mystery.…
Moontide Quartet by David Hair
From the blurb of book 1:
Urte is divided, its two continents separated by impassable seas. But once every twelve years, the Moontide sees the waters sink to their lowest point and the Leviathan Bridge is revealed, linking east to west for twenty-four short months.
The Rondian emperor, overlord of the west, is hell-bent on ruling both continents, and for the last two Moontides he has led armies of battle-magi across the bridge on crusades of conquest, pillaging his way across Antiopa….
Lightbringer by Brent Weeks
From the blurb of book 1:
Guile is the Prism. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live.
When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he’s willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart….
Codex Alera by Jim Butcher
From the blurb of book 1:
For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bond with the furies—elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood, and metal. But in the remote Calderon Valley, the boy Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. Yet as the Alerans’ most savage enemy—the Marat horde—return to the Valley, Tavi’s courage and resourcefulness will be a power greater than any fury, one that could turn the tides of war…
The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss
From the blurb of book 1:
My name is Kvothe.
I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
You may have heard of me.…
