Many fans of fantasy RPGs, like World of Warcraft or Dungeons and Dragons, have 'to be read' piles that they will never finish. Responsible people would probably scrutinize this condition and try to keep their spending habits in check, but many fantasy reader/gamer-hybrids have long since come to terms with the truth: it simply isn't possible.
Like the all-consuming need to level up in a game, acquiring quests in perpetuity is a bone deep compulsion that one must simply come to terms with. Part of it is a healthy appetite for escapism, but the knee-jerk need to add to one's personal quest-log runs deeper. RPGs and fantasy fiction both speak to a desire for storytelling that is cleverly built, open to improvisation, and—above all—playful. These readers are doomed to a life of fast magic, characters who gnaw at the scenery, and decisions that flip the world on its head.
Those who are hungry for fresh fix (or simply feeling called out), should not sleep on the following fantasy series. Each of these comics and novels read like the next great gaming franchise waiting to happen, and capture the spirit of what it's like to be in a raucous raiding guild, or to sit around the table with veteran role-players and a peerless dungeon master.
Rat Queens - Sword and Sorcery Goes Punk
Those who have ever wondered what it would be like to play a game of DnD run by Joan Jett should jump on Rat Queens immediately. The eponymous Rat Queens are an all-women adventurers' guild in a Warcraft-like world with distinctive punk-rock sensibilities. Kurtis J. Wiebe's dialogue outclasses the best of Skyrim offerings, with an irreverent sense of humor that is appealing, foul, and completely unique. Wiebe has actually described the series as a "love letter" to fantasy and DnD specifically.
The best part of the comic is the believability of the series' five heroines. While they are powerful and aspirational, both on the battlefield and off, they are also flawed, vulnerable in unexpected ways, and have distinct personalities that make for a fun, volatile party. Much like the comic's leading ladies, Rat Queens' publication history has been a bit rocky and rough around the edges, with a rotating cast of artists, a brief stint as a web comic, and one reboot to date. While retcons and creative changes are far from uncommon in comics, Rat Queens' is a relatively young series to have such a tumultuous past. But the comic is still going strong, with Issue #25 slated to drop on March 10th, and the 8th collected volume, The God Dilemma, to release on April 7th, 2021.
The Magicians
The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman is an epic that closely examines escapism, obsession, and disillusionment. It is a rare series that appeals to genre fiction fanatics and literary critics alike, blending the existential pitfalls of early adulthood with fireballs, foul-mouthed talking animals, multiple-dimensions, and apotheosis. Even though The Magicians is itself a fantasy epic, it is also a trilogy about people who love fantasy epics. The series has a metafictional quality that challenges readers to examine how fantasy—and magic in particular—propels, degrades, consumes, and redeems those who wrestle with it.
The trilogy's primary protagonist, Quentin Coldwater, feels estranged from reality itself, dissatisfied with the world he lives in and the life he's led as a gifted honor student. Everything changes when he attends Brakebills, a college for wizardry hidden in upstate New York, and changes again when he discovers Fillory, a magical land from his favorite series of children's books, is a real place. What ensues is awesome, horrifying, tragic, and hopeful in near equal measure. The Magicians is not only a story to rival the best of what gaming has to offer, but one that will enrich readers' relationships with similar stories.
Fans of the television show by the same name have likely already looked into the books, but those who were not taken with SyFy's adaptation should still give Grossman's novels a try. Even though there is plenty of the dark humor and crass wit that suffuses the show, the books are more grounded and solemn, deconstructing the traditional tropes of a "chosen one," and challenging staid concepts of heroism at every opportunity. There is also an emotional earnestness to Grossman's writing that borders on desperation, making character's mistakes all the more traumatic, and their victories more triumphant.
The Dresden Files - Detective Wizardry
Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files has emerged as the current zenith of urban fantasy. What started as a conceptually simple merger between private detective novels and folklore-heavy sword & sorcery stories has evolved into one of the wildest, longest running fantasy franchises in fiction. Butcher guides Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, through a series of adventures that read like feature-lengths episodes of Supernatural—another fantasy franchise that evolved considerably over it's long-running tenure.
Written in first-person, the shopworn wit and sardonic voice of Harry Dresden carry the series. With opening lines like "The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault," Butcher's good humor extends to the universe's mechanics for things like magic, alchemy, and his all-encompassing mix of folklore. While many urban fantasy series get hung up on intensely granular and exacting magic systems, The Dresden Files hits the DnD sweet spot of conceptual accessibility, depth, and the capacity for tabletop-esque shenanigans.
Like a good DM, Butcher's storytelling improves by leaps, bounds, and flips over the course of the series. New characters are added. Beloved, seemingly safe side characters are viciously killed off. Villains escape to fight again another day, and heroes succumb to temptations that threaten to devour them. There are moments, especially at the novels' climaxes, when "rule of cool" runs rampant and threatens to derail the drama of serious situations. But as a whole, the story ultimately feels cohesive, consistent, and outrageously fun.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC. Dungeons and Dragons' source books, and the books described above, can be found at bookstores and online.