How to Tell What Fantasy Books Are Good on Amazon
Years ago, a secret cache of GeoCities pages made by troglodytes with theoretical knowledge of the female sex fought a bitter arms race to become the next Tolkien.
Like trees falling in empty forests, such writings faded as the retro internet decayed into a cyber void.
Today, things are different. Thanks to Amazon’s KDP publishing program, pretty much anyone with a few fingers and internet access can publish novels visible to the rest of humanity. In a word, the modern literature market is… saturated.
Has Self-Publishing Ruined Book Buying?
In short, no. Direct Publishing isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s totally rewritten the rules of publishing. As a bit of a troglodyte writer, myself, here’s how I see the good and the bad:
The Good:
Annoying, biased literary agents no longer get to decide what books people like
Talented authors can put their work directly in the hands of readers without a years-long screening process
Publishing houses don’t get to censor authors
Authors can make a decent percentage of sales revenue
The Bad:
Mounds of horrible writing and AI-generated vomit discredit real authors
Almost nobody makes any money anymore
Plagiarized, redundant, and contradictory books discredit one another
Cheap covers look bad
Some people cheat
Sadly, we may never see full-blown paintings for pulp releases again.
Probably the best thing about the ubiquity of self-publishing is that, for a selection of ultra-talented authors, the author-audience relationship is closer than it’s ever been. This means that readers can interact directly with authors through mailing lists, video comments, and author websites like this one.
No longer do you have to wait three years for a publishing house to screen a new release. Want a particular issue addressed in a nonfiction book? Just email the author. Want to know if a fiction series is worth investing in? Just check an email update or comment on a social media post.
Sadly, the vast majority of talented authors now spend years fighting their way out from an insurmountable pile of rubble, or rubbish. It’s a losing battle, and there’s no telling how many masterpieces will never see the light of day just because some untalented dickheads paid for thousands of fake reviews just before Amazon got good at stopping that stuff.
So how do you get beneath the trash pile? How do you find the really good shit? You know, that shit that killed Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Are There Even Good Fantasy Writers Anymore?
There most definitely are. But the fantasy market is a place of many niches.
Search "good fantasy books” on any search engine and you’ll find out who has the most money for advertising, and this may or may not be what you’re into.
Dig a little deeper into recommendation algorithms, and you’ll find a staggering range of subgenres, from faerie porn to post-apocalyptic magical realism. There’s nothing wrong with any of this, if that’s your thing, but you really need to figure out what your thing is, lest you come down with analysis paralysis.
I know that this goes directly against the modern impulse to put as little effort as possible into entertainment, but just trust me. It will be worth it in the end.
What is this even about?
What do you like about fantasy? Brutal fight scenes? Orks? Elves? Interspecial erotica? Whatever, man. Just know yourself and search for it.
You can even check out books by universe. I, for example, loved the Warhammer: Total War video games. I looked for the best audiobooks in this universe and had a surprisingly great time slogging through a home improvement project with the books on the whole time.
Once you have a few niches and titles in mind, do a little investigation. Just like a great game, you don’t want to invest in something you’ll end up hating 8 hours in. Probably the best places to ask people for guidance based on your selections are Reddit and Goodreads. I’ve also heard people ride the algorithm on Tiktok, but I avoid that shit like the plague because I don’t want my brain bleeding out of my eyes.
Should I Look for Big Names First?
It’s up to you, but in my experience, the big names in literature are like big names in music or TV. Yeah, a lot of people like Friends, but that doesn't mean it’s just as good as The Wire. And since you’re probably familiar with the TV or Film adaptations of megahits like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, the books might not provide much more than you already watched.
At a slightly lower tier, authors like Brandon Sanderson and Neil Gaiman bring something fresh to the fantasy world. If you’re not sure where else to turn, these are a great place to start. Personally, I find many of these authors a little too fresh. I like the familiarity of a Tolkeinesque world or something that reminds me of the Dragon Age game I just played.
The real gamble begins when you start digging into indie-tier and self-published work. Here, you can hate-read through incomprehensible garbage, but you can also find your favorite books of all time.
I Shouldn’t Trust Star Ratings, Though, Should I?
Unfortunately for authors today, the authors of five-plus years ago ruined Amazon’s rating system for everyone. People bought reviews, exaggerated their popularity, and managed to make plenty of money doing it.
Amazon and its subsidiary, Goodreads, have cracked down hard on literary cheating. The way things are now, you hear stories of authors’ whole libraries getting taken down because they had their wife (with the same last name) write them a review. Sure, some of these are exaggerated, but it takes a bold (and stupid) author to try their luck with cheating in 2025.
As a KDP author, I can tell you that gathering reviews is a brutal trek through internet oblivion. You can usually trust reviews of books that came out in the past few years.
Before buying, always read a few reviews, the full blurb, and the first few pages of a book. If you like everything you see, then give it a shot.
And no matter the publishing date, look for the warning signs of a stinker:
Crappy AI cover art
Misspellings and grammar errors in the first few pages
English-as-a-second-language feel to the reviews
Reviews that offer little besides “best book ever!”
The author’s profile photo looks like they took it on a flip phone
The blurb is just a summary of the book
Janky AI is very good at making boob girls. Beware!
Conclusions
The fantasy world is a beautiful place that contains some of the best and worst aspects of the human imagination. While it can take time to find the literary place you want to spend your evenings or extra hours in, the effort is well worth it.
Take your time, and don’t be afraid to try something new. People spend years of their lives writing masterpieces that are just waiting to be discovered. If you get cold feet, it’s ok. Amazon offers plenty of ways to get your money back or even try new books for free.
And if you happen to like dark fantasy with classic imagery and a psychedelic twist, I humbly suggest you check out The Elder Wyrm, my latest release and the first in my new series. Unlike the beloved yet dismal A Song of Fire and Ice, I’ve done my utmost to balance the dark with lightheartedness. I’d love to hear your thoughts.