Image via Dutton Books for Young Readers By Dawson Nyffenegger Published Jul 18, 2026, 12:08 AM EDT Sign in to your Collider account Add Us Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap Writing a book is no easy task; writing a good book even less so. After all, writing is an art, and it can be a difficult thing to master. Heck, some people spend years and years studying it before they ever publish anything, and even then, there's no guarantee that it will be good. With self-publishing being easier than ever thanks to Amazon, it certainly won't take long to find a slew of awful books out there.
This is especially the case in the high fantasy genre, a subgenre featuring stories that take place in worlds completely separate from our own. High fantasy is experiencing a significant boom right now, which has been going on since at least the 1980s. A lot of authors have tried their hand at the genre, only to fail miserably. Every so often, though, a writer comes along that totally nails it. Their books might have perfect pacing, perfect characters, perfect prose, perfect emotion; perfect everything . These are the most perfectly written books in high fantasy.
Image via Bantam Spectra The Lies of Locke Lamora takes place in an unnamed fictional world, specifically in the city of Camorr, which resembles Renaissance Venice. In this weaving labyrinth of streets and canals, there exists a group of con artists calling themselves the Gentleman Bastards. These thieves have only one purpose: to rob the rich blind before they even realize they've been had. It's kind of like Robin Hood , only without all the giving to the poor.
Chapters alternate between the present storyline's acts of thievery and the history of the city and of the organization itself, which is actually a great way of worldbuilding and establishing lore without overwhelming the reader with info dumps. It keeps the story rolling forward, but also provides some much-needed context at key points. With a crew reminiscent of Ocean's Eleven and some fantastical heists, this book has garnered a lot of love amongst fantasy readers for its excellent writing.
Image via Thienemann Verlag The NeverEnding Story was written by German author Michael Ende and was adapted for the big screen just five years later. It's sort of a frame story, acting as a bit of book-ception. The premise is that a lonely boy in the real world finds an old book, and begins reading it, which happens to be pretty much The NeverEnding Story itself. The book is set in the realm of Fantastica, which is under threat from a dangerous, amalgamous force called "the Nothing." Fearing destruction, a princess sends a boy warrior named Atreyu to stop it.
It's a classic feel-good story , though it is not without its more depressing parts. The movie became a staple of '80s fantasy cinema, even spawning a few sequels. As with pretty much any book-to-film adaptation, though, the original text is going to reign supreme. It feels like a nostalgic childhood fairytale , including dragons, adventure, and magic, which is pretty much everything one could want from a high fantasy story. The writing approach turned out to be the correct choice, because it certainly helped the book stand out amongst others.
Image via Gollancz The Blade Itself is the first book in The First Law trilogy by Jo…