By Jill Grunenwald, librarian and OverDrive Collection Development Analyst

All titles in this article can be found here. 

I started reading George R.R. Martin’s epic Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series shortly after the publication of A Feast for Crows. I completely devoured the first four books in a matter of weeks…and thus the waiting game began. Then, finally, after what felt like forEVER, A Dance with Dragons was released.

And the waiting game (of thrones) began again.

During all of this waiting, those of us who watch the television show adaptation have been able to keep ourselves occupied with that, with the new season starting in just a couple of weeks (HUZZAH!). That said, we’re still anxiously awaiting the next book in the series, The Winds of Winter. With no publication date as of yet known, we could be waiting for awhile.

Luckily there are lots of other similar fantasy series available to read. Those who read high fantasy know that the books tend to be big – really big in some cases – which is why reading them via OverDrive is just fantastic because you can literally carry around 1,000 pages without it taking up any space or weighing down your bag.

So, while we’re all waiting, here are some of my suggestions to read in the meantime:

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, Book 1 in the Kingkiller Chronicle series.
In some ways this follows the usual orphaned boy attends magical school and becomes most well-known wizard of all time, but Rothfuss’ writing is utterly sublime and his characters just delightful it’s really impossible to compare it to any other series out there.

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, Book 1 in the Wheel of Time series.
This fourteen volume series was first published by Jordan in 1990 and when he died in 2007 was taken over by Brandon Sanderson, a fantasy author well-known and well-regarded in his own right.

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien, Book 1 in the Lord of the Ring series.
One fantasy series to rule them all. Really, I’d be remiss if I didn’t include this particular one on this list.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin, Book 1 in the Inheritance Trilogy.
Author N.K Jemisin broke into the fantasy scene with much fanfare, not just because of her fantastic writing but because she breaks the typical stereotypes that exist regarding fantasy authors. Her debut novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, was nominated for the Nebula Award, the Hugo Award, and the World Fantasy Award, among others.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, Book 1 in the Earthsea series.
Along with being an iconic award winning fantasy writer, Ursula K. Le Guin has the absolute best non-nom de plume name of a writer in this genre ever.

These are just a handful of the many, many fantasy series available out there. What would you recommend to readers looking for something while they play the waiting game?