Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book

Historical fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy and related to historical fiction, which makes use of specific elements of real world history. To be included on this list, a book should 1) have fantasy elements and 2) either be set in the real-world historical past, or in an alternative world that's clearly taken from a specific real-world setting. Secondary-world fantasy novels that are merely "inspired by" elements of real-world history, such as A Game of Thrones, should not be included.

Note: Authors are no longer able to add their own books to lists, but books added by book promoters will be deleted. Sockpuppet voting degrades the lists for everyone. Thank you for your understanding.
1

by
3.88 avg rating — 264,524 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.29 avg rating — 73,906 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.07 avg rating — 116,352 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.30 avg rating — 28,723 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.33 avg rating — 35,116 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.13 avg rating — 215,564 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
3.92 avg rating — 23,781 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.25 avg rating — 16,165 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.09 avg rating — 490,650 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.20 avg rating — 17,760 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.13 avg rating — 134,448 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.59 avg rating — 54 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.08 avg rating — 18,296 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.13 avg rating — 25,457 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.17 avg rating — 17,444 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.08 avg rating — 247,249 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.10 avg rating — 33,259 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.27 avg rating — 1,192,231 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.90 avg rating — 115,342 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.31 avg rating — 299,506 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.13 avg rating — 49,543 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.31 avg rating — 14,778 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.52 avg rating — 18,393 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.06 avg rating — 46,741 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.02 avg rating — 22,153 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.02 avg rating — 87,090 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
3.99 avg rating — 1,146,318 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
3.98 avg rating — 10,172 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.26 avg rating — 10,825 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.30 avg rating — 2,217,148 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
3.79 avg rating — 256 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.55 avg rating — 31 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.02 avg rating — 117,387 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.30 avg rating — 892,401 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
3.91 avg rating — 34,314 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.10 avg rating — 46,124 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.83 avg rating — 49,773 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.92 avg rating — 95,659 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.04 avg rating — 11,541 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.87 avg rating — 19,277 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.30 avg rating — 773 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.69 avg rating — 2,408 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.77 avg rating — 5,855 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.72 avg rating — 9,434 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.06 avg rating — 121,410 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.85 avg rating — 4,518 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.09 avg rating — 80,263 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.72 avg rating — 39,866 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
3.78 avg rating — 249,949 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.80 avg rating — 282,574 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
3.87 avg rating — 24,725 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.75 avg rating — 1,230 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.89 avg rating — 108,404 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.01 avg rating — 180,460 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.03 avg rating — 34,226 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
4.30 avg rating — 42,652 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.22 avg rating — 1,507,097 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
3.90 avg rating — 58,056 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.71 avg rating — 35 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
4.11 avg rating — 71,351 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 12,596 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.74 avg rating — 67,367 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.47 avg rating — 1,789 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.28 avg rating — 25 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.38 avg rating — 38,528 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.84 avg rating — 12,021 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.34 avg rating — 18,443 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
3.86 avg rating — 6,572 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.17 avg rating — 8,167 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.20 avg rating — 86,796 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,595 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.84 avg rating — 8,498 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 9,018 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.57 avg rating — 1,750 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.22 avg rating — 23,149 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.05 avg rating — 13,886 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
3.50 avg rating — 2,569 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
3.92 avg rating — 844 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.93 avg rating — 102,822 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.07 avg rating — 11,648 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
3.99 avg rating — 520,157 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.14 avg rating — 168,965 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.83 avg rating — 100,261 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.81 avg rating — 39,310 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
3.86 avg rating — 1,422 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.67 avg rating — 93 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
4.47 avg rating — 217 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
4.05 avg rating — 1,525 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.11 avg rating — 88 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.24 avg rating — 94 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
3.99 avg rating — 986 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,024 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.98 avg rating — 323 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
4.20 avg rating — 1,963 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.37 avg rating — 27 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.98 avg rating — 914 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.74 avg rating — 153,758 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.93 avg rating — 288 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
356 books · 314 voters · list created December 6th, 2012 by Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship (votes) .
94 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship 4196 books
172 friends
Nathan 686 books
319 friends
Lou 7516 books
13 friends
Grack21 1814 books
97 friends
Benjamin 2526 books
183 friends
A.F. 885 books
1727 friends
Tamara 1130 books
242 friends
Tara 3206 books
93 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-3 of 3 (3 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship Just weeded out a surprising number of self-promos, including some that aren't even historical fantasy. No more self-published books on this list.


message 2: by Karin (new)

Karin Just curious, Is alternative history part of historical fantasy?


message 3: by Karin (last edited Jun 06, 2026 03:04PM) (new)

Karin Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship wrote: "Just weeded out a surprising number of self-promos, including some that aren't even historical fantasy. No more self-published books on this list."

Now that authors can no longer add their own books to lists, I have revised the top to say that book promoters cannot add books here. Self-publishing has changed so much that many authors who used to publish with traditional publishers have switched to self-publishing, but recently I've been seeing book promoters spam promotions of some traditionally published books in groups now as well as independently published ones.

Some of the best books I've read recently have come from small publishing houses or have been independently published.


back to top



Related News

Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...

Anyone can add books to this list.