When it comes to top-notch fantasy, we’re spoiled for choice these days. JK Rowling, China Miéville, Ursula K Le Guin, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson are just a few of the juggernauts of this ever-growing category of fiction, which has spawned endless sub-categories. Fantasy is the realm of possibility, where imagination knows no limits and we see ourselves reflected in a house of mirrors.



When I started writing my first novel, The Bone Season, fantasy was already the genre of my heart. I set out to build a version of our world where clairvoyance was real and formed the basis of a magic system. In the third instalment, The Song Rising, my protagonist escapes from a tightly controlled London to a Manchester where clairvoyant gangs rule the streets. From there, she ventures to an Edinburgh where spirits stalk the South Bridge Vaults. There are rules to this alternative universe, but I’m not bound by the laws of reality. Speaking as both an author and a reader, there is no more exciting genre to be immersed in than this one.



Many of the brightest jewels in fantasy writing can be found in the field of young adult fiction, which is widely read by adults as well as teenagers. There are many much-loved worlds I have yet to discover – I’ve been catching up on my reading for pleasure for the last few years – but here are some of my personal favourites.

1. Akaran, from The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

Based on the underworld of Hindu mythology, Akaran is the perfect setting for this India-inspired reimagining of Hades and Persephone. To enter, one must wander through the colourful night bazaar. Here, myriad creatures of the otherworld sell all manner of curiosities, from iridescent fruits and bones for scrying to love charms and daydreams. Beyond, in the palace of the raja of Akaran, countless secrets lie behind locked doors. And a flesh-eating demon horse you didn’t know you needed.



2. Arda, from The Lord of the Rings and other works by JRR Tolkien

Tolkien’s Middle Earth and the Undying Lands.



One world to rule them all. There’s a reason so many authors name Tolkien as a major influence. The Middle-earth we know is only one section of Arda, the Earth of Tolkien’s legendarium, and Arda in turn part of a wider imagined cosmology. Not only did Tolkien create a sprawling paracosm with a long, rich history and myriad peoples, but he also invented his own languages and dialects. No stone was left unturned.

3. Eretz, from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Eretz is hidden from human eyes, ravaged by a brutal war between the chimaera and the seraphim. Many portals lead there, including a shop in Prague where the enigmatic Brimstone grants wishes in exchange for teeth. Taylor conjures up a world of war and dancing, where women with gazelle horns carry censers full of souls and seraphim tattoo their kill-counts on their fingers. It’s an inventive take on the age-old conflict between angels and demons.

4. Erilea, from Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

Rather than taking the medieval route favoured by many fantasy writers, Maas’s Throne of Glass series has a more 18th-century flavour. I always think of Jonathan Swift’s The Lady’s Dressing Room when I read these books – his Celia would fit right into Maas’s milieu. In Rifthold, capital of Adarlan, a veneer of false beauty conceals an underbelly of crime and debauchery. Rifthold alone is wonderfully intricate, but the continent of Erilea is vast, and Maas continues to take her story farther afield in every new instalment of the series.



5. Filigree Street, from The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

While this tale is set in the real cities of London and Oxford – and shot with glimpses of Meiji-era Japan – you won’t find the titular Filigree Street on any map. Pulley braids the real and the whimsical in her vision of London in 1883. Home Office clerk Nathaniel Steepleton finds himself intrigued by the Japanese watchmaker Keita Mori, whose home in Filigree Street is ticking with eccentric clockwork creations – including an unforgettable octopus named Katsu. Mori has a mysterious gift: he can remember things that have not yet come to pass. Grounded with details of Victorian life, this steampunk-esque fantasy teeters on the brink of explaining its mysteries with science, but never feels less than magical.

6. Herran, from The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

This one is a bit of a curiosity in the field of high fantasy, as it contains no magic whatsoever. Herran, a bountiful peninsula with many advantageous natural defences, has been conquered by Valoria – a ruthless empire not unlike Ancient Rome – by the time the trilogy begins. Rutkoski has an impressive eye for detail, but she never shares information with the reader without purpose – instead, she shows us just enough of her setting to reassure us that she has considered every facet of it, from food, drink, music and card games to war strategy, politics and trade.

7. The Known World, from A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

As you will know if you have read the books or watched the TV show, the map of A Song of Ice and Fire is immense. Though the narrative is based in Westeros and Essos, which are complex paracosms on their own, Martin’s imagination stretches far beyond, to the unexplored continent of Sothoryos, the distant and mysterious port of Asshai and the many islands that pepper the seas. Though Martin describes himself as more of a gardener where Tolkien was an architect – the architect being the sort of writer who has everything planned before they start – it’s clear that his knowledge of his universe runs deep, and that makes it utterly immersive.



8. London Below, from Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

As a Londoner with a keen interest in the history of my city, I devoured Neverwhere with pure joy. We descend with Door and Richard Mayhew into London Below, or the Underside – a realm where Underground stations and place names are made flesh and infused with life. The Black Friars are a religious order, the Earl rules over a real court, and the Angel Islington plots his return to heaven. Meanwhile, warriors fight in the floating market, and you really do need to mind the gap, lest you be snatched away by a monster. It’s an ingenious concept, executed with that wonderful Gaimanesque blend of humour and darkness.



Coming from below … Rob Kauzlaric in a stage production of Neverwhere at Lifeline Theatre in Chicago. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett

9. Lormere, from The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Lormere is one of the three disparate lands in the Sin Eater’s Daughter trilogy, which concluded this month with The Scarecrow Queen. Unlike its more science-minded neighbour Tallith, Lormere is a kingdom shaped by tradition and religion. Under the rule of the sadistic Queen Helewys, its people worship the god Dæg and the goddess Næht. The narrator, Twylla, is Daunen Embodied, the reincarnation of Dæg and Næht’s child, and is worshipped as a goddess at court. Salisbury has fleshed out her world with innovative takes on alchemy, golems and potions.

10. Miraji, from Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Born of a fusion of the wild west and One Thousand and One Nights, Miraji is a desert nation forged in blood and sand. In the backwater town of Dustwalk, the power of the First Beings – like the fiery Buraqi and the chilling Skinwalkers – is held in check by the iron dust that flies out of its weapons factories. Far away in the shining city of Izman, the sultan plots to control the immortal Djinn and their half-human children, the Demdji. There are tantalising glimpses of the scope of Hamilton’s universe in mentions of the distant shores of Xicha and the ongoing religious war between the Albish and the Gallan.



The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon is published by Bloomsbury, priced £12.99. It is available from the Guardian bookshop for £11.04, including free UK p&p.