Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week, participants get a freebie and get to choose any topic that they want to, and I have decided that I will use this post to look at the top ten series I want to get into.

Over the last few years, I have gone out of my way to try out several series which I had heard good things about or read intriguing reviews about. In most cases, I have found myself absolutely loving the first book in the series, and I will go on to keep reading all the books that follow on. For quite a lot of these, I really wish that I had tried them out a hell of a lot sooner, such as the Powder Mage series or The Stormlight Archive. Clearly there are a number of amazing series out there that I have not yet had the opportunity to sample, and I really need to start expanding my horizons.

So, for this list I will be looking at the top ten series that I have not had the opportunity to read, but that I wish I had. There are several reasons why I have not been able to read these books, such as availability, time constraints or simply not knowing the books existed until years after their release (try as I might, I can’t keep track of every book that is released). For some of these, I did have the opportunity to read the later books in the series, but I chose not to because I thought it would make more sense to start at the beginning with the first book. There are a great many series out there that have caught my eye, but I am going to limit myself to the top ten ones I want to read, with a few honourable mentions.

For some of these series, I have heard amazing things about them from other reviewers; for others, I really like the plot idea and want to check it out. There are also a few series where I have enjoyed some of the author’s other works and I am interested in seeing what else they have produced. All of these are at the top of my reading list, and I hope to check them all out in the next couple of years, although it is probably going to be a slow process to get through all of them.

Honourable Mentions:

Villains – V. E. Schwab

This series is apparently an intriguing take one the superhero genre which focuses on two friends who gain superpowers and the dramatic consequences of this. This a rather shorter series than most of the others on this list, currently featuring only two books. However, the sheer amount of love I saw for the second book when it was released last year was just insane. Nearly everyone seemed to be reading this book, and I honestly felt like I was missing out quite a bit. I love a good superhero story and really need to check this book out. I have also heard good things about Schwab’s Shades of Magic series, and I figure I will move onto that once I get through the Villains series.

Jack Reacher – Lee Child

Ever since I started up my blog, I have been meaning to read more thrillers, as I have a bit of a dearth of knowledge and appreciation of the genre. There are a number of intriguing-sounding or classic thriller series out there that I want to check out in the future, including Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series or Stephen Hunter’s Bob Lee Swagger series. However, the one I think I am most likely to check out in the immediate future is Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. I enjoyed the Tom Cruise movies that were based on these books and I would like to check out some of the extremely interesting cases featured within. As the series currently features 23 novels, this may be one of those series where I check out the later books in the series first. In this case, I might look up the 24^th novel, Blue Moon, when it comes out this October.

The Dresden Files – Jim Butcher

The Dresden Files is one of those series that I see a lot of other reviewers gush about and place at the top of their favourite book lists. Featuring a modern world beset with magic, The Dresden Files follow magical PI Harry Dresden as he works a series of intriguing magical crimes. While the whole concept sounds amazing, The Dresden Files has been one of the series that I was mostly unaware of until recently, and now that it is on my radar, I have not been able to make time for it. Currently featuring 15 books, this is one that might take a while to get through; however, it might be worth the effort if they end up making that television adaption that is currently being planned.

Top Ten List (No Particular Order):

Newsflesh – Mira Grant

A zombie series from one of the best modern authors of horror fiction is definitely something that I need to check out. Mira Grant is an extremely talented author, and I absolutely loved her 2017 release, Into the Drowning Deep, which was just spectacular. Grant has several intriguing series out at the moment, but I really like the sound of the Newsflesh books, which follow a band of blogger journalists as they investigate dark conspiracies in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. Currently made up of four books, this sounds like a really cool series and, frankly, after seeing how terrifying Grant can make mermaids, I cannot wait to see what she can do with zombies.

The Divine Cities – Robert Jackson Bennett

When I read and reviewed Bennett’s latest book, Foundryside, last year I could not help but notice that quite a number of people were already massive fans of Bennett thanks to his The Divine Cities series. The Divine Cities series is set in a fallen city which used to utilise the vast power of its gods to rule the world. However, when the gods fell the city was brutally conquered and made to suffer for its past injustices. I really like the sound of that setting, and the plot then follows a protagonist who investigates a series of mysteries in this broken city. I already know that Bennett can create some intriguing mysteries and conspiracies thanks to Foundryside, so I am very curious to see his earlier work. I also see that a number of reviewers whose opinions I respect have a lot of nice things to say about The Divine Cities series and, as a result, I really think I need to read these books.

The Dinosaur Lords – Victor Milan

I have to admit that the main reason I want to check out this series is its extremely cool concept. How can I possibly not want to read a fantasy series where the characters go to war riding giant dinosaurs? Honestly, it is impossible to resist, and the moment I heard about this series I knew I would have to read it. But there is one disadvantage that makes me slightly weary, and that is that the series might not be 100% complete. The author, Victor Milan, unfortunately passed away in 2018. While he was able to complete the first three books in The Dinosaur Lords series, the entire series was apparently going to consist of six books. I am slightly worried that I will get into The Dinosaur Lord books only to find myself disappointed with some open plot points when I finish the third book. I don’t think this will be enough to stop me trying out these books, but it is a potential concern I need to keep in mind.

Red Rising Saga – Pierce Brown

The Red Rising Saga is a series that has been on my reading radar for a while. This is another series which is held in extremely high regard by a number of reviewers I follow, and it actually sounds very interesting, as it follows a war to end caste oppression in a futuristic space society. I have had the opportunity to read one or two of the later books in the series in the past, but I never did. This is mainly because I always though the storylines sounded so complex that it would be best to start the Red Rising Saga from the beginning. This is definitely a series I need to read in the future, especially as Brown is continuing to add to it, with the latest book, Dark Age, literally coming out today.

Mistborn – Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson is an extremely talented author whose books I have really enjoyed in the past, especially The Way of Kings and Skyward. As he is an extremely prolific author, he has a huge number of awesome-sounding books out at the moment and I am hoping to read all of them at some point in the future because he is an amazing writer. However, the main body of his work that I want to read next is his Mistborn books. The Mistborn series of books are part of his huge overarching Cosmere novels and are set in the same universe as some of his other series, such as The Stormlight Archive. Featuring a really cool magical system based around different metals and made up of six highly regarded books (with a seventh on the way), the Mistborn books sound spectacular and I look forward to eventually reading them.

Throne of Glass – Sarah J. Maas

This one has been on my radar ever since I read Maas’s excellent comic book novel, Catwoman: Soulstealer last year. Maas is probably one of the best young adult fiction authors out there at the moment, and the Throne of Glass series is considered by many to be her magnum opus. Featuring eight lengthy books, the Throne of Glass follows teenage assassin Celaena as she battles for freedom in the lands of Adarlan. This is a really cool-sounding series which has received a lot of praise from bloggers who specialise in young adult fiction. As such, it is really high on my to-read list and I hope to enjoy it in the near future. I also have my eye on Maas’s other main series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, which looks like another interesting collection of books.

Saga – Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Probably considered one of the best comic book series of all times, Saga is a major comic book series that I have not had the pleasure of reading. Considering the regard that many comic book fans hold this series in, it is a bit odd that I have never gotten around to actually reading it, especially as I have the first volume sitting on my shelf at the moment. I have enjoyed a number of Vaughan’s other works in the past, so I am unsure why I have not checked these comics out. Hopefully I will not rue my oversight too much when I finally get around to reading the first volume.

The Broken Empire – Mark Lawrence

If there is one author that I really regret never reading before, it is Mark Lawrence. Lawrence has been a cornerstone of the fantasy genre for several years now, but somehow I have never had the opportunity to read any of his books. This seems like a pretty big oversight on my part, especially as a number of reviewers and bloggers paint him as one of the very best fantasy authors in the world today. His books do sound extremely interesting, and he has written a number of major fantasy series, including The Red Queen’s War and The Book of the Ancestor series. I think I would go back and read The Broken Empire series first though. Not only does this feature his first book, Prince of Thorns, which I have heard is a pretty amazing debut, but I believe that The Broken Empire series is connected to some of his other works and serves as a prequel. As I really intend to read all of Lawrence’s books in the future, it makes sense to start here, and I hope to get around to reading The Broken Empire books quite soon.

Grishaverse series – Leigh Bardugo

I am slightly cheating here by including several different series as one entry, but I think I can justify it as the series are all set in the same world. Bardugo’s Grishaverse series is currently made up the Grisha trilogy, the Six of Crows duology and the Nikolai duology, which currently features one book, 2019’s King of Scars. Each of the books in the Grishaverse sound extremely interesting, and there is a lot of love for them in reviewing circles. I could not believe how many reviews King of Scars got earlier this year in such a short period of time. Clearly Bardugo is doing something right, and I really need to get aboard and start enjoying her work.

Gaunt’s Ghosts – Dan Abnett

I was a massive fan of the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 universe when I was younger, and I used to collect a lot of the models and booklets. One of the main things that always appealed to me was the extensive lore and fiction that accompanied the modelling side of Warhammer, and I often found it as awesome as the modelling and the battling. I still really enjoy parts of the Warhammer franchise to this day, such as the Dawn of War computer games, and I still like to keep an eye on the lore. Most people would not realise that there is a huge amount of fiction associated with this modelling franchise, with some good books attached to it. I have read a few pieces of Warhammer extended fiction over the years, but the one I have always meant to try out is the Gaunt’s Ghosts series by Dan Abnett. Made up of 16 books, including January 2019’s release Anarch, this series follows the Tanith First-and-Only, a penal unit of Imperial Guardsman fighting under the command of Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, nicknamed Gaunt’s Ghosts. Throughout the course of the books, the Ghosts are deployed to some of the worst combat areas in the Imperium, fighting against the various enemies of the Emperor. I love the whole concept of this series, which is essentially The Dirty Dozen in space, and I used to read some of the excerpts of the books that appeared in the Games Workshop magazines. Definitely one that is high on my list, I look forward to eventually checking these books out.

I hope you enjoyed my list. It was a bit of a hard one to put together, as there are several additional series I really want to check out, and some, such as The Faithful and the Fallen series and The Nevernight Chronicle, only just missed out from being included. I am hoping to have a look at some of these series soon, although it might be best if I finish off the Joe Ledger, Powder Mage, The Stormlight Archive and The Drenai Saga series that I am currently reading first. Let me know in the comments which series you think I should prioritise reading first and let me know if there are any series that you love that are missing from my list.