“Verily and forsooth, the yellowy sun drippeth down upon the meadhall like a cockatrice egg fresh cracked, as maid Marian McMcgillicutty Penrose-Smyth runs a fine mahogany comb through her wild chestnut tresses. With each tangle smoothed, her beauty beams radiant the the gilded sword of King Tiberius XII, as it was in the age of…” No. Just no. No one wants to read fantasy written like that. While many fantasy authors try to punch up their words into poetry, their prose often ends up purple as a fresh-punched bruise. But the authors on this list? Each one is a true wordsmith, able to hang with the best of the olden day bards. Here are 10 fantasy books with truly beautiful prose that reads like an epic poem.
