The Seven Tiers of Fantasy Writing: Trash, Treasures, and Timeless Masterpieces

The Seven Levels of Fantasy Books: From AI Slop to Timeless Legends

Fantasy has always been a wide-open playground. On one shelf you’ll find a legendary tome that shaped the entire genre. On another, you’ll find a slapped-together mess that reads like it was written by someone who thought “hey, how hard could this be?”

Recently, while doomscrolling, I stumbled across a “seven levels of rappers” video and thought — why hasn’t anyone done this for fantasy books? So let’s fix that. Here’s my take on the seven levels of fantasy fiction — from the absolute worst to the genre-defining greats.

And yes, I fully expect you to disagree. That’s half the fun.

Level 1: AI Slop and Con Artists

This is the basement. The gutter water. The place where “books” exist not because anyone had a story to tell, but because someone thought they could make a quick buck.

These are the AI-generated word salads clogging up Kindle Unlimited, or the cynical works of authors more interested in cash than craft. No respect for language, structure, or theme — just noise.

Not even “so bad it’s good.” Just bad.

Level 2: Forgotten Failures

These are the fantasy books you vaguely remember seeing at a bookstore once, but couldn’t describe to save your life.

They’re not offensively bad, just flat. Derivative Tolkien knockoffs, franchise cash-ins (looking at you, Rebel Moon tie-ins), or works by ego-driven authors who thought they could phone it in.

They fade fast because they never had substance to begin with.

Level 3: The Guilty Pleasures

Here’s where things get interesting. At this level, you’ll find books with ideas — sometimes really cool ones — but the execution falls short.

Characters are cardboard. Worlds feel small. But maybe there’s a quirk, a twist, or one standout character that keeps you hooked. These are the series you know are mid, but you keep reading anyway because… well, you’re having fun.

Think Eragon, Forgotten Realms, or Sword of Truth. Not great, not terrible. Just comfortably “okay.”

Level 4: True Storytellers

This is the beating heart of fantasy fandom. Authors here aren’t reinventing the wheel, but they know how to spin a tale.

The writing is clean. The worldbuilding is solid. The characters feel alive. These are the books you’d hand to a friend as their first foray into fantasy.

Series like The Dresden Files or Shannara live here. They’re consistent, popular, and beloved. They might not be flawless, but they hit the sweet spot between accessibility and craft.

Level 5: The Writers

At level five, we’re no longer just reading stories — we’re savoring prose. These writers care about style. Their sentences sing. Their themes linger.

You’ll find The Stormlight Archive, Wheel of Time, and His Dark Materials here. They’re emotional, layered, sometimes messy, but unforgettable. These authors inspire the next generation — even if their work has flaws that hold it back from true legend status.

Level 6: The Legends

This is the territory of writers who don’t just tell stories — they reshape the genre. Entire subgenres spring from their ideas. Their characters feel more real than half the people you know in real life.

These books challenge you. They linger in your head for years. They spark endless academic papers, Reddit debates, and fan theories.

Think A Song of Ice and Fire, Neuromancer, The First Law, Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. These are the works you put down and whisper, “I didn’t know you could even do that.”

Level 7: The GOATs

And finally, the summit. The works that changed fantasy forever. The ones that create a before and after in your life.

Level 7 books are not just stories. They are cultural touchstones. You close them and you are not the same person you were when you opened them.

Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

These aren’t just fantasy books — they are the reason the genre exists as it does today. Every author, at every level, is chasing the ghosts of the Level 7s.

Fantasy is too sprawling, too weird, and too subjective to fit neatly into tiers. But that’s what makes this fun. My level four might be your level six. Your guilty pleasure might be my forgotten failure.

And that’s okay. Because at the end of the day, the genre is big enough to hold both Lord of the Rings and Eragon, both Dresden Files and Discworld.

The important thing? That we keep reading, keep debating, and keep falling in love with the strange, sprawling, magical worlds fantasy writers create.

Stay enchanted with more book breakdowns, geek debates, and literary deep dives here at Land of Geek Magazine.

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