This list was a lot of fun to put together. Sometimes these words give you a good idea of what a book is about — other times, they seem trite. Either way, the fantasy genre definitely suffers from overused words.
Thank you to That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting Top Ten Tuesday!
“King”
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien, The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu, Kingkiller Chronicles, King’s Shield
“Empire”
Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson,
“The ____ of the ____”
– The Fellowship of the Ring (or The Lord of the Rings), Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
“Bone”
A Debt of Bones by Terry Goodkind, Children of the Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
“Wizard”
Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell
“War”
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson, Warheart by Terry Goodkind
“Sword”
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
“Dragons”
A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin, His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
“City”
City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty, City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
“Smoke” or “Mist”
Daughters and Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
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