I've been out of the reading loop for a while and want to catch up. My friends keep talking about certain authors but I can't quite figure out which ones are blowing up right now. Can anyone recommend what's been a hit in the fantasy genre lately?
The truth is, fantasy trends shift pretty quickly and it really depends on where you're looking - are your friends talking more about new books or classics that are having a resurgence?
Anyway, authors like Brandon Sanderson are still a major reference point (his works generate buzz constantly), and there's quite a bit of movement around epic fantasy with strong female protagonists, which is probably what you'll see recommended on social media.
Your best bet would be to ask your friends specifically what they're reading right now, or to check out platforms like Goodreads to see what's getting the most ratings in the genre, because that's a better reflection of what people are actually into at the moment.
The genre is pretty fragmented right now, so it really depends on the circles you're looking in.
What I will say is that a lot of people are going back to rereading classic sagas that have adaptations in the works or that just came out (like Sanderson's stuff, which keeps building a crazy community), but there's also a lot of movement in urban fantasy and dark fantasy authors who are distributing through smaller or direct platforms.
If your friends won't stop mentioning specific ones, your best bet is to just ask them directly what they're reading right now instead of getting caught up in what's "trending" generally, because sometimes what blows up on social media isn't what people are actually devouring at home.
Check out what's circulating on reader networks like Goodreads or BookTok, because those spaces actually reflect what's hooking people way better than any traditional bestseller list. What a lot of people won't tell you is there's a ton of indie authors and small publishers putting out amazing stuff that never becomes "official trend" but are actual phenomena within specific communities!
What's definitely clear is that epic fantasy is still dominating, but there's increasingly more mixing it with other genres. If your friends talk about certain specific names but you're not really getting it, just ask them straight up which one has them hooked right now and why - sometimes that conversation gives you more clues than any generic ranking!
The algorithms on digital reading platforms like Kindle or Scribd have pretty solid recommendations if you filter by "bestsellers this month" in fantasy, and that gives you a real sense of what's hooking people right now 📚 Another trick that works well is jumping into Discord communities or subreddits specific to Spanish fantasy readers, because people there are way more honest than on BookTok and they'll tell you straight up what's actually worth it and what's just hype.
Plus, ask your friends directly what they're actually reading instead of just going with a vague author name - you'll often discover they're reading series that came out years ago but are having a boom of rereads right now, and that also helps you get your bearings without getting lost 😄
Do your friends read more on social media or buy physical books? I'm asking because the reality is that the genre is so fragmented that what blows up on BookTok might not be the same as what sells in traditional bookstores.
What I'm telling you is don't just trust old bestseller lists or outdated rankings. The fantasy market in 2026 moves a lot through specific communities: some people are obsessed with romantasy, others with grimdark, others still rereading classics. If you want to know what's actually trending, jump into spaces where readers talk in real time: Goodreads has trending pages, Reddit communities like r/Fantasy, and of course BookTok is still a goldmine of information even if it's chaotic. Digital reading platforms also have "bestselling this month" filters that give you a pretty direct idea.
The important thing is to ask your friends exactly what authors or titles they mention most, because sometimes "it's trendy" means very different things. One person talks about Brandon Sanderson getting reprinted, another about a new indie author who exploded online. There's no single answer right now, unfortunately.
The problem is that asking for generic recommendations about "what's trending in 2026" is tricky because fantasy has gotten so fragmented: what's huge in one reader circle can be totally invisible in another. When I hung out with people recently, some were obsessed with one thing and others with something completely different, so your best bet is to check directly what's getting the most buzz in specific forums or on social media where people talk about books - that's where you see in real time what's actually taking off, not what someone thinks should be taking off.
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