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With medieval energy in the air once more, let’s dive into some of the best fantasy books about knights. It’s fair to say that right now, knights are all the rage in fantasy.
Culturally, we have often looked to a past that never existed as a site of whimsy or fascination. Even when medieval literature like The Lais of Marie de France was written, people were fondly remembering a time that never happened. In these stories, knights or Chevaliers were men on horses who followed the rules of chivalry, an imaginary set of governing rules to keep dangerous men’s passions curtailed. If a knight always followed their king, or the married lady they were in love with, they could not enact their violence or passion elsewhere. This image of a chivalrous knight was always a fantasy, so it is no surprise that even today, we continue to live in that imaginary land.
Fantasy books about knights often engage with the idea that honor, violence, and passion can drive heroic people to do impossible feats. The medieval conception of chivalry may not be followed in 21st-century fantasy novels (after all, most knights are not yearning for married ladies in the following books). However, whether driven by love or vengeance, these knights never give up and will always risk their lives to save the day.
I do think this collection of fantasy books about knights captures the wonder, danger, and adventure that often accompany heroes from the best of medieval literature.
The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
Simran is the witch of the woods, doomed to love Vina, the knight of the Queen’s court. They are the latest in a long line of witches who’ve fallen in love with knights, but they vow to be different. Simran and Vina believe they can tell a better story, one strong enough to break the pattern fate’s laid out for them. Their timeline to finding a happy ending shortens when an assassin begins to target tales like theirs. If Simran and Vina don’t act quickly, they might not get another chance.
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The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
As a Diviner, Sybil Delling traded a home in the great cathedral for receiving visions of the future in her dreams. After nine years, she was looking forward to the end of her service before her fellow Diviners began to disappear. Now, she must trust an enigmatic, heretical, and handsome knight who’s recently arrived at the cathedral for his help getting them back. Rodrick isn’t an easy travel companion, but Sybil knows he will help her accomplish an impossible task involving the gods and her missing Diviners—even if it betrays everything she thought she knew.
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
The fairies that abducted Toadling loved her in faerieland growing up. But when she reaches adulthood, they ask her to offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child in the human world. The task should be easy enough, but as unusual, deadly circumstances play out, and Toadling must do her best to protect the princess in the tower and everyone around her. When a kind knight comes centuries later to traverse the dense bramble and break the curse, Toadling is the only one who can stop him.
Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang
When Yeva saved her sibling from a baby dragon attack, she permanently injured her arm and was sent away to train to become one of the best dragon hunters of her age. The first time she returns is on a mission from the king. The dragon-worshiping nation of Quiambao could be hiding a dragon, and Yeva is its most qualified hunter. Returning near home for her latest assignment, Yeva finds herself relaxing in new ways: first, she shows her face, then she falls for the girl King Sookhee, and soon, she might see herself betraying her vows to protect her new life.
The Second Death of Locke by V.L. Bovalino
A knight and her mage are bound to protect each other, keeping a great secret on a quest to protect a child of an enemy kingdom. Knight Grey will protect Kier, her mage, from any blade, and her well of power is his to use, but she is also the secret heir to the lost island of Locke, and if she dies, so does all magic. Their latest quest may be Grey and Kier’s deadliest yet, putting them both at the center of a great war and forcing them to confront what is worth such great risk.
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
Princess Luca wants to usurp her uncle to help free her people from tyranny, and she needs a soldier’s help to do so. Stolen by the empire as a child, Touraine was raised to fight for the enemy. She had followed orders up until she was sent to quell a rebellion in her homeland. Now rebellion is the only thing that makes sense. In that moment, Luca convinces Touraine that they can both achieve their goals if they overthrow the king together. While not strictly a book about a knight, Touraine is a noble champion for her people in Clark’s epic sapphic fantasy trilogy.
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
The life of the orphan who became a great knight, Sir Una Everlasting, lives in Dominion’s legends. So perhaps it’s unsurprising that centuries later, the failed soldier and scholar Owen Mallory falls in love with her tale. It motivates Owen to go to war, the library stacks, and then the past by Una’s side. Now Una and Owen’s stories are inextricably bound together, ending the same way every time. If they want to break the cycle, they will have to rewrite the story that was told about them both.
I hope you have a wonderful time dreaming and adventuring with these fantasy books about knights. If you are looking for more fantasy books to read, you should try these 5 Exciting Fantasy Novels by Black Authors, these Regency Era Fantasy Novels, and these Fantasy Novels with Immersive Settings.
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