Elden Ring players have been finding more unique ways to complete the game, with one streamer beating it using only a dance pad. The game has been a huge discussion topic since its release on Feb. 25, 2022. Its popularity took it all the way to Game of the Year, being FromSoftware's second title so far to earn the award.
Elden Ring is enriched in a deep world with fantastic lore and world-building. Fantasy has always excelled primarily in two different forms of media: video games and literature. Elden Ring is a wonderful combination of both of these too as the famous author ofA Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin, wrote the lore for Elden Ring.
The Cosmere
The Cosmere is an ever-expanding fantasy universe created by Brandon Sanderson where different stories take place on other planets. He is well-known for crafting incredible new magic systems and writing excellent world-building.
The Cosmere is a excellent place to begin for Elden Ring fans due to the high fantasy elements integrated into The Cosmere. The best series to look at first would be Stormlight Archive which is an example of what modern fantasy needs to look like. It has some of the most brilliantly written characters in literature, such as Dalinar Kholin and Kaladin Stormblessed, as well as believable races with detailed cultures like the Alethi and the Parshendi.
The Wheel Of Time
There is a night and day difference between The Wheel of Time books and its television counterpart, and it is an excellent epic fantasy series to pick up for those who have already read The Lord of the Rings or A Song of Ice and Fire.
The Wheel of Time's tone can switch in a second and the characters in the series face off against some truly horrifying beasts. Elden Ring fans who loved to face off against terrifying monsters or wield flashy spells or weapons should check out this fantasy series. It has one of the most interesting magic systems ever, borrowing influence from typical elemental powers, and has some large-scale epic scenes with characters throwing flashes of magic at their enemies.
The Elric Saga
The Elric Saga is well-noted for its influence over the fantasy genre, especially the more macabre darker worlds. Elric of Melniboné is really the first antihero featured in a sword and sorcery novel with a heavy mix of fantasy and horror.
Elden Ring fans that adored Maliketh's Black Blade shouldn't waste another moment and read The Elric Saga because they're bound to love Stormbringer too, Elric's cursed black blade. This weapon is one of the most influential swords in fiction alongside Excalibur influencing some of the best video game swords like Frostmourne as well as other fictional blades like Nightblood and Dragpnipur. Stormbringer is the central object of the tragedy surrounding Elric's character. Stormbringer and Elric struggle against each other, both trying to be the master, as they go through a downward struggle of villainy and horror.
A Song Of Ice And Fire
A Song of Ice and Fire is a famous fantasy series written by George R. R. Martin that the popular television series Game of Thrones is based on. There are currently five novels in the series with two more planned to be written.
The series is ideal for Elden Ring fans because of Martin's role in helping create the lore in Elden Ring. Like Elden Ring, Martin uses some pretty heavy influence from Norse mythology to help create his world-building and characters. He twists in a sense of medieval realism alongside classical cliché elements seen in various Arthurian tales. What's so brilliant about Martin's series is that the series can feel so similar to classical fantasy series, yet it can turn into an incredibly dark and unforgiving series.
The Dark Elf Trilogy
The Forgotten Realms is the name of the universe that Dungeons & Dragons takes place. R.A. Salvatore, the author of The Dark Elf Trilogy, is well-noted as being the king of writing the Forgotten Realms's literature.
The Dark ElfTrilogy is a prequel written before his Icewind Dale Trilogy focusing on Drizzt Do'Urden. The story focuses on heavy world-building that fans of Elden Ring, one of the most immersive fantasy video games, would appreciate with plenty of thrilling combat. Players will enjoy the novel even if they aren't familiar with Dungeons & Dragons but those who are need to read the book, especially if they're Elden Ring fans.
The First Law
The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie has long been highly regarded for its similarities to A Song of Ice and Fire and its gritty story. The characters are incredible with most of them being morally gray with the battles being witnessed often being evil versus evil.
The First Law series is a great choice for Elden Ring fans who enjoy the mixture of horror and fantasy elements into one. There are plenty of jaw-dropping scenes and the protagonists of the series often commit atrocious acts that go against a reader's expectations might have been. Abercrombie also does an excellent job of subverting expectations of tropes from what would normally be seen in fantasy literature.
The Black Company Chronicles
The Black Company Chronicles by Glen Cook is one of the most essential dark fantasy series out there. The stories focus on a mercenary group called the Black Company and have a very similar vibe to the Dark Souls trilogy and Berserk, a series with some of the best art in seinen manga.
The book series is incredibly dark and has some genuinely terrifying horror scenes. The second novel in the series itself feels as if it were written by Edgar Allan Poe or H.P. Lovecraft but in a medieval fantasy world with its mind-boggling build-up of terror and horror. Glen Cook also takes many common archetypes and tropes from the Hero's Journey and changes them in an incredibly new and interesting way.
The Lord Of The Rings
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is undoubtedly the most well-known fantasy series there is. The movie trilogy is a bit more popular than the books, but the books have a lot more depth with scenes and characters.
Both The Lord of the Rings and Elden Ring take quite a bit of influence from Norse mythology as well as some Arthurian legends, the latter more so. While it's likely a coincidence that both stories are centered around a ring, it is a familiar concept that will get people into The Lord of the Rings more easily. There are many similar vibes between the two and there feel like several nods to The Lord of the Rings within the game like the Night Cavalry's similarities to the Nazgûl.
The Runelords
The Runelords by David Farland is a hidden gem fantasy series with an incredible magic system centered around runes. Servants can offer endowments to their lords via these runes which can consist of various types of attributes like strength, voice, or glamour.
There is a heavy central focus on runes in Elden Ring, one of the best fantasy RPGs ever, as well as the Tarnished faces off against the Shardbearers that hold fragments of the Great Rune. There is actually a similar concept in The Runelords where all the runes originated from one single rune. While the plot does not align with the concept of Elden Ring there is some incredibly similar lore that is bound to get many Elden Ring fans invested in the story.
Malazan
Malazan has been gaining more popularity throughout the years and for good reason. The world-building created by Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont is unmatched and the dark fantasy series is one of the best epic fantasy series ever written.
Malazan is an outstanding dark fantasy novel for Elden Ring fans who are desiring more of the same genre. Erikson doesn't hold back in his Malazan Book of the Fallen series and twists horror in any way he can. Whether it's necrophiliac cannibals or a staircase of bones there are plenty of bone-chilling elements in his books. There is plenty of action as well with epic sword duels and mages wielding magic from their warrens.
Source:gamerant.com