Ever read a fantasy book where you desperately wanted to be part of their friend group? The best books are found family fantasy because they’re filled with loyalty, ride-or-die friendships, messy feelings, and characters who would do absolutely anything for each other.
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10 Fantasy Books with Found Family
This list focuses on fantasy books where the relationships between the characters matter just as much as the plot itself — they’re about friendship, trust, and the families people choose for themselves.
- The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
- The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
- The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
- Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
- The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
- Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
- One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
- The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
- Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Percy Jackson discovers he’s the son of Poseidon and is sent to Camp Half-Blood, a training ground for demigods like him. But after being accused of stealing Zeus’s master lightning bolt, Percy is thrown into a dangerous quest with his new friends Annabeth and Grover to clear his name.
After being hired for a dangerous mission to rescue a kidnapped child, she’s forced to reunite with her old crew for one final journey. But as they travel together again, old friendships resurface, loyalties are tested, and the messy group dynamic becomes just as compelling as the adventure itself.
Locke Lamora is the clever leader of a notorious group of thieves known as the Gentlemen Bastards. Alongside his crew, he targets the wealthy and pulls off elaborate schemes in the city of Camorr. That is until a mysterious figure known as the Gray King threatens to tear the city apart.
Clay and his former band of mercenaries were once the best in the business, but those glory days are long behind them. When an old teammate returns asking for help rescuing his kidnapped daughter, Clay is pulled back into a dangerous world he thought he had left behind — and it’s time to reunite the crew for one last mission.
Paige is well known in the criminal underworld as a Dreamwalker, a rare and illegal ability that makes her a target. But when she’s taken into a brutal system where trust is dangerous and survival comes first, she slowly begins to form bonds with others like her.
If The Bone Season gave you dystopian vibes too, you’ll probably enjoy my throwback to 00’s dystopian books for more intense, high-stakes worlds.
Sancia is a thief sent to steal an artifact of immense power, only to discover that the Merchant Houses will stop at nothing to control it. Forced into an uneasy alliance with a group of unlikely companions, she has to rely on people she would normally never trust.
Elspeth lives in a kingdom shaped by dark magic and fear. When she becomes involved with a mysterious highwayman and a dangerous quest tied to the spirit living inside her mind, she’s drawn into a reluctant alliance to gather all 12 Providence Cards — the only thing that may hold the key to saving the kingdom.
Queen Sabran must produce an heir to secure the future of her realm. Ead is a hidden mage living as one of Sabran’s closest protectors. Her and the other women in the kingdom all work together keep Queen Sabran safe from outside threats.
Kelsier recruits a crew of skilled Allomancers to take down the Lord Ruler, who has enslaved the Skaa and ruled through fear for a thousand years. When he meets Vin, a wary street orphan with powers like his own, he brings her into the crew and introduces her to a world she never knew existed.
A group of criminals, each with very different skills and messy pasts, are brought together to pull off an impossible heist led by a criminal prodigy. The real challenge isn’t just the job, but surviving each other long enough to pull it off.
That’s My List!
Found family fantasy books just hit differently because the relationships end up mattering just as much as the magic and the plot itself. There’s something really compelling about watching characters start off as strangers (or even enemies) and slowly become people who would go to the ends of the world for each other.
