The fantasy genre has plenty of trilogies—and more than a few trilogies come with a weak middle book. In earlier years, particularly, the second volume was often more about setting the scene for the finale than actually delivering a full story. Plenty of trilogies just end book two with cliffhangers, almost as if to say that’s the only way to get readers into the next story. All’s to say that it’s probably more difficult to find trilogies where the middle book shines brightest than the ones where either other volume is the star.
I’ve been reflecting on this as I finished writing a middle book for the first time, and I continue to be impressed with trilogies where book two truly sticks the landing.
Here are a few favorites of mine:
- The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu | Remembrance of Earth’s Past
- Mistborn: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson | Mistborn Trilogy
- Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb | The Farseer Trilogy
- Eldest by Christopher Paolini | The Inheritance Cycle
- The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks | The Sword of Shannara Trilogy
- Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey | The Harper Hall Trilogy
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu | Remembrance of Earth’s Past
Most people know Cixin Liu for The Three-Body Problem, which is a wholly fantastic book by itself. But the subsequent story is the one that truly amazed me.
The Three-Body Problem unfolds sort of like a hard sci-fi murder mystery, with a group of scientists, academics, and government officials searching for an explanation as leading scientists around the world continue to commit suicide. The quest for answers reveals that an alien civilization is just a few centuries from arriving to claim Earth as their own.
The Dark Forest picks up as earth grapples with the reality of this impending invasion. It features a similarly global (and even interstellar) plot, along with a similar group of scientists and world leaders. Where The Dark Forest really excels, however, is in the brilliant marriage of established science, theory, and plot. Its exploration of “cosmic sociology,” as the novel terms it, leads to a powerfully plausible finale and an unforgettable character journey for protagonist Luo Ji.
The following book, Death’s End, is yet another book I will never forget, but The Dark Forest is so strong by itself that you could almost end the trilogy here. I truly rank it #1 among #2 volumes in trilogies.
Book two epicness summary:
- Amazing plot
- Truly visionary science fiction theorizing
- Deeply satisfying character journeys
- Honing the ending in a way that feels like book two is its own book—not just a vehicle for the next one
- Reading recommendation: It’s like Ender’s Game meets Foundation, so if you’re into hard science fiction with a sociological spin, you’ll probably like Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy.
Mistborn: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson | Mistborn Trilogy
Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy continues to be among his most popular works (possibly the top). But the first and third volumes of the trilogy get the most discussion.
The first is very strong all around. The third is more divisive in that it’s a bold new direction for an epic trilogy like this. And so the middle volume is often overlooked. Here’s why I think it merits more attention.
Volume one delivers on plot, character growth, and Sanderson’s telltale magic system wonder. In The Well of Ascension, however, we really start to see Sanderson’s character writing skills go somewhere new. Not that I love all the characters on the page (I’m not a big Elend fan, personally). But Vin and Zane—a new character in this book—move the story forward in a much more interesting and thought provoking way than what we see in book one, and the plot gains a lot of strength from the new depth of these characters.
Last but not least, The Well of Ascension shoulder the question of what happens when the good guys ‘win.’ It shows the story doesn’t really end there—or at least doesn’t have to.
Book two epicness summary
- Great new characters
- Upping the ante for returning characters
- Super Sanderson-esque storytelling around fantasy tropes
- Reading recommendation: Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy is a great mix of trope subversion, hard magic, and characteristically high octane action. If you like Brent Weeks’s Lightbringer series, you’ll probably love this trilogy.
Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb | The Farseer Trilogy
The last thing you want book two to be is forgettable. Well, Robin Hobb’s Royal Assassin is one book I’m confident I will never forget.
Royal Assassin builds directly on key events from Assassin’s Apprentice (the previous book in the trilogy), following the training and secret assignments of FitzChivalry while the Six Duchies contends with a brutal invasion from the Red-ship Raiders.
Much of the novel is about Fitz’s personal growth following a near-death experience in the first volume. What makes this book incredible is how willing Hobb is to up the stakes. She just keeps pushing Fitz into even more challenging circumstances than he has faced before. There’s no plot armor. There’s no magic bullet. Consequently, there’s no escaping the story unscathed.
The ending, in particular, is equal parts devastating and relieving. While the entire trilogy is well worth reading—because Robin Hobb always delivers powerful books—this volume packs more of a punch than any other Hobb book I’ve read.
Book two epicness summary
- Aggressive upping of the story’s stakes
- Continuity with the themes of the previous story while going new places all the same
- Gripping character work
- An ending readers won’t forget
- Reading recommendation: If you like Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy, you’ll probably also enjoy Lois McMaster Bujold’s World of the Five Gods or Tad Williams’s Osten Ard books.
Eldest by Christopher Paolini | The Inheritance Cycle
Looking at it today, Eldest is not the middle book in a trilogy. It’s book two of four. But I’m including it since it was the middle book of a planned trilogy when it first came out.
Eldest begins immediately after Eragon ends, following Eragon’s journey to develop his unique powers as the only dragon rider opposing an evil emperor. Its plot is fairly straightforward. Eragon trains and matures while his allies wage war against the empire. Where it really excels is in the small scale execution of the plot, taking key characters to new places (physically and emotionally) and exploring new themes. In essence, Eldest stands out for how it takes basic storytelling elements (conflict, character relationships, plot progress) and handles them really well.
Stakes are higher. The world is bigger. And there’s something of a new story in this volume itself, bringing key characters from a start to a middle and to an end. But most of all, it serves the longer storyline well by elevating the chapter by chapter experience over what the previous book offered.
Book two epicness summary
- Growing the scope of the narrative
- Containing a story within a story
- Winning at the basics while playing the long game
- Reading recommendation: A great place to go next, if you enjoy Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle, is Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern books.
The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks | The Sword of Shannara Trilogy
Terry Brooks’s Sword of Shannara Trilogy is unique, among epic fantasy trilogies, in how well each book stands alone. The first book has a beginning, a middle, and an end. So do the next two volumes—and like a great concerto, it delivers in each stretch of the journey.
The Elftsones of Shannara stands out, however, in how well it both opens and closes. It starts with a no-nonsense, major problem (a throng of very angry demons is about to break out of magic jail). The key conflict is obvious within just a few pages. Using an unconventional structure for the narrative, Brooks cleverly paces out the needed immersion into the wider story and large cast of the book, which is something that second books so often fail to do in fantasy.
It’s impressive enough to me that this book’s ending is as strong as the opening. Add to it that Brooks gives us an ending that demands a complex solution—not just a battle to beat the big bad—and the book propels itself much higher into the ranks of outstanding fantasy novels (and outstanding middle books among them). It’s a book that ends as if this is the end. Few writers have the bravery to close like that nowadays, or the skill to do it like Brooks does here.
Book two epicness summary
- Moving on to tell a new story
- Opening with power
- Demanding complex solution
- Closing the book as if it’s the end
- Reading recommendation: If you enjoy Terry Brooks’s The Sword of Shannara Trilogy, you’ll probably also enjoy The Icewind Dale trilogy (or most Drizzt Do’Urden books) by R. A. Salvatore and The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist.
Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey | The Harper Hall Trilogy
Anne McCaffrey penned a particularly gentle story in her Harper Hall Trilogy. This trilogy follows a young girl named Menolly who befriends fire-lizards and writes songs. Dragonsinger picks her story up as she enters the famous Harper Hall to begin a more formal study of music.
There’s no time travel, so fans of MaCaffrey’s earlier Pern books might be disappointed. And there’s no epic conflict with a threat from space, so fans of her later books might be chagrined too. But anyone who has gone to school, been a teenager, or met a bully will find a lot that’s relatable and compelling in Dragonsinger. It’s a quick read, but it’s full of highs and lows that are true to real reader experiences.
I read this middle volume by mistake (thinking it was the first book in the trilogy) when I was a teenager, and the story swept me away even without the context of book one.
Book two epicness summary
- Not waiting too long for the victories to come
- Bringing early cozy vibes to fantasy
- Gentle wish fulfillment fantasy for music lovers (like me)
- Reading recommendation: If Anne McCaffrey’s Harper Hall Trilogy works for you, you’ll probably also enjoy just about anything by Patricia McKillip.
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About the Author
Stephen Taylor is the author of The Witherclaw Trilogy as well as short fiction appearing in The Future Fire, MYTHIC Magazine, The Centropic Oracle, and other publications. His short story “Only an Ocean” won a Silver Honorable Mention in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. When he’s not writing, he’s often playing his violin or wandering in the woods.
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