The Ultimate Fantasy Series Ranking

Author page

Joel Rosenberg

2 universes Last reviewed 2026-08-21

Joel Rosenberg (May 1, 1954 – June 2, 2011) was a Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy novelist, best known as the author of the Guardians of the Flame fantasy series. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and holding dual Canadian-American citizenship, he was educated at the University of Connecticut. Rosenberg published from 1982 until shortly before his death in 2011, beginning with the short story "Like the Gentle Rains" in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine and going on to appear in Dragon magazine and with publishers including Roc, Avon, Berkley, Tor, and Baen Books. The Guardians of the Flame series, running for ten novels from The Sleeping Dragon (1983) through Not Really the Prisoner of Zenda (2003), follows a group of college students transported into a fantasy world, where they become embroiled in a struggle to abolish slavery and defend freedom. He also wrote the Keepers of the Hidden Ways trilogy, the Mordred's Heirs series, and standalone fantasy novels including D'Shai (1991), a Prometheus Award Best Novel nominee, alongside science fiction and mystery titles. Rosenberg was also a handgun instructor and gun-rights advocate. He was survived by his wife, Felicia Herman, and daughters Judith and Rachel.

Universe(s)

Riftwar Cycle

  • Core Canon books: 23
  • Current rank: #150 in the official ranking
  • Weighted average: 4.16
  • Award recognitions: 1 won, 6 finalist mention

Guardians of the Flame

  • Core Canon books: 10
  • Current rank: #536 in the official ranking
  • Weighted average: 3.92
  • Award recognitions: None recorded

Books

Aggregate across all universes

These are separate, unrelated universes; the totals below are plain sums of already-published per-universe facts, never a blended or averaged score across them. See each universe's own figures above.

← All authors