The Ultimate Fantasy Series Ranking

Author page

Robert Jackson Bennett

3 universes Last reviewed 2026-08-11

Robert Jackson Bennett was born on June 22, 1984, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and graduated with special honors in English from the University of Texas at Austin in 2005. He writes speculative fiction spanning fantasy and horror, and is known for The Divine Cities trilogy (2014-2017), The Founders trilogy (2018-2022), and The Shadow of the Leviathan series, begun in 2024, as well as earlier standalone novels including Mr. Shivers (2010) and American Elsewhere (2013). His work has received sustained recognition: Mr. Shivers and American Elsewhere each won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel, in 2010 and 2013 respectively, and he won the British Fantasy Award for Best Newcomer in 2011. The Tainted Cup, the first book of The Shadow of the Leviathan, won both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 2025.

Universe(s)

Shadow of the Leviathan

  • Core Canon books: 3
  • Current rank: #21 in the official ranking
  • Weighted average: 4.37
  • Award recognitions: 2 won, 1 finalist mention

The Divine Cities

  • Core Canon books: 3
  • Current rank: #120 in the official ranking
  • Weighted average: 4.20
  • Award recognitions: 3 finalist mention, 3 nomination

The Founders Trilogy

  • Core Canon books: 3
  • Current rank: #220 in the official ranking
  • Weighted average: 4.10
  • 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