11 titles for Lord of the Rings fans

Amazon Prime Video‘s long-awaited Lord of the Rings prequel series has finally launched. If you’re a fan, you’re in good company, as the e-commerce giant claims that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power drew 25 million viewers in its first 24 hours streaming on Prime Video. So, if you’re looking for something to watch between episodes, you may be in the market for more shows like The Rings of Power.

You’re in luck! We’re living in a veritable golden age of fantasy television. There’s a title out there for just about every flavor of fan. Do you like kids’ programming? Or gritty violence? Sweeping romance? Or maybe you’re more into parody? You’ll have something to watch.

See also: The best Prime Video original shows

Read on our list of some of the best shows like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. And if you haven’t checked out the new Tolkien-inspired original prequel series, you can watch it on Prime Video by clicking the link below.

One of Netflix’s biggest hits, The Witcher follows a mutated monster hunter who sells his services to those in need while trying (and failing) to stay out of the affairs of humans. Based on the books of Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski and starring Henry Cavill, The Witcher is among the best shows like The Rings of Power that you can stream right now.

Jim Henson and Frank Oz’s 1982 fantasy classic The Dark Crystal shares many themes with The Lord of the Rings. Its heroes are two “Gelflings” who must save their world by travelling with pieces of a broken crystal in the hopes of putting them back together and restoring peace and order, much like Frodo who must travel to destroy the One Ring. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance was a short-lived sequel series at Netflix, in which Gelflings must once again fight dark powers that threaten existence.

Based on the fantasy book series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, The Wheel of Time is a show like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in much the same way the books owe a great deal to The Lord of the Rings. A powerful sorceress seeks out a group of young people, certain that one of them is the “Dragon Reborn,” a figure with great magical strength prophesied to either save the world or destroy it.

As prequels to fantasy properties with massive fandoms, released almost at the same time, House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power have naturally drawn many comparisons, including our own here at Android Authority. The two are admittedly quite different, as the Game of Thrones prequel goes for dark and gritty politicking more than high fantasy, but there’s a similar sense of watching familiar faces and worlds, as the Targaryen family stakes its claim on power over Westeros in the early days of their rule.

Probably one of the best animated shows of all time, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a great and child-friendly show like The Rings of Power. Similarly chronicling various clans — some allies, some at war with each other — the show imagines the return of a powerful Avatar, one who can control all four elements and brings the Water, Fire, Earth, and Wind nations together.

Based on The Sword of Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks, The Shannara Chronicles follows a group of heroes who protect an ancient, magical tree to prevent banished demons from returning to their homeworld to wreak havoc. It stars Austin Butler, who would go on to star as the King of Rock and Roll in 2022’s Elvis.

One of the great strengths of the new Lord of the Rings prequel series is its large-scale, detailed world-building. Another show like The Rings of Power in this regard is The Expanse. While set in space in a distant future, The Expanse nevertheless imagines a rich and fully developed world, with warring factions on Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt, all composed of compelling characters carving out lives for themselves in the face of apocalyptic threats. The Expanse is among the very best science-fiction series of all time, and it’s worth checking out.

This BBC and HBO co-production is among the best shows like The Rings of Power and one of the best fantasy adaptations overall. Based on the books of the same name by Philip Pullman, the series follows a young girl’s attempts to understand the natural world, inviting the ire of a religious ruling class. Learning to jump into different universes, including our own, she gathers information about sources of magic and the human soul.

Despite his having zero involvement in the series, some of the more vocal, racist critics of The Rings of Power have targeted Neil Gaiman with their complaints. The confusion may stem at least in part from Gaiman’s own streaming fantasy adaptation, The Sandman, which was also absurdly criticized for its diverse cast. The popular Netflix series sees the God of dreams free after a century of imprisonment. Now, he travels the world, setting things right while encountering other powerful beings in the modern world. Despite some major differences, The Sandman features intergenerational conflict in a magical world, and is thus a great pick if you want more shows like The Rings of Power.

A slightly underhyped release, Netflix’s Shadow and Bone is nevertheless a gorgeous, dark fantasy series with rich, complex lore behind it. Based on books by Leigh Bardugo, the series follows a young orphan who discovers an incredible power, giving her access to the upper classes of her magical world as she promises to change its fate and the course of history.

The overlaps between Dungeons & Dragons and The Lord of the Rings are quite obvious. The iconic fantasy role-playing game owes much to the writing of J.R.R. Tolkien and has spawned its own entertainment franchises, like the popular web series Critical Role, in which a group of voice actors plays D&D campaigns for an audience. Now, from Critical Role Productions, comes another Prime Video series, The Legend of Vox Machina, based on a Critical Role campaign in which a crew of ragtag mercenaries fights evil forces.

Those are just a few of the best shows like The Rings of Power if you’re looking for more titles between episodes of the Lord of the Rings prequel series.

What are your favorite shows like The Rings of Power? Will you be checking out any of these? Let us know in the comments.