Need a recommendation on good fantasy books

[JoeyM]

So I just finished the Song of Ice and Fire series and I think someone should have mentioned that the ending hasn't been written yet! George R. R. Martin has only written 4 books of a 7 novel series. I hate to be left hanging and what if he never finishes another book? Damn!

Either way, great books and thanks for the recommendation.

And this series is not as good as Lord of the Rings.

 

[Dudewithoutapet]

Xanth FTMFW

 

[Feneant2]

A lot of the same keep coming up and most are good.

I saw a couple I don't agree with... Thomas Covenant or whatever, I started reading and threw it away at some point, I think where someone was raping a 14 year old girl? Or maybe I didn't understand it correctly, but I really disliked it.

Tad Williams Memory Thorn and Sorrow I think it was, anyways, no offense, but a mentally retarded hero does NOT work in a fantasy series.

I read the first of Erikson's book and didn't care for it, too much happening at once.

For those I liked; Fire and Ice, Wheel of Time (first 6-7 books I enjoyed), Sword of Truth, Belgariad, Mallereon, Tamuli, (the one written either before or after Tamuli), most of Feist's books were great.

 

[illusion88]

Originally posted by: gerwen

Originally posted by: crownjules
If it hasn't been already mentioned, I would consider The Dark Tower series by Stephen King to be fantasy-ish. Not in the way of elves and dwarves and magic. A different universe then our own and the quest of one man, a gunslinger (basically a knight, but with revolvers instead of swords) to find the Dark Tower and save it while the world falls apart around him.

Seconded, great read.

Those are some awesome books, but they get a little weird. Like when the author shows up in the series. I understand the context, and why ihe was in his books, but I still found it hard to bridge the gap between the book world and our world.

 

[Shadowknight]

Originally posted by: JoeyM
So I just finished the Song of Ice and Fire series and I think someone should have mentioned that the ending hasn't been written yet! George R. R. Martin has only written 4 books of a 7 novel series. I hate to be left hanging and what if he never finishes another book? Damn!

Track down his 2 "Dunk and Egg" stories for a bit more (set 100 years before the current series).

Also, while a novel based on Dungeons and Dragons, Spectre of the Black Rose was quite good. Here's an excerpt from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0786913..._dp_pt/002-1519107-7120063#reader-link

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: JoeyM
So I just finished the Song of Ice and Fire series and I think someone should have mentioned that the ending hasn't been written yet! George R. R. Martin has only written 4 books of a 7 novel series. I hate to be left hanging and what if he never finishes another book? Damn!

Either way, great books and thanks for the recommendation.

And this series is not as good as Lord of the Rings.

Tell me about it. I read the first 2 SoFaI books and had to wait on the 3rd. I made it through the 3rd and had to wait on the 4th. I tried reading the 4th but realized there were too many names I couldn't remember so I just started over. I'm on book 3 again now. 🙂

 

[slatr]

Originally posted by: d4mo
Hey, I'm looking to read some good fantasy books. By fantasy I mean knights, wizards, mythical, creatures and ACTION. So basically Lord of the Rings type. So let the titles fly...

Look up Norman, Gor and alter earth.

Those books won't make your wife or gf happy, but they are interesting.

 

[kaymin]

Originally posted by: slatr

Originally posted by: d4mo
Hey, I'm looking to read some good fantasy books. By fantasy I mean knights, wizards, mythical, creatures and ACTION. So basically Lord of the Rings type. So let the titles fly...

Look up Norman, Gor and alter earth.

Those books won't make your wife or gf happy, but they are interesting.

Dude, I would hardly call LOTR an ACTION in all caps book. :-/

Here's what fits your adjectives: Feist - Riftwar Saga - it has knights, wizards, creatures and is relatively fast with a bit too much action. there's monster fighting, seiges, etc. and like i said earlier, avoid his other books like the plague. Magician was the best, the later two (darkness at sethanon and silverthorn) were all right, but they practically shared the same plot.

i'd avoid the Gor books though,

 

[Stiganator]

Wheel of Time is long ~9,000 pages but mostly good

I'm a fan of R.A. Salvatore, Homeland is the chronologically first book, Drizzt is awesome.
-Crimson Shadow
-Cleric Quintet
-Demon Wars

Orson Scott Card does great Scifi stuff, Ender's Game and the Shadow series
He also does Alvin Maker which is a great folk magic series.
Timothy Zahn Heir to the Empire was good.

Ed Greenwood is good, Elminster series

Forgotten Realms is the way to go for fantasy in my opinion, I read a few Eberron books and they are similar and mostly good, but not as many good writers.

Another great one is The Last Mythal Series.

War of the Spider Queen is a good series.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Feneant2
A lot of the same keep coming up and most are good.

I saw a couple I don't agree with... Thomas Covenant or whatever, I started reading and threw it away at some point, I think where someone was raping a 14 year old girl? Or maybe I didn't understand it correctly, but I really disliked it.

Tad Williams Memory Thorn and Sorrow I think it was, anyways, no offense, but a mentally retarded hero does NOT work in a fantasy series.

I read the first of Erikson's book and didn't care for it, too much happening at once.

For those I liked; Fire and Ice, Wheel of Time (first 6-7 books I enjoyed), Sword of Truth, Belgariad, Mallereon, Tamuli, (the one written either before or after Tamuli), most of Feist's books were great.

Its been a while since i read Memory, Sorrow and Thorn but the hero wasn't mentally retarded was he? i don't recall that in the books.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: slatr

Originally posted by: d4mo
Hey, I'm looking to read some good fantasy books. By fantasy I mean knights, wizards, mythical, creatures and ACTION. So basically Lord of the Rings type. So let the titles fly...

Look up Norman, Gor and alter earth.

Those books won't make your wife or gf happy, but they are interesting.

Interesting choice. I read all those when I was younger, but I think he just stopped writing them at one point. I wasn't sure if he'd ever finished the story arc he was working on, but Wikipedia shows two books that I haven't read, including one that was finished in 2001.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: JoeyM
So I just finished the Song of Ice and Fire series and I think someone should have mentioned that the ending hasn't been written yet! George R. R. Martin has only written 4 books of a 7 novel series. I hate to be left hanging and what if he never finishes another book? Damn!

Either way, great books and thanks for the recommendation.

And this series is not as good as Lord of the Rings.

Tell me about it. I read the first 2 SoFaI books and had to wait on the 3rd. I made it through the 3rd and had to wait on the 4th. I tried reading the 4th but realized there were too many names I couldn't remember so I just started over. I'm on book 3 again now. 🙂

I bought the fourth one, but I haven't read it yet. I'm waiting until he eventually finishes the fifth one (whenever the hell that is), at which point I'll have to reread all of them anyway.

I normally don't read series until they are complete. In this case I'll probably be 90 before that happens, that is if Martin doesn't die of old age first. Maybe he needs lessons in churning out vast quantities of text from Robert Jordan (without the corresponding crappy quality of course).

 

[Uppsala9496]

I have to vote for Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series.
I just ordered #5 from amazon this morning. I've read most of the books mentioned in this thread, and this series is the best by far. The books are not an easy read however.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: d4mo

Originally posted by: Looney
Lord of the Rings was an ACTION type fantasy book for you?

Anyways, if you want action that's as real and gritty as you can get, but also political intrigue, A Song of Ice and Fire is it.

Ehh, I haven't read LOTR, that's the kind of theme I would like, I guess I couldn't say how actiony it is as I've only seen the movie(but please don't recommend the book)

I was looking into Song of Ice and Fire, but I read a review of it saying it's not really about action, but more about character development.

Here is a hint, all good books are about character development...