I loved the Redwall series. Been reading it ever since third grade. An easy read, and the stories are excellent.
DanTMWTMP
Lifer
- Oct 7, 2001
- 15,908
- 19
- 81
Enchantment By Orson Scott Card. Probably one of the coolest takes on the fantasy genre. It's an "what-if fantasy takes place or happens w/ real-world modern people?" very interesting, and i loved it. I'm just sad that there's only one book for the whole story.
HeroOfPellinor
Lifer
- Dec 27, 2001
- 11,272
- 1
- 0
The Emerald Sceptre Of Dragon Mountain which is the first book in the Abaraksian Trilogy by Michael Lampner.
Definitely, George RR Martin. I read a lot of fantasy and he's by far the best. No magic though.
Erikson's Malazan series isn't for everyone. I read up to book three. There's really no plot. Hundreds of characters to keep track up. His writing style is overly convoluted. Plot holes GALORE.
If you liked Martin, check out Greg Keyes Briar King. Not as good but quite fun. Very similar styles but less gritty.
Feists first set Magician is just awesome. Very fun to read and tolkien inspired but faster.
I don't like Robin HObb at all but people seem to love her.
NO ONE seems to write like Martin though. He really does spoil it so beware. Everyone else seems to write young adult novels compared to him. I wish someone would just copy him all ready like so many have copied tolkien.
That being said, i finished reading Fellowship but never start Two Towers. Am I weird? I absolutely loved the movies though.
Erikson's Malazan series isn't for everyone. I read up to book three. There's really no plot. Hundreds of characters to keep track up. His writing style is overly convoluted. Plot holes GALORE.
If you liked Martin, check out Greg Keyes Briar King. Not as good but quite fun. Very similar styles but less gritty.
Feists first set Magician is just awesome. Very fun to read and tolkien inspired but faster.
I don't like Robin HObb at all but people seem to love her.
NO ONE seems to write like Martin though. He really does spoil it so beware. Everyone else seems to write young adult novels compared to him. I wish someone would just copy him all ready like so many have copied tolkien.
That being said, i finished reading Fellowship but never start Two Towers. Am I weird? I absolutely loved the movies though.
My name is a homage to Roger Zelazny, who had a talent for this sort of imagination. Similarly, but much more pure fantasy, I would recommend the Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay.
I have read hundreds of Fantasy books and over the years have read almost all the recommendations in this thread. Here are some of my favorites:
Memory Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams - Otherland if you like Sci-fi, Shadowmarch is pretty good also.
The Riftwar Saga starting with Magician: Apprentice by Raymond Feist
I like the Recluse Series by L. E. Modesitt Jr. and his other Fantasy books even though they can be slow at times but I never got into his Sci-fi.
Anything by Dave Duncan especially the "man of his word" and "a handful of men" series
Also another vote for the Song of Ice and Fire and the first 5 books of WOT by Robert Jordan.
If you are just starting to get into Fantasy after reading LOTR, I would recommend that you read The Eye of the World because it is a great book, just beware that if you are like me you will most likely lose interest in the later books. If you do, try reading something by Feist or Tad Williams.
Memory Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams - Otherland if you like Sci-fi, Shadowmarch is pretty good also.
The Riftwar Saga starting with Magician: Apprentice by Raymond Feist
I like the Recluse Series by L. E. Modesitt Jr. and his other Fantasy books even though they can be slow at times but I never got into his Sci-fi.
Anything by Dave Duncan especially the "man of his word" and "a handful of men" series
Also another vote for the Song of Ice and Fire and the first 5 books of WOT by Robert Jordan.
If you are just starting to get into Fantasy after reading LOTR, I would recommend that you read The Eye of the World because it is a great book, just beware that if you are like me you will most likely lose interest in the later books. If you do, try reading something by Feist or Tad Williams.
The sword of truth series by terry goodkind.
The Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Trader trilogy, and The Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb - The liveships may seem out of place with the other two, but read them in order, they do tie together. And I hope you have a high tolerence for the heros suffering.
An odd selection I always liked was the Bazil Broketail series from Christopher Rowley
Currently I am reading The Devil's Armor, the second book(first one is The Eyes of God) in a series from John Marco.
The Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Trader trilogy, and The Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb - The liveships may seem out of place with the other two, but read them in order, they do tie together. And I hope you have a high tolerence for the heros suffering.
An odd selection I always liked was the Bazil Broketail series from Christopher Rowley
Currently I am reading The Devil's Armor, the second book(first one is The Eyes of God) in a series from John Marco.
Try Steven Ericksons "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series. Not a big fan of fantasy books, but this is the best one I've seen.
I'll second the recommendations for the Dragonlance series - first read the chronicles 1-3, then the legends 1-3, then chronicles 4, then after that it really doesn't matter what order you read them in.
The Song of Ice and Fire series was also good.
The Song of Ice and Fire series was also good.
I must admit, you have to be at least a little conservative (socially and fiscally) to not get irritated while reading TSoT.
other than the R.A. Salvatore books, i found the D&D novels WAY too juvenile. Heck, even Salvatore's work is written for the younger crowd.
the Drizzt novels kick some major ass, regardless!
I always looked at it as needing to be more centrist and openminded. If you are far in either direction there are parts that could annoy the hell out of you.
Before reading SoT, you might want to read this page.
For WoT, you also might want to look at this page as well.
IAteYourMother
Lifer
- Nov 3, 2004
- 10,491
- 22
- 81
angminas
Diamond Member
- Dec 17, 2006
- 3,331
- 26
- 91
*** Extremely minor fantasy book spoilers- if you don't want to know anything about a series, don't read this- most people will wonder why I even bothered to warn them***
Xanth was great for about the first 185 books. The next 627 are a bit derivative.
I didn't have much use for the Pern series. It just never went anywhere I wanted to go. I didn't get past the second book.
Shannara is ok if you don't mind a bunch of emo crap. There's some cool stuff in there.
The Hobbit is very different in tone and purpose from most of LOTR. I highly recommend it. It's extremely clever and well-thought-out. LOTR is, of course, at least as great as its reputation makes it. But Tolkien's true masterpiece is The Silmarillion. It's very difficult to get into, but once you do, you experience fantasy on a level that dwarfs all others. I had to try 3 or 4 times to start reading it, and a Tolkien encyclopedia finally helped me very much in understanding some of the basic concepts, but I wish somebody had told me years earlier that this was one of the truly great books, and that I should persevere.
The Earthsea series is moderately intellectual and not long on action, but it's not long on boring logic-puzzle dialog either. It's hard to describe. It's a bit of a Zen thing- the story is as much implied as stated. It makes you think, but not just to figure out the clever twisty machinations of the author- it gives you the opportunity to participate, in a way. I'm no good at describing it. The first book is only like 120 pages- what do you have to lose? But the second one is better.
I liked the Belgariad. A good mid-weight series. I did get horrifically sick of the bantering. Couldn't get into the Malloreon. Maybe someday.
Feist's Magician series is one of the best you'll find. It has a bit of everything good and not much bad. The derivative parts were irksome, but they were used in new ways, so I was willing to go with it.
Have you considered plain old adventure novels? Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson, Captains Courageous, Master And Commander...you can find a lot of fantasy in these novels. I respect and enjoy them much more than most S&S novels, which generally seem to just be trying too hard. Tolkien casts a very long shadow.
I must say, though, that Tigana gives him a serious run for the title. It's much more modern in style, though not enough to nauseate. It's extremely well-balanced and learns from the successes and failures of its predecessors. It's called the greatest single-volume fantasy epic by some.
Finally, check out 100 Great Fantasy Short Short (sic) Stories). I need to get hold of that book...
Xanth was great for about the first 185 books. The next 627 are a bit derivative.
I didn't have much use for the Pern series. It just never went anywhere I wanted to go. I didn't get past the second book.
Shannara is ok if you don't mind a bunch of emo crap. There's some cool stuff in there.
The Hobbit is very different in tone and purpose from most of LOTR. I highly recommend it. It's extremely clever and well-thought-out. LOTR is, of course, at least as great as its reputation makes it. But Tolkien's true masterpiece is The Silmarillion. It's very difficult to get into, but once you do, you experience fantasy on a level that dwarfs all others. I had to try 3 or 4 times to start reading it, and a Tolkien encyclopedia finally helped me very much in understanding some of the basic concepts, but I wish somebody had told me years earlier that this was one of the truly great books, and that I should persevere.
The Earthsea series is moderately intellectual and not long on action, but it's not long on boring logic-puzzle dialog either. It's hard to describe. It's a bit of a Zen thing- the story is as much implied as stated. It makes you think, but not just to figure out the clever twisty machinations of the author- it gives you the opportunity to participate, in a way. I'm no good at describing it. The first book is only like 120 pages- what do you have to lose? But the second one is better.
I liked the Belgariad. A good mid-weight series. I did get horrifically sick of the bantering. Couldn't get into the Malloreon. Maybe someday.
Feist's Magician series is one of the best you'll find. It has a bit of everything good and not much bad. The derivative parts were irksome, but they were used in new ways, so I was willing to go with it.
Have you considered plain old adventure novels? Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson, Captains Courageous, Master And Commander...you can find a lot of fantasy in these novels. I respect and enjoy them much more than most S&S novels, which generally seem to just be trying too hard. Tolkien casts a very long shadow.
I must say, though, that Tigana gives him a serious run for the title. It's much more modern in style, though not enough to nauseate. It's extremely well-balanced and learns from the successes and failures of its predecessors. It's called the greatest single-volume fantasy epic by some.
Finally, check out 100 Great Fantasy Short Short (sic) Stories). I need to get hold of that book...
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 23K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
-
Facebook
Twitter