The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Medievil times!
Fizban140
Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
I have been reading a Song of Ice and Fire and I love the series. My favorite part is how real it feels, there is no just plain evil force that wants to beat the bad guys for the sake of evil (Lord of the Rings) everyone has a motivation and everyone is flawed in their own way. I also love the politics and how in depth it feels. Is there any book like this that is not set in a fantasy world or is even non fiction? Failing that, what other fantasy books are like this?
Fizban140 on
0
Posts
Brothers
Power of One
Quicksilver
Go dig out Gene Wolfe's stuff or Jack Vance's Lyonesse.
If you want a more straightforward adventure story at any point, find Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.
What about evil forces that want to destroy everything absolutely just for their own sake?
I mean, 'cause Glen Cook's stuff is pretty good if you can ignore the fact that he's his own biggest fan.
You know, I've read pretty much all of the Malazan books, and while I enjoy them, I know exactly what you mean. Glad to know it's not just me.
This would probably be my suggestion as well. Fairly easy reads, but good entertainment.
Glen Cook's Black Company books wouldn't be a terrible idea either, at least not the first ones. There are big bads, of a sort, but the perspective tends to be on soldiers at the bottom of the totem pole.
I love the First Law series. I've only read the first, but it's great.
Going to third this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Warlord_Chronicles
It has got the "realism" while still having subtle bits of magic woven in here and there (mostly involving a druidic Merlin), much like ASOIAF, along with plenty of intrigue. I only read the first but am definitely considering picking up the rest while we wait for another ASOIAF book.
Reading it has been described as being like reading Vietnam War fiction on peyote.
And they've been collected in very affordable omnibuses. Just make sure you read them in order. I think "The Books Of The North" is the first set?
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198006524737
What might matter - ASOIAF reminded me of Pillars, not the other way around. I really liked Pillars, as well as the sequel, World Without End before I even read ASOIAF.
The Follet novels aren't fantasy. They're historical fiction. There's no magic or anything else. They're just great "fun" novels written in about the same medieval age that the tech in ASOIAF corresponds to. I highly reccomend them.
Anything by Kay is awesome and should be read a million times. (Just don't start with Ysabel, it really is a sort of postscript to The Fionavar Tapestry). Kay's work isn't as heavy with the political intrigue as Martin's stuff, however it is damned excellent writing and fits your other criteria.
Not to be all nitpicky, but there's zero magic in Cornwell's Arthur books.
Heh - no you are not. It is very polarizing and I don't harbor any ill will towards those who don't like it. It is a shame that the first book starts slow, and is the weakest of the 6 (well now, 8) -- but yeah if you don't like what you see in Lord Foul's Bane it's not going to turn into something else.
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198006524737
Good, bad, whatever, it is also absolutely 100% disimilar to ASOIAF, apart from being in the same genre.
The OP wanted recs similar to ASOIAF, preferably not fantasy, not a laundry list of every fantasy novel ever.
Dragon Prince
I know the name is kind of generic, but it's actually a pretty involved, interesting story. It is NOT as involved as ASoIF but then, nothing I know is. But it is still quite good.
Seriously.
See if you can find a good book on the War of the Roses, a lot of the stuff from A Song of Ice and Fire was based off of it. I am sure a librarian or book store person would be able to direct you towards a good one.
(Actually I have a friend who works at a Borders right now and they make him suggest books that the publishers want them to suggest... so you might want to be careful on that count)
It's a five book series. The first three being and main ones about Merlin and the last 2 branch off onto other characters; but stay with the main "cast".
It has magic, but it's very low and realistic magic. It isn't "I cast fire ball and burn you up". In fact, most of the "magic" isn't magic at all; just mis-understanding, quick wits and "sleight of hand".
The author did a lot of historical research on this and it shows.
There is no "good and evil". Like you said, the characters are "real" in that they have their own plots to further their own goals, some of which conflict with the main characters goals.
The author doesn't try to pull on your heart strings and bullshit like that. The story develops naturally and comes together nicely.
the name of the rose is great, but it's basically a sherlock holmes murder mystery set in a monastery. very well-written and researched, but not particularly action-packed. it's quite dense, so if you are in the mood to read all about the political squabbling and in-fighting between sects of the church in medieval europe, then there aren't many better choices.
Not entirely, I still have to finish ASOIAF but I bookmarked this page so I can reference it any time. I might check out something about The War of the Roses or I, Claudius.
I'd suggest you look for books on The War of the Roses, the 100 Years War, the first couple of Crusades, the Three Kingdoms Era of China, and if you want you can go further back to the various wars between the Roman city-states and the Persians. All periods packed with wars and politics and fucked up goings on.
Unfortunately, I can't recommend any really good books about them because I haven't read any that are coming to mind. I get most of my info about these things from lectures.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
yes, if you approach it as a detective novel set in a monastery. Otherwise, no, not really.
OP, fantasy books with historical element you may enjoy(with the caveat that I'm not recommending them for closeness to ASOIAF, but for the fiction/history connection):
As mentioned Cornwell's Warlord is a fun read.
Connie Willis' Doomsday book is excellent. Time travelling to the late middle ages.
James Clavell's novels(starting with Shogun) focus on Asia from the 1600's in Japan to the Ayatollah in Iran and are entertaining. They are fiction, but again they have a historical setting.
Paul Kearney's "Monarchies of god" are good, short and loosely based on renaissance Europe.
Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel is set in pseudo Western renaissance Europe, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Still, there are people who suffer through her writing for the setting and the female lead.
Dan Simmons' The Terror is a fictional account of a lost Arctic expedition from the 19th century. It's excellent.
I'm certainly forgetting many excellent books and I'll be certain to post if I remember anything else.
Edit: There was no way I'd spell Jacqueline right the first time...
i'm...not sure what that's supposed to mean.
i mean, sure, name of the rose is, as i said, quite dense and *about* a lot of different things (the meaning of patterns, the meaning of meaning, the nature of religion and morality), the fact remains that william (of baskerville. baskerville!) flat out is middle-ages sherlock holmes, the adventure is narrated after the fact by his intrepid companion, and he's there solvin' some murders. it's not just a holmes pastiche but there's definitely that flavor.
AT ANY RATE, shogun is a good suggestion. it moves deceptively fast for such a lengthy novel, and the culmination of toranaga's plotting at the very end is extremely satisfying. the political element is definitely at the forefront once it gets going.
you might also like Dream of the Red Chamber. it's a chinese novel written in the 1700s about the decline in fortunes of a noble household. it's very rambling and confusing at times (there's something like 400 characters running around) but i found it fascinating as a look at what life was like in a time and place so alien to my own.
really, though, shogun is a winner.