Looking for a new Fantasy Book to read.

Enc · May 2013

Hello everyone. I'm looking for a new book or book series to read of the Fantasy persuasion. For context, these are things I've gone through recently:

-Song of Ice and Fire (loved it)
-most of LE Modesitt's works (liked them)
-Malazan and several of the follow ups (didn't really get into them)
-Robert Jordan (Ok)
-Name of the Wind and sequel (loved it)
-Sanderson's Mistborn series (loved the first one, liked the others)
-Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books (did not care for at all)
-Butcher's Dresden books (lots of fun)
-Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice (and the related series) - (possibly my favorite on this list)

Any recommendations are welcome! It's hard to find good fantasy.

Wassermelone · May 2013

Joe Abercrombie - a bit like George RR Martin in that his books are dark and more than a bit brutal. Plus his books keep getting better.

Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series

China Meiville - best world builder since Tolkein, but his storytelling is controversial. Some people hate it, some people love it. Hes my favorite fantasy author, so I'm squarely on the latter. Definitely has a problem with satisfying endings.

Scott Lynch's Lies of Locke Lamora - really fun. Ocean's Eleven of fantasy.

Xaquin · May 2013

Salvatore's Forgotten Realms and Weiss/Hickman's Dragonlance are easy entertaining reads (hey, it doesn't need to be Tolkien to be entertaining!)

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are fantastic

dresdenphile · May 2013

Simon R. Green's Secret History series is pretty cool and is a lot like the Dresden Files. The first book is The Man with the Golden Torc.

Wikipedia wrote:

These books are the adventures of Edwin Drood, AKA Shaman Bond (his field name; it is a parody of James Bond's name) and he is a part of the Droods, an ancient family that purportedly watches over the world and protects it from various threats, including supernatural and magical ones. Needless to say, they are wholeheartedly despised by criminals. Each Drood is entrusted with a Golden (and, for some time, silver) deus ex machina called a Torc, which bestows a certain "Living Armour" upon the wearer, giving them nearly unlimited strength, speed, durability and stealth, which can be called up or dispelled at will. The torc also grants the wearer the Sight, allowing him to see through most magical and scientific disguises, translates any language, prevents the user from appearing in any kind of photography, videotaping, or tracking of any kind (including tracking by other Droods), prevents the user's soul from being taken away (by daemons or other creatures of the sort), and a whole host of other abilities.

AspectVoid · May 2013

I'm a fan of David Eddings' earlier works.

The Belgariad was basically Eddings taking every trope around The Heroes Journey and having snark and fun with it. Its sequel, The Malloreon, is pretty much the same thing with older characters, to the point where the characters themselves start commenting on it and trying to use that knowledge to their advantage. Both of these are five book series, though they've been collected into two volumes now.

Meanwhile, The Elenium is a trope filled adventure that is built around veteran knights being forced to go one what amounts to a hero's journey. Suffice to say, being grizzled veteran knights, they tend to walk all over the traditional perils of a Hero's Journey while encountering more politically driven plots that can restrain their actions.

All of these stories definitely fall under the light reading material category. You're not going to find the vast descriptions and intricate plots of the stories you mentioned, but if you want to read something that has fun with all that it means to be fantasy, I find these books to be excellent.

Enc · May 2013

Xaquin wrote: »

Salvatore's Forgotten Realms and Weiss/Hickman's Dragonlance are easy entertaining reads (hey, it doesn't need to be Tolkien to be entertaining!)

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are fantastic

I went through all of the 1980s-1999 TOR fantasy stuff like it was candy years ago.

I figured Tolkien was ubiquitous (like CS Lewis and the Arthurian Cycle). That's how I got into fantasy waaay back when I was a tike.

Nosf · May 2013

Single book, 'King of the Wood' by John Maddox Roberts.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/176630.King_of_the_Wood

Reviews there. Basic story, norsemen land on North America but don't leave, instead they colonize it. A young prince of sorts is exiled for kinslaying and proceeds to travel down to South America and back up the west coast meeting up with some memorable alt-history invaders. It's only 250 or so pages; pretty solid read. I still have my twenty year old dog eared copy that I read every couple of years.

Nobody · May 2013

Sanderson has several other fantasy books/series out there. I liked The Way of Kings, and it has a sequel coming out later this year.

Another fantasy series I liked was the Black Company. It's an older series, and has some similarities to the Malazan books, but has a much smaller cast.

Shogun · May 2013

Kingdom of Thorns and Bones by Greg Keyes. First book is called The Briar King. Four book series. I just started the third and I'm enjoying it thoroughly.

AspectVoid · May 2013

Feist's Riftwar books are pretty great, though his later series are kind of touch and go in my opinion.

RevGutter · May 2013

Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Great fantasy story with some sci fi and horror mixed in. The main character is a sort of post apocalyptic cow boy descended from King Arthur... how can you go wrong. It also has a tie in or reference to EVERYTHING King has ever written. The fifth book Wolves of the Calla dragged a bit for me but the other 6 books are excellent. It may not be high fantasy but it's dark witty and sucks you way the hell in.

MichaelLC · May 2013

RevGutter wrote: »

Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

You took mine!

Noquar · May 2013

I would throw out Elizabeth Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion series. And what was the one ..Song of Sorrow? Tad Williams I believe.
I second the David Eddings recommendation on the Belgariad.
I am also a fan of Terry Brooks and Piers Anthony.

Lawndart · May 2013

Two fantasy books that I've recently read and enjoyed both use a faux-Ancient Chinese setting as opposed to the usual faux-Medieval European setting.

One is Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay, which is close to A Song of Ice and Fire in tone and structure (but a bit less brutal, and a whole lot shorter).

The other is Bridge Of Birds by Barry Hughart, which is closer to a magical fable in tone, but also has some very funny moments.

Elin · May 2013

Natas_Xnoybis · May 2013

if you like the dresden files check out Simon R. Greens - nightside books
If you liked robin hobbs assasins books, check out the errr the Mad Ship Traders I think? also by her set in same world

Check out the Dragonbone Chair series by Tad Williams http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dragonbone_Chair a decent match to the Hobbs assassins books.

Anything by Tanya Huff, someone else mentioned Guy Gavriel Kay, pretty much anything by this guy is going to be amazing.. seriously go to a library or bookstore and grab some of his books.

Gene Wolfe - his books are more "challenging" but wow are they worth it. I can't recommend his Book of the New Sun series enough.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow_of_the_Torturer

finral · May 2013

Looks like awesome recommendations in here. I'm going to take a to a little older than some of these, and recommend pretty much anything by Michael Moorcock. Particularly, his Hawkwind trilogy and his Elric series are both really good slightly darker pulpy fantasy books.

Natas_Xnoybis · May 2013

also, if you wanna go back a bit in time and read something old school go read Michael Moorcock's Elric books. One of the best anti-heroes ever. I haven't read those books in 20+ years so not sure how they have aged. Also, check out the original Conan books. They really have nothing to do with the craptastic films that have been made.

dresdenphile · May 2013

Also in the same vein as the Dresden Files is the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. It takes place in a parallel St. Louis where the supernatural exist alongside regular humans, with Anita's jobs including the re-animation of the dead as well as the hunting and executing of supernatural creatures (mostly vampires) that have broken the law.

Books 1-5: Awesome. Very similar to DF.
Books 6-9: So-so. Say, this Urban Fantasy detective novel sure has a lot of sex in it. Oh, well, monsters and stuff!
Books 10+: You know, Anita Blake turned into a hardcore sex book series so gradually, I didn't even notice...

Maybe it's gotten better, but I kind of doubt it. I almost think she wrote the first few books to "lure" people in before she could write her true dream: hot were-animal on vampire on necromancer orgy action.

CyberJackal · May 2013

AspectVoid wrote: »

Feist's Riftwar books are pretty great, though his later series are kind of touch and go in my opinion.

Agreed, but I would add that his Empire series (with Janny Wurts) is also really great (well, the first two are at least).

Also, going to recommend Robert Howard's Conan stories. There's some pretty blatant racism and misogyny in there, but he's really just an incredible writer. Such vivid imagery in his stories...

noir_blood · May 2013

It's nice to see that Simon R. Green has already been mentioned. I'm more of a fan of his Nightside series of books, but it really depends on what genre you would like to see tweaked. Nightside plays around more with the whole hardboiled/private eye thing(more than Dresden really), while Secret History tends to play more with the secret agent motif.

He also has the Deathstalker series, which was my first introduction to his work. That one is just straight space opera, but it's really fun and I think it's his best work.

DoctorArch · May 2013

Twenty-one replies and not a single person mentions the Discworld Series by Sir Terry Pratchett?

It's fantastic, fun, totals (at the moment) 39 books, and you don't even need to read all of them if you don't want to. Do you want police procedural in your fantasy? Discworld has that. Do you want witches and wizards? Discworld has that. Do you want an increasingly dark tale about a young woman coming to terms with a world becoming increasingly uneasy with her phenomenal ability? Discworld has that. Do you want to read about a con man who is offered the choice between the hangman and running a post office and seriously considers the former? Discworld has that.

It's one of the best series I have ever read and I have read almost every single one of them. Personally, I would start with "Guards! Guards!" and continue with the rest of the "City Watch" subset of novels. They're great. Night Watch is bloody fantastic.

Anon the Felon · May 2013

@DoctorArch, I thought much the same thing as you did. Then I was even more shocked to see no one had recommended the Black Company series.

Look, @Enc, I've got something to tell you. If you like fantasy, especially low-magic fantasy like Game of Thrones and such... You are seriously handicapping your life enjoyment by not having read the Black Company books. They are iconic fantasy genre-fiction.

Glen Cook, along with guys like Pratchett, Asprin, and Tolkien, defined what "fantasy" is.

I think everyone in this thread who enjoys fantasy needs to read/re-read the first five books of the Black Company (North and South chronicles). You can skip the Glittering Stone series if you want, they continue the story, but it takes a totally different direction which some people don't like.

The Black Company by Glen Cook. Go find a copy at your local used book store, hopefully you can find an edition with the super rad 80's death metal cover art. The way Cook captures a character and story, with such simple language and the way he addresses action sequences has been something emulated by hundreds of fantasy writers.

Edit: Also go find yourself a set of Thieves' World books. Those things are freakin' gold.

BlazeFire · May 2013

Nobody recommended the Black Company series, actually.

Anon the Felon · May 2013

Edit, oh! He did! Well then, I second his recommendation vigorously.

Elin · May 2013

Anon the Felon wrote: »

@DoctorArch, I thought much the same thing as you did. Then I was even more shocked to see no one had recommended the Black Company series.

Look, @Enc, I've got something to tell you. If you like fantasy, especially low-magic fantasy like Game of Thrones and such... You are seriously handicapping your life enjoyment by not having read the Black Company books. They are iconic fantasy genre-fiction.

Glen Cook, along with guys like Pratchett, Asprin, and Tolkien, defined what "fantasy" is.

I think everyone in this thread who enjoys fantasy needs to read/re-read the first five books of the Black Company (North and South chronicles). You can skip the Glittering Stone series if you want, they continue the story, but it takes a totally different direction which some people don't like.

The Black Company by Glen Cook. Go find a copy at your local used book store, hopefully you can find an edition with the super rad 80's death metal cover art. The way Cook captures a character and story, with such simple language and the way he addresses action sequences has been something emulated by hundreds of fantasy writers.

Edit: Also go find yourself a set of Thieves' World books. Those things are freakin' gold.

I have a full set of Thieves World. The last time my husband and I moved we gave away pretty much all of our paper books (Kindles are SO much easier to move). I kept my Thieves World, so many hours combing used book stores and eBay for those books, this was pre 'I can buy anything on Amazon' days. The only other book I kept was my copy of The Neverending Story, the one printed in 2 different ink colors depending on if he was in the real world or in the book.

Spoit · May 2013

The Vlad Taltoss series by Steven Brust

dresdenphile · May 2013

Oh, hell. I almost forgot the Codex Alera Series by Jim Butcher. Book 5 is kind of weak, but the rest are pretty radical.

Wikipedia wrote:

The series chronicles the coming-of-age of a young man named Tavi in the realm of Alera, an empire similar to Rome, on the world of Carna. Every Aleran has some degree of command over elemental forces or spirits called furies, save for Tavi, who is considered unusual for his lack of one. As the aging First Lord struggles to maintain his hold on a realm on the brink of civil war, Tavi must use all of his intelligence to save Alera.

The inspiration for the series came from a bet Jim was challenged to by a member of the Delray Online Writer’s Workshop. The challenger bet that Jim could not write a good story based on a lame idea, and Jim countered that he could do it using two lame ideas of the challenger’s choosing. The “lame” ideas given were “Lost Roman Legion", and “Pokémon

Mahnmut · May 2013

Little, Big - John Crowley
The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle

Neither is epic adventure fantasy like Robert Jordan, but based on your preference for Game of Thrones and Robin Hobb, I think you'll appreciate their good prose and willingness to mess with your genre expectations.

Oh, and my god -- A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin.

JaysonFour · May 2013

Gotta third or whatever the Eddings series. My god, I started reading the Belgariad in middle school and it's still good even fifteen, sixteen years later. You'll have a lot more fun with the Mallorean- even the characters realize that things are really similar, and they, in fact, metagame to that point to help them out with the journey.

But speaking of gaming, I'm surprised nobody's recommended Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series. It consists of ten books, and it's a really entertaining read- especially anywhere Walter is involved.

It's about a college gaming group that ends up being transported to thier game world by their GM, and the adventures they have there. The first few books do contain some scenes not suitable for young readers- some implied stuff- but once it gets its feet under it, the rest of it is really worth it.

Lepton · May 2013

I'd like to second "A Wizard of Earthsea", particularly since you liked "The Name of the Wind."

One I'd like to throw out there is "Acacia" and sequels by David Anthony Durham. Good stuff; very rife with moral ambiguity. Also, how do you feel about Terry Brooks? He's got a whole lot of fantasy books out there. Harry Turtledove has written some historical fantasy about WW2 and other stuff; his character-based writing style is similar to George R. R. Martin's, and is superior in my opinion. You might also like Kate Elliot's "Crown of Stars" and Trudi Canavan.

I'd also like to recommend anything by Neil Gaiman. I cannot stress this enough. Read every novel and short story he's ever written and, if you're in to graphic novels, he wrote DC's "Sandman" series, which is similarly excellent.

Sentry · May 2013

Seconding Gaiman and the Dark Tower series, but I'd actually highly recommend The Talisman by Steven King and Peter Straub. It's got a great fantasy element and is just an amazing book.

V1m · May 2013

No love for Leiber's Lankhmar books?

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are waiting...

Enc · May 2013

Thanks everyone! This is a lot of activity!

I ended up settling on the Sanderson's Way of Kings and Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy. Once I'm through with those I'm going to pass back over the recommendations here for a few more, but probably try out The Lies of Locke Lemora and the Black Company series.

I did want to mention that Brent Weeks, Terry Pratchet, and Stephen King are all well digested at this point in time for me. Same is true with nearly all of Neil Gaiman's works. It's been a few years since I read any of those authors (aside from Weeks) but they were awesome all the same. I'm not a fan of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books, mostly because I had to dissect them as part of a class project years and years ago.

Thanks everyone!

Pantshandshake · May 2013

The Death Gate Cycle, if you haven't already gotten to that.
The Coldfire Trilogy, again if you haven't already gotten to it.
I just recently finished The Mongoliad trilogy and really enjoyed it. It isn't obvious fantasy, but it's got swords and such. There *might* be magic.

Artereis · May 2013

god man, those are some good first picks, but you really need to add Steve Brust to your reading list if you haven't.

Reverend_Chaos · May 2013

Bernard Cornwell - The Saxon Stories - I cannot say enough about this series. It is absolutely fantastic. This is my absolute TOP RECCOMENDATION based on your reading list.

Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner series and the Tamír Triad (these are closer to Name of the Wind in feel)

David Feintuch - The Still and The King are solid fantasy books and Midshipman's Hope (First book of the Seafort Saga)- is one of my favorite Sci-Fi book series of all time and I highly reccomend it as well, even if Sci-Fi is not normally your thing.

C.S. Friedman - The Coldfire Trilogy (already mentioned, but worth mentioning again)

The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe (I have not read this yet, but my friend highly, highly reccomended it to me the other day, so I will definitely be reading it soon)

Clark Ashton Smith - Anything by him, there are numerous anthologies you can pick up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Ashton_Smith (If you read his stuff, keep a dictionary handy. His use of the english language is masterful)

Scott Meyer - Off to Be the Wizard (this JUST came out, and while not a strictly fantasy genre book the majority of it does take place in Medieval times. This one is hilarious and you can pick it up on the cheap ($3.99!! if you buy it for the kindle) - Also this guy has a fantastic comic strip he does called Basic Instructions, seriously, check him out)

Also, if you like George RR Martin, did you read his Tales of Dunk and Egg books? They are superb.

I hesitate to mention it, but the Sword of Truth series by Terry Gookind. Be warned however he peaks at book three, Book 4, Temple of the Winds is mildly disappointing and they go downhill from there. They become a mouthpiece for the author to tell you why different forms of government are bad, and they get downright atrocious. The first three are worth the read though, IMHO.

grouch993 · May 2013

Lighter but enjoyable,

Patricia McKillip Riddle Master of Hed set (Riddle Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind)

V1m · May 2013

Enc wrote: »

Thanks everyone! This is a lot of activity!

I ended up settling on the Sanderson's Way of Kings and Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy. Once I'm through with those...

There are 3 semi-standalone novels that directly follow the The First Law and IMO they're better books - Abercrombie very obviously develops as an author and the last one (Red Country) is IMO his best.

Antinumeric · May 2013

If you like the Sanderson books and Name of the wind then Anthony Ryans Blood Song is a pretty good bildungsroman.

mts · May 2013

honestly if he he didn't liek the malazan books i doubt he will like black company

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