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On May 02 2010 05:13 Liquid`NonY wrote:Show nested quote +On May 02 2010 00:54 iaretehnoob wrote:
The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. Another vote for this. Just make sure you are a very attentive reader for the first book, perhaps reading a bit slower than usual, because it's easy to get to a point where you think "what the hell is going on." But once you get rolling through the books, they are fucking awesome. Huge payoffs imo =] lol @ storkhwaiting critique on things he hasn't read. don't care for the scope? how about the scope of your critique? you read one book of a series that is separated from the rest by over a decade and then you judge, not just the whole series, but the author himself? i think you need to learn what the fuck scope is and how to use it.
Don't nerd rage at me. If you're that upset, go buy another copy of his books. It'll make up for the ones I'll never buy. I think you need to learn what the fuck an opinion is. I shared mine. You can share yours without freaking out. It's a valid critique to say, I bought and read one of his books and didn't care to read the rest of the series.
I guess the entire book industry is wrong though, and that novels should never be critiqued until the writer's written 8 of them and we've waited 15 years to see how it developed.
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Having read Mistborn, I can heartily recommend the series. Sanderson has a few other books out there, but the Mistborn series is probably the best of them.
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I actually meant skip the first book and start on the second. The first book isn't a great introduction at all to the series. It was written like 10 years before he got a publishing deal and there's a number of inconsistencies between it and the rest of the series. In addition to that the 2nd book is just all around more cohesive, it doesn't try to be so glenn cook-ish, and the setting and characters are mostly new as well so you don't miss anything. If you absolutely hated the first book you may still hate the rest but it's worth trying if you don't have anything else to read.
I don't know, I actually hated it when I started too but I stuck with it and found it really rewarding in the end. It doesn't surprise me when others don't like it
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I just got The Name of the Wind from my local library =).
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A few I would recommend.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson - Book 1 Mistborn
The Belgariad/Malleoran by David Eddings - Book 1 Pawn of Prophecy
The Elenium by David Eddings - Book 1 The Diamon Throne
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I don't think enough people have read Mickey Zucker Reichert's The Legend of Nightfall and The Return of Nightfall.
If you want to read books about a sarcastic, witty assassin who fucking throws daggers and has a sweet innate gift to shift his body weight to specific body parts (180 pound fist to face anyone?) then you should read those books.
Also, The Fifth Sorceress by Robert Newcomb is really good. It's about banished sorceresses trying to gain power over the world but good guys include a crazy gnome, dagger-throwing prince (recurring theme in a lot of my reading), and babe trying to stop them. Newcomb's description is very good, I still remember his description about the bad guy mercenaries' swords being pretty awesome.
Last, Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice and the rest of its related series (Farseer Trilogy) is rather fantastic in that it takes you from the childhood to full grown man of a man created to be an assassin. I think the character comes back in her later books (Fool's fate/Fool's errand series) but I'm not quite sure.
P.S. dragonlance chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman has a bad ass evil mage named raistlin who is just a fucking baller.
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I liked the Mistborn trilogy. The relatively short length is a selling point for me, I don't really care to read a 10k page series anymore.
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The Dresden Files. It's contemporary fantasy, yet Awesome with a capital A.13 books in the series already.
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David gemmell has some nice books, Druss IS a Legend  , Farseer trilogy is also hot, Verity so much awesomeness, Sara douglas, Brian jacques.
Thats about all i can think of now.
Love sword of truth Richard and Kahlan, cant get enough of the wizards rules and nothing beats a naked chick on horseback riding into a camp of thousands ^_^ all time favourite books and i dont know why most people dont like them
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On May 02 2010 08:02 floor exercise wrote:
I actually meant skip the first book and start on the second. The first book isn't a great introduction at all to the series. It was written like 10 years before he got a publishing deal and there's a number of inconsistencies between it and the rest of the series. In addition to that the 2nd book is just all around more cohesive, it doesn't try to be so glenn cook-ish, and the setting and characters are mostly new as well so you don't miss anything. If you absolutely hated the first book you may still hate the rest but it's worth trying if you don't have anything else to read.
I don't know, I actually hated it when I started too but I stuck with it and found it really rewarding in the end. It doesn't surprise me when others don't like it
Now this is a good explanation. Thanks floor. I'll check the second book out then.
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Thanks for the suggestions !
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On May 02 2010 05:07 FakeSteve[TPR] wrote:Show nested quote +On May 02 2010 02:22 BajaBlood wrote:
I've read and enjoyed most of the books on your list, and I would recommend The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Unfortunately, it's the first book of an incomplete trilogy (the second book won't come out until March 2011).
I also enjoyed the trilogies from Robin Hobb, as the previous poster suggested. march fucking 2011?! oh patrick  anyone who hasnt read this book go do so, it's so good
Wow I started but couldn't get going with Name Of The Wind. Hearing FS and BB say they like it so much gives me hope to pick it back up again.
Also, very happy that Gemmell and Hobb are getting so much love in this thread. Just to continue the spam: Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy (first book Assassin's Apprentice) and Legend by David Gemmell are epic and easy for anyone to read, new to fantasy or long-time fans.
On May 02 2010 08:46 Koiru wrote:
Last, Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice and the rest of its related series (Farseer Trilogy) is rather fantastic in that it takes you from the childhood to full grown man of a man created to be an assassin. I think the character comes back in her later books (Fool's fate/Fool's errand series) but I'm not quite sure.
Yeah the same characters from the first trilogy come back in this series. As you may or may not know the Liveship Traders trilogy is set in the south of the same world and has some related characters to the first books as well. (I found this series harder to get into but on the other hand one of my friends prefers these books to the others. Taste eh?).
P.S Soldier Son Trilogy by Robin Hobb is also fantastic if you haven't read it yet. Different world to the other series which is nice. Great characters and plot as usual. Similiar themes to a popular contempory movie + Show Spoiler + but without all the fail.
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I can second the recommendation for The Lies of Locke Lamora (and its sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies) by Scott Lynch. They're the first two books in a seven-part series, and they're cruel, but it's nothing you haven't seen if you've read GRRM, and they're great, rollicking fun. In a phrase: fantasy Venetian conmen.
I'm reading Brandon Sanderson at the moment, and he's not bad. Some interesting ideas, but not the most memorable read.
Sadly, I hated Brent Weeks. Again, the world was harsh, but not in a kind of soulless way that made me apathetic towards the characters. Also, I have a big problem with his representation of women.
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I HIGHLY recommend any of the Drenai Series by David Gemmell. Some of my favorite fantasy books.
The Shannara Series by Terry Brooks.
The Prince of Nothing Series by R. Scott Bakker
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Malazan Book of the Fallen
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Since everyone has already mentioned all the authors that I personally enjoy, here is one that is not quite the usual fantasy fare. But the setting can be considered fantasy.
Terry Prachett's Discworld series is a very popular and well known comedic fantasy book universe, good to read during the holidays when you want a laugh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett
Hah I didn't know he got knighted for his literary contributions!
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David Gemmel's Troy series is very good, one of the best fantasy series I had read in a long time. Also you could always consider some of the classics like C. S Lewis and the Thomas Covenant series by Stephen R. Donaldson. Also I have a friend who really like the Malazan books by Erikson, I didn't like them much. I think people tend to love or hate them though it seems like more of the former than the latter.
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On May 02 2010 19:17 omgCRAZY wrote:
(...)
The Prince of Nothing Series by R. Scott Bakker
^^
Also:
Roger Zelazny: The Chronicles of Amber
It has 10 short books, but I suggest reading only the first 5. Very entertaining read.
Uh, I know there's more that I read, but can't remember now.
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My suggestion is to read "the Hobbit" (u write u have read LOTR) so you will understand lot of things about that world (it is a small and enjoable book)
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On May 02 2010 11:22 Ankalagon wrote:
The Dresden Files. It's contemporary fantasy, yet Awesome with a capital A.13 books in the series already.
Seconding this as a fun series. Butcher's Codex Alera is also entertaining. What is most amusing about it, though, is that it was written because of a bet. Arguing over form vs. substance in fiction, Butcher said he could take two terrible, hackneyed ideas and write a decent novel about them. In turn, the other guy's two suggestions were the Lost Roman Legion... and Pokemon. That information will either completely ruin the series for you, or make it that much better.
Most of my other recommendations have been mentioned already, but one name that hasn't been is Gene Wolfe's. Simply amazing author.
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EPT
