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I'm looking for some good book(s). I'm a big fan of fantasy books but I guess wouldn't mind trying out some good sci-fi.
I've always enjoyed all of Tolkien's work and read most of it (The Hobbit, LotR series, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Children of Hurin).
A couple months back I finished the 12 book Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. I really enjoyed this series and I liked the more mature themes involved in these.
What should I start reading next? Feist's The Riftwar Cycle? I've heard of these a lot but don't really know what they're about. Maybe the WarCraft or StarCraft novels?
I'll be making a trip in the near future and would like to have some reading material on the plane. I figured it'd be a good time to start reading a new series, even though any single stand-alone book recommendations are very welcome as well.
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Bearded Elder29903 Posts
The black magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan 
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Stephen King's Dark Tower.
And all the rest of his books too.
I have Silmarillion too, along with the rest of the books. Don't have Unfinished Tales or Children of Hurin, though most of them should have been covered in Silmarillion.
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chronicles of cheysuli
really liked that 8 book set
and the Bartimaeus Trilogy is fantastic as well
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Hm ok, I see this is going to be a big list of books and I won't be able to make a pick 
Could you guys write a few lines what the book is about and its setting, and why it's that great? (without any spoilers ^^ ) Thanks :D
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Song of Ice and Fire (George Martin)
The First Law (Joe Abercrombie)
Vorkosigan Saga (Lois McMaster Bujold - space opera)
I really enjoyed reading those. SoIaF above all though.
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The Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Dune by Frank Herbert
Foundation Trilogy by Issac Asimov
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
All scifi though, I dont read much fantasy.
I also heard really good stuff from TL on Song of Ice and Fire.
If you want general book reccomendations and not constrained to Fantasy/Sci Fi I would gladly help out with more books.
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I'll say Stephen Kings - Dark Tower series. But only if you have read alot of other work he has done. He pretty much weaves in a shitload of other books into one huge series and its really quite thrilling, and wierd as usual for his books.
If you like a really really long fantasy story then "The Wheel of Time" might be for you. The entire series isnt finished yet i believe (since the author died), but if you are in to fantasy the world is pretty awsome,
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Dan Simmons - Hyperion or ilium
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I like Lovecraft ( retro Sci-Fi / horror ) but well it is somewhat a special author and people don't always like his books.
If you want to try one i suggest the The Colour Out of Space. If you dislike it, you won't like all his others books and you can give up with Lovecraft ( they have similar style, themes and structure ).
But i think you should try.
Oh and it is short ( you might have more stories with it in the book you will buy ).
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So many books, so little time.. If I had more time on my hands and wouldn't spend most of my free time on video games then I'd probably read all of you guys' recommendations.
At the moment I'm leaning towards a Song of Ice and Fire.
I've tried reading Dune before when I was little but I had a hard time getting through it. I probably was too young though >.<
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Stephen King - The Green Mile
- if you haven't read it already.
probably have
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Valhalla18444 Posts
if you haven't read a book called Name of the Wind you're doing yourself a disservice
i can't remember who wrote it, but the second book ought to be out by now... If I was still in Canada i'd be cradling it in my arms as I fall asleep every night, one of the best reads i've ever had
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The Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Is a must.
Terry Pratchett writes some incredibly fun stuff so check out: Discworld.
R.A. Salvatores Forgotten Realms books are good with lots of action yeeah!
Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickmans Dragonlance series is a classic. Starts with a bunch of heroes who fight evil gods and all that kinda basic stuff, but the later ones really become much different and better in away.
Also their The Death Gate Cycle is a great read ( 7books), the story follows this one mage from world to world and it´s really imaginative story.
I also liked Robert Jordans Wheel of time series, don´t know how it ends yet because the poor fella died and someone else is going to write the last books 
Sorry cannot tell you that much because can´t really remember anymore, read most of them when I was 8-14 years old.. Should read them again though.
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United States2096 Posts
1984
World War Z (post zombie apocolypse history book)
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South Africa4316 Posts
On July 27 2009 22:12 FakeSteve[TPR] wrote:
if you haven't read a book called Name of the Wind you're doing yourself a disservice
i can't remember who wrote it, but the second book ought to be out by now... If I was still in Canada i'd be cradling it in my arms as I fall asleep every night, one of the best reads i've ever had
Name of the Wind is written by Patrick Rothkuss I think. It's an amazing book, but unfortunately it's just the first in a trilogy that is still being written.
Generally, I go to SFFWorld and check out their recommendations and forums for fantasy and SF stuff. If enough (knowledgeable) people agree on the same books, it's almost certainly a good book. This strategy hasn't failed me yet in the last three years.
SFFWorld, staff recommendations 2008. I haven't gotten to all this year's recommendations yet, but I can tell you that Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy is really fun. I've got some of the others that I'm planning to read once the December holiday rolls around.
SFFWorld, staff recommendations 2007. 2007 I've read more of, so I can make better recommendations. Definitely get the Name of the Wind mentioned earlier. It's absolutely amazing. Scott Lynch's Seven Lies of Locke Lamora was quite good, although I haven't read the follow-up yet. And as said earlier, Joe Abercrombie is lots of fun, so you can easily read that as well. Also, from the general forum recommendation that year I remember R Scott Bakker getting quite a few votes, and I'd definitely agree with that. His Prince of Nothing series is probably my all time favourite fantasy series, and the start of the second trilogy this year was also excellent. Neuropath by him was quite cool in that it was a bit like Da Vinci code except focusing on philosophy and psychology rather than art and architecture, but it wasn't his best work yet.
Also, I think 2005 was dominated almost unanimously by Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I enjoyed it a lot, it's something very different if you're used to generic fantasy. It's written as an almost academic recording of two magicians who lived in Cambridge in the 18th century. Not a bad read, although it moves a touch slowly a times.
In the end, I'd say just go to SFFWorld and look at their recommendations and reviews. You're bound to get something exciting there.
EDIT: I should point out that SFFWorld does SF and Fantasy. I linked to part one of their yearly recommendations. Part 2 looks at fantasy.
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Of more recent works, I'd recommened prince of nothing trilogy. I found it far superior to fire and ice series.
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Baa?21242 Posts
I'm gonna go ahead and recommend what I feel is a generally underrated fantasy author, Diana Wynne Jones.
Dark Lord of Derkholm - a fantasy novel that kind of parodies traditional high fantasy. Pretty fun read.
Dalemark Quartet
Deep Secret - aimed more at adults instead of young adult readers.
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South Africa4316 Posts
On July 27 2009 22:30 IMlemon wrote:
Of more recent works, I'd recommened prince of nothing trilogy. I found it far superior to fire and ice series.
Yay, finally one person in the world that agrees with me. It's my absolute favourite fantasy series, and I can't get anyone to read it because it starts out quite slowly. It kils GRRM though, in my opinion.
Also, someone mentioned Trudi Canavan earlier. Canavan is a bit like Abercrombie in that it's fantasy that I think almost everyone will enjoy. Both her trilogies are very well written and fun to read, although I prefer her second trilogy (Age of the Five I think) to her first (Black Magician), even though Black Magician's final book is awesome.
I also just remembered Robin Hobb. Robin Hobb is probably one of the best fantasy writers out there today, although her books are much slower-paced than the average fantasy novel, and quite long. I tend to think of her books as fantasy for people who don't like all the sword and sorcery things. They generally focus more on the politics and interpersonal relationships than on the magical events. You could pick up any of her trilogies (although I'd leave her most recent one, "Shaman's Son" for last, as it is one of the most bizarre series I've read in a long time). It's probably best to start out with the Farseer (assassin) trilogy, as the series are very loosely chronological.
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EPT
