On February 15 2011 11:00 Twistacles wrote: I guess I should mention the other good authors I've read. It's too easy to hype how awesome Erikson is with his Malazan series, and I forget about the rest.
I recommend:
Jim Butcher's Codex Allera (sp?) L.E. Modessitt Jr's Saga of Recluce. (Each are very, very good.) R.R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire Neal Stephenson Jack White's pre-Arthur stuff Sara Douglass's series is actually amazing, Im suprised nobody mentioned her. Guy Gavriel Kay
Stay away from: Sword of Truth. Utter garbage Drizzt Do Urden crap. Terry Brooks. Boring, recycled stories every time.
From my experience the Dark elf trilogy and all the other books written by R.A.Salvatore were phenomenal and well worth the read. That being said I am disinclined to try any of the books you recommended. It is one thing to post a good review / suggestion, but when you cut down on a series you probably haven't read, then to me your suggestions become void and credit-less :/
On February 16 2011 04:12 Manit0u wrote: The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks is pretty good. A bit cheesy at times but I enjoyed it 10x more than A Game of Thrones for example.
I enjoyed Night Angel Trilogy but LOL. Song of Ice and Fire series blows it and just about any fantasy series out of the water. I suggest you read more than the first book as the first book is quite literally just setting the scene.
On February 16 2011 04:12 Manit0u wrote: The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks is pretty good. A bit cheesy at times but I enjoyed it 10x more than A Game of Thrones for example.
I enjoyed Night Angel Trilogy but LOL. Song of Ice and Fire series blows it and just about any fantasy series out of the water. I suggest you read more than the first book as the first book is quite literally just setting the scene.
I've read it up to and including A Feast For Crows, it gets worse with each book and it's too annoying to read when all the interesting characters in it are dead and all the rest I couldn't care less about. I've also found The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Black Company by Glen Cook series to be garbage while they're stellar for some.
And how come no one here mentioned Robert E. Howard? His Conan books are awesome. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay was nice. Tamuli series by David Eddings was also nice. Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan I have enjoyed greatly.
On February 15 2011 11:00 Twistacles wrote: I guess I should mention the other good authors I've read. It's too easy to hype how awesome Erikson is with his Malazan series, and I forget about the rest.
I recommend:
Jim Butcher's Codex Allera (sp?) L.E. Modessitt Jr's Saga of Recluce. (Each are very, very good.) R.R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire Neal Stephenson Jack White's pre-Arthur stuff Sara Douglass's series is actually amazing, Im suprised nobody mentioned her. Guy Gavriel Kay
Stay away from: Sword of Truth. Utter garbage Drizzt Do Urden crap. Terry Brooks. Boring, recycled stories every time.
From my experience the Dark elf trilogy and all the other books written by R.A.Salvatore were phenomenal and well worth the read. That being said I am disinclined to try any of the books you recommended. It is one thing to post a good review / suggestion, but when you cut down on a series you probably haven't read, then to me your suggestions become void and credit-less :/
I own, and have read, (I think) every single book by Salvatore. At least most, anyway, and mostly out of boredom. I call it crap not because it's terrible, but because it isn't worth the read, in my opinion, when your time could be spent on better series. My main complaint was the writing bothered me, in the same way Glen Cook's Black Company did.
The main authors I read are Gemmel, Eddings and Feist.
Gemmel - As people have mentioned the Drenai series is amazing; Legend (the first book) is the best and a must read for anyone.
Eddings - The Belgariad is pure awesomeness - possibly my favorite fantasy series; it has great characters and is immensely funny at times.
Feist - The Riftwar Saga (I believe the first of his books) is amazing. The Magician is a great read and a very well constructed book.
Personally, I tell everyone to steer clear from Robert Jordan... I thought his books, though containing glimmers of hope, were dull and boring. I have a number of friends who have not got on with the series at all; even though it was recommended to me by a close friend and someone with generally good taste.
The ONLY people who I'd recommend the Wheel of Time series to are ultra hardline-feminists or those who prefer to see men in a completely subservient role; take the male chauvinism of old, reverse it and you have a brief idea of what the first book of the series contained. ((GAHH if only you could 'unread' something)).
On December 20 2009 08:37 exeprime wrote: Holy shit, can't believe nobody mentioned Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. Incredibly captivating, a totally original universe (nothing with generic elves and dwarves and stuff) and some of the most amazing writing ever. Zelazny's got style.
At least check out the first book of the series, Nine Princes in Amber - it's not very long and it'll leave you hungry for more.
My favourite fantasy ever, and i read stuff like LotR, Dune, some Terry Pratchett, aaa... and more, i guess. The Amber books are my favs by far.
just wanted to second this 100%
Zelany's Chronicles of Amber is by far my favorite series I have ever read.
I have read most of the series mentioned in this thread It's worth repeating:
Zelany's Chronicles of Amber is by far my favorite series I have ever read.
Shoutouts to Feist, Eddings, Jordan, Pratchet, Gaiman, Pullman, Donaldson, Salvatore, etc, in no particular order.
Dragonlance Series. Twins Trilogy and Dragons Trilogy are the best also like the Second Generation. Im currently in the middle of The wheel of time series also I liked Dragonlance better but Wheel of Time is also good.
Magic Wise Male Magic users: Corrupt, evil, a thing of contempt. Female Magic users: incorruptible, trusted with magic, the rulers.
Politically Wisdom (or whatever the head of a village is called) - The head woman of a village who is pretty dictatorial in her powers and is able to over-ride the wises of anyone else within the village. Female Council - Has the ear of the Wisdom and is thus able to appeal to her over certain issues. Male Council - Bunch of incompetent donkeys who attempt to reason with the Wisdom and get shouted down / insulted if they do. Completely powerless.
Character Wise 3 main 'boy' characters - Muck up quite a bit, act a tad immature. Many 'fancy' the girls in the group. The 'girl' characters - CONSTANTLY insult the boys, put them down and generally see them as nothing more than pond scum. Moiraine's relationship with Lan - Constantly belittles the poor dude (who happens to be a lord) and chastises him when he goes off to save one of the other part members. Treats him as her effective whipping-boy.
There were many more occasions... I just didn't like it, I thought it portrayed the women in quite a negative light in fact (maybe why he gets accused of being a chauvinist). The women are portrayed as quite unwise at times and outright malicious to themselves and all the guys. The men are nothing more than door mats. Imagine, if you will, the father striving to make his daughter happy - yet all she does is throw temper-tantrums and tell him how much of a loser he is and how he fails in life; the general relationships between the guys/gals in the first book is thus.
If you were to transpose the male and female roles within the book you'd think all the guys were complete dicks tbh.
Anywho, whine over... I just cannot emphasize how bad the book is...
The majority of cast of the first book didn't really grow on me until after the first Letherii arc (which gives you an entire continent of new characters). But by Bonehunters (book 6), the characters have really grown on me. I still hate Crokus though.
Wise Man's Fear (second book in Rothfuss' series) and The Crippled God (last book in the main Malazan series) are released on the same day on March 1st. So hard to choose.[/QUOTE]
Thanks Aru, I'll get around to the rest of the series.
I actually ended up reading The name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss over the last 2 days. Arguably one of the best books I read in quite a while. Definitely recommend this to anybody who likes fantasy novels.
The first fantasy series i read was Sword of Truth. Loved it to death, even though there were many parts that werent the best, overall i found it to be quite an epic adventure.
Currently im reading through dresden files, which i find are more fun and exciting books rather than an epic tale.
I am also a huge fan of the dark tower series.
I have been doing research on which series to read next.
3 major contenders seems to be Wheel of Time, Shannara, and Malazan..
Can you guys give me your thoughts on these books? I have heard that wheel is time is very generic and cookie cutter-esque, albeit very good. I dont think im interested so much in this and im leaning towards Shannara and Malazan currently, both which seem to get mixed reviews.
As for a song of ice and fire, i have been told many times over that this series is the best that is on the shelves currently. While i plan on reading this eventually, i would rather wait till at least 6 books are out so i do not have to wait forever inbetween volumes.
On March 05 2011 02:52 TheAura wrote: Currently im reading through dresden files, which i find are more fun and exciting books rather than an epic tale.
It does get more epic as it goes along. The latest released book is epic fantasy in a modern setting. ^^
Read the author's other serie, that is normal epic fantasy and you seem to like his style.
Personally I like Elizabeth Moon's Pakensarrion and Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series a lot. Darkover has a lot of good ideas and nice plot lines, I especially like the Fantasy/Sci fi mix in the latter parts of the series. The writing, ideals and dialogue can detract from that however. The best chapter I have ever read is from chapter one of a book in this world, made me so nostalgic for something I have never seen.
Brandon Sanderson is a pretty new name in fantasy but he has made a large impact. The Mistborn Trilogy is very good, his new series Stormlight Archive seems promising from the first book.
Pratchett is also a nice recommendation, he is probably the master of comedy fantasy with his Discworld series.
On March 05 2011 02:52 TheAura wrote: I need your fella's opinion.
The first fantasy series i read was Sword of Truth. Loved it to death, even though there were many parts that werent the best, overall i found it to be quite an epic adventure.
Currently im reading through dresden files, which i find are more fun and exciting books rather than an epic tale.
I am also a huge fan of the dark tower series.
I have been doing research on which series to read next.
3 major contenders seems to be Wheel of Time, Shannara, and Malazan..
Can you guys give me your thoughts on these books? I have heard that wheel is time is very generic and cookie cutter-esque, albeit very good. I dont think im interested so much in this and im leaning towards Shannara and Malazan currently, both which seem to get mixed reviews.
As for a song of ice and fire, i have been told many times over that this series is the best that is on the shelves currently. While i plan on reading this eventually, i would rather wait till at least 6 books are out so i do not have to wait forever inbetween volumes.
I've been reading the Malazan series since the second book came out. I think it's one of the best fantasy series at the moment, and the final book in the main series comes out in less than two weeks. Out of the nine books that are out in the series right now, I've enjoyed all of them, with some being better than others (book 8 being the only one that I didn't particularly like). I would argue that the Malazan series is better than the Song of Ice and Fire series but that's just personal preference.
And I'm not sure about the Shannara series as I've only read a couple of books. The ones that I've read just seem to be typical fantasy, but I've heard good things about some of the other books in that series.