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choader
United States487 Posts
Could some of you suggest some good books from the genres of fantasy or science fiction? Notable pieces from other categories are acceptable as well I suppose, but anything about covert operations and the like is discouraged. Basically I just need the type of book in which one can truly and enjoyably lose himself. Books that are particularly shallow are also discouraged. Advancing my thanks, Choad. | ||
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[vital]Myth
United States588 Posts
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subtle
United States187 Posts
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Locked
United States4182 Posts
(includes The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass) and of course Lord of the Rings =D can't think of any others you didn't mention right now, also what you mentioned sounds more like sci-fi than fantasy to me, the ones i mentioned were more fantasy -_- | ||
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gLyo
United States2410 Posts
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DarkGhost]Coon[
United States1471 Posts
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choader
United States487 Posts
On October 26 2004 20:58 Locked wrote: His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman is a good choice (includes The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass) and of course Lord of the Rings =D can't think of any others you didn't mention right now, also what you mentioned sounds more like sci-fi than fantasy to me, the ones i mentioned were more fantasy -_- Well, Wrinkle in Time and Willow were fantasy  Thanks everyone so far | ||
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SoMuchBetter
Australia10606 Posts
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Nal_Testie
Canada1257 Posts
A Game of Thrones A Clash of Kings A Storm of Swords A Feast for Crows (it may or may not be out yet). Each novel ranges between 800 / 1300 pages. An astounding series that pulls you in and won't let go. I've don't think i've ever been so emotional over books before. Not crying emotion, but angry, disheartened, etc... it will make you cry, "INJUSTICE!!". These novels you really have no clue what will happen next and it is told in a unique and interesting way. (From different characters perspectives). Yet it flows smoothely and not once will you be confused. Though it may be hard for some to remember all of the names. Give it a fair chance and you will not regret it and will encourage others to buy this book. And these books by R.A. Salvatore: (You're actually supposed to read the Ice Wind Dale trilogy first I think, but I think either way is fine imo. I've read each of these books like 20 times since like grade 4 and they are still enjoyable). Just make sure you read them in this proper order. Dark Elf Trilogy (These were witten 2nd) Homeland Exile Soujourn Ice Wind Dale Trilogy (These ones were written first) The Crystal Shard Streams of Silver The Halflings Gem (Everything that follows is in proper order!) The Legacy Starless Night Siege of Darkness Passage to Dawn (or Passage of Dawn, that book I leant and never got back!) The Silent Blade The Spine of the World The Servant of the Shard Sea of Swords And now we're in "The Hunter's Blade Trilogy", which R.A. should be finishing this year and his new one should be out. The Thousand Orcs The Lone Drow The Two Swords A very enjoyable read. Not as complex as George R.R. Martin but another buy (17 buys) you won't regret. Total number of books recommended: 21. Enjoy! | ||
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Mark
United States77 Posts
- Also Sword of Shannara series by Terry Brooks. - Wheel of Time | ||
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choader
United States487 Posts
On October 26 2004 21:11 Nal_Testie wrote: Total number of books recommended: 21. Enjoy! A lot Thanks for spending that much time responding | ||
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Nal_Testie
Canada1257 Posts
One person actually mailed it to me but it never got here. (I trust that they did actually mail it to me too). | ||
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KOFgokuon
United States14900 Posts
sword of truth series by terry goodkind are also not all that intellectually stimulating and the writing has gone downhill, but they're fun same with the WOT they're great books, but robert jordan hasn't written a good entry since the 4th book IMO. the 9th book was a good, but then the 10th one brought the series down again. after a while all the fantasy series start to sound the same, testie is right on the money with the george martin books tho. extremely good and never boring | ||
FakeSteve[TPR]
Valhalla18444 Posts
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froZen_wYnd
Canada270 Posts
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Nal_Testie
Canada1257 Posts
George R.R. Martin. Period. ------- Read. Buy. Go. Now. Fast! Faster. Run! ------- This makes sense if you read it backwards too. Or maybe it doesn't make much sense at all and I just have an imagination that fills in the blanks automatically. | ||
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FuDDx
United States5013 Posts
also since you included some of my other fav books ill go a step further and say any forgoten realms books also my favriote D&D books drangonlance chronicles and legends eatch a 3 book setr are wonderful agian i agree with testie the martin books are so much better but the tsr/wizardsof the coast books are so nice for easy reads that are very enjoyable. | ||
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supraboytt
United States1 Post
I finished all 400 pages in three sittings over a 2 day period. Synopsis: When Richard stops one day to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk, his life is forever altered, for he finds himself propelled into an alternate reality that exists in a subterranean labyrinth of sewer canals and abandoned subway stations below the London. A city of monsters, saints, murderers, and angels. | ||
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potchip
Australia260 Posts
Currently set for 10 books, with 5 published so far: Gardens of the Moon Dead House Gates Memories of Ice (IMO best) House of Chains (classic roots in character development) Midnight Tides Featuring a unique magic system, gruesome battles, interlacing humor, grand climaxes, realistic/varied characters. To sum in one word EPIC, and a unifying theme is Convergence(800-1300 pages). They are 'hard fantasy' books, each feature a glossary at end and character rosters of up to 4 pages. While stories are mostly unrelated(different protagonist) but with some familiar characters carrying over in some novels and a continuous storyline/timeline(not of the wheel of time's rinse repeat, but continuous, as in...simultaneous). Difficult but very entertaining read. Each book is more or less standalone but recommended reading with the order of publishing. Only 2 or so published in US though, but here in Australia is pretty up to date. | ||
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Gryffindor_us
United States5606 Posts
Here are some great quotes from Mort: Mort was interested in lots of things. ... there was the puzzle of why the sun came out during the day, instead of at night when the light would come in useful. "But you're Death," said Mort. "You go around killing people!" I? KILL? said Death, obviously offended. CERTAINLY NOT. PEOPLE GET KILLED, BUT THAT'S THEIR BUSINESS. I JUST TAKE OVER FROM THEN ON. AFTER ALL, IT'D BE A BLOODY STUPID WORLD IF PEOPLE GOT KILLED WITHOUT DYING, WOULDN'T IT? Mort: "What are we going to do now?" Death: BUY YOU SOME NEW CLOTHES. Mort: "These were new today -- yesterday, I mean." Death: REALLY? Mort: "Father said the shop was famous for its budget clothing." Death: IT CERTAINLY ADDS A NEW TERROR TO POVERTY. Death: THAT'S BECAUSE TIME IS ADJUSTABLE. IT'S NOT REALLY IMPORTANT. Mort: "I always thought it was." Death: PEOPLE THINK IT'S IMPORTANT ONLY BECAUSE THEY INVENTED IT I just read the first four books and they'reeeeeeee greaaaaaattttttt. ![[image loading]](http://www.sife.org/news/newsletter/images/frosted_flakes_box_front.jpg) | ||
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TeCh)PsylO
United States3552 Posts
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Danka
Peru1018 Posts
I read it when i was younger but i loved it. | ||
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Taguchi
Greece1575 Posts
wheel of time is very good but not really adult fantasy and the writing's not on the level of martin and wheel of time is currently 10 books long, each 800 or so pages, with the ending not that close, while martin's books push the action forward much faster | ||
Arbiter[frolix]
United Kingdom2674 Posts
On October 26 2004 22:00 supraboytt wrote: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman I finished all 400 pages in three sittings over a 2 day period. Synopsis: When Richard stops one day to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk, his life is forever altered, for he finds himself propelled into an alternate reality that exists in a subterranean labyrinth of sewer canals and abandoned subway stations below the London. A city of monsters, saints, murderers, and angels. Have you ever seen the television series? | ||
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Arbiter[frolix]
United Kingdom2674 Posts
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Capulet
Canada686 Posts
On October 26 2004 20:58 Locked wrote: His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman is a good choice (includes The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass) and of course Lord of the Rings =D can't think of any others you didn't mention right now, also what you mentioned sounds more like sci-fi than fantasy to me, the ones i mentioned were more fantasy -_- Read them, LOVED them! | ||
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JazZ[AutO]
United States558 Posts
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subtle
United States187 Posts
On October 27 2004 05:01 Danka wrote: Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin I read it when i was younger but i loved it. That is a very good series of books. It's fantasy of the old school- epic. | ||
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rplant
United States1178 Posts
Oh and the Earthsea books (Ursula Le Guin) had a pretty interesting, unique tone. You might like them if you liked A Wrinkle in Time. K Time for me to Stop Being an Asshat. | ||
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Hot77.iEy
Finland1486 Posts
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IDWIJNI-
Mexico332 Posts
On October 27 2004 05:23 Arbiter[frolix] wrote: I would recommend anything by Philip K Dick, his novels and his short story collections. One of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Totally agreed. But he wrote Sci-Fi. Not the same right? | ||
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Ceril
Sweden1343 Posts
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ChApFoU
France2983 Posts
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fanta[Rn]
Japan2465 Posts
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Redcloak
United States530 Posts
Throw in Ed Greenwood for good measure. | ||
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mmm.beer
Canada412 Posts
-wheel of time | ||
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T-bone
United States7 Posts
Sorry for bumping but I thought this post made the thread bumpworthy | ||
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Headlines
United States482 Posts
W. P. Inman, a wounded deserter from the Confederate army near the end of the American Civil War who walks for months to return to Ada Monroe, the love of his life; the plot shares several similarities with Homer's The Odyssey. The novel alternates chapter-by-chapter between Inman's and Ada's stories. reference Redwall Mice!!! reference The Little Prince The Little Prince (French: Le Petit Prince), published in 1943, is French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's most famous novella. Saint-Exupéry wrote it while living in the United States. It has been translated into more than 180 languages and sold more than 80 million copies making it one of the best selling books ever. An earlier memoir by the author recounts his aviation experiences in the Saharan desert. He is thought to have drawn on these same experiences for use as plot elements in The Little Prince. Saint-Exupéry's novella has been adapted to various media over the decades, including stage, screen and operatic works. reference Just the books I can think of that haven't been mentioned yet (or have... but I didn't see). | ||
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Matoo-
Canada1397 Posts
Je suis un renard, dit le renard | ||
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Dark.Carnival
United States5095 Posts
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ghostWriter
United States3302 Posts
oh also, the ender's game series. speaker of the dead and xenocide were better than i expected, although not as good as ender's game. | ||
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decafchicken
United States20109 Posts
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Carnivorous Sheep
Baa?21244 Posts
On December 20 2009 07:52 decafchicken wrote: Eragon/Eldest/Brisnger series is a good read. Please tell me you're trolling ._. | ||
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zerglingsfolife
United States1694 Posts
No other series compares, seriously. Dark, gritty, awesome characters, and no idea what's going to happen next. They are making a HBO series after the show. They just filmed the pilot. HBO Series!!! | ||
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exeprime
United Kingdom643 Posts
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. | ||
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Loanshark
China3094 Posts
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Nyovne
Netherlands19137 Posts
Anything by Glen Cook really sf and fantasy. A Malazan Tale of the Fallen series Lord of the Rings with everything around it The First Law trillogy sucked imho but alot of people recommend it The Name of the Wind The Prince of Nothing trillogy with the Aspect Emperor trillogy after it The Ender's game series Dune saga A Song of Ice and Fire series The Gone Away World Foundation series Chris Wooding is okeish Salvatore is ok as well I guess Stuff by George Vance is good too I got so much more stuff on my shelves but I'd have to go check than instantly have it from memmory. edit: I personally really like Warhammer 40K novels and E.V.E. setting novels as well. | ||
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Sadist
United States7310 Posts
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Han Solo
United Kingdom199 Posts
I'd say Malazan has also gone down the road of being amazing at the start but just getting worse as it goes on. They are both still great reads, and I'd reccomened them in a heartbeat, but I don't think they satnd on their own as the best of the fantasy genre as many say them to be. Outside of thse two, 3 writers stand out especially. Robin Hobb, Joe Abercrombie and R. Scott Bakker. R. Scott Bakker is the author of the Prince of Nothing trilogy and some other books. His strengths lie in his ability to add intruiging levels of psychology and philosophy without being obnoxious or overbearing, but I think he is somewhat weak in being able to fully and completely draw people into his books. They are just a little to cold and clinical in nature. Joe Abercrombie is the author of the First Law trilogy and Best Served Cold, which takes place withing the same universe as the First Law trilogy. He is great at drawing you in to his works, has good wit, good action, but most of all, excellent characterization and character development. I guess he could be called somewhat predictable in a certain way, but it's nothing to worry about. Robin Hobb is the author of the The Farseer trilogy, Liveship Traders trilogy, The Tawny Man trilogy and the Soldier Son trilogy. Frankly the Soldier Son trilogy is not that good, so don't bother reading it, at least not as a first book from her. Her best ability as a writer is without a doubt characterization. She places far more emphasis on how certain events will effect characters and how the develop around that than the actual events themselves. Shes's does the the tendancy to repeat things too much though, which can be somewhat grating. | ||
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XinRan
United States530 Posts
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Horiz0n
Sweden364 Posts
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Dark.Carnival
United States5095 Posts
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ecDIESEL
United States132 Posts
and House of Leaves if you feel like becoming schizophrenic. | ||
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Kazius
Israel1456 Posts
2) Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (aka Blade Runner when in movie form) 3) Robert Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers 4) Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series 5) Arthur C. Clarke - Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama, and to a lesser extent 2001: A Space Odyssey The amount of awesome in these books cannot be contained, and each is considered a masterpiece... even though some tend to be dark and somewhat harsh (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Starship Troopers), some overly philosophical (Stranger in a Strange Land), if you like sci-fi even a little and missed some of these, you have some catching up to do. | ||
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Fontong
United States6454 Posts
On December 20 2009 08:46 Nyovne wrote: The Wheel of Time series Anything by Glen Cook really sf and fantasy. A Malazan Tale of the Fallen series Lord of the Rings with everything around it The First Law trillogy sucked imho but alot of people recommend it The Name of the Wind The Prince of Nothing trillogy with the Aspect Emperor trillogy after it The Ender's game series Dune saga A Song of Ice and Fire series The Gone Away World Foundation series Chris Wooding is okeish Salvatore is ok as well I guess Stuff by George Vance is good too I got so much more stuff on my shelves but I'd have to go check than instantly have it from memmory. edit: I personally really like Warhammer 40K novels and E.V.E. setting novels as well. Oh man don't read Glen Cook. It's horrifically bad ;_; | ||
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nttea
Sweden4353 Posts
i myself loved "the daughter of the empire" series by raymond e.feist and janny wurts. i've always been a sucker for politics and intrigue (: | ||
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ghostWriter
United States3302 Posts
Brisingr was crap. | ||
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DocHoliday
Germany25 Posts
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uberMatt
Canada659 Posts
it hasn't come out in canada yet, and erikson is canadian what is this bullshit i also recommend george r r martin and zelanzy also, the fionavar triology, tigana and the lions of al-rassan by guy gavriel kay the problem i had with bakker's series is that the main character should be relatable, when he is a super-human genius, and able to manipulate people it just becomes silly and uninteresting to read ah, i am repeating what han solo has said though if i could add one thing on george r r martin, it seems to me that his books are becoming more epic(not in the 4chan sense of the word, but in the traditional fantasy sense) and he is much more adept at writing some scale, brilliant fantasy. the series has definitely gone downhill and i think it can be the attributed to the fact that more characters and settings are being introduced, and his storytelling does not scale well. | ||
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Radfield
Canada2720 Posts
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goswser
United States3548 Posts
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uberMatt
Canada659 Posts
 i mean song of ice and fire has gotten worse as the series went on, but it has nothing on WoT. that series got incredibly bad, incredibly fast. i wanted to gouge my eyes out after the 3rd or 4th book. | ||
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Warrior Madness
Canada3791 Posts
And also, the robot series by Isaac Asimov. I actually downloaded the audio version of that from demonoid. This is the order that you should read them in: 1) The Caves of Steel 2) The Naked Sun 3) The Robots of Dawn 4) Robots and Empire | ||
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lightrise
United States1355 Posts
The Night Angel Series. This series is also another awesome series that i really enjoyed. The writer released all 3 of the books in the trilogy at the same time, so you dont have to wait for the next one to come out. Its an interesting idea, and definitely a great read. | ||
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DoYouHas
United States1140 Posts
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wurm
Philippines2296 Posts
On December 20 2009 11:01 uberMatt wrote: wheel of time is really bad i mean song of ice and fire has gotten worse as the series went on, but it has nothing on WoT. that series got incredibly bad, incredibly fast. i wanted to gouge my eyes out after the 3rd or 4th book. I'm guessing you're referring to Feast For Crows as the basis for your statement that ASoIaF has gotten worse as it went on. Very, very, very underrated book, imo. | ||
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Hey Kennigut - tdot
Afghanistan5 Posts
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BottleAbuser
Korea (South)1888 Posts
My favorites: Terry Pratchett's books. Only read from the Discworld series, but it's awesome. Raymond E. Fiest's books. His Midkemia world is pretty good I think, but I'm speaking from memory of when I was in high school, so maybe if I read them again now I'd think differently. Ender's game counts as fantasy? If we're including science fiction, Ender's game is definitely worth reading... multiple times, in my case. Also, Heinlein's books are awesome. Particularly Stranger in a Strange Land. I enjoyed A Fire Upon The Deep, don't remember what author. | ||
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Traveler
United States451 Posts
David Eddings. Seriously the Belgariad and all his other series are amazing, especially "Redemption of Althalus" | ||
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Born)Slippy
Norway1904 Posts
I'm a big fan of Steven Erikson, Neil Gaiman and Roger Zelazny (the latter two are amazing writers). I've recently read The Name of the Wind and The Warded Man. The latter impressed me mostly because it managed to do something at least minimally worthwhile with the basic plot "Demons come out at night", which I doubted was possible. Other than that it was rather meh. The Name of the Wind was excellent and I'm waiting for the next one in that series. I also read The Blade Itself but didn't fancy it a lot. Currently I'm reading through non-fiction stuff but would like some fantasy books as well. Any recommendations? | ||
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Promises
Netherlands1821 Posts
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Slayer91
Ireland23335 Posts
MISTBORN (Trilogy with 2/3 = Well of Ascension and Hero of Ages but these aren't must reads imo) Way of Kings (first of an epic series kinda new) Elantris. (Standalone) Really liked them! Wheel of Time got milked out big time somewhere around books 7-11 but overall its still amazing. Song of Ice and Fire not my personal favourite but many will shoot me for that its still a must read however. Terry Pratchett must read as well. SOO Funny. Seriously. | ||
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Jandos
Czech Republic928 Posts
![[image loading]](http://www.bookapex.com/images/Blood-of-Elves-The-Witcher-031602919X-L.jpg) | ||
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Tibson
Germany85 Posts
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Overpowered
Czech Republic764 Posts
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xlep
Germany274 Posts
Earthsea Lord of the Rings (obviously) Dresden Files Dracula (Bram Stoker) The Nightwatch series by Sergey Lukyanenko | ||
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Scarecrow
Korea (South)9172 Posts
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Wesso
Netherlands1245 Posts
On February 13 2011 23:11 Scarecrow wrote: Gemmell, Eddings and Feist are the three best fantasy writers imo. Any of their earlier books are must reads. I also loved Ursula le Guin's Earthsea quartet. The Salvatore books and any other generic fantasy fan fiction is rubbish and should be disregarded. Wheel of Time is also very overrated. I must say, the Belgariad (from Eddings) is as much "fantasy fan fiction" as the Salvatore books. Is the difference between that series and his other books that big? Raymond E. Feist is very good indeed. | ||
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goswser
United States3548 Posts
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Asha
United Kingdom38257 Posts
Beautifully crafted 4 book series, more subtle than most, and an escalation in scope later. My favourite fantasy author right now, and as an added bonus he writes and releases a lot. He's got a SF book (leviathan wakes) out soon, as well as the first installment of a more traditional fantasy series (the dragon's path from the dagger and the coin quintet) in April | ||
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Euronyme
Sweden3804 Posts
Other than that, Neil Gaiman's awesome as well. He's done a book together with pratchett, so I guess I'm just into the genre. I've only read Neverwhere by him, but it was awesome. Watch out for David Eddings.. I wouldn't suggest reading them unless you're younger than 15. | ||
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mig el pig
Belgium3 Posts
A song of fire and ice by George Martin The Witcher series Those 3 have been mentioned before and their all great indeed. but you can also consider these, although they are bit more obscure The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: It's high fantasy but with some unique twists Chung Kuo; Futuristic world dominated by the Chinese (only read the first 4, never found the others but they are currently being republished. ) | ||
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Robellicose
England245 Posts
- Fantasy Tolkien is worth reading, if for no other reason than his literal INVENTION of the Elves / Dwarves / Dungeons and Dragons style of fantasy. His books are the starting point for this huge swathe of literature. The Tyrants and Kings series, by John Marco is an absolutely awesome series. Whilst some people deride David Edding's Elder Gods series, the Sparhawk Trilogies (The Tamuli and The Elenium) are simply brilliant. As previously mentioned, the Witcher novels are great and successfully avoid myriad fantasy cliches whilst creating a compelling universe. If you don't have time to read them, the PC game The Witcher Extended Edition is similarly brilliant and has a lot of story depth to it. For humorous fantasy, I seriously don't expect anyone to ever beat Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, although Tom Holt has written books that come close. - Science Fiction Peter F. Hamilton, Iain M. Banks and Alistair Reynolds have an extensive catalogue of quality science fiction. If you're looking for some of the founding fathers of the genre, check out Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick and H. G. Wells. Neil Asher produced my favourite series, centring around the universe he created involving the Polity and the Prador Kingdoms. The books about Agent Ian Cormac are probably my favourite. Check out Gridlinked, The Line of Polity and Polity Agent especially. Richard Morgan also has created a very interesting universe, check out the series of Altered Carbon, Broken Angels and Woken Furies. | ||
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KasPra
Estonia983 Posts
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mcc
Czech Republic4646 Posts
1) Stanislaw Lem, basically everything by him. Very hard to read for some, highly philosophical. His books can be divided into serious and satirical with not much overlap. The satirical ones are the funniest in whole sci-fi genre that I ever read, yet still full of very intellectual stuff and food for thought. Unfortunately any translation loses half the humor, especially into non-slavic languages, but I heard there is pretty good English translation of some of his books (by Kandel I think). On the other hand also some bad transalations, mostly double ones from German. Definitely recommended : Star Diaries and Cyberiad (both have Kandel's translation) as the satirical ones. Solaris and His Master's Voice from the serious ones. 2) P.K.Dick, because he can write and his stories are interesting. 3) U.K. Le Guin , as above 4) Picnic by the road (also known as Stalker) by Strugacki brothers 5) H.G.Wells, Stapledon are also pretty good Fantasy : Tolkien, that is probably all | ||
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Euronyme
Sweden3804 Posts
On February 14 2011 00:44 KasPra wrote: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - one of my absolute favourites. Idk what people think about it but i love it. It's not serious at all though, mostly full of humor and satire. You should check out some Terry Pratchett books m8 The best of the 'Guide' is like the average in Terry's books in my opinion. They've got the same kind of humour as well. My favourite part of the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy was like the first 20 or so pages, with the jingis khan stuff ^^ Litterally laughed out loud (no pun intended). | ||
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Born)Slippy
Norway1904 Posts
A bunch of stuff mentioned here I have already read. David Eddings I refuse to believe can ever write good stuff, I still remember how numb I felt inside after reading some of his Elder Gods bs. Extremely lame, generic stuff. I will check out The Witcher, John Marco and maybe Chung Fuo if I can find those books... to start with. Keep it coming, I suspect other people than me are interested in this :-) | ||
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CuttyFlam
Belgium523 Posts
- Raymond E. Feist, start out with "magician" his masterpiece if you ask me, also his debut ^^ Science fiction: -Peter F Hamilton: Absolute no brainer, epic space opera!! | ||
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Zechs
United Kingdom321 Posts
Neil Gaiman - anything Terry Pratchett - anything except the Witch novels, which i find kinda boring. The Dwaves (Markus Heitz, i think?) Orcs (forgot the name of the author but i was pleasently surprised for such a generic-sounding book) The Bloodgate Codex books 1 & 2, the 3rd one is very tedious and is ruined by time travel (time travel stories kinda ruin everything IMO, especially in literature) | ||
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Node
United States2159 Posts
I'd also say that pretty much everyone, not even necessarily sci-fi / fantasy fans, ought to read The City & The City, which takes a fascinatingly unique concept and runs with it, making a story unlike anything else out there. | ||
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EdaPoe
Netherlands82 Posts
Snowcrash - Neal Stephenson Anansi boys - Neil Gaiman Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Prachett | ||
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Topin
Peru10102 Posts
really good book, part of a trilogy called "the seven realms". the 2nd book is relatively new: The Exiled Queen | ||
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Project Psycho
United Kingdom329 Posts
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Ajunoo
Germany147 Posts
A Song of Ice and Fire - LOTR like epic fantasy The Name of the Wind - pretty much normal fantasy, but EXTREMELY well done Mistborn Trilogy - very unique magic system, interesting story Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - excellent book, not your standard fantasy, kind of an...alice in wonderland only in a weird magical parallel universe london (including King's courts in Subways and things like that). Aside from all that (I'm sure the above books have been mentioned already), check out http://www.goodreads.com/, its a nice site to get book advice imo | ||
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Headshot
United States1656 Posts
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Fryght
Netherlands254 Posts
Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy Robin Hobbs's Tawny Man trilogy (read only after Farseer) | ||
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blamous
United States377 Posts
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (the first trilogy) is IMHO hands down the best epic fantasy series since LoTR. The second Chronicles is not as great but is still great. The last chronicles is in progress, having been taken up again after nearly 30 years, and so far has not disappointed me. Donaldson also has another bestselling series called "The Gap Cycle" - 5 books - unbelievable characters and story - just really really great stuff. I just started the Song of Fire and Ice books but have not been drawn is as of yet. I'm hoping it's just a slow developer. My time is limited and so these days I do most of my 'reading' via audiobooks. The reader of SoFaI is not that great, which may be the reason i'm not getting into it. EDIT: I can also vouch for the Wheel of Time. I found it to be a great story. Yes, because of the length it is difficult to keep things straight in the story, and at times things can seem a bit protracted, but overall it is a stunning accomplishment... Sanderson has done justice to the work thus far, IMO. Honorable mentions: Chronicles of Narnia, LoTR, The Elenium and Tamuli by David Eddings (I thought they were better than the Belgariad and Mallorean, all of which I read when I was 15, so my memory is probably colored.) | ||
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Kimaker
United States2131 Posts
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant-Stephen R. Donaldson Belgariad-David Eddings Conan-Robert E. Howard Eternal Champion-Michael Moorcock Gor-John Norman Epics: Lord of the Rings (obligatory)-JRR Tolkien The Dark Tower-Stephen King Dune-Frank Herbert "New" series: Wheel of Time Wayfarer Redemption : On February 13 2011 23:11 Scarecrow wrote: Gemmell, Eddings and Feist are the three best fantasy writers imo. Any of their earlier books are must reads. I also loved Ursula le Guin's Earthsea quartet. The Salvatore books and any other generic fantasy fan fiction is rubbish and should be disregarded. Wheel of Time is also very overrated. That feels like you're taking it a bit far. I mean, no one's gonna say Salvatore did anything incredible with his writings, but it's not like it started out all bad. The Dark Elf Trilogy was decent...it just sorta descended into...not so great after that xD But the foundation novels were good. WOT has so far been okay, but nothing great. After reading all these "reviews" I'm hesitant to go spend money on the third book... | ||
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joheinous
Iceland522 Posts
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Lysteria
France2280 Posts
It follows an elite mercenary army, in a quite normal feudal world (except the presence of magicians). Really good dark fantasy here, without good nor evil, just men who try to get the job done. | ||
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AJMcSpiffy
United States1154 Posts
On February 14 2011 01:00 Euronyme wrote: You should check out some Terry Pratchett books m8 The best of the 'Guide' is like the average in Terry's books in my opinion. They've got the same kind of humour as well. My favourite part of the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy was like the first 20 or so pages, with the jingis khan stuff ^^ Litterally laughed out loud (no pun intended). This is absolutely true. Not to take anything away from Hitchhiker's Guide, because that is an amazing series, but the Discworld stories blow it completely out of the water. You can start with nearly any book and be able to pick it right up, with only a few being direct sequels to one another. All the books are great, but my favorite has to be Thief of Time. I think at last count I've got 19 books from that series, I've still got a ways to go. | ||
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TokenMachine
United States5 Posts
Raymond E Feist - Krondor Series Robin Hobb - The Farseer Trilogy Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld - Just started reading this, seems like a great Steam-punk fantasy series with a world war I background. Easy read, definitely for a younger audience but still very enjoyable. | ||
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Lysteria
France2280 Posts
On February 14 2011 03:23 blamous wrote: I just started the Song of Fire and Ice books but have not been drawn is as of yet. I'm hoping it's just a slow developer. The first book is really slow, yeah. It's an introduction (of 1000 pages, no kidding), not that good. But once the plot begins, roughly at the end of those 1.000 pages, the story becomes deeper and deeper. The second book is quite good and the third one (i'm reading it right now) is even better. | ||
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Frozenzen
Sweden97 Posts
And apparently the followup "A Wise Mans Fear" is either out, or about to be. Hopefully it is as awesome as the first book is. | ||
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Twistacles
Canada1327 Posts
I own about 400+ fantasy books, if that gives you an idea. | ||
Antoine
United States7481 Posts
On February 14 2011 04:35 Twistacles wrote: The Malazan Book's of the Fallen are the best fantasy books i've read. I own about 400+ fantasy books, if that gives you an idea. 100% agreed. By far the best series I've read, and I've read 90%+ of the books mentioned in the thread. | ||
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Inkblood
United States463 Posts
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. Takes forever for this man to write anything, but the series is some of the best fantasy out there. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Wasn't overly fond of Sanderson's stuff before the Way of Kings, but this book I found excellent. Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, it's a wonderful series, and really what got me into reading fantasy in the first place. Some other fantasy authors I like reading. J. R. R. Tolkien, Jim Butcher, Peter V. Brett, Robert E. Howard. And I'm not sure if he's considered fantasy, it's probably sci-fi, but I found Jasper Fforde rather good. | ||
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TheYukoner
Canada80 Posts
Night Angel Trilogy and The Black Prism - Brent Weeks (also really dark humor) The whole Drizzt series, beginning with Homeland - R.A. Salvatore The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss (Probably the bet book I've ever read) The whole Shannara series, beginning with The First King of Shannara - Terry Brooks | ||
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Ziktomini
United Kingdom377 Posts
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optical630
United Kingdom768 Posts
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Andre
Slovenia3523 Posts
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LookinOjiz
United States11 Posts
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Lann555
Netherlands5173 Posts
On February 14 2011 05:17 LookinOjiz wrote: I'm surprised noone mentioned "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. He is a new but amazing writer. I couldn't put his book down. It's been mentioned twice before already, but yeah, it was a good read. Problem is that it was barely more then an introduction to the story and the author is sure taking his sweet time with the sequel. 2nd one should be out soon though :D | ||
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fadestep
United States605 Posts
Seriously, you will not regret reading those books, they are fucking great. Now I'm gonna go back and check out what other people recommended. Cool thread. edit/ LOL! This thread is 7 years old? Oh well, still worth a bump from whoever did it. | ||
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keyStorm
Canada316 Posts
Ringworld by Larry Niven 2001: A space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke Rendez-vous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke | ||
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Rowa
Belgium962 Posts
Otherwise my favorites are still : Belgariad / malloreon by Eddings too (so much humor) Wheel of time by robert jordan (even if tomes 5 to 8 are a little let down, the rest is pure epic) The Dark tower by Stephen king. I also approve of Neil Gaiman (stardust , american gods, neverwhere....) and Douglas Adams ! also Terry goodkind.. omg i want to read them all all over again now, audiobooks are an epic win by the way | ||
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oddeye
Canada716 Posts
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Rainmaker5
United States1027 Posts
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Tensai176
Canada2061 Posts
The Name of the Wind is one of my favourite books and I enjoyed it more than GoT tbh, | ||
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Delicious.Cake
Germany74 Posts
My favourite book. Nobody knows it but is just awesome. | ||
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Steel
Japan2283 Posts
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solidbebe
Netherlands4921 Posts
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Backpack
United States1776 Posts
A personal favorite of mine is the His Dark Materials trilogy. Many people seem to put it off as a series for children because of the movie adaptation of The Golden Compass which was a simplified version of the first book. The actual book series is set in a multiverse and "and alludes to a broad range of ideas from fields such as physics, philosophy, theology and spirituality." The main plot of the story has to do with the relationship between parallel universes. The books are also criticized for the depiction of the church as the bad guy and the negative views of religion in general. Its a controversial story told from the unbiased(at first) view of a small child. | ||
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Talin
Montenegro10532 Posts
I've basically never heard of Brandon Sanderson before reading the last two Wheel of Time books. I'm kind of wary of modern fantasy authors, but I have to admit his WOT stuff was fairly good. So what I want to know is if his own original work is on a similar level (and get some recommendations). I do like his style and all, I'm just wondering if his "world-building" skills are up to the task, since he got served a pretty finished setting for Wheel of Time. | ||
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Bleak
Turkey3059 Posts
By the way, about the Wheel of Time, those books are so big and really expensive here but aside that, I don't know which one to start from...is it like the Dragonlance where there are a ton of books and you have to search your way through them? | ||
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teknomage
16 Posts
On February 14 2011 05:58 Talin wrote: A quick question to anyone that's familiar with the stuff - I've basically never heard of Brandon Sanderson before reading the last two Wheel of Time books. I'm kind of wary of modern fantasy authors, but I have to admit his WOT stuff was fairly good. So what I want to know is if his own original work is on a similar level (and get some recommendations). I do like his style and all, I'm just wondering if his "world-building" skills are up to the task, since he got served a pretty finished setting for Wheel of Time. I've really enjoyed the Mistborn series of his too. I wouldn't compare it to WoT though. Not really sure how to explain it but I'm sure others here have read it too. Currently waiting for 'The Way of Kings' to drop in my mailbox. | ||
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blamous
United States377 Posts
On February 14 2011 06:08 Bleak wrote: , about the Wheel of Time, those books are so big and really expensive here but aside that, I don't know which one to start from...is it like the Dragonlance where there are a ton of books and you have to search your way through them? There is a specific order - Start with "The Eye of the World" and go from there. There is a prequel, called "New Spring" I think, or something similar, but I have not read it yet. | ||
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Karliath
United States2214 Posts
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HowardRoark
1146 Posts
But, if I were you I would turn to SF instead and never go back. You get that Sense of Wonder I never been able to get when I read fantasy: Cordwainer Smith - Scanners live in vain Isaac Asimov - The Gods themselves and a new great SF: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. If you just stay away from the rest of his books, Spin will blow your mind. | ||
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xLethargicax
United States469 Posts
Has anyone here read the Avatar series? Shadowdale, Tantras, Waterdeep? I think two more were written as well, but here! http://www.amazon.com/Shadowdale-~-Tantras-Waterdeep-Avatar/dp/B001CWJVN2 Phenomenal. | ||
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Critter
United States196 Posts
I'm also a huge fan of King's Dark Tower series although I haven't read too many of his other books (Green Mile and most of the Stand). I also picked up Game of Thrones recently and really enjoyed that. I'll probably pick up the rest of the series after I finish the Malazan books since Martin is such a slow writer anyway. | ||
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Toobz
United States88 Posts
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yellowmoe
Canada59 Posts
Mythago Wood was also up there with one of my favourite books. Also from Christopher Stasheff, is The Sage. Although it is part of the Star Stone duology, it can act as a stand alone book. Edit: I just want to say, I looked at the date, and the OP post was made in 2004! LOL. | ||
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wwer
United States53 Posts
Haruki Murkami - Dance Dance Dace and After the quake Thomas Pynchon - The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity's Rainbow Albert Camus - The Stranger | ||
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Sanctimonius
United Kingdom861 Posts
George R R Martin. Again have to second the rec's here. I honestly cannot find fault with this series of books. The characters are as detailed and complex as any I've ever read, eveyrone has an agenda and it's frequently difficult to decide who is on what side, or if there really are any sides at all. Gemmell and Eddings are great authors, each with their fantastic books, decent books, and ones you should really avoid (Read Legend, White Wolf and Waylander by Gemmell, and while the Belgariad and the Mallorean are good by Eddings I'd personally suggest the Elenium Trilogy - Sparhawk is just a fantastic and well-rounded individual and you find yourself caring for his troubles more than you do for Garion's). Anyone suggest James Barcley's Chronicles of the Raven, or Glen Cook's the Black Company? Good action fantasy, Cook's has been compared to military fiction is it's style, while Barcley's is a little corny it is fun. Also want to recommend I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan - very good book about Lucifer getting his second chance, and everything he does with it. Film rights are involved. Pratchett is always a good read, the Watchmen and the Witches series are probably the best there, and anything by Neil Gaiman (Sandman! Neverwhere! American Gods! Anansi Boys!) is great. Try Good Omens, by Gaiman and Pratchett together. You can't go wrong :D I've been recently reading the Horus Heresy novels from the Warhammer 40k universe - some are great and the subject matter is well developed and thought out, but because it has a number of authors the quality does vary. IMO Dan Abnett and Aaron Dembski-Bowden are the best two here, but a lot of people like Graham McNeill too (although personally don't like his writing style...). Final mention to the Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse series of comics. No idea if you're into comics but they are just that good I thought I'd give them a mention. Hope that helps - happy reading! | ||
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borny
China481 Posts
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Aurocaido
Canada288 Posts
READ THEM! You will not be disappointed. | ||
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IronFenix
Canada27 Posts
On February 14 2011 06:10 teknomage wrote: I've really enjoyed the Mistborn series of his too. I wouldn't compare it to WoT though. Not really sure how to explain it but I'm sure others here have read it too. Currently waiting for 'The Way of Kings' to drop in my mailbox. Enjoyed both these readings from Sanderson. The Way of Kings has the potential to be an interesting series. He is planning on continuing it once he is done with the WOT. | ||
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cYberc0re
United States61 Posts
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oooo27
342 Posts
"Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan - Also already mentioned several times. Great epic series anything by Jim Butcher - My favorite author of all time. Most people are familiar with his "Dresden Files" books, which is a really great urban fantasy series about a wizard being a private investigator in modern Chicago (though the later books move to grander themes of saving the world). But he also wrote the "Codex Alera" series, which is kinda like Avatar the Last Airbender meets HBO`s Rome. The latter books are just PURE AWESOME!!! ...Highly recommended "Ciaphas Cain" by Sandy Mitchell - HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!!! A series about an imperial commisar in the WH40K universe, who is basically an expy for Edmund Blackadder. Absolutely hilarious and a good read even if you arent a fan of WH40K. But if you are, this is a must read | ||
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wrathofroc
31 Posts
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Cuddle
Sweden1345 Posts
If you're like me and like to mix some dark humored, gritty and nasty-bloodied fantasy with main characters that are not heroes (or even "good") into the blend of your standard LotR/WoT/SoT-fantasy you have to check this series out. 3 books series with 2 stand alone novels that I suggest you read after the series. Sure, the story is so-so but the characters are...outstanding! Not a sane one among them! Also, I'd like to plug Death Gate Novels, best series ever written. I've read it 5 times. | ||
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jeremysaint
Canada80 Posts
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WyghtWolf
Israel145 Posts
You could try Vellum and Ink(The book of all hours series) by Hal Duncan. it's mostly based on Sumerian mythology, but can't say the plot is real easy to follow(had trouble following the plot line about 150 into Vellum). Also, if you read another book after finishing Vellum and didn't read ink, you'll lose all plot lines. but if you're homophobic, this series' not for you, since it's got alot of gay sex in it. still, I found it very enjoyable, and easy to lose myself in it(especially due to the twisted plot) | ||
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Creslin
United States2 Posts
14 or more books: all set in the same world, different protagonists. Typical "medieval-esque" fantasy all based on a concept of order and chaos. In the end you get an entire world fleshed out over a span of centuries. L.E Modesitt Jr. Check it out. I also enjoyed the Ender's Game books. Just finished John Dies at the End for funsies. Dick jokes and horror by David Wong. Apparently he writes for Cracked.com. | ||
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eos
New Zealand39 Posts
 , notably Raymond E. Feist and George R Martin. Both are mature.
I loved Feist's epic scope of medieval fantasy, involving whimsical worlds and dazzling dimensions. The former books are rather generic race wise (elves, goblins etc). However, it branches out into a myriad of wonderfully represented races and cultures. A must read for anyone interested in fantasy. George R Martin Martin does a superb task of forging intriguing medieval plots. The characters are well thought and beautifully developed. What I found unique and admirable about Martin's play on fantasy was his ability to dispel the false dichotomy that most fantasy authors suffer from i.e Good vs Evil. However, the latter books started to delve into magic and 'the forces of evil', which, after adoring his 'grey' outlook on morals put me off. Robert Jordan I'm ambivalent regarding his writing. Half of me really appreciates the level of development and depth of detail he imbues unto his characters. Half of me thinks he did not need 12 books  to do what 3-4 could have. As I grew older I started delving into Sci-fi. Gaining a much more eager appetite for science and sociopolitical ideals. What beats macroscopic views on future human development, ethics and technology? Sci-fi for me is a medium for ideas that are not bound by the many shackles of other genres. 
Holding a professorship in biochemisty, Asimov moved on to crafting a inspiring list of books. The inventor of the Positronic brain and the three laws of robotics, Asimov's scale is gargantuan, his books are spaced out in generations, sometimes centuries. Some set in different quadrants of our galaxy, yet all interconnected and contributing to a magnificent plot! R.Daneel <3 Read before you die! Frank Herbert Herbert's "Dune" series was the first Sci-fi that I started on, and an apt one to do so. His scope may not be as large as Asimov's, but he certainly does not lack in philosophical foresight and originality. Each chapter is preceded by a sagacious fictional quote which relates to either the series, or the chapter following it. Once you taste Frank Herbert's Spice, you'll be addicted! Although there are countless other fictional books that I have perused, I feel that these have had the biggest impact on who I am today. For that I must thank the fine authors who have written these books. Who, in doing so have inspired me, and I hope future generations.  | ||
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GullyFoyle
United States103 Posts
To offer up a series not often mentioned: Julian May: The Saga of Pliocene Exile series. Four amazing books with a fairly outlandish premise, that I won't spoil here. Look 'em up and decide for yourself. I've returned at least 3 times to this series! 1. The Many Colored Land 2. The Golden Torc 3. The Nonborn King 4. The Adversary | ||
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valheru
Australia966 Posts
Raymond Feist Tolkien Katherine Kerr L.E Modesitt Janny Wurts Robert Jordan | ||
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ShadowDrgn
United States2497 Posts
On February 14 2011 04:35 Twistacles wrote: The Malazan Book's of the Fallen are the best fantasy books i've read. I own about 400+ fantasy books, if that gives you an idea. I have 146 fantasy books listed on Goodreads so you've got me beat by a bunch, but I've been slowly slogging through Malazan lately. It's not that I don't like the series, but I'm partway through book 4 and just can't get into it. There are so many cool characters that they all crowd each other out, and the narrative never sticks with anyone long enough for me to really bond with them. So far, I don't think Erikson does a thorough job of character development; I like a lot of the characters, but I don't love any of them. | ||
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Deindar
United States302 Posts
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Hunted
Australia337 Posts
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writer22816
United States5775 Posts
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c0rn1
Germany146 Posts
- Fantasy - The Dragonlance ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonlance ) is a chronic about Raistlin Majere, a wizard going to challenge the gods in the end. The story was created during D&D sessions, written down, exaggerated and filled with detaily in a series of books by Margaret Weis, Tracy & Laura Hickman. Very nice read! - Sci-Fiction Fantasy - Another story I can pinpoint you to would be "The Tripods" by John Christopher. Even though it is written in easy english and accessible for kids from 12 years on, the trilogy doesn't lack entertainment for adults. cheers c0rn1 | ||
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DND_Enkil
Sweden598 Posts
Steven Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen Jim Butcher - Dresden Files Malazan Book of the Fallen is an epic long series that just blows my mind. The characters, world, story, everything is just on a scale i have never seen before. Dresden Files are fantasy noir completely different from the Malazan books. Wizard detective in modern day chicago battling fieris, vampires and every other kind of nasty you can think off while delivering hard-boiled comments. Currently i am also into "darker" fantasy and can reccomend two other that comes to mind: Anne Bishop - The Black jewels, the first three books (came out around 1999 i think) are awesome. Glenn Cook - The Chronicles of The Black Company, dark, gritty, fun. | ||
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IronFenix
Canada27 Posts
On February 14 2011 18:17 ShadowDrgn wrote: I have 146 fantasy books listed on Goodreads so you've got me beat by a bunch, but I've been slowly slogging through Malazan lately. It's not that I don't like the series, but I'm partway through book 4 and just can't get into it. There are so many cool characters that they all crowd each other out, and the narrative never sticks with anyone long enough for me to really bond with them. So far, I don't think Erikson does a thorough job of character development; I like a lot of the characters, but I don't love any of them. I actually read the first book of the Malazan series a few weeks ago. I got it for 2.99 on my Kindle. How could I refuse? haha. Anyway, the premise/plot was good but I wasn't that into the characters. | ||
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Groslouser
France337 Posts
Dave Duncan inst well known but his story are unusual and fun. Here his a link to his site where you can see every book he did: http://daveduncan.com/books/books.php | ||
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Subversive
Australia2229 Posts
On February 14 2011 07:46 HowardRoark wrote: King of the elves, by Philip K Dick, for fantasy. But, if I were you I would turn to SF instead and never go back. You get that Sense of Wonder I never been able to get when I read fantasy: Cordwainer Smith - Scanners live in vain Isaac Asimov - The Gods themselves and a new great SF: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. If you just stay away from the rest of his books, Spin will blow your mind. Wow nice to see some finally mention a non well-known name. It feels like mostly people have read the same major series here. It's a shame that so many amazing authors like Cordwainer Smith and Jack Vance seem virtually out of print and unknown these days. I'm going to mention Iain M Banks for sci-fi. I'd recommend him for his complex plots (for those GRRM fans), his amusing dialogue (for those Pratchett fans) and the epic scope of his worlds, for anyone who loves the sheer size of good ol space-opera. Also another interesting thing about this thread is the starkly divergent tastes -> some love WoT, others think its over-rated. Some love Eddings, others can't stand him. Pratchett, Feist, it seems almost all popular authors can polarise audiences. Makes finding new books to read a difficult prospect. The best thing is to have a few friends who share similar tastes and primarily take advice from them. | ||
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lifecanwait
96 Posts
- Daemon by Daniel Suarez - Freedom (sequel) same author Quoted from Rick Klau's blog (Strategic Partner Dev., Google Inc): Story: The premise is both outlandish and not all that farfetched: a genius programmer has developed a daemon (that is, a computer proram that waits for a predefined trigger in order to execute a series of commands) that looks for word of his death. Once his obituary is published, all hell breaks loose thanks to this computer program. Things quickly spiral out of control, with a computer program exerting increasing influence over individuals, corporations, and even governments. Guess what: the book is Daemon by Leinad Zeraus, and it’s remarkable. No, really. I can remember the feeling I had, sitting in the audience as the credits rolled after seeing The Matrix on opening day. I knew I’d seen something that was different, important, and something that I’d want to see again. And again. When I finished Daemon this afternoon, I had that same feeling. Daemon is to novels what The Matrix was to movies. It will be how other novels that rely on technology are judged. Who should read the books: Read this if you like futuristic scenarios, are inclined to computers and advanced techniques. The book can teach you a lot of things (in the end you will also get a new idea how democracy might work in future) but doesn't lack action either. Instead the story develops rather fast; entertainment is guaranteed. | ||
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Wartortle
Australia504 Posts
On February 14 2011 17:26 eos wrote: I grew up on Fantasy , notably Raymond E. Feist and George R Martin. Both are mature.Raymond E. Feist I loved Feist's epic scope of medieval fantasy, involving whimsical worlds and dazzling dimensions. The former books are rather generic race wise (elves, goblins etc). However, it branches out into a myriad of wonderfully represented races and cultures. A must read for anyone interested in fantasy. Feist's magician is the best book ive ever read, mainly because of the nostalgia it brings me I loved every series he made am an eagerly awaiting his next book. | ||
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Silidons
United States2813 Posts
On February 14 2011 16:40 Creslin wrote: I havn't seen anyone else mention the Recluce Saga yet, so I'm recommending it. 14 or more books: all set in the same world, different protagonists. Typical "medieval-esque" fantasy all based on a concept of order and chaos. In the end you get an entire world fleshed out over a span of centuries. L.E Modesitt Jr. Check it out. I also enjoyed the Ender's Game books. Just finished John Dies at the End for funsies. Dick jokes and horror by David Wong. Apparently he writes for Cracked.com. Recluse Saga is fucking legit. My favorite type of magic yet. | ||
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Wesso
Netherlands1245 Posts
On February 14 2011 22:31 Jayzo wrote: Feist's magician is the best book ive ever read, mainly because of the nostalgia it brings me I loved every series he made am an eagerly awaiting his next book. Am I the only one who didn't like his later books that much? They're always divided: A story about an ordinary battle between armies and a battle between Pug and CO against demons etc. The scope of the chapters about Pug (preventing the world from being destroyed) make me feel like the other chapters are just irrelevant to the grand scheme of things. (Which is true, but not something you want to notice while reading fantasy) | ||
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JesusOurSaviour
United Arab Emirates1141 Posts
On February 14 2011 18:20 Deindar wrote: The Wheel of Time should undoubtedly be the first series you read. Best series ever written IMO. Struck Gold | ||
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Igakusei
United States610 Posts
Admittedly his understanding (and therefore representation) of biology and anthropology is a little shallow, but it was a really fun little book. I read it in a couple days over Christmas vacation. The version I read was combined with it's sequel (starquake) which was also interesting, but not as good. | ||
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Subversive
Australia2229 Posts
On February 14 2011 22:45 Wesso wrote: Am I the only one who didn't like his later books that much? They're always divided: A story about an ordinary battle between armies and a battle between Pug and CO against demons etc. The scope of the chapters about Pug (preventing the world from being destroyed) make me feel like the other chapters are just irrelevant to the grand scheme of things. (Which is true, but not something you want to notice while reading fantasy) I'm with you here. For me his lowest point was the serpent war saga - I think they were terrible. The characters, plot, everything. I've actually liked his recent books in comparision, but I'm really tired of Pug and especially (plot spoiler ahead)+ Show Spoiler + the prophecy that he'll see everyone love die before he does. God when his wife got taken out, I was actually relieved that finally there was some movement in the series! edit: Actually terrible is way too strong a word. I just didn't like them as much . And it was mainly the main 2 characters. The plot was actually decent. | ||
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Haemonculus
United States6980 Posts
Also the Saga of Seven Suns is a pretty interesting sci-fi series. A bit over-the-top at times, but still good. Interstellar war sparked between like 7 different factions. Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" are fantastically written. The first one starts off slowly, but the series gets soooo good as you go further into it. A wizard investigating magical crimes in a modern-day world. SM Stirling's series "Dies the Fire" is my current reading list. Fantasy/reality hybrid where all modern technology suddenly ceases to work. Survivors of the ensuing apocalypse struggle to survive and thrive in a neo-feudal world. | ||
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Enu
4 Posts
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couches
618 Posts
Ok. More of a sci-fi book but Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. | ||
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Improbable
United States54 Posts
The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss The Heroes - Joe Abercrombie The only more-than-three book series that has managed to capture and hold my attention is George r.r Martin's a song of ice and fire, although the 4th book was a little weak. We'll see how he does with a dance with dragons if it ever gets released ^^. | ||
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solidbebe
Netherlands4921 Posts
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Igakusei
United States610 Posts
On February 15 2011 01:32 Improbable wrote: I couldn't get through the Wheel of time series, the Sword of Truth series or more than a few feist books. They all just get so cliched and overdone by the middle of the series that I have to set it down. For me they just cease to be entertaining. Maybe epic fantasy is just not for me. My favorite recent fantasy novels include: The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss The Heroes - Joe Abercrombie The only more-than-three book series that has managed to capture and hold my attention is George r.r Martin's a song of ice and fire, although the 4th book was a little weak. We'll see how he does with a dance with dragons if it ever gets released ^^. As an adult, I think this is also my experience. I read both SoT and WoT as a teenager, and enjoyed them immensely (well okay, I only enjoyed the first 2 books of SoT). I tried re-reading WoT this year with my wife, and made it a third of the way into book two before we both gave up. I just can't even imagine sitting through books 6-10 again. | ||
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Myrkul
Croatia132 Posts
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Twistacles
Canada1327 Posts
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. | ||
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BeefyKnight
United States127 Posts
On February 15 2011 09:10 Myrkul wrote: L.E Modessitt Jr. people, extremely surprised he only got mentioned 2-3 times so far. The Saga of Recluce series is far and away the best I have ever read. Edit:Just noticed this, there is only one S in Modesitt. ^.^ | ||
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Paperbackwriter
Netherlands17 Posts
On February 14 2011 23:52 Subversive wrote: I'm with you here. For me his lowest point was the serpent war saga - I think they were terrible. The characters, plot, everything. I've actually liked his recent books in comparision, but I'm really tired of Pug and especially (plot spoiler ahead)+ Show Spoiler + the prophecy that he'll see everyone love die before he does. God when his wife got taken out, I was actually relieved that finally there was some movement in the series! edit: Actually terrible is way too strong a word. I just didn't like them as much . And it was mainly the main 2 characters. The plot was actually decent.I have to agree with you, it's just to much Pug. That's why i really liked the series with Talon of the Silverhawk so much. It's completly about someone else. | ||
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snotboogie
Australia3550 Posts
This series is heavy, dark and quite depressing at times. It's hard to describe what it's really about, there's all sort of wars and struggles between gods, demigods, ascendants, etc etc and mass army movements and campaigns all around this big world. If you take it up, I would recommend starting with book 2, Deadhouse Gates, and then going back to read the first book then continuing with the series. It just makes more sense that way. As far as Feist goes, his Magician is a true masterpiece. Just do yourself a favour and avoid everything after the first three books. He is the epitome of laziness and making a living churning out crappy books, relying on the reputation of his much beloved first book. As for Sci Fi, which I've only recently gotten into (past 3 years), I'll recommend 3 absolute gems. First, Time Enough For Love by the grand master himself, Robert Heinlein, was my first sci fi novel and holds a special place in my heart. I really believe it's a fantastic intro to the genre. Secondly, Peter F Hamilton's Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained is an absolutely epic 2-novel series set in an amazing universe. There's not much introspection to be found here, but the action is rip-roaring and pure fun. Love it. The wormhole/train society also blew my mind in how fully realized it was. Hamilton really spends a long time fleshing out this universe. Finally try Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan. It's hard-boiled detective fiction set in a sci fi setting where people change physical bodies regularly. The main protagonist is trying to solve a murder of his client, who was dead for a short period of time before consciousness was restored in a backup body. It's really well done noir-style quasi-cyberpunk thriller. | ||
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Paperbackwriter
Netherlands17 Posts
He is the epitome of laziness and making a living churning out crappy books, relying on the reputation of his much beloved first book. Can't blame him there, would do it aswell when given the chance. | ||
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aru
183 Posts
On February 14 2011 20:47 IronFenix wrote: I actually read the first book of the Malazan series a few weeks ago. I got it for 2.99 on my Kindle. How could I refuse? haha. Anyway, the premise/plot was good but I wasn't that into the characters. 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. | ||
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Erectum
France194 Posts
Edding's are nice but more for kids than adults. The first part of the Royal Assassin are great but the second part and soldier shaman are really poor imo .. A Song of Ice and Fire is for the moment the best i have ever read. | ||
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waylanderm
Netherlands118 Posts
Feist with : Magician David gemmel : legend en waylander David eddings : awsome belgarion series and 1 of my favorite series of late : Jim c Hines : goblin quest/hero and war | ||
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StorkHwaiting
United States3465 Posts
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StorkHwaiting
United States3465 Posts
On February 15 2011 02:24 solidbebe wrote: Why do so few people mention Patrick Rothfuss, he's such an incredible writer. Very unknown I guess. He's only got one novel out. I liked Name of the Wind, but let's hold back on giving him the title of incredible just yet. | ||
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RagnaBaby
Philippines31 Posts
On October 26 2004 21:18 Mark wrote: - All books by David Eddings... his Belgariad and Mallorean are awesome. This I would recommend. I've read it all 18yrs ago. And oh, it's 'The Malloreon'. | ||
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Rhythm.102
United States56 Posts
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 :/ | ||
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gdalam
104 Posts
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Manit0u
Poland17612 Posts
http://www.brentweeks.com/books/the-night-angel-trilogy/ | ||
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Kinetik_Inferno
United States1431 Posts
Eragon Eldest Brisingr | ||
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Bowdy
United States232 Posts
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. http://www.brentweeks.com/books/the-night-angel-trilogy/ 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. | ||
HaN-
France1920 Posts
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/LxaAM.jpg) Legend by David Gemmell | ||
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Manit0u
Poland17612 Posts
On February 16 2011 04:15 Bowdy wrote: 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. | ||
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Twistacles
Canada1327 Posts
On February 16 2011 03:17 Rhythm.102 wrote: 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. | ||
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Ry0ftw
23 Posts
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)). | ||
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Logrus
United States228 Posts
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. | ||
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Sworn
Canada920 Posts
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acie
United States247 Posts
I do think it's weird you're accusing Jordan of being feminist when he has been accused of being chauvinist a lot | ||
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Splitintwo
35 Posts
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Ry0ftw
23 Posts
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... Reading Eddings instead; Polgara / C'Nedra - now they're proper women! ('The Belgariad' ftw) | ||
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IronFenix
Canada27 Posts
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. | ||
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TheAura
96 Posts
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. | ||
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Yurie
12005 Posts
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. http://www.bestfantasybooks.com/top25-fantasy-books.php is a pretty good list, not perfect, but good. | ||
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Cotillion37
Canada94 Posts
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. | ||
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TheAura
96 Posts
On March 05 2011 03:57 Yurie wrote: It does get more epic as it goes along. The latest released book is epic fantasy in a modern setting. ^^ Granted im only at the end of book 3, so i will take your word for it. 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. I heard that the first shannara is not very good and more or less a huge rip off of LOTR, but it gets much better afterwards | ||
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Twistacles
Canada1327 Posts
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. The Shannara series is pretty cookie-cutter. Underwhelming and unsatisfying. Wheel of Time or Malazan are better choices, but they're worlds apart. Malazan being much better. | ||
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MethodSC
United States928 Posts
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Severedevil
United States4839 Posts
Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel. | ||
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Aequos
Canada606 Posts
If I remember the authors name I'll edit it in. I'm also a fan of most of the books by Brandon Sanderson, with the exceptions being the Mistborn sequels (the first was good) | ||
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Enderbantoo
United States465 Posts
On March 05 2011 05:17 TheAura wrote: Granted im only at the end of book 3, so i will take your word for it. I have read every single dresden book, and it is AMAZING. Like honestly, the constant character development intertwined between the tales, is really good, it only gets better and better. As for the Shannara Series. I really liked the sword trilogy (up through wishsong), but i feel it just gets better and better. I am pretty positive you will really really enjoy the 3 sets of stories that come afterwards (The heritage of Shannara, The Voyage of Jerle Shannara, The High Druid of Shannara) All absolutely amazing books. HIGHLY recommended if you like the dresden files. | ||
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Crissaegrim
2947 Posts
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. The sequel just came out a few days ago so, do pick it up by ALL means. | ||
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Yurie
12005 Posts
On March 05 2011 06:21 Enderbantoo wrote: I have read every single dresden book, and it is AMAZING. Like honestly, the constant character development intertwined between the tales, is really good, it only gets better and better. Are you reading the short stories as well? They add a lot of nice details and sweet stories. Things that wouldn't fit in the books without slowing the pace, but still worth telling. | ||
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Zelniq
United States7166 Posts
this page does a pretty good job of describing/reviewing it http://www.amazon.com/Way-Kings-Stormlight-Archive/dp/product-description/0765326353/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books | ||
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kerpal
United Kingdom2695 Posts
not a light read, gritty to the point of making you hate the world and everything in it from time to time, but really powerful engrossing books that will never disappoint. fun fact: i met steven erikson's son on a fencing social about a month ago, he fences at my uni. | ||
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kerpal
United Kingdom2695 Posts
On March 05 2011 06:37 Zelniq wrote: I'm really enjoying The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson, book 1 of The Stormlight Archive this page does a pretty good job of describing/reviewing it http://www.amazon.com/Way-Kings-Stormlight-Archive/dp/product-description/0765326353/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books waiting for the sequel to this, pity he's had to write wheel of time in the meantime. not as bad as patrick rothfuss though! | ||
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Enderbantoo
United States465 Posts
On March 05 2011 06:31 Yurie wrote: Are you reading the short stories as well? They add a lot of nice details and sweet stories. Things that wouldn't fit in the books without slowing the pace, but still worth telling. Yeah, the short stories really added a lot of flavor to the characters, especially Luccio and Ms. Gard | ||
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Yurie
12005 Posts
On March 05 2011 06:45 kerpal wrote: waiting for the sequel to this, pity he's had to write wheel of time in the meantime. not as bad as patrick rothfuss though! Sanderson has had a pretty good writing pace. Above average for the fantasy crowd. | ||
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kerpal
United Kingdom2695 Posts
On March 05 2011 06:46 Yurie wrote: Sanderson has had a pretty good writing pace. Above average for the fantasy crowd. do you read erikson? he's a machine. | ||
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Stormfell
Ireland13 Posts
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Joementum
787 Posts
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - A novel about post-apocalyptic view of the world through the eyes of Snowman, the main character. It's a pretty damn good book and it switches between Snowman and Jimmy (Snowman's persona before the world came crashing down). It was probably the most engrossing book I've ever read. I had to read it for a Bioethics class. Our professor gave us 4 weeks to read it. I finished it in 2 days. I believe the book and the author Margaret was just trying to give everyone a view of what the world can come to with the advance of technology and such. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood - This book compliments Oryx and Crake. It's basically the same book, but this time there's a different main character. Instead of focusing on the rich that live w/ all this great technology in compounds, it focuses on the people that live in the "pleeblands" and are in general poor or don't live that great of a life. This book wasn't anywhere near as good as Oryx and Crake, but it was still awesome. The only complaint I have is that after reading Oryx and Crake, you already know what caused everything in The Year of the Flood, so the suspense being built up was kind of null for me. | ||
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deth
Australia1757 Posts
On March 05 2011 05:52 Aequos wrote: The Name of the Wind (and its sequel, Wise Man's Fear) are both excellent. (Edit: They're by Patrick Rothfuss, teaches me to read the entire thread before posting >.<) If I remember the authors name I'll edit it in. I'm also a fan of most of the books by Brandon Sanderson, with the exceptions being the Mistborn sequels (the first was good) reading the name of the wind atm, damn excellent writing, especially for being a debut novel! Game of Thrones is the only other book that has hooked me so quickly and intensely. | ||
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Zim23
United States1681 Posts
On March 06 2011 17:04 deth wrote: reading the name of the wind atm, damn excellent writing, especially for being a debut novel! Game of Thrones is the only other book that has hooked me so quickly and intensely. You're so lucky to read Name of the Wind now, the sequel just came out a week ago. I had to wait a couple years to get my greedy hands on that mofo. Just finished it, and it is fucking excellent. | ||
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ShadowDrgn
United States2497 Posts
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. The Wheel of Time is very similar to Tolkien, D&D, and every swords and sorcery RPG you've ever played, but it's still quite good. It's like a Blizzard game: it does nothing revolutionary, but it takes the familiar aspects of the genre and polishes them to excellence. Malazan, on the other hand, is the hip indie game that's experimental and quirky with lots of rough edges. It's different in a good way, and that is refreshing to a lot of people that are tired of generic fantasy. A Song of Ice and Fire is seriously good, but I can't blame you for wanting to wait until it's finished before reading. "Fun and exciting" is definitely the best way to describe the Dresden Files. I love that series so much. Changes, the latest full novel, is omgwtf good. If you like that style of storytelling, I'd also suggest Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books (it's only been mentioned once in this thread). It's a traditional fantasy series that focuses on one character with short, mostly self-contained stories in a world where everyone can communicate telepathically and teleport anywhere. It's very fast-paced and funny with marvelous characters that the author doesn't need 1000 page books to develop. | ||
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Horst
338 Posts
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TieN.nS)
United States2131 Posts
 There's no sophomore slump with TWMF and it lived up to the lofty expectations I had after reading TNotW. Can't recommend Patrick Rothfuss enough, everyone should read his books! Also, I enjoyed Lev Grossman's The Magicians, though nowhere near as much as the aforementioned titles. Just thought I'd give it a plug since it hasn't been mentioned yet and there's a sequel due out this fall. | ||
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Noxie
United States2227 Posts
The Stars My Destination I am guessing you have since you read Dune.. both are highly rated science fiction novels ... if you havn't its a nice quicky. I also recently read BladeRunner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) that was pretty good for a fantasy // scifi novel. | ||
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Tensai176
Canada2061 Posts
On March 07 2011 19:46 TieN.nS) wrote: Have to thank everyone that recommended The Name of the Wind, as it quickly became one of my favorite books and has really turned me on to fantasy books as of late. I preordered The Wise Man's Fear, and having sped through it, I think I understand the sorrows of ASoIaF fans a little better as I'm left with no more Kingkiller Chronicle left to read for years. There's no sophomore slump with TWMF and it lived up to the lofty expectations I had after reading TNotW. Can't recommend Patrick Rothfuss enough, everyone should read his books! Also, I enjoyed Lev Grossman's The Magicians, though nowhere near as much as the aforementioned titles. Just thought I'd give it a plug since it hasn't been mentioned yet and there's a sequel due out this fall. It would be selfish to keep Patrick Rothfuss to ourselves; WMF and NotW are sooooooooooo goooood. The Magician's is a pretty solid book as well and the sequels coming in the summer so not that long of a wait. | ||
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ToxNub
Canada805 Posts
incredible trilogy | ||
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StorkHwaiting
United States3465 Posts
On March 08 2011 07:47 Tensai176 wrote: It would be selfish to keep Patrick Rothfuss to ourselves; WMF and NotW are sooooooooooo goooood. The Magician's is a pretty solid book as well and the sequels coming in the summer so not that long of a wait. Anyone want to share what they liked about WMF? | ||
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sLiMpoweR
United States430 Posts
 On March 05 2011 06:49 Stormfell wrote: Steven Erikson is the best fantasy writer in my opinion. Malazan Book of the Fallen is by far the greatest book series I have ever read im having trouble getting hooked on this book i keep putting it down to read other things. Its not that i think its bad i just find that im not losing myself in it | ||
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betaV1.25
425 Posts
i am so hyped | ||
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sLiMpoweR
United States430 Posts
yea im hyped too, i wish it came out sooner tho | ||
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LeBadger
Canada37 Posts
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Aequos
Canada606 Posts
On March 09 2011 00:19 StorkHwaiting wrote: Anyone want to share what they liked about WMF? Sure, I loved the book. One of my favorite parts of the book was just how interesting the main character (Kvothe) was. He is by no means the perfect hero, but is instead fascinating in his arrogance and intelligence. What worked well was that he was pretty believable despite - well, his unbelievability. The plot itself wasn't as strong as TNotW, but it explained a lot about the character. Actually, now that I think about it, most of what makes the book excellent is the main character. | ||
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Dalguno
United States2446 Posts
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SwizzY
United States1549 Posts
The Prydain Chronicles (5 books) by Lloyd Alexander: Shit was legit. I prooooomise. Basically follows a young guy through his life, to where he ends up a BAMF and hero. Great great books. The Arkadians by Lloyd Alexander: Just a good book. Kind of low-level (middle school read), but still entertaining from what I remember. The Wind on Fire Trilogy (yes, 3 books nigga) by William Nicholson: Basically an epic story of a town and prophecies and stuff, but its just amazing as it feels so complete between the 3 books. Like, LOTR epicness. The Lost Years of Merlin (5 books?) by T.A. Barron: Star Trek (2009) style, retelling of Merlin's childhood in an epic fashion, references all sorts of mythologies and fables from other stories and integrates it seamlessly (imo). But in an alternate dimension sort of thing? Trust me, shit's legit. Sigh... such great books from childhood... Can't believe I ever forgot about em. | ||
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Zim23
United States1681 Posts
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Annoying
Canada34 Posts
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Teejing
Germany1360 Posts
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Jumbled
1543 Posts
On April 18 2011 19:16 Teejing wrote: sry to bumb this but i just got my "malazan book of the fallen" books and since the 2nd book takes place before the 1st book and someone suggestioned to read the 2nd book before the 1st i wanted to ask in what order you think i should read them? The second book takes place after the first. Maybe you're thinking of different books in the series? | ||
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Wihl
Sweden472 Posts
So when it comes to fantasy books that I've read I recommend A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss Malazan series by Erikson (can be hard to get into at first) The Dark Tower by Stephen King The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan The Black Company by (cant remember the name) Dark Elf Trilogy (the Drizzt books) Dune by Frank Herbert Riftwar by Ramond Fesity Gentleman Bastards by Scott Lynch Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson (guy that also wrote the unfinished parts of the last WoT book after Jordan died) There are some more but thats a decent introduction. | ||
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Teejing
Germany1360 Posts
On April 18 2011 19:20 Jumbled wrote: The second book takes place after the first. Maybe you're thinking of different books in the series? Oh nvm then, seems i remembered wrongly =) | ||
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ShadowDrgn
United States2497 Posts
On April 18 2011 19:16 Teejing wrote: sry to bumb this but i just got my "malazan book of the fallen" books and since the 2nd book takes place before the 1st book and someone suggestioned to read the 2nd book before the 1st i wanted to ask in what order you think i should read them? As Jumbled said, the second book is a direct sequel to the first. People suggest reading the second simply because it's better. The first book is rather confusing, but it's not all that bad (I had to read it twice to appreciate it). Since the second book assumes you already know who all the characters are, it's probably even more confusing if you skip the first one. Just read them in the order they were written. | ||
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iStarKraft
United Kingdom79 Posts
The books in the trilogy are: + Show Spoiler + Northern Lights (This is published as 'The Golden Compass' in NA.) The Subtle Knife The Amber Spyglass I would recommend them to people of all ages; though they aren't childish books by any means they have 'something for everyone'. | ||
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DisaFear
Australia4074 Posts
After that would be The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind and the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini George R R Martin is pretty good too, with his A Song of Ice and Fire series There's so many more I could go on forever, many of them mentioned above (Raymond E feist, wind on fire, sc books, etc) | ||
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htn2481
Vietnam117 Posts
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[SuNdae]
Finland323 Posts
On April 24 2011 17:54 htn2481 wrote: My favorite fantasy author has to be David Gemmell. All his books are based in the same "magic" world, but they're all readable on their own. They follow the same formula about the few good against overwhelming odds but somehow keeps you interested all the way through. Can't recommend him enough. My favorite of Gemmells work is the Troy trilogy. Unlike his "normal" fantasy stuff Troy is historical fiction with very slight fantasy elements. Incredibly epic shit, complex and interesting characters. Sometimes very dark stuff and often blurs the line between "good" and "evil". Comes highly recommended. | ||
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Tonkerchen
680 Posts
Tad Williams: Otherland I really liked both series | ||
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writer22816
United States5775 Posts
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andrewwiggin
Australia435 Posts
Ender's Game: about a genius kid who mindfucks people with this battle strategies. Read it if you love Starcraft! Hyperion: form based on the Canterbury Tales, bunch of peeps in future get together and swap stories that reveal crazy shit about a crazy universe. Read only if you can handle epic philosophy/sci fi. Tales of Alvin Maker: by same guy who did Ender's Game. Fantasy bout magic in past time America, main character is semi-genius, semi-Jesus, read excerpts from net if you want to see why Orson Scott Card is the jizz. | ||
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Humbuuzio
Finland78 Posts
Black Magician's Trilogy and the follow up books are a very nice read. Age of Five is also good if you like the style. Trudi Canavan's wikipage Also anything by Robin Hobb is pretty near solid gold. The books are very much like A Song of Fire and Ice, which has been recommended here a lot. Robin Hobb's wikipage I could write a five page long essay promoting these two writers but I'll just say that I've read fantasy books all my life and these are the among the best. | ||
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oo inflame oo
United States286 Posts
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Manit0u
Poland17612 Posts
On April 24 2011 19:47 Humbuuzio wrote: Trudi Canavan writes intelligent and cliché free fantasy. Black Magician's Trilogy and the follow up books are a very nice read. Age of Five is also good if you like the style. Trudi Canavan's wikipage Also anything by Robin Hobb is pretty near solid gold. The books are very much like A Song of Fire and Ice, which has been recommended here a lot. Robin Hobb's wikipage I could write a five page long essay promoting these two writers but I'll just say that I've read fantasy books all my life and these are the among the best. No. Trudi isn't good. And why do you people continue to resurrect thread after thread when there's already a bunch of them with the same things being posted over and over again? Example: Fantasy reading/recommendations | ||
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friedchicken
United States143 Posts
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy(that has six books in it). The Starcraft book Heavens Devils was a good read. Glory Road, Tunnel in the Sky both by Robert Heinlein. | ||
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NoScary
United States151 Posts
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Makjin
Sweden11 Posts
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Luhh
Sweden2974 Posts
Oh, and no elves and trolls and shit.. - Joe Abercrombie - The blade itself I just love the crippled inquisitor and bayaz! Clever writingand story, and good pace with some great twists! - J.V Jones - A cavern of black ice Lame title but great series. Bleak and somewhat gruesome but greatly portrayed. - Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn Something different. Clever writing and story again, he could have toned down the action a bit though. Overall very good and something fresh and new. George R R Martin - A Game of Thrones You know it.. Steven Erikson - Gardens of the Moon Modern classic soon if not already? - Dan Simmons? - Hyperion Classic and a Sci-Fi. Read it. - Scott Lynch - The lies of Locke Lamora Again, clever book. About a gang of thieves with specializes in deception and falsefacing. These are all series I could recommend to people even if they don't particularly fancy the stereotype fantasy - (like my elf-hating self). It's about taste but these guys are either awardwinners or have been lauded by reviewers and fans - for a reason. Edit: I'm a bit on the fence with Patrick Rothfuss "Name of the Wind". A bit to overbearing and high and mighty emo-ish for my taste. It's still good and has great writing. It's the tone I have a problem with I guess. Another maybe: Scott Bakkers - The Darkness that comes before is interesting and starts off very promising bt then wanes a quite bit imo. Still some nice ideas in there. | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
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Wesso
Netherlands1245 Posts
On Mar 16 2012 00:23<span style='color:#d20000'> (3 min)</span> {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Bumping this cause I just finished the second of the third Kingkiller Chronicles and the third book doesn't look like it's going to be released anytime soon... So? Has anyone read Modesitt Jr's Imager series, if so is it any good? Can I read the first 2 kingkiller chronicles without feeling too bad that the 3d isn't out yet? | ||
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Frozenzen
Sweden97 Posts
On March 16 2012 08:26 Wesso wrote: Can I read the first 2 kingkiller chronicles without feeling too bad that the 3d isn't out yet? The name of the Wind is probably one of the best books that has been released in the past 10 years. You'd do yourself a disservice not to read it. The books are not stand alone, but neither do they leave you with huge cliffhangers apart from wanting more since they are so damn good. | ||
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pinnacle
United States86 Posts
On March 16 2012 08:26 Wesso wrote: Can I read the first 2 kingkiller chronicles without feeling too bad that the 3d isn't out yet? You can't. I read them about a year ago and I want the third one now. To make the wait bearable I've reread both books multiple times. | ||
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sperY
Serbia444 Posts
Back on topic. I havent read many fantasy books, but i've really enjoyed ASoIaF. I dont need to say much about this series other than it took a few weeks of my live. Read first four as fast as i could. Im starting to read some Terry Prachet atm. Just read first book of Disk World series, its damn hilarious. Dont think i've ever laughed with any book as i did with it ^^. How good are second and third book of Chronicles of Amber? I really liked the first one, but had to return all of them before i got to read second and third :/ | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
![[image loading]](http://img2.imagesbn.com/images/148130000/148131839.JPG) ![[image loading]](http://img2.imagesbn.com/images/100480000/100482915.JPG) Honestly sometimes I wish there were more Steampunk titles.... | ||
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slained
Canada966 Posts
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elt
Thailand1092 Posts
On March 22 2012 15:47 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: These books any good, any TL'ers read them? + Show Spoiler + Honestly sometimes I wish there were more Steampunk titles.... The Way of Kings was amazing and I'm extremely excited for book two. I think it was a really smart choice/coincidence by Sanderson to leave publishing this one last after his previous small trilogies/stand-alone novels. He's much more able now to convey that sense of darkness, weight and sadness, and I think that was his main weakness with his previous books. I've read The Wind-up Girl by Bacigalupi, but I haven't gotten around to reading his other stuff yet, but I do mean to, one day. I need to find other fans of Guy Gavriel Kay, anyone else read any of his stuff? | ||
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lac29
United States1485 Posts
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HotShizz
France710 Posts
On March 22 2012 15:47 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: These books any good, any TL'ers read them? Honestly sometimes I wish there were more Steampunk titles.... I've read the Way of Kings. It's a fine read, but don't expect anything earth shattering. The setting is really awesome, but that's about the best I can say. If you had read Elantris it is more of the same. Kind of basic characters that don't draw you in too much, a neat idea but not the best execution in the writing. Then there is the problem of it draws you in, but nothing actually seems to happen. You get to the end of 700 or whatever pages, and it just stops. No loose ends are tied up, everyone is in the same place as where they started, it just stops and you have to wait for the next book. I am not disappointed I read it, just don't expect Jordan or Martin level writing. I would more liken him, in that book, to Salvatore. He is obviously quite prolific lately, but the depth of his stories suffer because of it. | ||
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redDuke
Australia207 Posts
Just re-read Eddings. Belgariad is better than Mallorean but whatever. Belgarath the Sorcerer is great. Magician by Fiest is amazing Also just read (was overseas- Thailand so lots of beaches to read on) The Windup Girl by Paulo Bacigalupi - a really interesting and new sci fi set (coincidentaly i swear!!) in Bangkok. | ||
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Horiz0n
Sweden364 Posts
![[image loading]](http://thecimmerian.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/conan-easton.jpg) | ||
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Hall0wed
United States8486 Posts
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Djabanete
United States2786 Posts
The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit (J. R. R. Tolkien) Discworld series (Terry Pratchett) Foundation series (Isaac Asimov) Bailey/Olivaw series (Asimov) And I'll suggest... The Silmarillion (Tolkien) (only if you enjoyed LoTR) Smith of Wootton Major & Farmer Giles of Ham (Tolkien) (very different than LoTR and less well known) Mars series (Edgar Rice Burroughs) (pulp science fiction, don't take it very seriously) Creatures of Light & Darkness (Roger Zelazny) (sci fi featuring mythological Egyptian pantheon as main characters, crazy book) | ||
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Ryndika
1489 Posts
If you like adult epic adventure without limits, check Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Also if you are into diablo lore, there some good books imo, like kingdom of the shadow, shadowbane and maybe sinwars series. Book of Cain just came out too. | ||
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Vindicare605
United States16117 Posts
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/uwDfA.jpg) | ||
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HwangjaeTerran
Finland5967 Posts
![[image loading]](http://furiousfanboys.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/books_09.jpg) Death Gate Cycle is my favourite sci-fi/fantasy series, although it's been over 10 years since I read it. I should do it again. | ||
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NinjaMagic
Sweden83 Posts
Lian hearn, The Otori series Recommended for anyone for likes Ninjas, medieval Japan, Intrigues and also a great story __________________________________ David Gemmel (RIP), Dranai legends Pretty good series, alittle cheesy __________________________________ Robyn Young, Brethren and the new series which I cant recall the name right now If you are fascinated by the Templars or just medieval history at all, read this __________________________________ Robin hobb, The farseer trilogy + the tawned man, The liveship traders First fantasy books I read, Awesome story of a Bastard Assassin in the service of the crown __________________________________ Raymond E. Feist, Riftwar saga (and every book that comes after that) Great series, kind of long (like 23 books or something) but the writing is superb and story is pretty damn good Read this if you like Magic or dragons __________________________________ George R R Martin, A song of ice and fire Awesome books, recommended for anyone that can read. __________________________________ Conn Iggulden, Both his Gengis Khan series and Emperor series If you're into roman history or are fascinated by the mongol horde, read this. ______________________________________________________ Not sure if everything fits under the Fantasy genre, like the history inspired books, but they are well worth the read. | ||
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Maxie
Sweden2653 Posts
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Thereisnosaurus
Australia1822 Posts
Here's how I see it, as an absolute fantasy/science fiction nutter. I'm not going to cite the hyper popular, book of the day stuff like SOIAF, WOT and the kingkiller chronicles, instead I'll look to some real beauties that are best appreciated by people who are looking deeper into the genre (as you seem to be). They are of (IMO) far higher quality and content than the aforementioned widely known series, but require a little more from the reader than those books. If you put in the effort, you get the reward. The books the OP lists (dune, EG etc) are of the sort that are conceptually a credit to their genre, but also have a high level of intellectual/moral depth if one pays enough attention, my selection is of similar books. Best young adult sci-fi/sci-fantasy His Dark Materials trilogy (the golden compass (or northern lights), the subtle knife, the amber spyglass). Basically anti-Narnia. Same premises (multiple worlds, heavy british influence, awesome world building, big theological topics) but from the opposite point of view. Not exactly anti-god, but anti-submissive-dogma progressive themes Runner up is the Hunger Games trilogy, finally a series which actually deserves the immense popularity it gets. Best fantasy: Mistborn trilogy: Absolute masterwork, again a long trilogy but totally worth the time. It combines incredibly unique and vivid world building (with the best 'magic' system I've seen) with a twisting, epic plot that will leave you dumbfounded repeatedly. This coming from a guy who routinely predicts plot twists several chapters in advance. Sanderson (the author) knows his audience and he pulls you in. Also has one of the better female protagonists I've read in fantasy novels, worth a mention. Some people have mentioned the stormlight archive already, also by Sanderson, and his attempts to cover the last of wheel of time. This series is where his true strengths come to the fore and are absolutely the best books he's written. perdido street station: This book is interesting. It's set in a dirty sort of semi-industrialised mid fantasy setting, perhaps it could be described as post-steampunk fantasy. It's got the usual multiracial thing, but all the races are non-traditional and the book has a lot of interesting subtheming along the idea of other races being spun off 'variants' of humanity. for example, there is a race whose females look like women, except they have a large scarab beetle for a head. It's a wierd, pungent, vivid book full of no-punches pulled descriptions of a sprawling slum city and the inhabitants. The plot is more of a daily mystery than a world changing epic, but it feels epic by the time you get through it. Definitely not a casual read, but utterly enthralling if you can devote the time to it. Best Scifi: The Diamond Age: absolutely THE best science fiction novel of the past decade. Set in 22nd century spec-fic earth where nanoassembly has made basically everything ubiquitous if you're in the right culture (hence diamond age, most stuff is made of diamonds). It focuses on how cultures may evolve in the future, media, digital societies and learning. Like most books by the author it's full of cleverness, interesting tie-ins to our time and utterly believeable scenarios. I call stevenson the modern day asimov, he does the same things while managing to keep the pacing and intensity of a thriller. Anathem: Another one by stevenson. I don't pick out his stuff by chance, the diamond age is one of I think 2 books ever to win both the hugo and the locus. It also got shortlisted for the nebula. While the diamond age is more all-interests suitable than Anathem, Anathem is where the real hardcore sci-fi readers will have their fun. It's incredibly smart, frighteningly insightful at points, mostly fast paced (Stevenson has a tendency to have his characters ramble off on theoretical discussions and points of interest, though never without good reason) and will force you to work hard just to keep up with what's going on. If you like your books intense but rewarding, Anathem is the best I've read. You have to be careful with it, since it's not scifi in the laser beams and spaceships sense and you'll be scratching your head for maybe the first couple of hundred pages as to how this is scifi, but you start picking up on it slowly and suddenly everything starts clicking and before you realise it you're balls deep in holyshitness. Strata: Perhaps considerable as a prequel to discworld, this is one of the cleverest science fiction books I've read conceptually. To explain even a little might spoil the awesomeness, but suffice to say you'll finish this one by putting it down and thinking 'I just... got trolled... by a whole book...' And it's totally a great feeling. | ||
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Cuddle
Sweden1345 Posts
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Banno
Australia44 Posts
On March 22 2012 20:24 Maxie wrote: Name of the Wind and Wise man's fear, by Patrick Rothfuss. Give me next book already! ^ This so much. Such a great read. I'll also put in votes for: The wheel of time series - Robert Jordan / Brandon Sanderson Sword of truth series - Terry Goodkind Song of ice and fire series - G.R.R.Martin Saga of seven suns series - Kevin J. Anderson (SciFi series but couldn't resist) | ||
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Spitfire
South Africa442 Posts
Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson The Sword of Truth - Terry Goodkind Riftwar Saga (Magician, Silverthorn, Darkness at Sethanon) - Raymond E Feist A Song of Ice and Fire - G.R.R Martin | ||
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icyF
Finland305 Posts
I couldn't bother to read through 14 pages to see if anyone recommended this already, but anyways it's worth another recomendation. | ||
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Jukulmolder
Spain254 Posts
On March 22 2012 20:07 HwangjaeTerran wrote: Death Gate Cycle is my favourite sci-fi/fantasy series, although it's been over 10 years since I read it. I should do it again. Damm, gotta read this series all over again, nostalgic feeling. | ||
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NihilisticGod
Northern Ireland174 Posts
Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series is win.... start with Final Empire. Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastard series is win... start with Lies of Locke Lamora. And who could forget Patrick Rothfuss's King Killer Chronicle series?... start with Name of the Wind. If i'd more time I'd go on and on about how great all the above are but as is I don't, so just go get em and thank the authors after! | ||
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Hemlighest
Denmark87 Posts
Other than that: Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett, can especially recommend "Mort" and "Reaper Man" - a lot of nice dark humor in these books, and very well written. Also they are somewhat short (300ish pages) - so it won't hold you up for too long. Also Ed GReenwood I think is good, and I can especially recommend the book "Spellfire". Lastly, I've only heard good of R.A. Salvatore as a writer of fantasy. | ||
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Requizen
United States33802 Posts
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HaXXspetten
Sweden15718 Posts
On March 22 2012 23:48 NihilisticGod wrote: Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastard series is win... start with Lies of Locke Lamora. Best series ever written imo | ||
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ThaZenith
Canada3116 Posts
On March 22 2012 20:03 Vindicare605 wrote: It has to have been mentioned already but, The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind is one of my all time favorite fantasy series. There's a lot of them too so they'll keep you entertained for a while. The only series I've read more than once. (3x now) So good. The Runelords is a decent series I've enjoyed. 8 books out now, and the 9th and final one is coming out in april, so you could look forward to getting a conclusion too. | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
![[image loading]](http://img2.imagesbn.com/images/70650000/70659194.JPG) | ||
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ranshaked
United States870 Posts
I loveeeee him. He has maybe 15 books on shannara (his world) much like lotr | ||
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Nesto
Switzerland1318 Posts
On March 23 2012 04:27 ThaZenith wrote: The only series I've read more than once. (3x now) So good. god, no idea how you managed to sit through those books more than once, they are awful - well it starts out okay'ish but it goes steadily downhill from there :[ what makes it even worse is that Goodkind always acts like he is the second coming of Tolkien (just better ofc).. what a jerk.. On March 22 2012 15:47 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: These books any good, any TL'ers read them? I kind of liked way of kings, and it's my hope that the series will some day become the new ASoIaF or Wheel of Time - bascially a fantasy series of epic proportions. The story seems cool so far and the world Sanderson built is very promising. Just make sure you know what you are in for, Sanderson has planed the series for 10 books and it will probably take him at least a decade to finish it. | ||
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AdamBanks
Canada996 Posts
On March 23 2012 06:03 Nesto wrote: god, no idea how you managed to sit through those books more than once, they are awful - well it starts out okay'ish but it goes steadily downhill from there :[ what makes it even worse is that Goodkind always acts like he is the second coming of Tolkien (just better ofc).. what a jerk.. heh if u think thats bad, whats ur oppinion on jordan? anyway heres a good stand alone piece: ![[image loading]](http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n1/n5034.jpg) edit: so i just finished a dance with dragons.....sigh. | ||
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ThaZenith
Canada3116 Posts
On March 23 2012 06:03 Nesto wrote: god, no idea how you managed to sit through those books more than once Mmmm, probably because I have a different taste in literature than you? Why would you really say that? lol | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
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Nesto
Switzerland1318 Posts
On March 23 2012 06:28 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: I don't see how people manage to read the entire LOTR books. I mean I loved the movies but jeez the hobbits start singing every other page. It was mind numbing. well, the format of the text changes every time one of the songs/poems comes up (at least in my LOTR version), so it's easy to skip them  | ||
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sJarl
Iceland1699 Posts
The Malazan Book of the Fallen series and The Wheel of Time. By far my favourites. | ||
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iTzSnypah
United States1738 Posts
Probably the best series I've ever read. The books are on the short side. Once I got past the first book (its a tad slow, however nothing like twilight) I felt I was not reading the books but watching them (if that makes sense). I mean the books have enough description to produce a vivid image yet there isn't excess baggage so the books flow very nice. ![[image loading]](http://rsindex.pictures-hosting.com/2011-01-09/2011010909224737409.png) | ||
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gruff
Sweden2276 Posts
On March 23 2012 06:33 Nesto wrote: well, the format of the text changes every time one of the songs/poems comes up (at least in my LOTR version), so it's easy to skip them Yeah I do the same. I love the books but the songs get a fast forwarded. As for my advice I'd give Katharine Kerr a shot, the Deverry series. | ||
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DreamChaser
1649 Posts
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pinnacle
United States86 Posts
On March 22 2012 15:47 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: + Show Spoiler + These books any good, any TL'ers read them? Honestly sometimes I wish there were more Steampunk titles.... Read them both. Way of Kings was good but a little slow. | ||
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Logros
Netherlands9913 Posts
On March 23 2012 06:33 sJarl wrote: If anyone hasn't reccomended them before in this thread: The Malazan Book of the Fallen series and The Wheel of Time. By far my favourites. This! I still have to get myself to finish the last Erikson, but I don't want the series to end! I'm also happy Sanderson is finishing the WoT series. The last 2 books have been a lot better, stuff is actually happening again after like 4-5 books of bogged down story lines. | ||
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Salteador Neo
Andorra5591 Posts
Edit: Rothfuss too :D | ||
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Dr_Strange
United States80 Posts
On March 23 2012 06:28 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: I don't see how people manage to read the entire LOTR books. I mean I loved the movies but jeez the hobbits start singing every other page. It was mind numbing. Yeah LotRs are pretty bad. The hobbit is acceptable. The thing with books is people think they are good because they have never experienced anything better. Good is relative and since most people don't more than 1-2 series/books their opinions should be taken very lightly. | ||
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ssxsilver
United States4409 Posts
Patrick Rothfuss does an amazing job getting you inside the mind of the main character in KKC; however, with The Wise Man's Fear taking a whole 4 years to come out, you might want to hold off on starting a trilogy with no planned end-date. I know The First Law series is often met with mix reviews (particularly due to the ending), but I feel fantasy fans are doing themselves a disservice to not pick up Joe Abercrombie. I enjoyed Best Served Cold and The Heroes (followup/semi-standalones) over ASOIAF. | ||
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[cF]TridenT
United States665 Posts
On March 23 2012 02:10 Requizen wrote: I can't say this enough, Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. 13 books in the series so far, short stories galore, and even comics if you're into that thing. My favorite book series. I'm sure it's been in this thread somewhere, but more people must know! I have read most of the Dresden files and enjoyed them greatly. Jim Butcher also wrote a series called the Codex Alera which in my mind is twice as good as the Dresden files and you should totally check it out  Totally on board with the King Killers Chronicles and Riftwar saga as well | ||
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CeriseCherries
6170 Posts
On March 23 2012 02:10 Requizen wrote: I can't say this enough, Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. 13 books in the series so far, short stories galore, and even comics if you're into that thing. My favorite book series. I'm sure it's been in this thread somewhere, but more people must know! OMG ONE AFTER ANOTHER. My favorite fucking books ever. I've read Lies of Locke Lamora like 8 times and every time I still laugh. edit: dafuq... i just checked, Republic of Thieves fall 2013... T.T | ||
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CCa1ss1e
Canada3231 Posts
Also going to read Jurassic Park again.. haha. XD | ||
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Newbistic
China2912 Posts
Great read, very well written even though I'm not a fan of fantasy books. | ||
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Manit0u
Poland17612 Posts
On March 23 2012 07:25 Newbistic wrote: The Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin. Great read, very well written even though I'm not a fan of fantasy books. This man speaks the truth. Amazing series. Some other things to consider: a) Series - Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan, pretty decent, light reading - The Tamuli by David Eddings, simply amazing - Horus Heresy by various authors, epic tale set in WH40K universe b) Single books - Genesis by Bernard Beckett - Hyperion by Dan Simmons, I know it's a series but the first one is a masterpiece and I didn't really like the continuations - Anathem by Neal Stephenson Edit: I posted it ages ago too... Fail. | ||
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Funguuuuu
United States198 Posts
Its one of the few fantasy books that you can call literature. | ||
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Requizen
United States33802 Posts
On March 23 2012 07:11 [cF]TridenT wrote: I have read most of the Dresden files and enjoyed them greatly. Jim Butcher also wrote a series called the Codex Alera which in my mind is twice as good as the Dresden files and you should totally check it out Totally on board with the King Killers Chronicles and Riftwar saga as well I got halfway through the first Alera book, didn't really enjoy it :\ A bit dry and slow, and I prefer the modern setting that Dresden brings to "high fantasy". | ||
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Silidons
United States2813 Posts
The first book is called Black. It has religious (Christian) undertone and I still love the series even though I am 100% an atheist and loathe religion. Here a description from the publisher: Black. The Birth of Evil. While fleeing a hit man through the deserted alleys of Denver, a bullet clips Thomas Hunter's head. He escapes with his life, but later passes out from his wounds . . . and his world is swallowed by black. From the dark comes an amazing reality of another world-a world where evil is contained. A world where Thomas is in love with a beautiful woman. A world that stands on the brink of annihilation. Where does the dream end and reality begin? Every time he falls asleep in one world, he awakens in the other-each facing unimaginable evil, an each with a fate unknowingly tied to the other. Some say the world hangs in the balance of every choice we make. Now the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance of one man's choice. That is, if he can live to see the end of the day. It's such a badass series, basically the world he wakes up in is actually the future of the world he was always living in, and there is another catasrophe that he must overcome in the future world AND in the past world. All while falling in love with a woman etc etc etc just it's an awesome series I highly recommend it to anyone. | ||
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Falling
Canada11388 Posts
On March 23 2012 06:58 Dr_Strange wrote: Yeah LotRs are pretty bad. The hobbit is acceptable. The thing with books is people think they are good because they have never experienced anything better. Good is relative and since most people don't more than 1-2 series/books their opinions should be taken very lightly. And there I"ll have to disagree with you. I've read quite a few fantasy books and I've yet to come across one that I like more than LotRs (Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales included.) I think in the end, I don't really enjoy fantasy. I enjoy historical fiction and to me LotR's reads like a historical place. The frame stories help in keeping a very specific perspective of the histories as well as the series maintain a strong understanding of how stories change over time. Other fantasies have tried, but all of them feel like once you open up the hood, the world's history is actually pretty sparse. Also, far too many fantasies of DnD/ Harry Potter rule based magic where it's used to solve problems. I prefer the much subtler, mysterious magic that is almost always more harmful than helpful. | ||
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Veles
United States3280 Posts
On October 26 2004 20:53 [vital]Myth wrote: the Xanth series by Piers Anthony was good to me. So was the Adept series, by the same author. You might also check out the Chronicles of Amber (from which my parents got my first two names :D) by Roger Zelazny. + Show Spoiler + 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. The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny is the series that I would have to recommend. The story avoids the typical tropes found in fantasy, and you won't be reading about teenagers with wise mentors that are tasked with saving the world. The characters are rich, and as the second quote says - the world itself is unique. The 10 books total to only 1200 pages, but in my mind the story is deeper and broader than the better known modern day fantasy behemoths such as WoT. If you are looking for something to read, click the link below and start reading. I recommend that potential readers avoid doing ANY research. The wikipedia page has spoilers in the overview, and the titles of the some books themselves are huge spoilers. The writing and the pacing are both phenomenal, and the book grabs you from the very beginning. http://arthursbookshelf.com/sci-fi/zelazny/amber 01 - nine princes in amber.pdf | ||
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HwangjaeTerran
Finland5967 Posts
From Weis & Hickman I'd also recommend the Sovereing Stone trilogy, really cool, a bit darker story and world altogether. Can't say I'm the biggest fan of LotR. Otherwise the setting is pretty good but I hate that there's like 2 grey characters ( Boromir, Gollum) and all the rest are either saints or the devil, lol. Also the telling isn't always most fluent IMO. I'm also pretty surprised that Wheel of Time has so many fans, You'd think the 2000ish pages of boredom in the middle would turn some people away. I need to catch up on that though sometime in the future. The Redemption of Althalus by the Eddings(aswell as malloreon and belgarad ofc) was really good, I read it in one day when it came out. I just checked the english language name and realized I was 11 back then xD, old fart. R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books are pretty good, especially the first 6, then some more boring books mixed in the stream of goodiness, books with Jarlaxle and Entreri were pretty exciting though.+ Show Spoiler + IMO it feels like he had a hard time killing off some older characters ( happens often to fantasy authors) and I'm pretty excited now that he has finally done it. | ||
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Vindicare605
United States16117 Posts
On March 23 2012 06:03 Nesto wrote: god, no idea how you managed to sit through those books more than once, they are awful - well it starts out okay'ish but it goes steadily downhill from there :[ what makes it even worse is that Goodkind always acts like he is the second coming of Tolkien (just better ofc).. what a jerk.. I kind of liked way of kings, and it's my hope that the series will some day become the new ASoIaF or Wheel of Time - bascially a fantasy series of epic proportions. The story seems cool so far and the world Sanderson built is very promising. Just make sure you know what you are in for, Sanderson has planed the series for 10 books and it will probably take him at least a decade to finish it. I've never recommended this series to anyone and got back negative feedback. You're the first person I've ever seen that's said anything like this. So, clearly it's you that has the problem not the author, not because you don't like the series, that's normal because you can't ever please anyone but because rather than say you simply didn't like it you call it awful and start bashing it. | ||
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Darpa
Canada4413 Posts
Im typically a big reader of historical fiction... Wilbur Smith, Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, Simon Scarrow, and dozens of others. Im not a big fantasy fan, although a good story always catches me. I love LOTR, and a few other fantasy series. Someone recommended that Malazan series and frankly I read the first one, and got about 50 pages into the second one before i got so bored I couldnt stand it. SciFi that I've read include "Asimov's Foundation series" which was enjoyable, "Enders Game series" which I also enjoyed, but still thought it was a little overatted, Loved "Saga of the seven suns" by Kevin J Anderson. Preferably a series of books around the same character/characters, but Im not sticky. Thought I'd Ask here instead of starting a new thread | ||
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Jumbled
1543 Posts
On April 05 2012 12:43 Darpa wrote: Can anyone recommend some decent sci fi series to read? Nothing to crazy out there, but just a good story inolving space/aliens/war/exploration/whatever is cool. The Dune books by Frank Herbert are an excellent classic sci-fi series. Just stay well away from the prequels and other muck written by his son, which are some of the worst books ever published. If you're after decent general space opera with plenty of aliens, I'd also suggest the Uplift trilogy by David Brin. | ||
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ticklishmusic
United States15977 Posts
On April 05 2012 12:57 Jumbled wrote: The Dune books by Frank Herbert are an excellent classic sci-fi series. Just stay well away from the prequels and other muck written by his son, which are some of the worst books ever published. If you're after decent general space opera with plenty of aliens, I'd also suggest the Uplift trilogy by David Brin. I actually enjoyed some of his son's work-- the prequels were not too bad. I just read the first 4 books of a Song of Ice and Fire in the last 4 days-- went HAM on reading. Not bad, not bad at all. I guess Redwall is kind of a kiddy book, but good god I loved that series so much. Brian Jacques <3 | ||
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Sc2zero7
United States574 Posts
For fantasy, I'd recommend Name of the wind and Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Both are good and the second book is a sequel out of the trilogy. Not sure if this book counts as non-fiction or fantasy but American Gods by Neil Gaiman had an interesting idea but I feel like it fell short in the actual plot. Others may feel different though. Now that I think about it, it's definitely a fantasy. I haven't really read a book since last summer when I read A Song of Ice and Fire series and its been even longer since I last touched a non-fiction book so I totally forgot the definition of a non-fiction lol. | ||
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lac29
United States1485 Posts
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Darpa
Canada4413 Posts
On April 05 2012 12:57 Jumbled wrote: The Dune books by Frank Herbert are an excellent classic sci-fi series. Just stay well away from the prequels and other muck written by his son, which are some of the worst books ever published. If you're after decent general space opera with plenty of aliens, I'd also suggest the Uplift trilogy by David Brin. Thanks Ill give the uplift trilogy a shot. Never been a big fan of Dune, but it was a long time ago when I read it, so i might give it another shot. If anyone has any other decent scifi's let me know! <3 | ||
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LlamaNamedOsama
United States1900 Posts
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Bleak
Turkey3059 Posts
On March 22 2012 20:07 HwangjaeTerran wrote: Death Gate Cycle is my favourite sci-fi/fantasy series, although it's been over 10 years since I read it. I should do it again. Great to see I'm not the only one who holds this series at such a high regard! I read it like 4 or 5 times and I want to read it again, but I've read it so many times already that I kinda remember everything on almost every page! The best part about it is the depiction of evil. Normally you would expect the two main factions in the conflict, one to be evil and other to be bad. However in this book, evil is a different faction, it has its own faction almost, and neither of the other two factions are good nor evil. Also, the descriptions and depictions of magic in this series is just amazing, some books have short, almost academically written articles on how the magic works in the series (by the wizards in the story btw!) It's so awesome! In my opinion Fire Sea was the best book in the series, last 100 pages or so was just heart pounding! Oh, and Hugh the Hand is the best character ever. Ever. | ||
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OKMarius
Norway469 Posts
On March 23 2012 20:47 Vindicare605 wrote: I've never recommended this series to anyone and got back negative feedback. You're the first person I've ever seen that's said anything like this. So, clearly it's you that has the problem not the author, not because you don't like the series, that's normal because you can't ever please anyone but because rather than say you simply didn't like it you call it awful and start bashing it. Welcome to the internet. Goodkind and Sword of Truth is mocked pretty much all over. Series like Sword of Truth, Belgariad, Salvatore's Drizzt books, Shannara, etc, doesn't really have a high status if you're older than 16. Just use this site: Top 25 fantasy books for fantasy recommendations. | ||
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shinyA
United States473 Posts
Brent Weeks: The Black Prism Way of Shadows ( Trilogy ) Trudi Canavan: The Black Magician ( Series ) And as others have said ; The Wheel of Time is a great series as well. | ||
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Ficetool
Germany165 Posts
On April 05 2012 12:43 Darpa wrote: Can anyone recommend some decent sci fi series to read? Nothing to crazy out there, but just a good story inolving space/aliens/war/exploration/whatever is cool. Saga of the seven suns was quite nice to read in my opinion...the end is a little disappointing, but till you get there it's quite cool I think. And at least it got some kind of SC references:D On March 23 2012 07:25 Newbistic wrote: The Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin. Great read, very well written even though I'm not a fan of fantasy books. Lol, I totally disliked these :D The last book completely ruins the whose series imo On March 23 2012 20:47 Vindicare605 wrote:I've never recommended this series to anyone and got back negative feedback. You're the first person I've ever seen that's said anything like this. So, clearly it's you that has the problem not the author, not because you don't like the series, that's normal because you can't ever please anyone but because rather than say you simply didn't like it you call it awful and start bashing it. I hate those books too. I actually think the first few ones are cool and fun to read, but after the hundreth time of them both doubting their love cuz of some weird random thing happening and then eventually finding each other again I was kinda annoyed...The end for me was when + Show Spoiler + the main character gets kidnapped and instead of being killed he is shown the great, wonderful and almighty "dream empire" (no idea of the actual name tbh)...and he gets explained why he needs to stop fighting and rather join it..are you kidding me? I can read communist propaganda and get more information out of it than this... While its a great story at the start it ends up in being "MY COMMUNISMS IS BETTER ZAN YOU CAPITALISMS".... It was the first series I never read through...like, the first EVER! And another thing I couldn't stand at all was the fact that the seeker never learns anything about his magic (in the first like 5 books)...and + Show Spoiler + when he does he becomes almighty and needs to forget everything again cuz otherwise he'd be imba and the story would be even more broken... | ||
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Bloodghast
Canada5 Posts
1) Stephen R. Donaldson Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever at the top, the first series has possibly the best characters of all time in a series, the contrast of Thomas Covenant as a hero is excellent, along with the enemy Lord Foul, who is literally the personification of evil in the Land. Lord Mhoram stands opposite Lord Foul as hope. 2) Tolkien as a close second (my opinion, refrain from raging in lieu of trying to make this a productive thread) Personally preferred the Silmarillion story-line better than the Lord of the Rings. Prepare for 100 pages of grinding though. 3) George Martin with A song of fire and ice (although very good, he's starting to get carried away with the deaths.) After these 3 there are a ton of other series that are very good Anything in the Dragonlance series that Margeret Weis has a hand in, Wayfarer's Redemption, The Death Gate Cycle, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Abhorsen Trilogy, Wheel of Time. I'm currently re-reading the George Martin books so i can come into the 5th book with a fresh mind, I know I know i need to get into Steven Erikson's work as well. Also Lovecraft's novels looks interesting, i'm not your man for that though. | ||
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elt
Thailand1092 Posts
On April 05 2012 12:57 Jumbled wrote: The Dune books by Frank Herbert are an excellent classic sci-fi series. Just stay well away from the prequels and other muck written by his son, which are some of the worst books ever published. If you're after decent general space opera with plenty of aliens, I'd also suggest the Uplift trilogy by David Brin. I'll also suggest Old Man's War by John Scalzi. You could also check out Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, it's a mix of both fantasy and sci-fi really... Well ok the proper term is 'Dying Earth'. I see this thread has turned a little into Goodkind bashing. Good to know that opinion is pretty much universal wherever you go. I made it through until the opening of Naked Empire and couldn't take it anymore. There are better fantasy series out there IMO which tries less harder to shove morality down your throat. | ||
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Telcontar
United Kingdom16710 Posts
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redviper
Pakistan2333 Posts
While its a great story at the start it ends up in being "MY COMMUNISMS IS BETTER ZAN YOU CAPITALISMS".... The funny thing is that Goodkind is super anti communist. He is a follow of Ayn Rand, so he is a believer in a crazy sort of super libertarinism that teaches you how to be a dick to everyone who you feel is inferior to you. I hate Goodkind and I really detest book 4 onwards of the entire retarded series but calling his work pro-commie is seriously mistaken. Also I would never recommend this series to anyone over 18. It is utter crap. Each book past book 3 is a rehash of the same theme, same concepts, same ridiculousness over and over and over again. In the theme of recommending somewhat unknown serieses, I recommend the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (and the rest of the inheritors trilogy) by NK Jemisin. Also the Dreamblood series by her. 2 of her books have already been Hugo finalists. Sometimes her writing is a little disjointed but the story is really compelling and the characters are very realistic in portrayal. Also I would highly recommend The Warded Man and the Desert Spear by Peter Brett. Great books. Very nicely told also. And my favorite series of all time, the Prince of Nothing by Scott Bakker. Hard to read at times and occasionally the introspection goes overboard but incredible story, the greatest fantasy character of all time, and absolutely no "evil" as we would know it. Its amazing how rational the people are in this series. and Le Guin's writing is generally pretty flat. You have to be shitting me right? Le Guinn is one of the top 5 greatest SciFi writers of our times. If you don't weep at the end of Left Hand of Darkness you have no soul. | ||
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anomalopidae
Slovenia549 Posts
when you go fantasy the standard ones that were already mentioned and also The Kingkiller Chronicles, tbh that series is so far my favourite cause it is just so polished | ||
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Martyrc
217 Posts
the last writer I'd recommend is Brent Weeks, his night angel trilogy and the Black Prism are amazing though I find the plot to be a little... Weird at times. | ||
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Ficetool
Germany165 Posts
On May 26 2012 19:56 redviper wrote: The funny thing is that Goodkind is super anti communist. He is a follow of Ayn Rand, so he is a believer in a crazy sort of super libertarinism that teaches you how to be a dick to everyone who you feel is inferior to you. I think I didn't express myself really well. I was referring to the poinf of + Show Spoiler + the kidnapping, where the emperor tries to convince the seeker that communism sytle is good....but as he is the evil, of course coummunism will fail So Goodkind is anti communist by making the evil guy a communist...I hope its easier to understand now, how I actually ment it. Greetings | ||
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Juggernaut477
United States379 Posts
On March 23 2012 08:32 HwangjaeTerran wrote: I recommend the Dragonlance books with Raistlin in them. Best fantasy character ever IMO. Otherwise the Dragonlance characters aren't too interesting IMO, and I've read almost all of those books. Also the Kang's Regiment books (2) could be highlighted. Don't know why I liked that story a lot. From Weis & Hickman I'd also recommend the Sovereing Stone trilogy, really cool, a bit darker story and world altogether. Can't say I'm the biggest fan of LotR. Otherwise the setting is pretty good but I hate that there's like 2 grey characters ( Boromir, Gollum) and all the rest are either saints or the devil, lol. Also the telling isn't always most fluent IMO. I'm also pretty surprised that Wheel of Time has so many fans, You'd think the 2000ish pages of boredom in the middle would turn some people away. I need to catch up on that though sometime in the future. The Redemption of Althalus by the Eddings(aswell as malloreon and belgarad ofc) was really good, I read it in one day when it came out. I just checked the english language name and realized I was 11 back then xD, old fart. R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books are pretty good, especially the first 6, then some more boring books mixed in the stream of goodiness, books with Jarlaxle and Entreri were pretty exciting though.+ Show Spoiler + IMO it feels like he had a hard time killing off some older characters ( happens often to fantasy authors) and I'm pretty excited now that he has finally done it. Yeah I just started reading the chronicals,almost done with Book 2,only really care about the Rastlin character but he so good it makes the book enjoyable,Flint is pretty cool too. Have the first two books in the Drizzt series,gonna read them after Song of Ice and fire. | ||
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Microchaton
France342 Posts
As many people, Ursula LeGuin's books... I don't know how to say it without sounding like an asshole, but it shows that it's written by a woman. It's very tame, very "emotional", and overall not very innovative nor interesting in my opinion. The writing is good, I just dislike it. In comparison, Patrick Rothfuss' kingkiller chronicles (The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man's Fear) are absolutely fantastic. Great idea, great delivery, genius writing, great pace, I love just about everything about it, except the fact that the protagonist keeps bumping randomly on another person, which is mildly annoying / sigh-worthy. I'm surprised Glen Cook's Black Company chronicles aren't more mentionned. It's very original, dark mercenaries story, with very good characterization and very fun all around. Cook's Garrett detective stories are also fun. I won't go into GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones) as you pretty much have to read at least the first 3 books no matter what, they're that good. 4th book divided the fanbase, it's much slower. 5th book is more liked but similar in pacing, the writing is so much better than the other books it doesn't seem written by the same author though. Most of GRRM's short stories and novels are also very cool. As far as typical fantasy, Feist is great (all of his books are pretty much a unique series ). It's very accessible from any age, because it is quite tame and straightforward, but it is great fantasy, a great universe with extremly charismatic characters, lots of fun and bright colours. It's a great author to have kids start fantasy, and still is a great read for older people. I'm with "The Internet" on the Goodkind series. When I was much younger I read up to the 8th book or something, quite tediously, then I just dropped the series because it became straight up insufferable. Honestly don't even bother picking it up, there's no point, the writing is bad and most everything is stolen from the Wheel of Time series (a slightly overrated classic, still very good but annoying for quite a few reasons). Other good reads (cba developping on everything) : Jim Butcher's books are good fun, Chronicles of Amber of Zelazny quite interesting and original series with powerful characters, Pratchett's discworld is the most fucking hilarious thing there is, and there's a crapton of books too. Moorcock's books are alright, didn't get into it too much, it's pretty weird and grand. R A Salvatore, Eddings are mostly kid books, but they can be enjoyable (same for Piers Anthony's Xanth series) shamelessly. I read most of Robin Hobb's work, but I wouldn't recommend it. I liked it when I read it, but it's not particularly good or well written, and very whiny (good characters tho). Stan Nicholls' Orcs is good fun. Pisses me off that people kept naming SF books. It's a Fantasy topic, not SF. Really need to buy myself some of Malazan's series apparently. Some french names, I have no idea how good the translations are if they're even translated : Alain Damasio is AMAZING, easily in my top 5, "La Horde du Contrevent" is straight up fantastic. Unbelievably original and powerful book. If you read french don't miss that. Pierre Grimbert's books are pretty good, not particularly great but a nice magic system. Mathieu Gaborit's series are alright. Fabrice Colin's "Vengeance" book is probably the book I've reread the most. It's incredibly powerful dark fantasy, quite Conan-ish. | ||
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Bloodghast
Canada5 Posts
On March 23 2012 08:32 HwangjaeTerran wrote: I recommend the Dragonlance books with Raistlin in them. Best fantasy character ever IMO. Otherwise the Dragonlance characters aren't too interesting IMO, and I've read almost all of those books. Also the Kang's Regiment books (2) could be highlighted. Don't know why I liked that story a lot. From Weis & Hickman I'd also recommend the Sovereing Stone trilogy, really cool, a bit darker story and world altogether. Can't say I'm the biggest fan of LotR. Otherwise the setting is pretty good but I hate that there's like 2 grey characters ( Boromir, Gollum) and all the rest are either saints or the devil, lol. Also the telling isn't always most fluent IMO. I'm also pretty surprised that Wheel of Time has so many fans, You'd think the 2000ish pages of boredom in the middle would turn some people away. I need to catch up on that though sometime in the future. The Redemption of Althalus by the Eddings(aswell as malloreon and belgarad ofc) was really good, I read it in one day when it came out. I just checked the english language name and realized I was 11 back then xD, old fart. R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books are pretty good, especially the first 6, then some more boring books mixed in the stream of goodiness, books with Jarlaxle and Entreri were pretty exciting though.+ Show Spoiler + IMO it feels like he had a hard time killing off some older characters ( happens often to fantasy authors) and I'm pretty excited now that he has finally done it. If you liked Raistlin you should read the Thomas Covenant series. Thomas Covenant is a very deep, twisted character who symbolizes as much of human nature that Raistlin does. He is very dark, also holds the same ridiculous power, but instead he does not want to wield it. Instead of being power hungry, he is afraid of power and responsibility. The series in general has quite a darker edge to it than the normal theme of dragonlance. The giants being the epitome of despair, while also holding hope within them. Also if you like Weis and Hickman i'd recommend the Death Gate cycle. You will like Haplo. | ||
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Klyberess
Sweden345 Posts
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Taekwon
United States8155 Posts
Love to kick start reading this type of genre with a solid, affable bang. | ||
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tronix
United States95 Posts
On May 29 2012 10:38 Taekwon wrote: Are any of the listed books at all similar to any of the Final Fantasy series? Love to kick start reading this type of genre with a solid, affable bang. That is quite the request. The Final Fantasy series is pretty broad in themes, motifs, and character development. I recommend you think of the pieces of the series you enjoyed in a general sense. For example: -Young boy journeys and ages into a hero. -Unique magic system. (lots of magic, barely any magic, detailed explanation, etc) -Young love defying all, or grueling relationships. -Lots of combat, death, gore, etc. -Single viewpoint, or a cast of characters giving perspective. If anything, give other names of games or books you have enjoyed. Edit: I've found that bestfantasybooks.com is a pretty good extensive list. The blogger also explains different genres and their respective hits. | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
![[image loading]](http://img1.imagesbn.com/p/9781844164684_p0_v1_s260x420.JPG) | ||
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NumberFive
Belgium36 Posts
In general, Forgotten realms I read Dragonlance and the Star Wars series back in the day. Also, the Warcraft lore is pretty good. | ||
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Syn Harvest
United States191 Posts
On December 15 2012 04:05 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Is this series any good/worth reading? I only read the first chapter whilst at Barnes and Noble but I recall it being written very poorly. The writer obviously has technique issues and overuses adverbs a bit much. If you want new Fantasy I recommend the Kingkiller Chronicles. Book 1 "The Name of the Wind" is fantastic one of the best fantasy book of the past decade. Book 2 isn't quite as good but it is still pretty strong. The third book is yet to be released and I believe due for release sometime next year. There are plenty of other great fantasy reads as well. ASOIF, Malazan, The Black Company, The Prince of Nothing, Dune, The Red Wolf Conspiracy, The First Law, The Way of Kings, Monarchies of God, etc... There are plenty of others. The best way to find good fantasy is here http://bestfantasybooks.com/ Another key is stay away form Glen Brooks his books are fucking awful | ||
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{ToT}ColmA
Japan3260 Posts
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Martyrc
217 Posts
On December 15 2012 04:19 Syn Harvest wrote: I only read the first chapter whilst at Barnes and Noble but I recall it being written very poorly. The writer obviously has technique issues and overuses adverbs a bit much. If you want new Fantasy I recommend the Kingkiller Chronicles. Book 1 "The Name of the Wind" is fantastic one of the best fantasy book of the past decade. Book 2 isn't quite as good but it is still pretty strong. The third book is yet to be released and I believe due for release sometime next year. There are plenty of other great fantasy reads as well. ASOIF, Malazan, The Black Company, The Prince of Nothing, Dune, The Red Wolf Conspiracy, The First Law, The Way of Kings, Monarchies of God, etc... There are plenty of others. The best way to find good fantasy is here http://bestfantasybooks.com/ Another key is stay away form Glen Brooks his books are fucking awful This guy knows his shit ^^. Also, if you're in for an easy read, and you're getting kinda tired of epic fantasy and the likes, read the Dreseen Files by Jim Butcher. It's urban fantasy, and it's fantastic. Really worth the read. That aside, ASoIaF, Malazan book of the fallen, anything by Abercrombie, almost anything by Brandon Sanderson, the Kingkiller chronicles (best fantasy to come out since Y2K at least). Do NOT, and I mean this, do NOT touch anything by Terry Brooks. Stay away, in fact, burn every book from that writer that you can get your hands on. Thoroughly wash your hands after and try not to breathe the fumes. My hipster recommendation: The Lies Of Locke Lamora, and Red Seas Under Red Skies. Both in the same series, both great books, pretty funny. Great and upcoming author, though he seems to be a slow writer. | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
There really needs to be revenge/protect the heir type fantasy books. | ||
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Syn Harvest
United States191 Posts
On December 15 2012 04:20 {ToT}ColmA wrote: How is forgotten realms, can u go into a bit more details, which is the first book to start etc, would be cool cuz i am interested in a series which is longer (like the malazan storyline) I haven't read it. If you go onto the website I posted they have reviews of most fantasy series. If you want something long read A Song of Ice and Fire would most certainly fit the bill and is probably the best Fantasy Series around. Malazan of course but since you mentioned it I take it that you have read it. Not many fantasy series are on the epic level of Malazan and ASOIF. The Black Company is long its about 10 books in total but each is only about 300 pages so it isn't as epicly long as ASOIF and Malazan. There arent many seires that are that long. If you find one you really should judge if you should read it or not. It will certainly take a long time and if it is written well you could get disenchanted midway through. | ||
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{ToT}ColmA
Japan3260 Posts
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Syn Harvest
United States191 Posts
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ggbro
United Kingdom7 Posts
On December 15 2012 04:31 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Read both Kingkiller Chronicle books just waiting foe the third like everybody else seconded. | ||
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Microchaton
France342 Posts
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decado90
United States480 Posts
On December 15 2012 04:20 {ToT}ColmA wrote: How is forgotten realms, can u go into a bit more details, which is the first book to start etc, would be cool cuz i am interested in a series which is longer (like the malazan storyline) Written on a middle school level. The adventures are fun, albeit predictable and the world is cool. Not a big fan myself. | ||
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revel8
United Kingdom3022 Posts
On December 15 2012 04:31 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Read both Kingkiller Chronicle books just waiting foe the third like everybody else There really needs to be revenge/protect the heir type fantasy books. Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie is a fantasy book about revenge. | ||
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Kaal
Djibouti2539 Posts
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Dacendoran
United States825 Posts
Female main character who isn't a useless prissy girl, deals with demons and gods and war in a "medival pagan god type setting". | ||
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revel8
United Kingdom3022 Posts
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soullogik
United States1171 Posts
few have matched up to it for me | ||
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revel8
United Kingdom3022 Posts
You get classic quotes such as ... "The very mountains may tremble when Ulric breaks wind. But these are Drenai lands. And as far as I am concerned, your lord is just another pot bellied savage who couldn't wipe his own arse without a map tattoed on his leg." Such poetry! | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
The Shadow of the Torturer The Claw of the Conciliator The Sword of the Lictor The Citadel of the Autarch Probably the best series I've ever read. Fantasy/sci-fi is probably the best description for them, but they're pretty weird. | ||
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Kabezon
United States11 Posts
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xpldngmn
Austria264 Posts
Of course the two gods of sci-fi Phillip K. Dick and Stanislaw Lem have been mentioned, but i command you to read ALL OF THEIR BOOKS! no bad apples, all killers, no fillers. PKD has some very good "not too hard sci-fi" books too, i can recommend "VALIS", I got a way better understand what "going insane" means while reading that book. Lem does great work at both his more serious and his satirical works. You can't go wrong with "Memoirs Found in a Bathtub" (hilarious!), "Peace on Earth" and "The Futurological Congress" (even more hilarious!). His fictitious criticism of nonexisting books is excellent as well: "A Perfect Vacuum" and "Imaginary Magnitude". I read all of those in german, but I can't imagine them being bad, the translations by Kandel seem to be good. The little backstory between Stanislaw and Philip is good too. Lem hated US-sci-fi for being dumb, nevertheless he tried to help Dick sell his books in Poland. Problem was Dick got paranoid, and wrote a letter to the FBI, basically saying that one man alone can't be such a genius, it got to be a communist conspiracy. http://english.lem.pl/index.php/faq#P.K.Dick Did I overread it? Why noone mentioned "The Eternal War" and "Forever Peace" by Joe Haldeman, both a must read for all fans of "military sci-fi". No mention for "The Stars my Destination" by Alfred Bester? You saw that stupid movie "Jumper"? Go read "The Stars my Destination" and find out what a writer with imagination can do with the same premise. Never forget Ray Bradbury! | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
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sam!zdat
United States5559 Posts
On December 15 2012 10:54 xpldngmn wrote: Phillip K. Dick [...] no bad apples, all killers, no fillers. You, my friend, have clearly not read all of his books | ||
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xpldngmn
Austria264 Posts
On December 15 2012 15:12 sam!zdat wrote: You, my friend, have clearly not read all of his books Maybe not ALL of them, please name one that was really bad. Are you referring to some repeating/recurring ideas like in "The Simulacra" and "We Can Build You"? I'd agree on "most movie adaptions are shit", though. | ||
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n3m4n
Bulgaria2 Posts
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sam!zdat
United States5559 Posts
On December 17 2012 03:25 xpldngmn wrote: Maybe not ALL of them, please name one that was really bad. Are you referring to some repeating/recurring ideas like in "The Simulacra" and "We Can Build You"? I'd agree on "most movie adaptions are shit", though. Well, you might try The Cosmic Puppets or Voices from the Street. Recurring ideas are the opposite of a problem for me (I do academic work on science fiction and they provide excellent grounds for analysis) edit: my point is only that PKD, while the most brilliantly imaginative american writer of the 20th C, was basically a per-word hack and a crazy person and some of his stuff is utter shit. I'll still go to my grave defending his apotheosis | ||
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AceHigh.
Poland64 Posts
I highly recommend The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Top class steampunk. And while we're at this genre, Hodder's Burton & Swinburne series is also worth considering. | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
![[image loading]](http://img1.imagesbn.com/p/9780316129084_p0_v1_s260x420.JPG) | ||
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oneofthem
Cayman Islands24199 Posts
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
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tertos
Romania394 Posts
Damn, this book left a sorrow taste in my mouth. So brilliant... On a side note, it's only a sci-fi and fantasy book as much as you let it be. For me it felt like fantasy. | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
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Antoine
United States7481 Posts
On February 23 2013 13:09 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: But the first book is good, no? it was an Eve Online joke | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
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sam!zdat
United States5559 Posts
On March 12 2013 09:07 Just_a_Moth wrote: READ 10 billion days, 100 billion nights by Ryu Mitsuse. It's considered the best Japanase science fiction novel of all time. It was only translated in 2011 (written in the 60s or 70s) so probably won't be finding it used or in a library (I couldn't). It is very good, the only book which immediately after finishing it the first thing I thought was "I have to read this again, not just at some point in the future but soon." it's trippy as fuck, really good book jesus fights maitreya buddha with laser beams in the ruins of tokyo, what more could you ask for | ||
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floor exercise
Canada5847 Posts
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Nycaloth
147 Posts
The Sprawl Trilogy: Neuromanecer Count Zero Mona Lisa Overdrive The Bridge Trilogy Virtual Light Idoru All Tomorrow's Parties | ||
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sam!zdat
United States5559 Posts
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NB
Netherlands12045 Posts
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farvacola
United States18845 Posts
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NB
Netherlands12045 Posts
On March 12 2013 10:51 farvacola wrote: I only trust the opinions of friends or smart people, review sites are not good places for either. Google, cheap bookstores, and libraries are where I'd go otherwise. google isnt really the way to go imo since often in time the only people who wrote reviews for a book are people who like it enough to spend more time on supporting it. Im kinda switching to ebook now as i just recently got a tablet(nexus 7) and it helps out a ton in term of traveling. | ||
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farvacola
United States18845 Posts
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Severedevil
United States4839 Posts
On March 12 2013 07:45 tertos wrote: Hello guys, just finished reading "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes. I've picked it up this morning and read it between work, lunch, dinner and other mandatory daily activities. Simply could not put it down. It was simply that good. Damn, this book left a sorrow taste in my mouth. So brilliant... On a side note, it's only a sci-fi and fantasy book as much as you let it be. For me it felt like fantasy. I read the short story version, which was pretty slick. Still frustrates me that the author only took the premise halfway, by taking the retarded human as narrator instead of Algernon. | ||
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Vaelone
Finland4400 Posts
So far the four that I took notice of are: The First Law The Black Company The Kingkiller Chronicle Malazan Book of Fallen (Heard it might be an idea to read this in some weird order, any truth in that?) Any suggestions on which of these I should read first or any other books I should look up? While at it where do europeans buy their books (physical+english language) from? | ||
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sc2superfan101
3583 Posts
On April 19 2013 22:30 Vaelone wrote: Hey, shameless bump. I'm almost done with a Song of Ice and Fire now so I'm looking for similar books, not too strict on what I'm looking as long as it's a mature(ish) fantasy book. So far the four that I took notice of are: The First Law The Black Company The Kingkiller Chronicle Malazan Book of Fallen (Heard it might be an idea to read this in some weird order, any truth in that?) Any suggestions on which of these I should read first or any other books I should look up? While at it where do europeans buy their books (physical+english language) from? I have read 8 1/2 books of Malazan: It starts off REALLY strong. Book 1 is great and Book 2 is just mindblowingly awesome. IMO it got a little weaker after that, but was still excellent. I stopped reading them for a while (I read all 8 1/2 in like... a month) but will definitely finish the series at some point. If you want a more "mature" and gritty fantasy like SoIaF than Malazan is pretty much that. I wouldn't read them in any weird order. Like... I guess you could and get away with it, but you might miss some epic reveals and some really cool plot points might make no sense. IDK though, maybe some fans have figured out a "better" way. For me, reading them in order was perfectly fine and definitely what I would recommend. | ||
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Asol
Sweden109 Posts
On April 19 2013 22:30 Vaelone wrote: Hey, shameless bump. I'm almost done with a Song of Ice and Fire now so I'm looking for similar books, not too strict on what I'm looking as long as it's a mature(ish) fantasy book. So far the four that I took notice of are: The First Law The Black Company The Kingkiller Chronicle Malazan Book of Fallen (Heard it might be an idea to read this in some weird order, any truth in that?) Any suggestions on which of these I should read first or any other books I should look up? While at it where do europeans buy their books (physical+english language) from? My personal favourite books of all time are the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. It's so much fun, it's a series that really makes you think. If you enjoy not having everything served on a plate - this series is for you. Amazing series, tons of books to read and he's started a new series now as well. I loved them from the start to finish, but most people I've spoken to love them later on as you learn more and more about the world / characters. He has a way with words. The Kingkiller Chronicle is a great read. Also a bit more complicated than your average fantasy book, but he's put some GREAT gems into the book if you read carefully enough. I love the characters and the layout of the book. Strongly recommend both of these series, their incredible. Very hard to say which ones of these I'd recommend you to go for first. If you want to make it simple I'd say just go for Malazan if you like the fact that there are tons of books already published and want long books. Kingkiller books are shorter and there are only 2 books currently published. I buy my books from a sci fi book store in Stockholm, it's a whole story only filled with sci fi / fantasy books and some manga. If I'm not looking for Fantasy, I go to just a average book store. Not sure if it's different in the states, I mean every book store here has both swedish and english books. | ||
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sc2superfan101
3583 Posts
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Asol
Sweden109 Posts
On April 20 2013 01:28 sc2superfan101 wrote: The thing about Malazan though... if you don't like the word "pathos" than you won't like those books. lol. Everything is a pathos in that series. Yep, very much so | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
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ssxsilver
United States4409 Posts
People who like The Kingkiller Chronicles should enjoy it as it's written in the same style of coming-of-age/chronicler narrative. I kinda felt it too similar while reading through the introductory chapters, but once you get deeper into the book, the overall feel takes a drastic turn into grittier fantasy. Where as the central theme of KKC (at times) felt like it drifted into Kvothe's quest to get laid, Blood Song seemed a bit more focused on this greater conspiracy and the main character's role in all of it. Don't really want to spoil anything, but the ending was quite the shocker for me. Anyhow, the sequel is due in 2014 and I wouldnt' be surprised if Ryan ends up in the same conversation with Abercrombie, Abraham, Rothfuss, Lynch by then (popular fantasy writers outside of Martin). So yea, read it and you can be hipsters too! | ||
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Rimstalker
Germany734 Posts
On April 30 2013 10:01 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Are there any books that TL would recommend in terms of Aliens but from from the Alien's POV? Do such books exist? I have read a huge space saga that is partially described with a kind of observer view on how the aliens came to be what they are, from blobs in puddles to space faring and warmongering. But it has been years, and details, especially about the extent of the descriptions are quite blurry. | ||
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kinkulaattori
Finland25 Posts
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
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Coagulation
United States9633 Posts
On April 30 2013 10:01 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Are there any books that TL would recommend in terms of Aliens but from from the Alien's POV? Do such books exist? Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer Is sorta like that. | ||
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beef42
Denmark1037 Posts
On April 30 2013 10:01 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Are there any books that TL would recommend in terms of Aliens but from from the Alien's POV? Do such books exist? Niven and Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye deals with a first contact situation and its many consequences for both parties. Interesting read if you dream about alien intelligent life - rather pulpy if you don't. | ||
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Dosey
United States4505 Posts
On April 30 2013 10:01 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Are there any books that TL would recommend in terms of Aliens but from from the Alien's POV? Do such books exist? I wouldn't recommend them as they were probably terrible and I read them in my childhood... but.... ANIMORPHS! Specifically the Andalite Chronicles and Hork-bajir Chronicles. ahh... memories. | ||
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LaSt)ChAnCe
United States2179 Posts
On June 19 2013 05:27 Just_a_Moth wrote: If you like Malazan read that The Black Company, it was that guy's inspiration for Malazan. just got this on my kindle.. been looking for something new. thanks! | ||
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LatscherGnu
28 Posts
On April 30 2013 10:01 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Are there any books that TL would recommend in terms of Aliens but from from the Alien's POV? Do such books exist? A Deepness In The Sky & A Fire Upon The Deep from Vernor Vinge are both great books with some interesting Alien POVs in them, nothing special in terms of Alien POVs, after a while they're just "humans" to you, but i'd rather read a good book with something interesting in it then a bad one with tons of potential :-/ Agreed on The Black Company, almost through, picked them up after Malazan too :D (liked Croakers POV best though) | ||
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Tilorn91
Serbia218 Posts
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AngryFarmer
United States560 Posts
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LatscherGnu
28 Posts
On June 19 2013 06:49 Tilorn91 wrote: What about Wheel of Time? A friend recommended it, singing high praises. I'm a fan of mostly non magic fantasy (some has to present but rarely), combined with low character count, following 1 to 3 maybe. Well Wheel of Time is the exact opposite, magic everywhere, tons of characters and stories to follow. Imho Wheel of Time is amazing for fans of exploring vast, magic filled worlds but i can't recommend it to anyone else really :-/ (sort of like elders scrolls games, nice fantasy world to explore but don't expect much in terms of gameplay or main plot ) | ||
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KillerSOS
United States4207 Posts
On June 19 2013 06:49 Tilorn91 wrote: What about Wheel of Time? A friend recommended it, singing high praises. I'm a fan of mostly non magic fantasy (some has to present but rarely), combined with low character count, following 1 to 3 maybe. If you don't like high fantasy (forces out to destroy the world) and whatnot stay away. It's high fantasy at its... highest. | ||
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Falling
Canada11388 Posts
On April 30 2013 10:01 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Are there any books that TL would recommend in terms of Aliens but from from the Alien's POV? Do such books exist? I hope you don't mean Aliens as in the Xenomorphs as that would rather defeat the purpose. But a neat series by Timothy Zahn is the Conqueror's Trilogy (not Star Wars.) The first book is from the human's perspective, the second from the aliens and the third from both. I really liked the shift in perspective and reinterpretation of events you already knew. | ||
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Antoine
United States7481 Posts
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soullogik
United States1171 Posts
warhammer 40k (black library) mars attack snow crash | ||
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Solaris.playgu
Sweden480 Posts
On June 19 2013 05:01 Rimstalker wrote: I have read a huge space saga that is partially described with a kind of observer view on how the aliens came to be what they are, from blobs in puddles to space faring and warmongering. But it has been years, and details, especially about the extent of the descriptions are quite blurry. Could this be Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton? The saga contains what you describe, as well as a chapter dedicated to aliens disecting two humans from the aliens' POV. Though brief (I think all in all 2-3 chapters out of two 1200-page books are from an alien POV) this is one of the coolest things I have ever read. | ||
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niladorus
Greece116 Posts
~Riftwar saga ~Demonwar Saga (at this order) Robin Hobb's: ~Farseer trilogy Jordan's ~Wheel of Time | ||
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Jukei
France114 Posts
My favorite reads (won't be very original, but i feel that you HAVE to read those if you like the genre): -LOTR (duh) -Foundation by Asimov -The dark tower by King (who would have thought, that saga is awesome) -Dune by Herbert -Hyperion by Simmons | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
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Rimstalker
Germany734 Posts
On June 19 2013 07:42 Solaris.playgu wrote: Could this be Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton? The saga contains what you describe, as well as a chapter dedicated to aliens disecting two humans from the aliens' POV. Though brief (I think all in all 2-3 chapters out of two 1200-page books are from an alien POV) this is one of the coolest things I have ever read. yep, that's the one | ||
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Nineball
Norway163 Posts
Arthur C Clarke and all his books, especially the Rama books. Rendezvous with Rama is insanely good! Gene Wolfe and the saga of the sun or what its called. Reading these books made me fell abit stupid because its so good and I didnt understand all of it and felt I was missing out on something really epic. Stephen Baxter and the Time trilogy (very good and for the one asking for scifi from an aliens perspective the last one offers that somewhat) Allistair Reynolds have some really grand scifi books. Ill come a editing when I find them and remember theire names. The Ragnarok trilogy from John Meany. There are only two books out so far. Also offers perspective from aliens. | ||
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rezoacken
Canada2719 Posts
What I like in Sci-Fi so far: -Red Mars -The Takeshi Kovacs trilogy (Altered Carbon) My problem is that half of the book I'm getting through searches fall in the same story about some girl/guy or fleet going on a quest to save the world/universe and most of the time its in a middle of a war. I'm getting really bored of that story. I'm not really into aliens either, by I'm willing to be surprised. What I LOVED about the books from Richard Morgan (Altered Carbon) is that the story isn't about a greater goal. Altered Carbon is about a detective/action story that happens in the future. It's a personal story that doesn't change the world. A bit like Blade Runner if you will. That's also probably why I like P:Torment the most when it comes to RPG, it's a personal story in a crazy world but the world acts on the protagonist, not the other way around. When it comes to Fantasy, these are the reasons why Abercrombie is one of my favorite author, especially his last three books. Edit: Should have a good pace too. | ||
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Restrider
Germany129 Posts
It is a flow chart with the top 100 books in fantasy and science fiction. http://www.geekosystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Optimized-SFSignalNPR100Flowchart-1-1.jpg It's interesting, because it helps you decide what could be a fun read for you and to also monitor how involved you are in these genres. Personally I have read about 16 of the 100 books (note that book series, such as ASOIAF, or LOTR are equal to one "book") in this flow chart, heavily leaning to the eastern and southern part. This is not surprising, since I am more of a scifi geek. Edit: Since the image has a huuuuge resolution and it is not represented correctly if embedded, I just replaced it with the url of the image. | ||
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Panda86
19 Posts
http://www.bestfantasybooks.com/top25-fantasy-books.php | ||
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tertos
Romania394 Posts
Is to find A list of good books in the opinion of other persons sharing same interests and passions. I do not care about the median rating of 1000 books evaluated by 100 experts in literature. I want a cold and personal opinion of another fellow tl`er. Read recently "The forever war" Joe Haldeman, and liked it. | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
On June 20 2013 08:39 Nineball wrote: Lets see, and sorry if some or all of these have been mentioned already. I cant remember the name of all the books off the top of my head right now but google the authors or something. Arthur C Clarke and all his books, especially the Rama books. Rendezvous with Rama is insanely good! Gene Wolfe and the saga of the sun or what its called. Reading these books made me fell abit stupid because its so good and I didnt understand all of it and felt I was missing out on something really epic. Stephen Baxter and the Time trilogy (very good and for the one asking for scifi from an aliens perspective the last one offers that somewhat) Allistair Reynolds have some really grand scifi books. Ill come a editing when I find them and remember theire names. The Ragnarok trilogy from John Meany. There are only two books out so far. Also offers perspective from aliens. I think you mean The Book of the New Sun, a series of four books, and it rocks. One of my favourite series ever. | ||
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TrickyGilligan
United States641 Posts
On June 22 2013 00:05 Restrider wrote: I am not sure if this flow charts has been posted already, but I will do it at the risk of repeating what someone else might have posted already. It is a flow chart with the top 100 books in fantasy and science fiction. http://www.geekosystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Optimized-SFSignalNPR100Flowchart-1-1.jpg It's interesting, because it helps you decide what could be a fun read for you and to also monitor how involved you are in these genres. Personally I have read about 16 of the 100 books (note that book series, such as ASOIAF, or LOTR are equal to one "book") in this flow chart, heavily leaning to the eastern and southern part. This is not surprising, since I am more of a scifi geek. Edit: Since the image has a huuuuge resolution and it is not represented correctly if embedded, I just replaced it with the url of the image. I found that list a while ago, and have been really enjoying it. I was at about 40/100 when I first saw it (what can I say, I'm a nerd) and have since worked my way up to 60/100 or so. I don't know if I'll ever make it to all 100, but it's been fun to have as a goal. It also introduced me to Neal Stephenson, who is now one of my favorite authors. Can't get enough cyberpunk. I'm having a little more trouble on the fantasy side of things, because they count so many series as one book. Still, gives me a good place to start. I've felt like there's been a real dearth of good fantasy books recently, but it helps to know that part of the issue was just my ignorance of the good ones. | ||
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Restrider
Germany129 Posts
I think I've most of his books including: - Snow Crash - Diamond Age - The Barock Cycle - Cryptonomicon (all time favourite) - Anathem - Zodiac - Big U - and recently Error (not really SciFi, but on par with Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, Barock Cycle, Big U and Anathem when it comes to the typical Neal Stephenson craziness) I've heard that he also wrote parts of the Mongoliad, but the comments that I've seen were mixed. | ||
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Panda86
19 Posts
Here is my list of fantastic fantasy/sci-fi in no particular order -A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin. Everyone has heard of it and its for a reason. Probably one of the best fantasy series ever written. If you haven't read it I can only assume you have been under a rock. -Malazan the Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. Probably one of the most Epic fantasy series ever conceived. The series begins to wain near the end because the world has become so vast but it is still phenomenal and a series to which others are measured. -The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. Such a great series. Pat is probably one of the most gifted writers in the fantasy genre. His word play is like poetry not to mention he has created one of the most fully realized worlds in may years. Not to mention Kvothe is a badass. -The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. Only one book is out in a planned 10 book series but the 1st book is phenomenal. The Way of Kings is most certainly the start of something great book 2 comes out in the fall and should be even better. -The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. In the vein of ASOIAF except with a little more magic. A great series with great characters I can't reccomend it enough. Also the stand alone novels set in the same world are very good as well especially Best Served Cold. -The Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin by Daniel Abraham are both fantastic series and the settings in both books are so amazing. A fantastic writer. -The Black Company by Glen Cook. The Books of the North are awesome. The Books of the South are kinda mediocre and it goes down hill from there. The writing isnt that good but the story is great. -Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. Very unique fantasy in which multiple worlds exist and the royal bloodline of AMber can travel between them. Very interesting and refreshing great read. Then there are of course the standards such as Lord of the Rings and Wheel of Time which need no explaination. On to great Sci-Fi -Dune by Frank Herbert. There is not much to be said about this everyone knows about it and knows of the greatness. The series kind of wains in my opinion but the first book especially is fantastic. -Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. Don't be fooled by the movie the book is far more brutal and far more badass. A must read for lovers of Sci-Fi. -Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Children trained to be soldiers to fight aliens. Enough said. -Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Everyone knows about this series kinda bizarre but all in all a good read. -Night's Dawn Saga by Peter Hamilton. Probably the greatest Space Opera every written. It spans dozens of planets and a multitude of characters. What makes it better than other Space Operas is that the writers focus so much on the universe they are creating that their characters suffer for it and are usually dull and lifeless. This series suffers from no such problem. THe universe is massive and stunning yet teh characters are brilliant.A must read. However strap yourself in each book is about 1200 pages. -Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Interesting cyberpunk sci-fi set in a dystopian future. The main character is a hacker, samaurai sword weilding pizza delivery boy. Such a great book. -The Forever War by Joe Haldman. War is hell. It is trivial and pointless this book lays that out for all to see. -The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. One of the only fantasy or sci-fi books that could ever be considered literature. The man is one of the greatest living authors and this is his masterpiece. -Foundation by Issac Asimov. If you know anything about Sci-fi then you know why this is on the list the man was a genius and a brilliant writer. There are a few other series worth mentioning but this post is getting very long. So lets move on to garbage authors who you should stay away from. The Following authors are either 1. Poor writers with bland stories and underdeveloped worlds and/or characters. 2. Overhyped, good when your young but garbage to an older more sophisticated reader. or 3. Both Robert Stanek - How the hell did this man ever get published. All of his books are utter trash it would be a great service to humanity and book lovers everywhere if his work was just burned. Terry Goodkind - Terribly written books and far to overhyped. His characters are such garbage. His hero is completely untouchable and invulnerable to harm all who stand before him crumble at his ferocious might. THe bad guys are often caped in black and shrouded in mystery the shit is so cheezy you could catch mice with it. Do yourself a favor and skip right over him at the book store. The Iron Tower Trilogy by Dennis McKiernan. The series is a complete rip off of the Lord of the Rings. The man should be ashamed of himself and the Tolkien estate should honestly sue him. THey would win. Dragonlance. THat good when you were young but simply a childs fantasy book. Forgotten Realms by R.A. Salvatore. Another childs fantasy not for adult readers. Any book series in general from a game or based on a movie is usually terrible. Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. ALot of people seem to like him and I don't understand why. His mythos is a complete rip off of Tolkien and his books are about as intellectually stimulatinga as an episode of Beavis and ButtHead. Anything by Raymond Feist is pretty shitty especially his newer his complete garbage but even his older stuff such as The Magician Trilogy and The Empire Trilogy are overhyped and mediocre at best. Hoped this cleared things up for some of you who are so obviously confused by what good Fantasy and Sci-Fi are | ||
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Stoli
Canada173 Posts
The above is great as well though. I've read nearly all the fantasy reccs. I haven't gone past the first book on black company, just did not engage me at all, but I'll probably give it another go in a series or two. Malazan I loved at the time, but in hindsight it's a bit absurdly convoluted. I do think that list is seriously missing some Scott Lynch (Locke Lamora), and Mistborn (more Sanderson) as well though. | ||
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Panda86
19 Posts
On June 22 2013 06:48 Stoli wrote: Stephen King's Dark Tower definitely doesn't get enough love among fantasy readers, it's a bit of a different vein with the guns/transitioning genres every book but I'm reading it right now, and it's a series I think every reader should experience. The above is great as well though. I've read nearly all the fantasy reccs. I haven't gone past the first book on black company, just did not engage me at all, but I'll probably give it another go in a series or two. Malazan I loved at the time, but in hindsight it's a bit absurdly convoluted. I do think that list is seriously missing some Scott Lynch (Locke Lamora), and Mistborn (more Sanderson) as well though. Wow how did I forget The Lies of Locke Lamora. Its even on my bookcase. Lol I don't know how I missed it. I mean book two is pirate fantasy which is awesome lol. It is a great series and Locke is a great character. I enjoy the entire structure of society in that world. I am also really looking forward to book 3 gonna have to reread the first two to prepare myself. The way you described Malazan is fairly accurate I will probably never read it again except maybe books two and three. Sanderson is a phenomenal writer and I love The Way of Kings. His ending to the Wheel of Time series I also felt did Jordan justice. Mistborn however never did anything for me. I only read the first book and I didn't enjoy it enough to continue the series. Perhaps it deserves another read but my plate is rather full at this time. Edit: In response to your comment about The Dark Tower series. I personally don't like King's writing style I feel like he dramatizes too much. For this reason I never read The Dark Tower. I'm sure the series is most likely fantastic and I know he can tell a fantastic story his style just puts me off and makes me not able to enjoy his works. | ||
Xxio
Canada5565 Posts
On June 20 2013 14:33 rezoacken wrote: Looking for some recommendations in Sci Fi. What I like in Sci-Fi so far: -Red Mars -The Takeshi Kovacs trilogy (Altered Carbon) My problem is that half of the book I'm getting through searches fall in the same story about some girl/guy or fleet going on a quest to save the world/universe and most of the time its in a middle of a war. I'm getting really bored of that story. I'm not really into aliens either, by I'm willing to be surprised. What I LOVED about the books from Richard Morgan (Altered Carbon) is that the story isn't about a greater goal. Altered Carbon is about a detective/action story that happens in the future. It's a personal story that doesn't change the world. A bit like Blade Runner if you will. That's also probably why I like P:Torment the most when it comes to RPG, it's a personal story in a crazy world but the world acts on the protagonist, not the other way around. When it comes to Fantasy, these are the reasons why Abercrombie is one of my favorite author, especially his last three books. Edit: Should have a good pace too. You might enjoy 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (which recently won the Nebula award for best novel) and Anathem by Neal Stephenson. And, of course, there is also Robert Heinlein. His books would be closest to what you're looking for, if you haven't read them already. | ||
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Stoli
Canada173 Posts
On June 22 2013 10:50 Panda86 wrote: Wow how did I forget The Lies of Locke Lamora. Its even on my bookcase. Lol I don't know how I missed it. I mean book two is pirate fantasy which is awesome lol. It is a great series and Locke is a great character. I enjoy the entire structure of society in that world. I am also really looking forward to book 3 gonna have to reread the first two to prepare myself. The way you described Malazan is fairly accurate I will probably never read it again except maybe books two and three. Sanderson is a phenomenal writer and I love The Way of Kings. His ending to the Wheel of Time series I also felt did Jordan justice. Mistborn however never did anything for me. I only read the first book and I didn't enjoy it enough to continue the series. Perhaps it deserves another read but my plate is rather full at this time. Edit: In response to your comment about The Dark Tower series. I personally don't like King's writing style I feel like he dramatizes too much. For this reason I never read The Dark Tower. I'm sure the series is most likely fantastic and I know he can tell a fantastic story his style just puts me off and makes me not able to enjoy his works. Ya, my only problem with Rothfuss is the whole hooking up with a sex goddess nymph. Still, fantastic. Mistborn is definitely.. overly accessible. I was also thinking "damn that was like watching a Michael Bay movie" after the first book, but it got a little more nuanced in the 2nd/3rd . I can see why you stopped though, I was through the series in no time so I didn't really give myself a chance to pause and decide if it was worth continuing. Still, I thought the steampunk in the 4th book was fucking awesome. Again, you have to like the style of magic system, but honestly you could take this book without the first 3, you would just miss one concept from the finale of the 3. As for King, I definitely find his writing style quite different, but I liked it. Keep in mind I've never read another book by Stephen King.. I wouldn't call anything he stated overly dramatic; if anything given the plot, he downplays the drama. It also essentially changes genres. The first book is almost a western, around the middle is an alice in wonderland style fantasy, and near the end it's more nature of the universe world is gonna end fantasy. | ||
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Panda86
19 Posts
On June 24 2013 08:29 Stoli wrote: Ya, my only problem with Rothfuss is the whole hooking up with a sex goddess nymph. Still, fantastic. Mistborn is definitely.. overly accessible. I was also thinking "damn that was like watching a Michael Bay movie" after the first book, but it got a little more nuanced in the 2nd/3rd . I can see why you stopped though, I was through the series in no time so I didn't really give myself a chance to pause and decide if it was worth continuing. Still, I thought the steampunk in the 4th book was fucking awesome. Again, you have to like the style of magic system, but honestly you could take this book without the first 3, you would just miss one concept from the finale of the 3. As for King, I definitely find his writing style quite different, but I liked it. Keep in mind I've never read another book by Stephen King.. I wouldn't call anything he stated overly dramatic; if anything given the plot, he downplays the drama. It also essentially changes genres. The first book is almost a western, around the middle is an alice in wonderland style fantasy, and near the end it's more nature of the universe world is gonna end fantasy. Ya the entire sequence of Kvothe stumbling through the forest and winding up with Felurian was very iffy to me it seemed a little forced. As for King I can't speak on The Dark Tower series but I have read about 4 or 5 of his other books and he most certainly over dramatizes in his other work. What I mean by that is in situations in which he can move through something quickly he spends alot of time detailing and emphasizing on things that are unimportant in a scene and could just be briefly mentioned and moved past. He spends too much time on details that are unimportant to the story and it makes his work drag at times. Also he makes some odd decisions in his work. The Stand especially is a very odd book. He is building up two groups of characters for more than half the book then all of a sudden one group is wiped out by a bomb. It was unepected and didn't really seem to serve any purpose. In my opinion the groups storyline was stagnating and he was just like how am I going to fix this and he said ahhhh ill just blow them all up. | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
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Sylverin
United States480 Posts
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GhostLink
United States450 Posts
The Broken Empire (Prince of Thorns, King of Thorns, Emperor of Thorns). Robin Hobb (I have not read all of her books, but from what I have read so far I love it). I'm very limited on my fantasy reading list, as I just recently got into the genre. | ||
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Rainmaker5
United States1027 Posts
On June 24 2013 13:19 Just_a_Moth wrote: The Kingkiller books are a good series, but they're pretty much the story of a super smart, super fit, pretty attractive guy who gets friendzoned super hard and then still can't get laid so he goes and bangs a porn star instead. Rothfuss is a good writer though, if he wasn't the books would be terrible. This is the best discription I've read of the series. For a recommendation- one author to check out is Brent Weeks. Night Angel trilogy is sweet enough, but the Lightbringer Series is really shaping up. Great author for characterizations and world-building with a lot of different angles. Night Angel trilogy is a bit cluttered, but he manages to juggle perspectives and plot-lines really well. Lightbringer is his second series and a bit more polished. | ||
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Zyrnak
United States179 Posts
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Panda86
19 Posts
On June 24 2013 13:19 Just_a_Moth wrote: The Kingkiller books are a good series, but they're pretty much the story of a super smart, super fit, pretty attractive guy who gets friendzoned super hard and then still can't get laid so he goes and bangs a porn star instead. Rothfuss is a good writer though, if he wasn't the books would be terrible. In a way this is true however I think the most interesting part of the book is the fact that a legend is never what he appears to be. Kvothe is credited with having done all these things and the stories of his actions spread all over the world. However half of the things he is credited with he didn't actually do. The other half extenuating circumstances led to what other people percieved to be something supernatural. Like when he is whipped at the school and doesn't bleed. Everyone assumes he is this supernatural creature because he was whipped and didn't bleed but truth be told he had taken something to numb himself and prevent him from bleeding that he learned about from reading a book. That is what I think the best part of the book is about. Watching a legend become a legend. Learning that everything isn't what it seems. He's just a normal guy yes slightly gifted that has been in some interesting situations and handled them like a boss and got a reputation for it. Granted the whole Felurian sequence is pretty ridiculous and imo the only thing that doesn't really fit in the books but hey nothgin wrong with fucking a sex godess. | ||
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goody153
44237 Posts
On October 26 2004 21:03 DarkGhost]Coon[ wrote: The books by Blizzard! They're very good. And especially interesting if you played the games. not all books are good .. but i kinda liked the starcraft liberty's crusade | ||
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goody153
44237 Posts
~Game of Thrones ~Clash of Kings ~storm of swords ~feast of crows ~ a dance with dragons Percy Jackson & the Olympians by rick riordan ( target age readers is for teens so this is entertaining .. this one is really entertaining) ~ The Lightning Thief ~ The Sea of Monsters ~ The Titan's Curse ~ The Battle of the Labyrinth ~ The Last Olympian the expansion below ~ The Lost Hero ~The Son of Neptune ~ The Mark of Athena time travelers wife(if you want romance that is unique that has adult scenes) Haruhi Suzumiya series (there is an anime but its actually based on a novel) world war z(the movie and the book is absolutely not the same .. intelligently written book .. for hardcore zombie fans and also for nonfan ones .. it focuses on human emotion rather than the zombies.. it focuses on multiple P.O.V.) | ||
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tili
United States1332 Posts
On October 26 2004 21:18 Mark wrote: - All books by David Eddings... his Belgariad and Mallorean are awesome. - Also Sword of Shannara series by Terry Brooks. - Wheel of Time Mark, you have exquisite taste! These authors/series are some of my personal favorites. Also add the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss. I don't think this has been mentioned, but some of the best writing in a fantasy series is found in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson. The writing, plot, and characters are all superb. | ||
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Nesto
Switzerland1318 Posts
On June 24 2013 21:26 Panda86 wrote: In a way this is true however I think the most interesting part of the book is the fact that a legend is never what he appears to be. Kvothe is credited with having done all these things and the stories of his actions spread all over the world. However half of the things he is credited with he didn't actually do. The other half extenuating circumstances led to what other people percieved to be something supernatural. Like when he is whipped at the school and doesn't bleed. Everyone assumes he is this supernatural creature because he was whipped and didn't bleed but truth be told he had taken something to numb himself and prevent him from bleeding that he learned about from reading a book. That is what I think the best part of the book is about. Watching a legend become a legend. Learning that everything isn't what it seems. He's just a normal guy yes slightly gifted that has been in some interesting situations and handled them like a boss and got a reputation for it. Granted the whole Felurian sequence is pretty ridiculous and imo the only thing that doesn't really fit in the books but hey nothgin wrong with fucking a sex godess. It's not like the whole thing ended with Felurian. Immediately after being back from Felurians realm he of course had to hump some tavern wench for a couple of days, before fucking his way through the Adem - an inbreeding warrior cult with a swinger mentality - and of course doing his sword teacher first, who said something along the lines of - "you can't fight with this boner, it throws you off balance, do you want to take care of it yourself or do you need a partner". The whole thing read like the fantasies of a 15 year old virgin. | ||
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Lann555
Netherlands5173 Posts
On June 25 2013 05:27 Nesto wrote: It's not like the whole thing ended with Felurian. Immediately after being back from Felurians realm he of course had to hump some tavern wench for a couple of days, before fucking his way through the Adem - an inbreeding warrior cult with a swinger mentality - and of course doing his sword teacher first, who said something along the lines of - "you can't fight with this boner, it throws you off balance, do you want to take care of it yourself or do you need a partner". The whole thing read like the fantasies of a 15 year old virgin. Yeah, the second book was such a trainwreck. Really quite sad, as the first one was very good and had so much potential. Ah well, maybe third one will be good again ^^ | ||
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Asol
Sweden109 Posts
On June 25 2013 05:27 Nesto wrote: It's not like the whole thing ended with Felurian. Immediately after being back from Felurians realm he of course had to hump some tavern wench for a couple of days, before fucking his way through the Adem - an inbreeding warrior cult with a swinger mentality - and of course doing his sword teacher first, who said something along the lines of - "you can't fight with this boner, it throws you off balance, do you want to take care of it yourself or do you need a partner". The whole thing read like the fantasies of a 15 year old virgin. I think that the point of Felurian was partly because he felt that the series needed more sex and that Kvothe has to be "spectacular". But I think the main part of adding her was because it was getting dull. Kvothe stuck in a forest god knows where trying to find bandits whilst working with quite frankly boring characters? We needed something to spicy things up, and also we get to see how Kvothe actually starts to become a legend. This wasn't some made up story - Bast had been talking about how Kvothe was seen as a hero and thus started to act like one. This just proves the point that Kvothe is starting to become a real legend - he didn't just make up shit anymore, it's happening. Felurian affected literally everything even after he left her, it affected his relationship with Denna and gave him the Shaed. We got to meet the Ctaeh and started to get clues on the Chandrian. We got a hint about the Door of Stone, we learned more about the Moon and the Fae civilization in general... Not to mention the awesome writing in the Felurian chapters, I fucking loved the rhymes that shit was good. | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
On June 25 2013 05:43 Lann555 wrote: Yeah, the second book was such a trainwreck. Really quite sad, as the first one was very good and had so much potential. Ah well, maybe third one will be good again ^^ Yeah, the best parts are the parts which don't get much attention, like the little myths now and then and the stuff about hte Chandrian. But the first book was significantly better. | ||
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TheTenthDoc
United States9561 Posts
On June 24 2013 23:23 tili wrote: Mark, you have exquisite taste! These authors/series are some of my personal favorites. Also add the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss. I don't think this has been mentioned, but some of the best writing in a fantasy series is found in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson. The writing, plot, and characters are all superb. If you want a lighter read that always reminded me of Covenant (the whole ordinary guy sucked into magical world) you can't go wrong with Terry Brooks' Magic Kingdom for Sale books. Well, except maybe the ones once they have a daughter, those get a bit...odd. | ||
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Deleted User 3420
24492 Posts
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mainerd
United States347 Posts
excellent sci fi! Edit: Book teaser (from Amazon): + Show Spoiler + It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of the former Lunar penal colony against the Lunar Authority that controls it from Earth. It is the tale of the disparate people--a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an elderly academic--who become the rebel movement's leaders. And it is the story of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to this inner circle, and who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution's ultimate success. | ||
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CaM27
Belgium392 Posts
I was about to buy the dark tower series (8 books) of stephen king. I made a quick enquiry through email to a bookshop, they tell me it's 19€ in english per book. 162€ total. Is it worth the big investment? (question towards the peeps that read the series) regards | ||
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Heavenlee
United States966 Posts
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe is considered one of the best fantasy/sci-fi series of all time. First Law series and all the stand-alone offshoots by Joe Abercrombie are popular and good "grimdark". The Long Price Quartet and Dagger and Coin by Daniel Abrahams. Both sort of slow but very atmospheric with great worldbuilding and characters. Takeshi Kovacs series by Richard Morgan. Altered Carbon, the first, was best in my opinion. Caine Series by Matthew Stover Neuromancer by William Golding Hyperion by Dan Simmons I do have some love for the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. The character is a bit of a Mary Sue in some sense, but he makes mistakes all the time due to hubris, and the whole background atmosphere of the book is that he's made some terrible mistakes in his past. The book is told from his point of view and it's established that he's arrogant so he probably exaggerates. Minor spoilers I guess? The second book shows that he's generally book smart and when he gets out into the real world he falls behind other students a bit, other characters accomplish things before he does, etc. The Gentleman Bastards series by Scott Lynch, pretty fun, semi-light reads. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin obviously. Farseer Trilogy and other series by Robin Hobb. Very slow-paced and focused on the characters, so it's not exactly some fast-paced action book. Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Light-read urban fantasy. Gets significantly better later on. Pretty amusing. Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Only first book of 10, but 1000 pages long. I enjoyed it. Not the zenith of fantasy but good. Brandon Sanderson pushes out books like a machine so I don't expect to wait as long as a Martin or Rothfuss book. Bas-Lag series by China Mieville is some crazy weird fiction. Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council are all great in their own way. I'm also a fan of The City & The City...a sort of surreal noir novel. The whole Empire of Thorns series by Mark Lawrence is okay. It's one of those series where you aren't blown away by it but you sit down and read them the book in one sitting. Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny also reminds me of the Empire of Thorns series. They're not remotely alike, but in the sense that you won't be blown away but you can't stop reading. I'm also a huge fan of his novel Lord of Light, though I feel (like a lot of Zelazny) it's somewhat incomplete and a slight rewrite would make it a masterpiece. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is good fun and perhaps the most accessible of his books IMO. Enjoyed The Prince of Nothing trilogy by R. Scott Bakker. I read the Judging Eye (first book of the Aspect-Emperor) which is the sequel trilogy and I just felt no desire to read the next for some reason. Maybe I will when the third book is out. I've read some Malazan books. For some reason they never captured my attention. Weird stuff, a bit daunting. Enjoyable though. I like The Black Company series by Glen Cook and I think I read them all. It's a light series and not phenomenal, but I did have a desire to read all ten books. This would be low down on my list of recommendations if this was in order. I saw some guy reading Blood Song by Anthony Ryan earlier and it has great reviews. I'm reading it now but can't get over the abysmal grammar. Maybe I just have a weird version of when it was self-published (I think?) before a real editor got into it but it's very jarring. Looking forward to see if it lives up to the hype though. May edit in some more later. | ||
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NIIINO
Slovakia1320 Posts
On June 25 2013 23:41 CaM27 wrote: Hi folks, I was about to buy the dark tower series (8 books) of stephen king. I made a quick enquiry through email to a bookshop, they tell me it's 19€ in english per book. 162€ total. Is it worth the big investment? (question towards the peeps that read the series) regards I think you should buy the multimedia reader or a small tablet. You can get it pretty cheap these days. It goes a little bit over 60euros. If you can / want to read in english and you read at least 4 books per year its worth it. And you dont have to use it only for reading books. Aaaaand I will stop right here because Im sick of seeing myself trying to sell things over internet EDIT: If you like Sci-fi read novel named CITY by Simak (not sure if spelled right) Its awesome. | ||
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LatscherGnu
28 Posts
On June 19 2013 04:44 ssxsilver wrote: Haven't seen this mentioned yet, but I'd highly recommend Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. People who like The Kingkiller Chronicles should enjoy it as it's written in the same style of coming-of-age/chronicler narrative. I kinda felt it too similar while reading through the introductory chapters, but once you get deeper into the book, the overall feel takes a drastic turn into grittier fantasy. Where as the central theme of KKC (at times) felt like it drifted into Kvothe's quest to get laid, Blood Song seemed a bit more focused on this greater conspiracy and the main character's role in all of it. Don't really want to spoil anything, but the ending was quite the shocker for me. Anyhow, the sequel is due in 2014 and I wouldnt' be surprised if Ryan ends up in the same conversation with Abercrombie, Abraham, Rothfuss, Lynch by then (popular fantasy writers outside of Martin). So yea, read it and you can be hipsters too! Read it on your recommendation and wasn't disappointed, once the plot picks up it really keeps the pages turning, looking forward to the sequel. Far from amazing in terms of world building imho but it is his first book and i don't fault him for sticking to what works and just telling his very good story. If he improves he might indeed become on of the best | ||
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Microchaton
France342 Posts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Award_for_Best_Novel Winners are pretty safe bets, half of those are major classics Favorite "new" authors as of late : Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie | ||
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goldenwitch
United States338 Posts
The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix - This trilogy is amazing. A very different take on traditional fantasy. The Avatar Trilogy is in my opinion the best of the forgotten realms. If you can find it that is. It chronicles the time of troubles in which the very gods of the realms walked the earth. If you like more action than intrigue, I recommend R.A. Salvatore and in particular his Sellswords trilogy. Entreri and Jarlaxle are waaay more interesting than Drizzt and company. Brandon Sanderson's Way of Kings is the start of a new gigantic series promising to rival the wheel of time. The first book was absolutely fantastic. I also enjoyed reading the Lies of Locke Lamora quite a bit. It's a heist/fantasy, set in a violent and dark underworld of a city not unlike early Venice. | ||
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KillerSOS
United States4207 Posts
On June 30 2013 01:00 Microchaton wrote: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Award_for_Best_Novel Winners are pretty safe bets, half of those are major classics Favorite "new" authors as of late : Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie Yeah I'm working on Way of Kings atm | ||
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Garfailed
Netherlands409 Posts
What's the best place to start on Warhammer 40k books? I really like the universe, and want to get more in depth on it, however there are so many different novels, i cant decide which to read, any suggestions? | ||
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hpty603
United States262 Posts
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Zergneedsfood
United States10671 Posts
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Shizzabamman
United States71 Posts
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xlep
Germany274 Posts
Those books are just so compelling and hilarious at times.... I'd recommend them to anyone in an instant. A while back I also read the first books of the Mageborn series. It's a less popluar "coming into power" series with a magican that I picked up at an amazon sale. I quite liked it, even though the background and the characters sometimes just don't fit in a medieval setting from time to time (at least in my opinion). Can anyone suggest a book or series with a badass mage/sorcerer like Harry Dresden, Kvothe or Ged/Sparrowhawk? I'm still at book four of the "Wheel of Time" series but I can't seem to motivate myself to continue reading (mostly since I know that there's still about 10 books afterwards ^^). | ||
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Tobberoth
Sweden6375 Posts
The series has been doing quite well and 3 more books are in the making and 5 novellas have been planned as well (set in the same universe). As for what it is, it's basically semi-hard scifi set in a not too far of future. No FTL travel, just this solar system. It's basically Earth vs Mars vs The Belt going on. The books put quite a lot of effort into explaining issues one might not expect from Sci-Fi, such as how they handle varying gravity (on different planets/asteroids, but also during ship burns etc). | ||
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elt
Thailand1092 Posts
On August 19 2013 22:42 xlep wrote: Just finished the second half of "The Name of the Wind" and "The Wise Mans Fear" in about a week after not having time/motivation to read in a while. Those books are just so compelling and hilarious at times.... I'd recommend them to anyone in an instant. A while back I also read the first books of the Mageborn series. It's a less popluar "coming into power" series with a magican that I picked up at an amazon sale. I quite liked it, even though the background and the characters sometimes just don't fit in a medieval setting from time to time (at least in my opinion). Can anyone suggest a book or series with a badass mage/sorcerer like Harry Dresden, Kvothe or Ged/Sparrowhawk? I'm still at book four of the "Wheel of Time" series but I can't seem to motivate myself to continue reading (mostly since I know that there's still about 10 books afterwards ^^). The Iron Druid Chronicles read quite similarly to Dresden, but personally I thought they were more whimsical and less deep. Still, an entertaining read when there's nothing to be had. Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams though not strictly about a wizard (it's a Constantine-esque battle of Heaven versus Hell) it's quite similar in tone to a more beaten up Harry Dresden I feel. There's also The Magicians by Lev Grossman. It's been likened to a darker, more adult and cynical Harry Potter but I think that it's well-written enough to be judged on its own merits. | ||
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ssxsilver
United States4409 Posts
On August 19 2013 23:00 Tobberoth wrote: Definitely recommend The Expanse series. Not the deepest and most complex Sci-Fi, but it's a great setting and good characters. The first one has been mentioned in the topic, Leviathan Wakes. It's then followed by Caliban's War, followed by Abaddons Gate. The series has been doing quite well and 3 more books are in the making and 5 novellas have been planned as well (set in the same universe). As for what it is, it's basically semi-hard scifi set in a not too far of future. No FTL travel, just this solar system. It's basically Earth vs Mars vs The Belt going on. The books put quite a lot of effort into explaining issues one might not expect from Sci-Fi, such as how they handle varying gravity (on different planets/asteroids, but also during ship burns etc). Yea The Expanse was awesome. Unfortunately the next trilogy is supposedly in the distant future, so no more Holden + Rocinante crew =(. Since this thread got another bump, I'll do another rec. The Thousand Names by Django Wexler. I'm always wearing about picking up new stuff, but this kept getting flagged on my goodreads account so I gave it a go. I'm bad at giving quick summaries, but basically it's a military fantasy book (magic exists but it's secretive, guns are prominent) detailing a campaign the Vordanai empire wages on some desert folks. The POVs are mainly told through two officers of the empire and slowly over the course of the books you're given information of the true purpose of the war. My complaints are 1) one character kinda has a bit of a Jesus syndrome (think Khellus in Bakker's novels) and 2) the ending made the book feel like one giant prologue. Still, all things considered, I definitely enjoyed this book and will pre-order the next one. If anyone's familiar with The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, there's some semblance of that in The Thousand Names. Cynical, gritty, but fairly lighthearted. Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan is another military fantasy with guns, but it's too much Brandon Sanderson (who I find solid not great) for my taste. | ||
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TheAura
96 Posts
I recommend both to any who likes fantasy. If you don't like arrogant, can't lose badass type characters you might not be a big fan of kingkiller. Basically all first person, which kind of leaves some character development lacking beyond Kvothe, which he does well. But if you don't like his character then it is tough luck because you are stuck with him. I am curious how the future will be for rothfuss. Not really a spoiler, but it does tell how the story is written and how the trilogy is set up.+ Show Spoiler + The first trilogy is meant to be of kvothe telling his past, thus the present time is in third person but while telling the story is in first. The second trilogy is meant to be about the present time, so is it safe to assume that the second will be in third person to keep consistency? It could have a greatly different feel to it that way. But that shouldnt be a worry for quite a while. as for The First law trilogy, the end of book two left me feeling a bit dissapointed, particularily because + Show Spoiler + Bayaz and the group basically accomplished nothing for the story. There was obviously a lot of character development but surely that could have been accomplished elsewhere while contributing to the story more than their waste of an adventure across the land. Perhaps my thoughts will change once i get into the third book more. | ||
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Skilledblob
Germany3392 Posts
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Crownlol
United States3726 Posts
* Old Man's War * The Ghost Brigades * The Last Colony (Apparently there's another book, a prequel called "Zoe's Tale", but I haven't read it) I enjoyed Forever War by Joe Haldeman as well. If you're into slightly cheesier scifi (based on video games or movie IP), here are some great ones: Arthas, Rise of the Lich King (Christie Golden) Aliens: Earth Hive (Steve Perry) Aliens: Asylum (Steve Perry) Aliens: The Female War (Steve Perry) | ||
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h41fgod
Sweden377 Posts
On August 19 2013 22:42 xlep wrote: Just finished the second half of "The Name of the Wind" and "The Wise Mans Fear" in about a week after not having time/motivation to read in a while. Those books are just so compelling and hilarious at times.... I'd recommend them to anyone in an instant. A while back I also read the first books of the Mageborn series. It's a less popluar "coming into power" series with a magican that I picked up at an amazon sale. I quite liked it, even though the background and the characters sometimes just don't fit in a medieval setting from time to time (at least in my opinion). Can anyone suggest a book or series with a badass mage/sorcerer like Harry Dresden, Kvothe or Ged/Sparrowhawk? I'm still at book four of the "Wheel of Time" series but I can't seem to motivate myself to continue reading (mostly since I know that there's still about 10 books afterwards ^^). With a badass mage? Most of a the characters in Malazan Book of the Fallen could level continents. The only reason they can not is MAD. Mutually Assured Destruction. Theres just so many insanely OP people that there will always be someone to stop you. It is kind of awesome (proper use of the word). Revelation Space, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap make a pretty nice trilogy. Its written by a rocket scientist, literally. Proper acceleration based travel, chemical rockets, fission drives, fusion drives... Then things just get crazy. | ||
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Squat
Sweden7978 Posts
On July 21 2013 09:26 Garfailed wrote: So i was wondering.. What's the best place to start on Warhammer 40k books? I really like the universe, and want to get more in depth on it, however there are so many different novels, i cant decide which to read, any suggestions? Try the Horus Heresy series, it's by far the richest and offers the best insight into the universe of WH40k. It can be a bit disjointed at times, so you'll probably do some wiki surfing if you want to stay up on everything. Gaunt's ghosts, Last Chancers, Ravenor and the Night Lords series are pretty good too. Dan Abnett, Graham Mcneil, Sandy Mitchell and Aaron Dembski are the best authors out of Black Library in general. Stay far, far away from anything written by C.S Goto. If the name Matt Ward appears anywhere, throw the book away and burn it at earliest opportunity. Edit: just saw it was an old post, but I'll leave it in case anyone else was interested. | ||
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ssxsilver
United States4409 Posts
I've read the two by Guy Gaviel Kay and liked them well enough. The Braided Path was okay and Tales of Otori was a bit cheesy. | ||
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Zergneedsfood
United States10671 Posts
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Xxio
Canada5565 Posts
On October 19 2013 01:20 TheAura wrote: Recently read the first two Kingkiller chronicles, and then i started the first law trilogy (just started book 3 last night). I recommend both to any who likes fantasy. If you don't like arrogant, can't lose badass type characters you might not be a big fan of kingkiller. Basically all first person, which kind of leaves some character development lacking beyond Kvothe, which he does well. But if you don't like his character then it is tough luck because you are stuck with him. I am curious how the future will be for rothfuss. Not really a spoiler, but it does tell how the story is written and how the trilogy is set up.+ Show Spoiler + The first trilogy is meant to be of kvothe telling his past, thus the present time is in third person but while telling the story is in first. The second trilogy is meant to be about the present time, so is it safe to assume that the second will be in third person to keep consistency? It could have a greatly different feel to it that way. But that shouldnt be a worry for quite a while. as for The First law trilogy, the end of book two left me feeling a bit dissapointed, particularily because + Show Spoiler + Bayaz and the group basically accomplished nothing for the story. There was obviously a lot of character development but surely that could have been accomplished elsewhere while contributing to the story more than their waste of an adventure across the land. Perhaps my thoughts will change once i get into the third book more. I heard that he's going to continue writing stories set in The Four Corners, but not about Kvothe. I don't know anything about another planned trilogy. Where did you see that? | ||
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Xxio
Canada5565 Posts
On October 19 2013 05:47 ssxsilver wrote: Anyone have any recommendations for Asian Fantasy? Preferably something in a series and more dark (along the lines of the Basilisk manga/anime). It seems like there's not much to choose from outside of YA stuff. I've read the two by Guy Gaviel Kay and liked them well enough. The Braided Path was okay and Tales of Otori was a bit cheesy. I heard good things about Stormdancer but I haven't read it. | ||
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ssxsilver
United States4409 Posts
Oh I remember seeing this. I wasn't sure what to make of this one as the goodreads ratings seem to go from one extreme to the other lol. I'll see if I can get a cheap used copy I guess, need something to read after finishing Republic of Thieves. | ||
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Manit0u
Poland17612 Posts
I found it better than Starship Troopers or Ender's Game. On July 21 2013 09:26 Garfailed wrote: So i was wondering.. What's the best place to start on Warhammer 40k books? I really like the universe, and want to get more in depth on it, however there are so many different novels, i cant decide which to read, any suggestions? Start with the Horus Heresy series. First 5 are pretty much obligatory, after that it's a bit of a Wall Street when it comes to quality of writing by different authors. Safe bets are always Dan Abnett, Graham McNeill, Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Gav Thorpe, maybe James Swallow. You can skip other authors without any loss as far as main plot goes. Collected short stories can also be pretty hectic when it comes to quality and content. Fulgrim, Legion, Mechanicum, A Thousand Sons - this are the Big Four at first (only read 19 books from the series so far), absolutely fabulous and mindblowing. Oh, and skip Prospero Burns. It's by Abnett but he was very sick when writing it (delayed by 1 year) and it feels in the writing, not the quality he makes you used to. That's the most important thing. Other books you should read if you're really interested in certain faction. Authors mentioned above and Anthony Reynolds will be your friends if you don't want to get into books that might seem interesting but are written so poorly that they're unreadable (like Blood Angels omnibuses by James Swallow). | ||
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TheAura
96 Posts
On October 19 2013 12:32 Xxio wrote: I heard that he's going to continue writing stories set in The Four Corners, but not about Kvothe. I don't know anything about another planned trilogy. Where did you see that? Hmm i can't remember where i read that, perhaps i am mistaken but i could have sworn... Skilledblob definately read book 3 it's a great Was busy for awhile, but read the final 2/3's of it since sunday. Good series, ending leaves you wanting more and + Show Spoiler [The First Law Trilogy Ending] + I kind of wish at least one character had some happy closure, everyone is essentially miserable and/or in a bad spot in life, except presumably Bayaz. But i guess that would go against the author's point wouldnt it lol I am either going to read the three stand alone novels by Abercrombie next or start into something else for a bit and leave those for another time. I like his world so i do not want to read it all up at once then be left all sad that i have to wait, especially since it seems it is going to be a few years before he writes more in this world. Way of Kings by Sanderson and the Gentleman Bastard sequence by Scott Lynch both have my attention, but both series are very early in their planned 10 and 7 book length, respectively, and I prefer not to start a series and thenhaving to wait 5 years for a sequal if i can avoid it. Other current books that i am interested in is either sanderson's mistborn series or Robin Hobb's Farseer. Thoughts? | ||
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{ToT}ColmA
Japan3260 Posts
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ssxsilver
United States4409 Posts
On November 21 2013 05:26 TheAura wrote: Other current books that i am interested in is either sanderson's mistborn series or Robin Hobb's Farseer. Thoughts? What exactly are you looking for? Those two authors are polar opposites so it's rather hard to pick between the two series. If you're looking for more light reading, go with Sanderson. If you want better prose and you're okay with slogging chapters, Hobb is your choice. IMO, both were pretty generic (not bad, but solidly average). I'm a total Abercrombie fanboy though so that should give some idea of my preferences. | ||
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Nyovne
Netherlands19137 Posts
On November 21 2013 05:38 {ToT}ColmA wrote: the black company is pretty fun so far, readin 3rd book, not as good as malazan, book of the fallen but still pretty decent Didn't find that series to be good, but then again I found it to be FUN! :D Very entertaining but it doesn't hold up to other series, especially the one you refer to. | ||
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Nesto
Switzerland1318 Posts
Also, Glen Cook is not the only fantasy author to do so - Abercrombie for example did it as well - but in my opinion, if fantasy authors write a novel about a continent wide military campaign, it would be great if they would at least bother to draw a map... The story itself is great though. | ||
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RuskiPanda
United States2906 Posts
On November 21 2013 05:26 TheAura wrote: Hmm i can't remember where i read that, perhaps i am mistaken but i could have sworn... Was busy for awhile, but read the final 2/3's of it since sunday. Good series, ending leaves you wanting more and + Show Spoiler [The First Law Trilogy Ending] + I kind of wish at least one character had some happy closure, everyone is essentially miserable and/or in a bad spot in life, except presumably Bayaz. But i guess that would go against the author's point wouldnt it lol I am either going to read the three stand alone novels by Abercrombie next or start into something else for a bit and leave those for another time. I like his world so i do not want to read it all up at once then be left all sad that i have to wait, especially since it seems it is going to be a few years before he writes more in this world. Way of Kings by Sanderson and the Gentleman Bastard sequence by Scott Lynch both have my attention, but both series are very early in their planned 10 and 7 book length, respectively, and I prefer not to start a series and thenhaving to wait 5 years for a sequal if i can avoid it. Other current books that i am interested in is either sanderson's mistborn series or Robin Hobb's Farseer. Thoughts? Sanderson is a pretty quick writer as far as epic fantasy series go. I think in the mid 2000s he was releasing novels at yearly clips and the second stormlight archive book is supposed to be early 2014 (even though he was working on finishing out the last WoT for this year). As for way of kings itself I found it quite enjoyable despite its lengthy character/world-building. | ||
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TheAura
96 Posts
On November 21 2013 17:02 ssxsilver wrote: What exactly are you looking for? Those two authors are polar opposites so it's rather hard to pick between the two series. If you're looking for more light reading, go with Sanderson. If you want better prose and you're okay with slogging chapters, Hobb is your choice. IMO, both were pretty generic (not bad, but solidly average). I'm a total Abercrombie fanboy though so that should give some idea of my preferences. Abercrombie is turning out to be one of my favorites as well. Read the 1st third of BSC last night. Thanks for your thoughts on Hobb and Sanderson... I have also been considering abrahams' the long prince quartet, and if i like that the coin quintet (or something like that). For now i will finish off abercrombie's works i think. BSC then heroes and red country. | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
On November 21 2013 19:25 Nesto wrote: Before reading black company, I'd suggest you go to amazon and read a few pages first. Glen Cook has a somewhat unique writing style, make sure your fine with that before you start. Also, Glen Cook is not the only fantasy author to do so - Abercrombie for example did it as well - but in my opinion, if fantasy authors write a novel about a continent wide military campaign, it would be great if they would at least bother to draw a map... The story itself is great though. I remember I read an interview where he said he didn't like to put maps in books because he liked to let the reader be more imaginative or something. Which is actually nice, but can also be frustrating when you're like "ooh I thought place was north, but nope it's actually south." | ||
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ssxsilver
United States4409 Posts
On November 22 2013 05:26 TheAura wrote: Abercrombie is turning out to be one of my favorites as well. Read the 1st third of BSC last night. Thanks for your thoughts on Hobb and Sanderson... I have also been considering abrahams' the long prince quartet, and if i like that the coin quintet (or something like that). For now i will finish off abercrombie's works i think. BSC then heroes and red country. I'm a big fan of Daniel Abraham's writing and he's the GRRM protege so that should pique some interest. I couldn't get into The Long Prince Quartet (gave up after book 2), but The Dagger and the Coin is really good, and The Expanse is fantastic (although it's sci-fi). He writes fairly quickly so if you really want to get into another traditional fantasy series then The Dagger and the Coin should be fine. Anyhow, I'm finding that the downside of preferring these "new school" fantasy writers is just that there's not a whole lot in terms of completed series =(. If you don't mind bouncing between open series, I'd recommend The Gentleman Bastards (3 books), The Kingkiller Chronicle (2 books), and Demon Cycle (3 books) in addition to newer ones like Raven's Shadow (1 book), The Shadow Campaigns (1 book), and Moontide Quartet (2 books). Collectively, that's 12 books out that should eat up a good chunk of your spare time. | ||
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FireSA
Australia555 Posts
Just finished reading the first book of the Foundation series, good stuff, though Asimov's writing might not be for everyone. Now reading The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin, only 50 or so pages in, but has me interested. Also is science fiction, so beware. | ||
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Startyr
Scotland188 Posts
Here are 'A Few Notes on the Culture', an overview of the civilization that most of his sci-fi books are set in. (He also did non sci-fi under Iain Banks) http://www.vavatch.co.uk/books/banks/cultnote.htm You can read the books in any order. | ||
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{ToT}ColmA
Japan3260 Posts
On November 21 2013 17:20 Nyovne wrote: Didn't find that series to be good, but then again I found it to be FUN! :D Very entertaining but it doesn't hold up to other series, especially the one you refer to. i enjoy the last book (soldiers live) a lot cuz the writting style changed a bit and the pov has more variety. its hard to find a series as good as malazan thou, have yet to find one that draws me in like eriksons books. | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
On February 08 2014 01:27 Startyr wrote: He may have been mentioned already but for science fiction I would recommend everything by Iain M Banks Here are 'A Few Notes on the Culture', an overview of the civilization that most of his sci-fi books are set in. (He also did non sci-fi under Iain Banks) http://www.vavatch.co.uk/books/banks/cultnote.htm You can read the books in any order. I second this. Iain M Banks is ridiculously good. | ||
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h41fgod
Sweden377 Posts
On February 08 2014 03:23 Just_a_Moth wrote: I second this. Iain M Banks is ridiculously good. Really liked Player of Games. | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
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greenelve
Germany1392 Posts
These are good books....just need time to read them all, as there are so many good books out there. :/ | ||
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{ToT}ColmA
Japan3260 Posts
ve read so far malazan stuff, black company and sidekick books, prince of thorns series, joe abercrombie stuff and the game of thrones books. | ||
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MajuGarzett
Canada635 Posts
On June 28 2014 03:37 {ToT}ColmA wrote: i am in the process of finishing forge of darkness and am in need of another fantasy book, best would be a huge series were i can immerse myself in. ve read so far malazan stuff, black company and sidekick books, prince of thorns series, joe abercrombie stuff and the game of thrones books. You could try Wheel of Time or the Dark Tower series. | ||
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jinorazi
Korea (South)4948 Posts
i also enjoyed first formic wars series (100 years before ender's game) | ||
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Nyovne
Netherlands19137 Posts
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Westy
England808 Posts
I have been considering Lies of Locke Lamora or Malazan, book of the fallen for my next read, but can't decide which to bother with first! | ||
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intothewhite
Australia60 Posts
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Nyovne
Netherlands19137 Posts
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h41fgod
Sweden377 Posts
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SirJolt
the Dagon Knight4010 Posts
Fascinatingly prescient, wonderfully weird :D There's also one of his short stories about a computer that knows everything there is to know about our universe and how it works. The short story follows characters who are on a journey to ask it the meaning of life. I would be staggered if it weren't what Douglas Adams based he Hitchhiker's Guide on. *Written at a time when "wireless" meant "radio." | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
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Sermokala
United States14076 Posts
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Powerpill
United States1693 Posts
On September 18 2014 02:43 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Does anyone know any good first contact books or Alien among us type of stories? ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/0DX2V50.jpg) There you go (Seriously though, anyone else read those when they were kids? lol... ah the good old days) | ||
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SK.Testie
Canada11084 Posts
On July 01 2014 16:54 Nyovne wrote: Malazan, do it. Do it now. | ||
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MajuGarzett
Canada635 Posts
On September 18 2014 02:43 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Does anyone know any good first contact books or Alien among us type of stories? You could try The Mote In God's Eye. | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
On September 18 2014 02:43 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Does anyone know any good first contact books or Alien among us type of stories? Blindsight. By Peter Watts. It's weird as fuck. But it's fucking beautiful. | ||
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Xxio
Canada5565 Posts
On September 18 2014 02:43 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Does anyone know any good first contact books or Alien among us type of stories? Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke) 2001: A Space Odyssey (Arthur C. Clarke) The Puppet Masters (Robert A. Heinlein) Enjoyed these three | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
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Djzapz
Canada10681 Posts
This is the layout of the books of my collection (available for books 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10): These are all available from amazon.ca and other retailers. As you can see, there's a "banner" type thing at the top and the title of the book at the bottom. ![[image loading]](http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355144064l/55399.jpg) This is the layout of the book 5 that's available on amazon.ca: ![[image loading]](http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MjE1WDIwMA==/$(KGrHqVHJEgE-ml+Rcq2BPtk,sZQ,Q~~60_35.JPG) So I'm looking for the right one: + Show Spoiler + ![[image loading]](https://p.gr-assets.com/max_square/fill/books/1366996057/345299.jpg) . Is this the worst feeling or what. | ||
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GGQ
Canada2653 Posts
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Djzapz
Canada10681 Posts
On September 20 2014 11:38 GGQ wrote: I hate that. Here's a nasty little tidbit to make you a bit more cynical: sometimes publishers change the layout partway through the series just so people who bought the earlier books have to rebuy them if they want to complete set in one layout. Thankfully it's not the case here but it's close. The 5th book, Midnight Tide with the purple cover that I want does exist and it has been printed, there are some floating around for 2-3x the price of the other 9. I'm not sure if it was under-printed or what but I know it's annoying as hell and I'd rather not have to import a book from a Canadian author from Australia. | ||
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VorGirL
72 Posts
Mistborn trilogy for cool steampunk awesome vorkosigan saga for, um, idk...romance, plots, humor, sci fi, everything honor harrington series, like 12 books and counting of military sci fi, amazing series | ||
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Manit0u
Poland17612 Posts
![[image loading]](http://www.lipstickandlibraries.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Blindsight_book_cover.jpg) Blindsight by Peter Watts Blew me away. Borrowed it to a couple of friends and it blew them away too. | ||
Zealously
East Gorteau22261 Posts
On September 20 2014 11:50 Djzapz wrote: Thankfully it's not the case here but it's close. The 5th book, Midnight Tide with the purple cover that I want does exist and it has been printed, there are some floating around for 2-3x the price of the other 9. I'm not sure if it was under-printed or what but I know it's annoying as hell and I'd rather not have to import a book from a Canadian author from Australia. I bought all ten books when The Crippled God was published and it still bothers me that my Reaper's Gale is the wrong edition. If you're obsessive about your bookshelf, just buy the "right" edition (NO MATTER THE COST) | ||
Liquid`Jinro
Sweden33719 Posts
On September 25 2014 15:33 Manit0u wrote: Blindsight by Peter Watts Blew me away. Borrowed it to a couple of friends and it blew them away too. Awesome book, couldn't put it down until I was finished pretty much. Thanks for the recommendation. Its available for free online (legally) too. | ||
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Just_a_Moth
Canada1964 Posts
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Djzapz
Canada10681 Posts
On September 25 2014 17:53 Zealously wrote: I bought all ten books when The Crippled God was published and it still bothers me that my Reaper's Gale is the wrong edition. If you're obsessive about your bookshelf, just buy the "right" edition (NO MATTER THE COST) I managed to find it in Amazon, it's out of stock and "usually ships in 10 to 13 days" so hopefully that works out for me. | ||
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Nesto
Switzerland1318 Posts
On September 20 2014 11:29 Djzapz wrote: I don't know where to ask this so I figured I'd ask here. I'm buying the 10 Malazan books, I have the first 4, the books 6 to 10 are available in the edition that I have. But 5 isn't. This is the layout of the books of my collection (available for books 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10): These are all available from amazon.ca and other retailers. As you can see, there's a "banner" type thing at the top and the title of the book at the bottom. This is the layout of the book 5 that's available on amazon.ca: So I'm looking for the right one: + Show Spoiler + . Is this the worst feeling or what.Try finding a matching Malazan Hardcover set, only then will you know true despair^^ After looking around for an eternity for the hardcover versions of Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice, I managed to find them through Amazon Market place in the US. I paid like 60-70$ including delivery only to find out that for some reason the newer books are like 1cm bigger in height. | ||
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Manit0u
Poland17612 Posts
On September 25 2014 19:13 Liquid`Jinro wrote: Awesome book, couldn't put it down until I was finished pretty much. Thanks for the recommendation. Its available for free online (legally) too. If you liked it, you might also like his Rifter Trilogy. Although you'll have to brace yourself for some recurring themes from Blindsight in there. | ||
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Djzapz
Canada10681 Posts
On September 26 2014 04:26 Nesto wrote: Try finding a matching Malazan Hardcover set, only then will you know true despair^^ After looking around for an eternity for the hardcover versions of Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice, I managed to find them through Amazon Market place in the US. I paid like 60-70$ including delivery only to find out that for some reason the newer books are like 1cm bigger in height. That's horrible -_-. Edit: I just received 5 of the 6 books I needed to complete my small collection. One had a dent and the corner was bashed in (thanks UPS) and one was from the wrong edition. Thankfully Amazon's support is great... but the books I receive from them are often beat up as hell... | ||
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Vaelone
Finland4400 Posts
I picked this up from kindle sales a while back and I found it to be quite a enjoyable and easy read in-between reading Malazan books. It tells a story of a lvl 4 mutant thug called Hank thats living a life on space station, he has a bad habit of getting in situations that are way over his head. It might be pretty shallow though when compared to likes of Malazan. | ||
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{ToT}ColmA
Japan3260 Posts
anyone has some good books read? have my eyes on "the warded man" but not sure yet...and for christ sake its so shitty to buy books where the story isnt finished yet......fucking rothfuss | ||
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Barteh
Netherlands108 Posts
On January 25 2015 00:49 {ToT}ColmA wrote: just finished the night angel trilogy by brent weeks, its pretty good, finished all three books in 8 days cuz i couldnt set the books aside. ending felt a bit rushed, everything else was pretty good, gonna read the mistborn stuff when it arrives... but till then i ll try to finish the prince of nothing trilogy which is good but the names in the book are too weird, its like he smashed the keyboard randomly to get those names :y anyone has some good books read? have my eyes on "the warded man" but not sure yet...and for christ sake its so shitty to buy books where the story isnt finished yet......fucking rothfuss Have you read the Gentleman Bastard books? You could also try some of Sanderson's other works, Warbreaker was really enjoyable for me, and his "new" main focus series is amazing so far (Stormlight archive). If you want to really commit to a series, I am a *huge* fan of the Malazan book of the fallen. It consists of 10 books + some novels to explain extra bits. But I would only suggest reading them if you can deal with the drawbacks of such a big series; you'll not always understand everything, it has ups and downs, but ultimately it was definitely worth it. | ||
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Cambium
United States16368 Posts
On January 25 2015 02:04 Barteh wrote: Have you read the Gentleman Bastard books? You could also try some of Sanderson's other works, Warbreaker was really enjoyable for me, and his "new" main focus series is amazing so far (Stormlight archive). If you want to really commit to a series, I am a *huge* fan of the Malazan book of the fallen. It consists of 10 books + some novels to explain extra bits. But I would only suggest reading them if you can deal with the drawbacks of such a big series; you'll not always understand everything, it has ups and downs, but ultimately it was definitely worth it. starting this tomorrow. i need a good book to read for 2015 | ||
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Skilledblob
Germany3392 Posts
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/TheWayOfKings.png/200px-TheWayOfKings.png) ![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e0/WordsOfRadianceCover.png/220px-WordsOfRadianceCover.png) love these books and would recommend them to anyone who likes epic fantasies | ||
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{ToT}ColmA
Japan3260 Posts
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VGhost
United States3616 Posts
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Thermia
United States866 Posts
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Nesto
Switzerland1318 Posts
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Wesso
Netherlands1245 Posts
On January 27 2015 01:36 Nesto wrote: has anyone read the Lightbringer series by Brent weeks? is it any good? I really enjoyed the first one, the sequels a bit less but still very enjoyable. | ||
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kiryah
Korea (South)65 Posts
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Nesto
Switzerland1318 Posts
The final book came out in march and it's a really great read. | ||
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BByte
Finland49 Posts
The sequel, Ancillary Sword, wasn't quite as good but still nice. The third part of the trilogy should come out later this year. | ||
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Schmobutzen
Germany284 Posts
That is why I can not recommend Blindsight at all - it is badly written, for a novel - the characters, oh the characters, and the dialogue and..., the conscience "essays" are good, but than, you are better off reading some philosophical treatise on it. | ||
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ticklishmusic
United States15977 Posts
Anyway, someone convince me to read Malazan. I read book 1 awhile ago, didn't like it that much. I tried to pick it up again, but I haven't been able to. Otherwise, any other fantasy suggestions? I've covered pretty much everything mentioned in the last couple pages. | ||
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kiryah
Korea (South)65 Posts
On May 29 2015 10:44 ticklishmusic wrote: Powder Mage is good at the beginning, but it really doesn't live up to it's potential IMO. The ending (of the series) is... alright. Anyway, someone convince me to read Malazan. I read book 1 awhile ago, didn't like it that much. I tried to pick it up again, but I haven't been able to. Otherwise, any other fantasy suggestions? I've covered pretty much everything mentioned in the last couple pages. Read book 2. Seriously. Then read book 1 again and th3n decide if you want to continue or not. The rest of the series is great but it's such a huge world and so many arcs(many dont get finished), but I enjoyed them. Other than that, read book 2, great stand alone book that sets the world better than book 1. | ||
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{ToT}ColmA
Japan3260 Posts
after finishing this in prolly the next two weeks i am in dire need of another great series, best would be if it would be already finished... i hate reading great books and then finding out its not done...i am looking at rothfuss that fucker... any suggestions? | ||
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Sermokala
United States14076 Posts
There are three books with the fourth coming on the tenth. Special mention to the zombie knight series it's free online but has been packaged as ebooks to support the author. | ||
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jinorazi
Korea (South)4948 Posts
i just want to say, the main male character drives me crazy. so many times i just want to smack him in the head to point out how much of a fucking idiot he is and explain the obvious that seems to be oblivious to him. a type of character that jumps the gun and makes wrong decisions, learns and realizes his mistakes then does it all over again. this is annoying beyond belief and makes things predictable but still a good read overall. | ||
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icyF
Finland305 Posts
![[image loading]](http://www.uk-bookworm.co.uk/shop_image/product/000394_915eb63f3a814b999e207547a7a000fe.jpg) | ||
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{ToT}ColmA
Japan3260 Posts
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Schmobutzen
Germany284 Posts
Keep on reading, but just know, that WoT is considered by nearly all critics as very, very weak in the compartments of female characters and character development! The first book got me hooked as well, but after the second I began two doubt and I never kept reding after the third... It is a fantasy classic though - but unfortunatly a weak one. | ||
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{ToT}ColmA
Japan3260 Posts
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SK.Testie
Canada11084 Posts
Malazan series | ||
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Latham
9568 Posts
By the way recently I read Brandon Sanderson's "The Mistborn" trillogy and Joe Abercrombie's "The First Law" and "Shattered Sea" now moved on to Hobb's "The Assassin's Apprentice". Mistborn was pretty good overall but Shattered Sea was god-awful. I dunno why so many people recommend The First Law. While being an enjoyable read I think Sanderson writes better. | ||
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Nyovne
Netherlands19137 Posts
Plus what Testie said, Malazan ftw. | ||
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CuddlyCuteKitten
Sweden2706 Posts
I would recommend the name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss, first part of the kingkiller chronicles. I have been reading scifi and fantasy for over 20 years and its the only series I consider to be on par with SoIaF. Its not finished yet though. I would also recommend Rivers of London by A. Aaronovitch, urban cop fantasy, also unique setting and pretty nice. Ancilliary series is good but 2nd and 3rd is not even close to book 1. I liked Mistborn but they guy obviously writes at a very high pace and his editor is either lazy or to leniant. The prose is unecessairly heavy and especially figthing sceens are pretty poorly written. The plot is pretty good though and extremly well planned with no untied things in the end. With a sligth rewrite and much tigther editing it would be awesome. On the flip side he does churn out books. Ive started reading Culture series books right now. I love the setting but I really prefer to get to know my characters and I was not convinced by Consider Phlebas. I will at least try use of weapons I think before I decide on it. Also my guilty pleasure (everyone has one right?) is the dresden files. Very pulp and easily digestible | ||
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Hexe
United States332 Posts
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/6w8fUaU.jpg) Peerless on so many levels... | ||
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Makenshi
Sweden2105 Posts
On August 22 2016 05:51 CuddlyCuteKitten wrote: Chronicles of Amber are very early and very unique fantasy. I liked them when I was younger and they are short but they are not your average fantasy. I would recommend the name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss, first part of the kingkiller chronicles. I have been reading scifi and fantasy for over 20 years and its the only series I consider to be on par with SoIaF. Its not finished yet though. I would also recommend Rivers of London by A. Aaronovitch, urban cop fantasy, also unique setting and pretty nice. Ancilliary series is good but 2nd and 3rd is not even close to book 1. I liked Mistborn but they guy obviously writes at a very high pace and his editor is either lazy or to leniant. The prose is unecessairly heavy and especially figthing sceens are pretty poorly written. The plot is pretty good though and extremly well planned with no untied things in the end. With a sligth rewrite and much tigther editing it would be awesome. On the flip side he does churn out books. Ive started reading Culture series books right now. I love the setting but I really prefer to get to know my characters and I was not convinced by Consider Phlebas. I will at least try use of weapons I think before I decide on it. Also my guilty pleasure (everyone has one right?) is the dresden files. Very pulp and easily digestible after having read 20-25 40k books in the last half year or so i've kinda burnt myself out and really crave a scifi or fantasy mystery, would you say dresden files would scratch that itch? | ||
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CuddlyCuteKitten
Sweden2706 Posts
On August 22 2016 08:14 Makenshi wrote: after having read 20-25 40k books in the last half year or so i've kinda burnt myself out and really crave a scifi or fantasy mystery, would you say dresden files would scratch that itch? It could because that's basically what it is. Don't go in expecting amazing literature though. | ||
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doubleupgradeobbies!
Australia1187 Posts
On August 22 2016 05:51 CuddlyCuteKitten wrote: Ive started reading Culture series books right now. I love the setting but I really prefer to get to know my characters and I was not convinced by Consider Phlebas. I will at least try use of weapons I think before I decide on it. I've been rereading all of those recently, definitely give the rest a try. The general wisdom is don't start with Consider Phlebas (yeah i know too late for you). Player of Games and Use of weapons are both very good. Though my personal favourite is Look to Windward. If you really like the setting but not alot of the other stuff, then everything from and after Excession is probably the best stuff for you. | ||
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Archeon
3261 Posts
On August 22 2016 01:03 Nyovne wrote: I enjoyed the WoT books and the last books that were finished by Brandon Sanderson were really amazing and are the best ones in the entire series in my opinion. In the end I was left satisfied after spending all those days reading all the books. Plus what Testie said, Malazan ftw. Agreed, Malazan and everything I've read from Sanderson are amazing! WoT has some lows in the middle part but definitely is fun. Malazan starts a bit wonky with Gardens though. For fans of GoT/dark fantasy I recommend Joe Abercrombie's first blade series, has been a blast so far. On August 22 2016 08:14 Makenshi wrote: after having read 20-25 40k books in the last half year or so i've kinda burnt myself out and really crave a scifi or fantasy mystery, would you say dresden files would scratch that itch? Not sure what type of mystery you are looking for (horror or story where you guess/crime), but if it's about a world full of magic with some riddle/puzzle elements, Patricia A. McKilip's Riddle Master trilogy (Riddle master of Hed, Heir of sea and fire and Harpist in the wind) is among the best series I've ever read. It's not easily digestible though | ||
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chroniX
517 Posts
On August 15 2016 05:48 Latham wrote: Anyone has anything to say about Roger Zelazny's "Chronicles of Ember" Series? By the way recently I read Brandon Sanderson's "The Mistborn" trillogy and Joe Abercrombie's "The First Law" and "Shattered Sea" now moved on to Hobb's "The Assassin's Apprentice". Mistborn was pretty good overall but Shattered Sea was god-awful. I dunno why so many people recommend The First Law. While being an enjoyable read I think Sanderson writes better. The Shattered Sea triology is for YA (Young Adults). Its for a completely different audience than First Law. You should try the other novels from the First Law Universe maybe. When you like Sanderson you HAVE to read the Stormlight Archives. I thought it was WAY better than Mistborn (I had to stop Mistborn Book 2...) | ||
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chroniX
517 Posts
I liked: - All Abercrombie's First Law Stuff - Stormlight Archives - A Song of Ice and Fire - Kingkiller Chronicles - Anthony Ryan's Ravens Shadow I did not like: - Wheel of Time (stopped end of Book 1) - Brent Week's stuff Lightbringer & Night Angel - Farseer Triology - Mistborn | ||
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Salteador Neo
Andorra5591 Posts
Elantris is his first work I read back in the day and it's solid and probably more serious than the rest. The others I enjoyed were Warbreaker, The Rithmatist and Steelheart. The last one I think could be considered standalone, even though it's a trilogy... the second book is a bit boring so far. I also think Abercrombie's "The Heroes" is his best book. Action packed, dark, bloody and anti-heroes galore. Loved it. Other lighter reads I enjoyed were the Amulet of Samarkand and the Dresden Files. | ||
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CuddlyCuteKitten
Sweden2706 Posts
I liked Mistborn but completely ground to a halt in Way of Kings super early on. And I read Malazan book 1 but found it awful (supposedly it picks up from there but then I usually don't enjoy high fantasy and it seemed to be heading into DBZ levels of power for some characters). I also couldn't get through First Law. Read the first two books in a week then never purchased the last one. Usually the sticking point for me is that I finish a book (I read pretty fast so I usually just plow through it regardless of how I feel) and then when it's time to pick up the next I realize that I just don't care what happens to the characters. Like in First Law I honestly didn't care about any of the main characters after two books. Way of Kings is a bit special since I had a lot of books too choose from on my flight so I just switched it, I'll try it again some day. I read some of the reviews on Kingkiller Chronicles on goodreads and people usually rate it 5 (it has 4,5 average or something crazy like that) but there's a lot of 1 star reviews. Mostly because people think the main character is a complete Mary Sue. Which he is. But that's the main point because the book also starts with him being completely broken and at least for me it hooked me almost immediately because I wanted to know how he a) got to be a legend in his own time and b) ended up where he is at the start of the books. | ||
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Latham
9568 Posts
I'm so sad we'll have to wait such a long time for the 3rd novel T.T"The Lies of Locke Lamora" was also very fun to read, but the next two books, "Red Seas under Red Skies" and "Republic of Thevies" were a bit of a let down when compared to Lies. But thanks for the recommendation :-) I know Malazan has it's own separate thread, but are the books really that good? I only own Forge of Darkness which seems to be a part of Kharkanas trilogy, but haven't gotten around to reading it just yet. Also wanted to ask about the 2nd part of Mistborn series. The one set in the future, Alloy of Law and the other 2. Worth reading? | ||
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Hexe
United States332 Posts
On August 23 2016 01:21 Latham wrote: I already read Patrick Rothfuss' "The Name of the Wind" and "The Wise Man's Fear", both were absolutely brilliant I'm so sad we'll have to wait such a long time for the 3rd novel T.T"The Lies of Locke Lamora" was also very fun to read, but the next two books, "Red Seas under Red Skies" and "Republic of Thevies" were a bit of a let down when compared to Lies. But thanks for the recommendation :-) I know Malazan has it's own separate thread, but are the books really that good? I only own Forge of Darkness which seems to be a part of Kharkanas trilogy, but haven't gotten around to reading it just yet. Also wanted to ask about the 2nd part of Mistborn series. The one set in the future, Alloy of Law and the other 2. Worth reading? Malazan is really fun to read, it has everything grimdark fans desire but keeps the high fantasy... high. | ||
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SK.Testie
Canada11084 Posts
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MajuGarzett
Canada635 Posts
On August 22 2016 19:28 chroniX wrote: That reminds me, I really need something new. Fantasy please! I liked: - All Abercrombie's First Law Stuff - Stormlight Archives - A Song of Ice and Fire - Kingkiller Chronicles - Anthony Ryan's Ravens Shadow I did not like: - Wheel of Time (stopped end of Book 1) - Brent Week's stuff Lightbringer & Night Angel - Farseer Triology - Mistborn You could try the Black Company series by Glen Cook. | ||
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Archeon
3261 Posts
On August 23 2016 01:21 Latham wrote: I already read Patrick Rothfuss' "The Name of the Wind" and "The Wise Man's Fear", both were absolutely brilliant I'm so sad we'll have to wait such a long time for the 3rd novel T.T"The Lies of Locke Lamora" was also very fun to read, but the next two books, "Red Seas under Red Skies" and "Republic of Thevies" were a bit of a let down when compared to Lies. But thanks for the recommendation :-) I know Malazan has it's own separate thread, but are the books really that good? I only own Forge of Darkness which seems to be a part of Kharkanas trilogy, but haven't gotten around to reading it just yet. Also wanted to ask about the 2nd part of Mistborn series. The one set in the future, Alloy of Law and the other 2. Worth reading? I liked the entire mistborn triology as well as Alloy of Law. Alloy is a much lighter piece, while Mistborn 2 and 3 are pretty dark. 2nd is more about finding herself, so you might need some patience for that. 3 is imo the weakest of the three, but still was fun to read. I know someone who thinks exactly the other way round though and I have a dislike for good vs evil and epic finales, so I'm biased. Alloy is fun and action packed, but Sanderson keeps low on the social system in this one however, which is imo his greatest strength. Malazan is pretty great, don't let the first book keep you from reading it. It's very random though. | ||
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SirJolt
the Dagon Knight4010 Posts
On August 23 2016 06:22 Blackfeather wrote: Malazan is pretty great, don't let the first book keep you from reading it. It's very random though. I admit that I've only read the first book of Malazan, but it felt like a total disaster. It seemed as though every few chapters, a completely new massive threat was introduced. I couldn't feel any sense of drama or tension in a world where every threat that arises could potentially be neutralised by whatever new power emerges next. I admit, it's been a while since I read it, but I remember being caught off guard by the appearance of Raest and, but then some dragons turned up to fight him for a bit, and as more characters were introduced I just started to think, "Wow, this doesn't feel like a very safe environment to live in, between Annomander Rake and all these dudes, it seems like there are unstoppable superbeings hiding around every corner." It made it very difficult to be invested in the lives of ordinary people... | ||
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Archeon
3261 Posts
On August 23 2016 20:29 SirJolt wrote: I admit that I've only read the first book of Malazan, but it felt like a total disaster. It seemed as though every few chapters, a completely new massive threat was introduced. I couldn't feel any sense of drama or tension in a world where every threat that arises could potentially be neutralised by whatever new power emerges next. I admit, it's been a while since I read it, but I remember being caught off guard by the appearance of Raest and, but then some dragons turned up to fight him for a bit, and as more characters were introduced I just started to think, "Wow, this doesn't feel like a very safe environment to live in, between Annomander Rake and all these dudes, it seems like there are unstoppable superbeings hiding around every corner." It made it very difficult to be invested in the lives of ordinary people... Gardens of the moon is all over the place. It has a lot of strong points of the series (magic breathes in the world, past and present are intertwined, mundane people in big events), but it really is no benchmark for the rest of the series. Things very rarely or never get explained in Gardens, new characters get introduced all the time and there doesn't really exist any prolonged storyline. All this gets a lot better in the next 2 books (atm reading 4). Two was a lot better than one and three was better than two again. There's a discussion going on in the thread whether people should skip one or not. The argument for skipping it is that it's way worse, the argument for reading it is that most of the cast for the later books gets introduced and some of the events get explained later and have consequences in the other books. | ||
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Salteador Neo
Andorra5591 Posts
The whole thing for me was just badass characters/moments and ok writing, but the plot was all over the place and I could not care any less about what happened to everyone involved in the story lol. Also felt there was always something big going on behind the scenes (and I was missing most of it) that would be explained later... Still didn't care. About the Kingkiller Chronicles, I read the first two books but ended up hating the main character (a total Mary Sue). The deus ex bullshit that keeps happening to save him out of the trouble he gets into for being arrogant/stupid was too much for me. I think it just killed my suspension of disbelief and my immersion. Too bad because the books are good. Specially loved the University parts. Gotta recommend The Way of Kings. It starts slow but it's well worth it. Best book I ever read :D | ||
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goody153
44237 Posts
On August 23 2016 01:21 Latham wrote: Also wanted to ask about the 2nd part of Mistborn series. The one set in the future, Alloy of Law and the other 2. Worth reading? Mistborn original trilogy is just a different beast compared to the 2nd mistborn series, it can stand on it's own. While i found the 2nd mistborn Ok You should find it ok enough if you liked mistborn trilogy but it's honestly felt like it didn't have the complexity of the first trilogy it's more of if you wanted to learn more about the future + Show Spoiler [Mistborn Trilogy] + Harmony is pretty cool, you get to see him function as both Preservation and Ruin. Feels a bit incompetent and too nice though compared to the rest of the shard buddies. man vs literal force of nature Or i'll just recommend you just read Brandon Sanderson's best work Stormlight Archives series rather than reading the next mistborn series.(it still also has cosmere too if you are interested in it+ Show Spoiler [cosmere] + Cause Odium the supposed to be big bad of the overall picture which is worst than Ruin is the main antagonist of that series. Making it like the center event of all cosmere On August 23 2016 23:38 Salteador Neo wrote: Gotta recommend The Way of Kings. It starts slow but it's well worth it. Best book I ever read :D Indeed it's the best fantasy series i've read so far (despite being just 2 books out of 10 that is still released). Have you read Word of Radiance , the book 2 of it ? It's even better | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
![[image loading]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41r3mKMywCL.jpg) | ||
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
![[image loading]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51PfnRuRs1L._SX302_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg) | ||
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MajuGarzett
Canada635 Posts
On January 27 2018 02:55 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Just discovered a new series, but the latest but earlier book in the series. Good? The Foundation series is great but I think it's best to read the original trilogy first. | ||
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A3th3r
United States319 Posts
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{CC}StealthBlue
United States41117 Posts
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