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On April 08 2011 12:38 ThaZenith wrote:
Sword of Truth series, I didn't see it mentioned.
I've read just about everything. Might have to start writing books for something to do. lol
My opinion on that series... well it started pretty good, to be honest if he removed like 2 books from the series it would have been improved drastically.. plus the ending killed it for me, i was still an avid reader of the series when it was coming out but it was one of the first times when I got to the end and was like... REALLY?
+ Show Spoiler +everyone lives happily ever after in seperate universes...
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On April 08 2011 12:13 sc14s wrote:Show nested quote +On April 08 2011 12:08 Paper117 wrote:
My roommate got me into "The Lost Fleet" series. It's a sci-fi military story about a space armada and their reluctant new leader.
I've only read the first book so far, but I really appreciate the fresh and interesting take on space combat and also the very human protagonist. sounds vaguely Battlestar Galactica'ish.
Yeah, it kinda is. The premise is nothing extraordinary.
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Probably one of my favorite authors next to George R. R. Martin is Joe Abercrombie.
The First Law Trilogy, Best Served Cold, and The Heroes are all set in the same world, the last two are stand-alone novels with some minor characters stepping into larger roles, and several other characters from the past returning. The fight scenes and humor are very well written, and the humor despite being somewhat dark itself contrasts nicely with the otherwise gritty and cynical approach of the books.
Don't know if other people would like him as much as I do, since it is a matter of taste, but definitely one of my top fantasy authors.
I didn't really like most of Sanderson's stuff until The Way of Kings, and for some reason I ended up really enjoying that book. And despite its length and introductory nature, I never felt it dragged. (At least for me, doubtless there were people who thought differently.) One thing I have to say about Sanderson is how amazingly visual some of his stuff is in this book. The wildly imaginative setting and magic, with some scenes that were just instantly iconic. Something very hard to do in a book. (He had some bits in the Mistborn books as well. I can’t think of any from Warbreaker though. And I haven’t read Elantris.)
Than of course there's A Song of Ice and Fire, which is like the best fantasy series of all time, if I may be so bold as to say. But you've already mentioned these, so really don't have much more to add.
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On April 08 2011 10:17 IronFenix wrote:
I'll have to agree with all of your suggestions. I also highly enjoyed the Night Angel Trilogy from Brent weeks.
From Wikipedia "The Night Angel Trilogy is a fantasy series written by Brent Weeks. The story follows the life of Azoth (later Kylar Stern) as he struggles as a guild rat to become the ultimate wetboy (an assassin with slight magical talent, such as the ability to muffle sound, or to block an attack with your mind), then tries to leave it all behind and finally becomes the avatar of retribution: the Night Angel."
Yeah agreed, The Night Angel Series was awesome.
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I recommend anything by Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman. Or get both in one book and read Good Omens.
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On April 08 2011 12:50 Inkblood wrote:
Probably one of my favorite authors next to George R. R. Martin is Joe Abercrombie.
The First Law Trilogy, Best Served Cold, and The Heroes are all set in the same world, the last two are stand-alone novels with some minor characters stepping into larger roles, and several other characters from the past returning. The fight scenes and humor are very well written, and the humor despite being somewhat dark itself contrasts nicely with the otherwise gritty and cynical approach of the books.
Don't know if other people would like him as much as I do, since it is a matter of taste, but definitely one of my top fantasy authors.
I didn't really like most of Sanderson's stuff until The Way of Kings, and for some reason I ended up really enjoying that book. And despite its length and introductory nature, I never felt it dragged. (At least for me, doubtless there were people who thought differently.) One thing I have to say about Sanderson is how amazingly visual some of his stuff is in this book. The wildly imaginative setting and magic, with some scenes that were just instantly iconic. Something very hard to do in a book. (He had some bits in the Mistborn books as well. I can’t think of any from Warbreaker though. And I haven’t read Elantris.)
Than of course there's A Song of Ice and Fire, which is like the best fantasy series of all time, if I may be so bold as to say. But you've already mentioned these, so really don't have much more to add.
I am with you there on The Way of Kings. i wasnt rabid for him until that book.. + Show Spoiler +when Kaladin "awoke" his powers on the plateau to save his bridgecrew.. i had goosebumps all over and read that portion like 3x because it was so epic
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Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is great. Don't think of it as omgloljapanesemanga. It's not a typical...overexpressive piece. It's very beautiful, richly detailed, and the story is deeper than 'lets fight a big bad guy.' There really are no true villains. It's not black and white. Just shades of grey and beautiful storytelling that only a master like Miyazaki could weave into a story. Best fantasy piece of literature ever, IMO.
Also, Tales from Earthsea. AWESOME series.
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I highly highly HIGHLY recommend the Saga about the Dark Elf Drizzt Do'Urden. Its based in the Forgotten Realms universe, the same as the games Newerwinter Nights and Baldurs Gate and some other books aswell.
And well all I have to say is that its the best fantasy series I've ever read. They are just... super good, they are the best I ever read!!! I still got about two left and theres one book coming out about every 1-2 years and I think its been about 13-14 books released now.. and Its all been great, even the 3-4 spinoff books thats not even about Drizzt are great, even superb! (its about side characters that are very well introduced and have a connection with Drizzt himself.)
R.A Salvatore is the one whos writing these books and I am such a fan of his style of his explanations about everything. When I read those books I see in my mind everything that happens as if I was there myself as a spectator.
Oh just because of this Im gonna go afk and read some!!
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On April 08 2011 13:02 Deadlyhazard wrote:
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is great. Don't think of it as omgloljapanesemanga. It's not a typical...overexpressive piece. It's very beautiful, richly detailed, and the story is deeper than 'lets fight a big bad guy.' There really are no true villains. It's not black and white. Just shades of grey and beautiful storytelling that only a master like Miyazaki could weave into a story. Best fantasy piece of literature ever, IMO.
Also, Tales from Earthsea. AWESOME series.
I will say before I start that I do like manga (and anime for that matter) but books are too different to truly compare, just like it is hard to truly make a good movie from a well made book.
The thing that I like about books it that really it uses your own imagination (and mine goes crazy when I read) with anything that is illustrated (or acted or what have you) is that you dont use your imagination, so somehow making up the story in your head always feels much more epic, awesome and cool compared to however its illustrated.
Again i'm not saying Nausicaa is bad in fact I've watched the movie.. which was okay but as with movies - books im sure it wasnt translated the same. But from what i've seen it is a good story afaik.
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Katherine Kerr, anyone? By far the best fantasy I've ever read.
Act one: Deverry
Daggerspell (1986)
Darkspell (1987)
The Bristling Wood (1989)
The Dragon Revenant (1990)
Act two: The Westlands
A Time of Exile (1991)
A Time of Omens (1992)
Days of Blood and Fire (1993)
Days of Air and Darkness (1994)
Act three: The Dragon Mage
The Red Wyvern (1997)
The Black Raven (1998)
The Fire Dragon (2000)
Act four: The Silver Wyrm
The Gold Falcon (2006)
The Spirit Stone (2007)
The Shadow Isle (2008)
The Silver Mage (2009)
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On April 08 2011 13:09 Deekin[ wrote:
I highly highly HIGHLY recommend the Saga about the Dark Elf Drizzt Do'Urden. Its based in the Forgotten Realms universe, the same as the games Newerwinter Nights and Baldurs Gate and some other books aswell.
And well all I have to say is that its the best fantasy series I've ever read. They are just... super good, they are the best I ever read!!! I still got about two left and theres one book coming out about every 1-2 years and I think its been about 13-14 books released now.. and Its all been great, even the 3-4 spinoff books thats not even about Drizzt are great, even superb! (its about side characters that are very well introduced and have a connection with Drizzt himself.)
R.A Salvatore is the one whos writing these books and I am such a fan of his style of his explanations about everything. When I read those books I see in my mind everything that happens as if I was there myself as a spectator.
Oh just because of this Im gonna go afk and read some!!
That's another one I plan on adding to my must read list at the start of the thread, as it is modern classic fiction, i own most of the books, my only issue is I think there have been too many books made about Drizzt (I will admit i like him as a character) and its usually a similar storyline in everybook after you get out of his early years in underdark- he and his band of friends defeat an evil force X ect ect. but yeah that was one of my staple authors to read in high school (R.A salvator)
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On April 08 2011 12:50 Inkblood wrote:
The First Law Trilogy, Best Served Cold, and The Heroes are all set in the same world, the last two are stand-alone novels with some minor characters stepping into larger roles, and several other characters from the past returning. The fight scenes and humor are very well written, and the humor despite being somewhat dark itself contrasts nicely with the otherwise gritty and cynical approach of the books.
The First Law is one of my recent favorites, simply because it's all about subverting how fantasy usually goes. Each and every character gets a chance to redeem themselves and change for the better, and they either choose to keep being horrible people, or in some cases are forced to keep being complete dicks. I highly reccomend reading it if you can stomach a cast of characters you are likely to hate most of the time, with very few redeeming traits between them.
+ Show Spoiler +It's somewhat refreshing to get away from the happy ending everafter so completely, especially with what happens in the last part of the final book.
I love how it turns out Bayaz is essentially just using everyone as puppets, and how he turns more and more from a kindly old man in the first book to a manipulative psycho, simply obsessed with revenge.
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On April 08 2011 13:09 Deekin[ wrote:
I highly highly HIGHLY recommend the Saga about the Dark Elf Drizzt Do'Urden. Its based in the Forgotten Realms universe, the same as the games Newerwinter Nights and Baldurs Gate and some other books aswell.
And well all I have to say is that its the best fantasy series I've ever read. They are just... super good, they are the best I ever read!!! I still got about two left and theres one book coming out about every 1-2 years and I think its been about 13-14 books released now.. and Its all been great, even the 3-4 spinoff books thats not even about Drizzt are great, even superb! (its about side characters that are very well introduced and have a connection with Drizzt himself.)
R.A Salvatore is the one whos writing these books and I am such a fan of his style of his explanations about everything. When I read those books I see in my mind everything that happens as if I was there myself as a spectator.
Oh just because of this Im gonna go afk and read some!!
If you enjoy the drizzt Do'Urden books I would highly suggest reading the clerics quintet written by Salvatore. They are by far his best 5 books in a continuing series for forgotten realm based books.
As for some series I would greatly suggest reading.
The chronicles of the necromancer and the Fallen Kings Cycle series by Gail Z martin.
Information on the series can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronicles_of_the_Necromancer
The green rider series by Kristin Britain follows the character of Karigan G'ladheon. It follows a girl who goes from being a wealthy merchants daughter to green rider. Green riders are messengers in the service to their kingdom yet all possess some "ability". It is a tale showing the growth of a core group of people as they perform their duty for king and country. The books get progressively more and more dark the more you read them. The author has the uncanny ability to make you feel for characters.
I will agree with all positive reviews of Joe Abercrombies books thus far. The man is an exceptional writer. The first law series as well as his stand alone books are on par with the song of ice and fire series easily.
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Bisutopia19158 Posts
The Shannara Series and anything else by Terry Brooks!
Other notables:
Legend of the Seeker aka sword of truth series
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On April 08 2011 13:18 BloodyC0bbler wrote:Show nested quote +On April 08 2011 13:09 Deekin[ wrote:
I highly highly HIGHLY recommend the Saga about the Dark Elf Drizzt Do'Urden. Its based in the Forgotten Realms universe, the same as the games Newerwinter Nights and Baldurs Gate and some other books aswell.
And well all I have to say is that its the best fantasy series I've ever read. They are just... super good, they are the best I ever read!!! I still got about two left and theres one book coming out about every 1-2 years and I think its been about 13-14 books released now.. and Its all been great, even the 3-4 spinoff books thats not even about Drizzt are great, even superb! (its about side characters that are very well introduced and have a connection with Drizzt himself.)
R.A Salvatore is the one whos writing these books and I am such a fan of his style of his explanations about everything. When I read those books I see in my mind everything that happens as if I was there myself as a spectator.
Oh just because of this Im gonna go afk and read some!! If you enjoy the drizzt Do'Urden books I would highly suggest reading the clerics quintet written by Salvatore. They are by far his best 5 books in a continuing series for forgotten realm based books.
Yeah I have thought about that, I think he wrote those before Drizzt ones right? I just randomly stumbled upon the Drizzt books and little did I know I stumbled upon a jewel so I dont know all about those but not the other stuff from Salvatore but I think he havent written Forgotten Realms based books?
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I'm always amazed in threads like these I never see the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, by Stephen Donaldson. The most moving, enthralling fantasy series I've come across.
Not really "true, high fantasy," in the richest sense, as the protagonist is an all-around terrible guy, the quintessential anti-hero. What I liked the most about it was how intimately the characters are intertwined with the plot. No occurrence is something that just "happens," each one has some far-reaching influence, at times as distant as three or four books. Part of Donaldson's belief that the fantasy genre's worlds reflect the protagonist.
And this is certainly true here: the plot is about a leper from our modern world, who's thrust into this rich, vibrant land, where he's got a power he isn't able to use because he's convinced himself so well that he's powerless, by fault of his leprosy. The whole of the series hinges on different paradoxes surrounding him, as he's relied on (despite his incapability and unwillingness) to protect the land from some brooding evil
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The covenant books are so damn depressing.
So incredibly depressing. I've been planning on rereading them since forever, at least the original two trilogies, but each time I remember how down it got me to get trough them the first time.
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On April 08 2011 12:20 strang wrote:
Sci-fi/fantasy fans should really, really check out Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. Amazing series of five books, easily some of the smartest and strangest fiction of any genre. It might not be for everyone, since it's pretty demanding and you need to read it very closely to get the most out of it, but it's very worth it. It's so deep that there are 2 or 3 published books of nothing but analysis of the series, and an active mailing list discussing the series that dates back to 1997.
I don't wanna overhype it too much but I really think sci-fi/fantasy people owe it to themselves to check it out.
Thank you, sir. In the last few recommendations threads I've seen, I've been the only one to ever mention Gene Wolfe, so seeing this only warms my heart. However, I will try to overhype it.
To quote Wikipedia:
Although not a best-selling author, Wolfe is highly regarded by critics and fellow writers, and considered by many to be one of the best living science fiction authors. Indeed, he has sometimes been called the best living American writer regardless of genre. Award-winning science fiction author Michael Swanwick has said: "Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today. Let me repeat that: Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today! I mean it. Shakespeare was a better stylist, Melville was more important to American letters, and Charles Dickens had a defter hand at creating characters. But among living writers, there is nobody who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning."
Among others, writers Neil Gaiman and Patrick O'Leary have credited Wolfe for inspiration. O'Leary has said: "Forget 'Speculative Fiction'. Gene Wolfe is the best writer alive. Period. And as Wolfe once said (in reference to Gaiman), 'All novels are fantasies. Some are more honest about it.' No comparison. Nobody – I mean nobody – comes close to what this artist does."
Wolfe is so vastly under-appreciated that someone like Asimov is overrated in comparison. His books are not just good sci-fi/fantasy, but important literature that requires diligence and multiple readings for full enjoyment.
But again, Wolfe isn't for everyone. It's not easy and fast-paced entertainment, and there is little direct action. You have to think hard and pay attention to every little detail in order to figure out what is going on. The narrators are usually not entirely reliable, and some of the most important events in the books often happen off-screen, forcing the reader to figure out what has happened based on little fragments of information given in dialog from characters who may or may not be truthful. The books are best suited for people who enjoy solving puzzles, and who don't mind reading a book two or three times.
If someone wants to give Wolfe a try, read The Best of Gene Wolfe if you like short stories, Peace if you want something close to mainstream literature, the Soldier series (Soldier of the Mist, Soldier of Arete and Soldier of Sidon) if you're interested in ancient history and mythology, The Book of the New Sun if you're a science fiction fan, and The Fifth Head of Cerberus if you're a science fiction fan without the time or patience to attack something as big as TBotNS. The Book of the New Sun is widely regarded as the best of them all, but it can also be very dense, confusing and frustrating for new readers.
To reiterate, in Neil Gaiman's advice on how to read Gene Wolfe, "Reread. It's better the second time. It will be even better the third time. And anyway, the books will subtly reshape themselves while you are away from them. Peace really was a gentle Midwestern memoir the first time I read it. It only became a horror novel on the second or the third reading."
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On April 08 2011 13:25 Deekin[ wrote:Show nested quote +On April 08 2011 13:18 BloodyC0bbler wrote:On April 08 2011 13:09 Deekin[ wrote:
I highly highly HIGHLY recommend the Saga about the Dark Elf Drizzt Do'Urden. Its based in the Forgotten Realms universe, the same as the games Newerwinter Nights and Baldurs Gate and some other books aswell.
And well all I have to say is that its the best fantasy series I've ever read. They are just... super good, they are the best I ever read!!! I still got about two left and theres one book coming out about every 1-2 years and I think its been about 13-14 books released now.. and Its all been great, even the 3-4 spinoff books thats not even about Drizzt are great, even superb! (its about side characters that are very well introduced and have a connection with Drizzt himself.)
R.A Salvatore is the one whos writing these books and I am such a fan of his style of his explanations about everything. When I read those books I see in my mind everything that happens as if I was there myself as a spectator.
Oh just because of this Im gonna go afk and read some!! If you enjoy the drizzt Do'Urden books I would highly suggest reading the clerics quintet written by Salvatore. They are by far his best 5 books in a continuing series for forgotten realm based books. Yeah I have thought about that, I think he wrote those before Drizzt ones right? I just randomly stumbled upon the Drizzt books and little did I know I stumbled upon a jewel so I dont know all about those but not the other stuff from Salvatore but I think he havent written Forgotten Realms based books?
R.A Salvatore began his career (or at least got well known for) writing novels based in the forgotten realms. His most famous characters are the ones you are familiar with from the drizzt series, however he is also well known for his other novels as well. The cleric quintet ( 5 books) are most likely his best works in the forgotten realms. If you have read the drizzt books / artemis entreri's books you will have heard of the priest Cadderly. The quintet is all about him. They show real growth of character and really are amazing novels. If you haven't read them and you like Salvatore you really should pick up these books.
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I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. I don't really know how to sell it; it's Zelazny. He's probably a major inspiration to every fantasy writer today and the Amber series is one of his greatest works. If you like fantasy and you haven't read him you're missing out.
The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson is a little hard to get into at first because the universe is so vast and complex and he kind of throws you in there without explaining anything. You need to get about halfway through the first book before you really get how awesome it is and by the time you're 3 books in you'll be convinced it's the best series ever. Best part is that he finally finished it so you don't have to wait before finding out what happens; there are also some books by Esslemont (the guy he created the universe with) that expand even further on the universe and give more detail on some of the other factions/characters in the "main" series.
A Song of Ice and Fire is really good, but I don't know if I'd recommend it to anybody before the series finishes because Martin doesn't look like he's ever going to finish it before he dies and it'll end up with a Jordan-esque scenario where they have to bring another writer in. I don't know how long the series is supposed to be but he's taking 4+ years between books at the moment and he's not a young guy.
The Sword of Truth series is alright if you're a younger reader, but when you read those books you realize that virtually half of every book is a summary of what happened in the previous books. It started pretty strong and dramatically dropped off by book 3 or 4.
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EPT
