Fantasy Novels / series

[Nafter]

Im a big fan of fantasy novels, swords n sorcery, dungeons and dragons type, im sure you know what i mean and ive read a lot of fantasy novel series (is it called a series? it sounds wrong, a set of novels about the same person/world anyway )

And im looking for some recommendations for some good ones, ive read several including
Sword of Truth
Dragonlance
LoTR (obviously heh)
The Wheel of Time
Eragon
Shaniana series ( i know ive killed the title completely on that one but ill know it if i see it heh )
many others i cant pull off the top of my head right now
In this type of novel i like to have a lot of magic/weaponplay/fighting heroes and all that id prefer it had a few books as i read a lot and fast and finishing a series is always disapointting as the books only come out every few years.

Anyway to cut to the chase anyone got some good fantasy novel/series recommendations? Feel free to discuss the ones i mentioned also

[Pellaz]

The Dragon Prince series by Melanie Rawn
The Magic of Recluse novels by LE Modesitte Jr
The Sword-Dancer series by Jennifer Roberson
The W'itch series by James Clemens
Coldfire Trilogy by CS Friedman
Kushiel's series by Jacquelin Carey

[Dustallica]

As a fan of Fantasy novels you OWE it to yourself to read:
The Dark Elf Trilogy
and
The Icewind Dale Trilogy
By R.A. Salvatore

Both are centered around the dark elf Drizz't Do'Urden and are by far my favorite fantasy series...the only thing that really gives them any competition is the Sword of Truth series.

Go. Read. Now.

[Gjefflin]

Definitely..DEFINITELY...get the "Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind as well as the Shannara series by Terry Brooks. My favorite two series of all time and I'm a HUGE fantasy nut.

[Gjefflin]

OH! And I forgot the Witch Series by James Clemens. Also a good series but not as good as the other two I mentioned.

[twotimesadingo]

Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin.

Also, as Pellaz recommended, The Magic of Recluse is good, too.

[Baldrick]

One of my favorites is the Battle Circle Trilogy by Piers Anthony. Such a great book!

[Pellaz]

Originally posted by Baldrick
One of my favorites is the Battle Circle Trilogy by Piers Anthony. Such a great book!

Agreed-if anyone ever sees a copy of this, they should immediately grab and slowly make their way to the register while securing ground and eliminating anyone who comes within 5 feet of you. (it's a bit of a pain to find, usualy)

[HeAtHeN]

Sword of Truth is the best series I've ever read. I've also read books 1-9 of The Wheel of Time, but am very bored of them now.

I'm reading the Sharpe novels right now Give them a try.

[micah67]

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever
by Stephen R. Donaldson

and of course, The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

And later this year comes The Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

[thencrow]

I would recomend

Janny Wurts The Wars of Light and Shadow

• Curse of the Mistwraith (Book 1)
• Ships of Merior (Book 2)
• Warhost of Vastmark (Book 3)
• Fugitive Prince (Book 4)
• Grand Conspiracy (Book 5)
• Peril's Gate (Book 6)

[carrot glace]

*quickly writes everything down*
i dunno, but the xanth series is pretty good with me although i kinda fell out of it after 9 books

[Pellaz]

Originally posted by carrot glace
*quickly writes everything down*
i dunno, but the xanth series is pretty good with me although i kinda fell out of it after 9 books

If you like Xanth you might try the Myth series, Grunts, and the Discworld books...all comedic fantasy, only without the puns.

[carrot glace]

Originally posted by Pellaz
If you like Xanth you might try the Myth series, Grunts, and the Discworld books...all comedic fantasy, only without the puns.

thanks i'll check them out
*more writing*

[almostaugust]

Originally posted by twotimesadingo
Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin.

Also, as Pellaz recommended, The Magic of Recluse is good, too.

Yep, Martin is definately a worthwhile read. Its the best Fantasy ive read in a few years. Um, that is if you can put up with the dwarf porn factor.

[Tempboy]

WoT owns all.

But if Jordan doesn't start tying up some loose ends in the next book or two.. I'm going to be very disappointed.

[Tophat665]

Another accolade for the Song of Ice and Fire Series. I am an avid consumer of epic fantasy, and this one blows everything else away for veritas, savvy, writing, and character development. I was absolutely floored by how very good it is. I read the proof galley first book, "A Game of Thrones" in one sitting, all thousand and some-odd pages. It's that good.

And, as for the "Dwarf Porn Factor" , I agree, he's a bit overboard there, but Tyrion Lannister may be my single favorite character in the whole series, definitely my favorite after Eddard Stark. Certainly one of the best developed characters in all of fantasy literature.

Some others that are within a whit of this quality - Glenn Cook's "Black Company" series. What if the good guys get tricked into working for the bad guys? This one is gritty without being as, shall we say, salacious as the Sword of Truth. Fantastic stuff, there's a ton of it (maybe a dozen books), it is, to all appearences, complete, and there is nothing else like it.

Tad William's "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" series is also incredibly well thought out and writtened. He's disciplined himself almost perfectly to bring the plot to a close in three books (the last one was long enough that the paperback is two volumes). As with many epic fantasys, the cultures are reminiscent of historical cultures - Celts, Romans, Britons, and Steppe Nomads, but his elf analogs are like nothing else. At the end of the books, you are hungry for more, but not so much as to be grossly frustrated by the incredibly slim likelihood that there will ever be a follow on. (It just feels like a one shot.)

Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos (pronouce TAL-tosh) series, revolving around a human assassin in a world of elf like critters is one of the best written series out there, and novel in it's theme and presentation (the books are in good storytelling, rather than chronological order). It's like a collaboration between Ray Chandler and Roger Zelazney.

Tolkien is a bit better than Jordan, I think. And Jordan a bit better than Goodkind. The first couple of Dave Drake's Lord of the Isles books are entertaining, but he has fallen ito a formula that will prevent me from spending more money on them.

Ray Feist's Riftwar and Serpent War books are excellent light reading, as is the related series he wrote with Janey Wurtz. They came from, basically, the minutes of a D&D Campaign he used to run. Far darker are Barbara Hambly's "Time of the Dark" books, but of the same general quality.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Michael Moorcock in any discussion of epic fantasy. The Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon , and Erekose series are right in Genre. I have to class them as brain candy. They aren't incredibly well written, but neither are they badly written, and they are sort of the other side of the fantasy tradition from Tolkien, more pulpy than literary. If Martin is Tolkien's heir in this, then Goodkind is Moorcock's. Fritz Lieber's Fahfard and Grey Mouser Series (Swords of "X") is another of the type, but even more down to earth and pulp feeling than Moorcock. If I haven't given their quality a ringing endorsement, please do not take that ans damning with faint praise. I strongly urge that you read this to gain a better appreciation of the genre, as these are two of the first fully developed epic fantasies, and have influenced all the others. Yeah, it's like listening to Robert Johnson to appreciate Eric Clapton, but that's worth it too. I have never ready Robert Howard's Conan books, but they are on the short list, and they too fall into the historical context reading worth doing category.

Stephen R Donaldson may be the single worst writer ever. His prose is absolutely wretched. For a chapter, everything will be "ineffable", the "incohate". then "Turgid", "Trucluent", and "Steadfast" in their turns, one a chapter. I am waxing hyperbolic, but I really can't stress enough how truly awful his style is. However, with that said, his ideas make the nearly painfully bad writing at least endurable, and sometimes can make one forget what dreck it is. Thomas Covenant is as uniquely conceived a series of books as have ever been written. The Novella "Daughter of Regals" though is even better.

Finally, the lighter side: Grunts is a beautiful satire of the conventions of heroic fantasy. Terry Pratchett is the Monty Python of epic Fantasy. "Small Gods" is consistently one of my top 5 favorite books, and "The Colour of Magic" is equally good, if not so meaningful to me. They are witty to the n-th degree, and often have me laughing out loud. They are to Tolkien and Robert Howard what "The Life of Brian" is to the Bible, and a jolly good read.

[minusthesoul]

Dark Tower by Stephen King and Paul Kearny's Monarchies of Gods I would add. Others already mentioned that I agree with are GRRM's song of ice and fire; Tad William's memory, sorrow and thorn; Fritz Lieber Swordsman series and Glen Cook's Black Company books.

[Date the Banana]

Put me down for another vote on GRRM's Song of Ice and Fire, that one blew the doors off of everything I'd read before, and I wanna shout from the rooftops how good Steven Erikson's Malazan book of the Fallen is. So far we've got five books, I think it's projected to go for at least a couple more, and my god can that man think up some good characters. You owe yourself to track it down. They're long, well written, and best of all, because they have just recently been released in the US you do not have to wait 5 years for them to be released, as some had to do.

[Fire]

another vote for Glen cook's Black Company

and for Vlad taltos by brust

[Skifter2]

Another one for Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin.

Everything by Robin Hobb:

Farseer Trilogy
Liveship Traders Trilogy
The Tawny Man Trilogy

[LaughingCow]

My favorite is definately Katharine Kerr's Deverry series.
11 books in it so far with 2 more coming to end the series.

Sadly not the most widely known books though, mostly
because the first book in it has some incest during the begining, but if you look past that it's a really good read.

[Mehoni]

The Mordant's Need-series by Stephen Donaldson

(and of course, Covenant by the same author)

[Hat]

Originally posted by twotimesadingo
Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin.

This is all you need. Pretty much every other fantasy book is complete trash relative to this. I mean really, read this and then try and understand how the hell authors like Feist get such praise. It boggles the mind.

[MahlerIsGod]

In my humble opioion you could save yourself weeks of utterly dry, boring and inane reading by skipping Memory, Sorrow, Thorn. Terrible. Good premise, terrible and awful writing. For example,

"He is crawling in the dirt......crawling....crawling......crawling......yet more crawling........wait, is he still crawling in the dirt, yes.......crawling," ad infinitum. That repetitive stuff can go on and on for pages and pages. Terrible writing in my opinion and incredibly anti-climatic. You spend your time reading 1200 pages and the climax takes a paragraph. I cringe at the thought of those books.

I would agree with most of the other suggestions listed here but I would avoid Williams at any cost. P.S. Try Gaiman's American Gods. Not technically fantasy but one of best books I have ever read. Period.

[diergray]

The Belgariad and Malloreon series by David Eddings.
Another vote for Steven Brust

[Arc101]

Ray Feist's Riftwar series is very good.
Terry Prachett Guards & Witches series are some of the best books around.
The Belgariad by David Eddings well worth a read.

Avoid
Tad Williams & Robert Jordan. Jordans first few books in the Wheel of Time are bloody brilliant, BUT it goes down hill very fast. Someone needs get this guy a good editor , as books 4 onwards should be half the length.

[Nafter]

Hi been away for a while, thanks for the suggestions gonna get a copy of song of fire and ice sounds good.

Are there any books centering on a wizard like person in training building up to a powerful hero type? i have a soft spot for those types of novel

[Pellaz]

There's the classic Earthsea trilogy that fits that bill, if you haven't read it, you should. First boot is The Wizard of Earthsea.

Most LE Moddesitt Jr books follow that pattern.

-----

I don't want to stir up a hornets nest, but with all the praise it's gotten in this thread, I'd just like to interject a pretty 'meh' feeling to the Song of Fire and Ice (although I do agree that the first book is brilliant).

[bltzkriegmcanon]

The 5th Age Saga of Dragonlance by Jean Rabe is the most godawful shit series in the entire universe. I can say with no ego that you could not read that series of books and still be in good shape for the storyline. Over 1200 pages of shit, and nothing fuckin' happens in the storyline, other than some of the grungiest shit you will ever read in a fantasy novel. Such as pages and pages about some craptacular dragon who "basks in the sun" or how a character gets lit up with about 20 arrows only has a "dull ache" in the recieving area. It's crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. I hate those three books, and the follow-up Dhamon Saga. Do yourselves a big favor and not read these books. Any of them.

[FoolThemAll]

Another vote for Stephen King's Dark Tower Series.

[Kadath]

For people suggesting the Black Company books, what about the ones beyond the first trilogy? I've looked at them on bookstore shelves, but I've always been afraid, because I loved the first three so much and I'm afraid the rest will just feel like he's dragging it out for money. Weis and Hickman's Death Gate Cycle is good for the first four books. If you're going to read the Drizzt books you could try the Cleric Quintet he did, it was okay. The Drizzt stuff is incredibly lightweight, but fun, assuming you don't read the books too closely together, because he's kind of run out of ideas at this point and recycles a bit.

[Arc101]

Someone mentioned the Earthsea trilogy. I think they are great, I've read them quite a few times. By the way, the author wrote a 4th book, which I think was a big mistake.

[Allgrave]

Another vote for the Taltos and Discworld series.

I'm currently reading (and enjoying) the Timura trilogy by Allan Cole.

[MahlerIsGod]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Katherine Kurtz's Deryni series. They are a personal favorite of mine from early adulthood. Might worth checking out.

[Rubyee]

I love Eragon! I got it a few months ago on a bargian table at Borders and picked it up last week. It was so easy and fun to read, and you really got involved with the characters. I can't wait until the next book comes out next August (2005). I mean it, I really can't wait- I am going to have to contact the writer and tell him to hurry it up!

On a serious note, have you read about the author in the back of the book- he was only 15 when he started writing it!

The only other fantasy books I have read are the Narnia Chronicles, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, including the Hobbit. I may have to pick up some more, though, seeing as how well Eragon went over with me. I promised my boyfriend that I would read some of his- should I start out with the Dark Elf trilogy, or something else by the same author?

[Kadath]

Well, if you're going to read Salvatore, you should really read the Icewind Dale trilogy first. Even though the Dark Elf trilogy is first chronologically, Salvatore wrote ID first, and it's a real step down to go from DE to ID (which is not to say he's some kind of literary genius later on, but still). Or you could steer clear of Drizzt and just read the Cleric Quintet.

[tokaok]

RedWall sure its juvenille by i have font memories of reading this series. the descriptions of the food at the various feast made my mouth water.

[Johnny Rotten]

I also came away from Memory, Sorrow and Thorn disappointed. It had some great moments and great pacing througout, but the climax was, by comparison, underwhelming and over way too quickly. Then it wrapped up with a soothing epilogue that, for me, drained whatever impact the climax had.

I read and loved LotR when I was in junior high, which means everything after gives diminishing returns. Terry Brooks, for example, used too much backfill in the Shannara books and ground the narrative to a halt so that Allanon could hit us over the head with the history of the world, for pages and pages. Then the Nazgu--excuse me, the Skullbearers arrive, and we're off until Al's next Story Time. That said, I thought the second Scions of Shannara book was great. A very affecting story.

Then I headed over to Wheel of Time, which would have been a powerful trilogy in its original format. I left midway through the ~150 page prologue of Fires of Heaven and haven't looked back. I don't know what it is that keeps people coming back for the next installment. I can stand a woman's eyes turning into blue chips of ice only so many times .

So I've held back from Goodkind and Martin because I'm afraid of coming down with Jordanitis again. If anything, I will not touch either series until the whole thing is on the shelf.

In the long run, there are only so many iterations you can make on the Tolkien model, which is what the overwhelming majority of my fantasy reading material has been. Granted, I may just be looking to relive the Tolkien experience, but the other problem is that too many authors are trying to rewrite it.

[theFatMan]

David Drake's 'Lord of the Isles' series is top-notch. Similar to the Wheel of Time series, only with much more interesting and heroic characters.

Jim Butcher's 'Dresden Files' is a very good urban fantasy series.

Anything by David Gemmell. The man writes books about heroes who are real heroes. I recommend him to everyone.