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General discussion (archive)Fantasy Books!(135 posts)(135 posts)
(135 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted July 16, 2014
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SilensPoetae: If you are looking for something more serious, I would recommend The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski.
It's very strange to see this mentioned only once here *lol*.
Posted July 16, 2014
Good Omens is a good Urban Fantasy book. It's written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

There's the Narnia series, which is a classic.

Does H.P Lovecraft count :D?
Posted July 16, 2014
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SilensPoetae: If you are looking for something more serious, I would recommend The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski.
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Klumpen0815: It's very strange to see this mentioned only once here *lol*.
Not exactly a book you would find at your local library or bookshop (never seen or heard of it til the first game came out) :D
Posted July 16, 2014
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Hardrada: I think all of these have already been mentioned but these are my top six fantasy authors.
Joe Abercrombie
Jim Butcher
Steven Erikson
J.V. Jones
George R.R. Martin
Patrick Rothfuss
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Ragnarblackmane: See...I agree with 1, 5, and 6 but am struggling to get through the Malazan books. Only on Deadhouse Gates and it just hasn't grabbed me. I actually liked the characters from the first book more but I was told/read that the story really picks up in two. I know it's a 'slow-burn' series but maybe I'm just not in the right headspace for the series.
I would agree they are not the easiest books to get into, and they are not for everyone. If you liked the characters in the first book more, they are the focus in the third book which takes place at the same time as the second book so there is no reason you could not read that one first.
Posted July 16, 2014
Lorna Freeman - Borderlands Series
Posted July 16, 2014
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F1ach: Its based on irish/celtic mythology, with some interesting takes on the races and characters. But does have a distinct scifi flavour :)
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Getcomposted: That's because it's based in her science fiction world along with her other books, just six million years in the past. The people are still metapsychics, but exiled from their own time, hence the title.
If you enjoy it, I do recommend you read the other books by her as they chronicle the rise of the Galactic Milieu and the metapsychics.
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Ragnarblackmane: 1. Based on some of your other recommendations I will keep that name in mind, thanks.

2. Don't forget Moorish Spain/The Reconquista (The Lions of Al-Rassan). I've asked other GKK fans this so I'll ask you:What would you recommend first to someone who really enjoyed the above book?

3. Ah Ash! Unfortunately I've only been able to find the first book around these parts, and I loved it but moved on to others in my "to-read" list. I should really read the rest, the story was just getting grand.
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Getcomposted: 1. Definitely do! A really good read.
2. I would suggest either The Fionvar Tapestry for people who are more into heroic fantasy or Tigana for having all it all, but in one book!
3. Again, try to get hold of it as it gets even better, and everything is tied up so well at the end it might as well have a pretty red bow on it. When you put the book down, you're left with a sense of satisfaction that comes from having read a great story.
Have all her stuff inc. Trillium, great author :)
Posted July 16, 2014
Currently I have the following fantasy books sitting on my shelf, all of them has already been mentioned tho:

Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth series
Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time series
Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn
Brent Weeks - Night Angel Trilogy
Andrzej Sapkowski - The Witcher (of course :) )

Two confessions:
All of these book (except the Witcher) are from a 2nd hand fantasy bookstore. It's cheaper this way :)
But because of this I don't always have the full series, and whenever a book I don't have but want appeares there I get an e-mail message about it, and I rush there to buy it asap. It helps a lot that I live 5 mins from the bookstore :P

I've never read (nor watched) the Lord of the Rings, and the Game of Thrones, nor I'm planning to do so.....
Post edited July 16, 2014 by MadyNora
Posted July 16, 2014
I personally like the Silmarillion (from Tolkien) more than the Lord of the Rings.
Posted July 16, 2014
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Coelocanth: And yes, Leiber is an absolute must read if you're a fantasy fan.
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Wishbone: Also if you're a science fiction fan I'd say.
I especially recommend The Big Time from him in that genre.

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CthuluIsSpy: Does H.P Lovecraft count :D?
I'd say The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath and Through the Gates of the Silver Key certainly qualify as fantasy, and arguments could be made for other works too (such as The Doom That Came To Sarnath).
Post edited July 16, 2014 by IAmSinistar
Posted July 16, 2014
I agree with a lot of what's been posted here and happy to see such good recommendations. However I'm a bit sad that no one but me mentioned Harry Turtledove. His early work about Gerin the Fox and the many volumes about Videssos have given me many hours of enjoyable reading. Check him out.
Posted July 16, 2014
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IAmSinistar: An interesting read is Andre Norton's Quag Keep. It is a D&D adventure told as a novel. You have to read it to really get what that means.
I believe it was actually the first novel written based on the game, which back then was often referred to as a "wargame".

And then "Return to Quag Keep", but I haven't read it yet.
Posted July 16, 2014
Read plenty of the older novels mentioned back when i was young.....looking for them on booksites.. yikes... some of them are still around 20 bucks brand new...
Are Brent Weeks & Brandon Sanderson ( he who's ebooks cant be bought via Story Bundle in Australia cause of previous distribution rights) the most recent authors with good *stuff* in their books? (I have Weeks Night Angel Trilogy and its pretty good... eyeing the Black Prism one).
Posted July 16, 2014
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Niggles: Read plenty of the older novels mentioned back when i was young.....looking for them on booksites.. yikes... some of them are still around 20 bucks brand new...
Are Brent Weeks & Brandon Sanderson ( he who's ebooks cant be bought via Story Bundle in Australia cause of previous distribution rights) the most recent authors with good *stuff* in their books? (I have Weeks Night Angel Trilogy and its pretty good... eyeing the Black Prism one).
The Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks is an excellent read (It's not finished yet, two books left to come with one of them coming out this year in the fall)

The Stormlight archive by Sanderson is his best series to date IMO (It's not finished either, only two books written out of possibly ten)
Posted July 17, 2014
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gooberking: It's kind of steam punk style fantasy, but there is Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century books, of which I have only read the first, but the rest are on my "one day" list. It has zombies of sorts.
I was rereading this thread and saw Cherie Priest's mention. I just finished reading her contribution to the new Rogues anthology co-edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Doizos, and have to say it was a great little Southern Gothic yarn. The title is Heavy Metal, which had nothing to do with the music genre but rather with the plot of the story.

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Ragnarblackmane: See...I agree with 1, 5, and 6 but am struggling to get through the Malazan books. Only on Deadhouse Gates and it just hasn't grabbed me. I actually liked the characters from the first book more but I was told/read that the story really picks up in two. I know it's a 'slow-burn' series but maybe I'm just not in the right headspace for the series.
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Hardrada: I would agree they are not the easiest books to get into, and they are not for everyone. If you liked the characters in the first book more, they are the focus in the third book which takes place at the same time as the second book so there is no reason you could not read that one first.
I'd been told that too but I'm over halfway through book 2 and might as well finish it at this point. Part of the issue is scope; I love the worldbuilding and deep history that Erickson has created, I just wish there were sourcebooks and novels,something more like a fictional textbook for the world. Given the man's educational background that doesn't even seem too far-fetched.

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Cbob60: Try Ursula K. Leguin's Earthsea Trilogy...one of the best. Her science fiction is pretty amazing too.
Seconded, particularly her novels The Dispossessed and The Word for World is Forest.

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Ragnarblackmane: I've asked other GKK fans this so I'll ask you:What would you recommend first to someone who really enjoyed the above book?
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Coelocanth: Honestly, if you like Lions you'll probably like all of his other works. They're all based on actual periods of history or cultures and all are very well written. The exception to this is his original trilogy (The Fionavar Tapestry), which is high fantasy a la Tolkien. But it's also extremely well written and more than worth looking at.

A brief run-down of his others:

A Song for Arbonne: Medieavl Provence type setting.
Tigana: Medieval Italian type setting.
The Sarantine Mosaic (2 book series): Later Roman setting (Constantinople)
Last Light of the Sun: Vikings
Ysabel: Modern setting, but deals with Druidic type references and linked to the Fionavar Tapestry.
Under Heaven and River of Stars: 12th century China analogue
Mmm...now the difficult choice of choosing where next to go with GGK.Also, all of you fans of his might find this essay interesting, I certainly did:
Home and Away:Historical fantasy versus historical fiction

Does anyone else ever start playing a game based on a certain historical period or fantasy/SF world and then read books of a similar context or, if possible, based in the setting, or vice versa? I'm fairly sure someone already mentioned reading Feist after playing Betrayal at Krondor and that's certainly when I discovered him, buying the original game and loving the story then rushing out to buy or borrow the books.Obviously there's a connection to sf/fantasy games and gamers but I'm looking for more direct correlations.

For instance while playing King of Dragon Pass I was inspired to reread part of the Icelandic Sagas, and starting a second re-watch of the HBO series Rome is one reason I paid $.99 cents for Praetorians on the dread Steam.
Post edited July 17, 2014 by Ragnarblackmane
Posted July 18, 2014
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adaliabooks: Robin Hobb - The Farseer Trilogy (and the second Farseer one which I can't remember what it's called) is excellent. Liveship books are good but a tough read, I'd recommend reading the other two first. The Rain Wild Chronicles are also great, and she's got a new series about to come out. I wasn't keen on the Soldier Son trilogy.
I liked all of her books, but it took me a while to get into the Soldier Son books. The first one I just didn't really like until the end. But the others are better.
I've picked up the Rain Wild Series a couple times, but I just can not get into it. Does it get beyond the dragons swimming and breeding anytime soon? Maybe I need to skip a few chapters to enjoy it?
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This is my favourite topic
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General discussion (archive)Fantasy Books!(135 posts)(135 posts)
(135 posts)