Is "A Song of Ice and Fire" the best epic fantasy since "The Lord of the Rings"?

nikolai · Nov 11, 2004

A Song of Ice and Fire is very highly regarded on these boards, and elsewhere. I'd like to get a feel for how people think it compares with stuff published since The Lord of the Rings redefined the genre. There's obviously room for debate, if you don't think it is the best epic fantasy since The Lord of the Rings, what is? And what counts as epic fantasy?

Felonious Ntent · Nov 11, 2004

I think the best Epic fantasy series is Steven Erikson's Malazan Books of the Fallen.
This is hands down the best fantasy series out there.

CrusaderX · Nov 11, 2004

That depends. Was The Chronicles of Narnia published before or after Tolkien's work? If before, then yes, I think A Song of Ice and Fire is the best since The Lord of the Rings.

Sarigar · Nov 11, 2004

I voted yes based on the epic fantasy that I have read, which does not include many of the books I want to read and haven't which may be better. Most books out there I would not consider "epic" so they don't figure in here although they may be better books.

Fast Learner · Nov 11, 2004

I voted no because it's better than LotR in my view, so the logic becomes shaky when I try to answer "best since." That, and there's a ton of fantasy that I haven't read, including a lot of epic stuff... might have been more honest to simply not answer.

Desdichado · Nov 11, 2004

I'm not actually sure that SoFaI is epic in the same sense that LotR is either. Plus I've only read the first book so far.

EricNoah · Nov 11, 2004

It's really really good. The most satisfying fantasy I've read in years.

Crothian · Nov 11, 2004

No, its not the best. It seems like an okay series but there are many others I perfer over it.

Mystery Man · Nov 11, 2004

I voted no purely for subjectivity reasons. That, and while I love the books I still can't forgive him for writing the Beauty and the Beast series.

Ankh-Morpork Guard · Nov 11, 2004

Another no here. For some reason I just can't get into the books that much. It seems like the only Fantasy books I can read and enjoy have been LotR...well, and Discworld books, but I'm not sure those count in the same genre with LotR and SoFaI