Suggest some books

[Shalimar]

With summer coming on I now have more free time than I really want since I've finished out all the books in my pile. I am looking for a new series or two of books to get into. Any suggestions people have would be great.

Here is a list of the series of books that I like and have managed to stay in my library despite quite a few purges:

Mercedes Thompson
Codex Alera<O</O
Dresden Files (probably my favorite series)
STARFIST<O</O
Belgariad/Mallorean<O</O
Anita Blake Vampire Slayer (Prior to going porn)
Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood)<O</O
Wheel of Time<O</O
Vampire Earth<O</O
Dragon Riders of Pern<O</O
Twilight<O</O
Vatta's War<O</O
Harry Potter<O</O
Dirigent Marine Corps<O</O
Dies The Fire Series<O</O
Island on the Sea of Time Series<O</O
Dragonlance
Shadowrun<O</O
Battletech<O</O
Star Wars Novels

 

[Thanee]

Have you read the Song of Ice and Fire (series not finished, yet, though)? It's pretty gritty, but a very good read.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Shalimar]

I read the first book, but stopped around three quarters of the way through because of the grittyness of it. Thanks for the suggestion though its in the type of book I'm interested in, just looking for something less...blood thirsty.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (don't look up spoilers on the internet before reading)

Jhereg by Steve Brust (sort of a detective story set in a cool fantasy setting)

DS

 

[Shalimar]

Jhereg sounds good, I'll write that one down, its currently sold in a 3-1 collection of the first three books, so that should definitely give me a bit to read. Thanks for the tip.

 

[drothgery]

Jhereg sounds good, I'll write that one down, its currently sold in a 3-1 collection of the first three books, so that should definitely give me a bit to read. Thanks for the tip.

And don't give up on the series when Teckla is depressing. The rest of the series isn't. If you liked Dumas (or want really light-hearted in a classic stlye), pick up the Khaavren romances as well the Jhereg books (same world, set somewhat earlier, basically retelling The Three Musketeers and its follow-ons in Drageara)

Other recommendations

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (especially if you're planning on picking up on the Wheel of Time again this fall, it's probably worth reading something of Sanderson's)

Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey

the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold (which mixes a lot of genres with sci-fi)

 

[Shalimar]

I liked Mistborn, but not really enough to pick up the follow up books of the trilogy, but I definitely am going to finish out Wheel of Time, I've spent too much time in the series not to do it.

My step-mother has said good things about vorkosigan, I'll see if I can't borrow the first couple from her.

 

[PaulKemp]

Based on what you've listed here, I think Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar series would be something you'd enjoy. If you wanted to go old school, I suspect you'd also enjoy Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories, and probably Moorcock's Elric series, too.

 

[Rackhir]

David Webber has a number of rollicking good SF space opera books.

His Honor Harrington books are basically Horatio Hornblower in Space.
The Dahak (Empire) series is a lot of fun too.
The first two books in his fantasy Series (Oath of Swords and War God's Own) are great fantasies.

You might like David Drake/Eric Flint's "The Dance of Time" series about the Eastern Roman Empire general Belisarius caught in a time war.

Glen Cook's Black Company are great fantasy novels (though the last 2-3 books fall off somewhat).
You'll almost certainly like his Garret Novels (the original hard boiled detective in a fantasy city).

Two more big thumbs up for the Miles Vorkosigan (You might like Bujold's Chalion Fantasy series as well) and the Jhereg books (though they fall off a lot in the later books).

 

[drothgery]

Two more big thumbs up for the Miles Vorkosigan (You might like Bujold's Chalion Fantasy series as well) and the Jhereg books (though they fall off a lot in the later books).

I'd say it's more of a lull in the middle. Dragon, Issolla, and Dzur are among the strongest in the series (Jheggala, not so much, but it's still way ahead of Teckla or Phoenix). Teckla being a case study in why you should not try to write light-hearted fantasy while going through a divorce.