Looking for suggestions for good fantasy series to read

[Steel_Wind]

As much as I like the Malazan books, I would skip them if you don't really enjoy reading George R R Martin. Compared to Martin, the Malazan books are even more, well just more.

I don't believe the comparison to Martin for Erikson is valid. His series is a deliberate homage to Glen Cook - not GRR Martin, in my view.

More of Glen Cook bad-assness meets Goodkind (for the "fat fiction" elements).

 

[YourSwordIsMine]

Game of Thrones for some people takes until about 120 to 150 or so pages to get "good" - apart from the prologue and first chapter.

But once it does take off - it never looks back. The series is entirely worth that pain - so push through and you will be well rewarded.

hehe I think I actually stopped around 100 pages... it was just moving... slowly... I'll try to give it another go soon.

Thanks all for the recommendations. Alot to choose from now.

 

[Jubilee]

Michelle West's Sun Sword series. You could start with Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death. Several characters in the later series refer to events in the Hunter books, but it's not completely necessary.

Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon - I've only read the first so far (waiting for the library on the 2nd), but it was really entertaining. Napoleonic War Era - with Dragons! How cool is that?

I just finished the Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold and I'm halfway through the next book, Paladin of Souls. The third is the Harrowing Hunt and I'm looking forward to listenning to that, too. I think it's well worth a read, even if it isn't quite the length of a series you're looking for.

There's one more Brust Book in the same setting as the Vlad Taltos books - Brokedown Palace - a bit strange, occasionally silly, but thoroughly enjoyable. It's set in the East, with no Dragaerans in sight.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

I'm going to be the dissenting voice here and tell you to skip Martin's books. Some call the "plot" intricate and complex. I don't agree. His prose is also trite and bland. The books do have some good things going for them. The world is wonderfully detailed. If Mr. Martin were my DM and I his player, I'd be in love. However, he seems more interested in showcasing his fantasy creation than any one particular story within. And long after he has killed off or discarded the more interesting characters and plot lines, the books continue.

That's the way I see them, anyway. Obviously, a lot of people really like the stuff. Even I did at one point. I thought A Game of Thrones was fantastic, but it's all downhill from there.

It is not everyone's cup of tea, but I highly recommend Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. Not exactly traditional fantasy (take a spaghetti western, add a fantasy world with demons, dimensional traveling, and sprinkle liberally with lovecraftian themes and Stephen King's own unique mythology.) The books have changed my expectations of what fantasy, novels, and even stories in general should be.

 

[Steel_Wind]

I'm going to be the dissenting voice here and tell you to skip Martin's books. Some call the "plot" intricate and complex. I don't agree. His prose is also trite and bland. The books do have some good things going for them. The world is wonderfully detailed. If Mr. Martin were my DM and I his player, I'd be in love. However, he seems more interested in showcasing his fantasy creation than any one particular story within. And long after he has killed off or discarded the more interesting characters and plot lines, the books continue.

That's the way I see them, anyway. Obviously, a lot of people really like the stuff. Even I did at one point. I thought A Game of Thrones was fantastic, but it's all downhill from there.

Clearly, I disagree. Moreover, the high point of the series so far has been the third novel, A Storm of Swords.

The author has been described by Time Magazine as "the American Tolkien" and HBO has optioned the series for treatment as an ongoing miniserues a la Rome/Sopranos. Discounting Harry Potter, which is a special case, ASoiaF remains the most popular fantasy series on the market in terms of sales and redership. It has crossed over to the mainstream fiction readers in ways that traditional epic fantasy has not.

While it has its detractors, they are relatively few compared to its fans.

The only real complaint about the series is that GRRM is taking too long to write it - and financial success - which was solidified with A Storm of Swords - seems to have reduced his sense of urgency in terms of writing.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

The author has been described by Time Magazine as "the American Tolkien."

I don't suppose Time posted that article on their website anywhere? I'm going to take a look, but if you have a link that'd save me some time. I'm actually very curious as to why they think so.

It has crossed over to the mainstream fiction readers in ways that traditional epic fantasy has not.

Why do you say this? Certainly, the fact that Time said anything at all is something, but what else is this statement based on? I try and stay abreast of goings-on in the publishing world, and I'm not really getting that from the trade journals, nor my friends who enjoy reading. He has sold well. So have R.A. Salvatore and Kevin J. Anderson. That is not an accurate gage of anything except how well the books have sold.

While it has its detractors, they are relatively few compared to its fans.

I am not sure what to take from that. Are my statements less valid because there are more people who like him than those who don't? I'm not trying to start an argument about the subjectivity of art (or any argument at all, for that matter) as I'm sure you're already aware of that, but obviously there are two sides to every coin, and I was offering another.

The OP did say he tried the first book and had some trouble with it because it seemed kind of slow. Expanding on that, the books get longer, the plots meander more, and if you're looking at it from that opinion, they indeed get slower.

And I'll leave it at that, because I don't want to derail this perfectly good "what books should I read" thread into a back-and-forth about GRRM.

 

[kicktothehead]

I HIGHLY recommend James Clemens God Slayer Chronicles.

There are 2 books right now, he is working on the 3rd from what I have read.
They are solid stories. I read both books in about 3 days. I could not stop reading them.

It's basically about a disgraced knight who gets blessed by a dying god to be able to slay evil gods, demons,etc.

The first one is called Shadowfall and the second is Hinterland.

B

 

[Hijinks]

Kate Elliots' Crown of Stars is pretty epic. It begins in The King's Dragon and continues in Prince of Dogs Her newer series Crossroads starts in Spirit Gate and is also a good read.

I picked up the first book in that series based on a thread very much like this one, here. But I only got through about 50 pages or so. I thought it was very slow and it didn't grab my interest.

 

[Steel_Wind]

I don't suppose Time posted that article on their website anywhere? I'm going to take a look, but if you have a link that'd save me some time. I'm actually very curious as to why they think so.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1129596,00.html

The crossover to mainstream is noted in the full Time article, the NY Times review of Feast for Crows and of course, its #1 spot on the NY Times bestseller list. No mean feat for a Xmas release.

You will also note the redesign of the US covers in the latest printing are not at all like traditional fantasy art covers. This is for the reason that they are intended to be sold to non-genre fans.

 

[YourSwordIsMine]

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1129596,00.html

The crossover to mainstream is noted in the full Time article, the NY Times review of Feast for Crows and of course, its #1 spot on the NY Times bestseller list. No mean feat for a Xmas release.

You will also note the redesign of the US covers in the latrst printing are not at all like traditibnal fantasy art covers. This is for the reason that they are intended to be sold to non-genre fans.

I dont know if I would go that far... Those are pretty big shoes to fill... Yes, I've only read the first 100 pages or so of "A Game of Thrones" but unless it gets hellabetter I wouldnt call him the American Tolkien...

I've read the "Silmarillion" 3 times... I never had a problem reading it. I couldnt get through the first 100 pages of A Game of Thrones... I'll probably pick it up and try again.... but still... I was having problems with it to begin with... It was like reading a bad S.C.A. fan-fic... I never got that feeling from any of Tolkiens works.

my two copper pieces.