Looking for suggestions for good fantasy series to read

[Steel_Wind]

... It was like reading a bad S.C.A. fan-fic...

Now you are just trolling. There are several critical things a person can credibly say about GRRM, but coming off as "bad SCA fan-fic" is not one of them.

 

[YourSwordIsMine]

Now you are just trolling. There are several critical things a person can credibly say about GRRM, but coming off as "bad SCA fan-fic" is not one of them.

uhm... ok... I was just stating my initial feelings when I was reading the book the first time. How does this make me a troll? I'm really confused by your response.

 

[drothgery]

uhm... ok... I was just stating my initial feelings when I was reading the book the first time. How does this make me a troll? I'm really confused by your response.

It's really okay not like the Song of Ice and Fire books. Seriously. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Stories where anyone even remotely heroic dies horrible, screaming death are not fun.

 

[trancejeremy]

It's really okay not like the Song of Ice and Fire books. Seriously. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Stories where anyone even remotely heroic dies horrible, screaming death are not fun.

It's not so much the plot of the books, IMHO, but his writing style, which is too heavy, I think. Reminds me of Russian literature, like War and Peace. (Now I think about it, it is a lot like War and Peace). I can see why some people like it, but it's not easy reading.

 

[BadMojo]

It's really okay not like the Song of Ice and Fire books. Seriously. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Stories where anyone even remotely heroic dies horrible, screaming death are not fun.

It's not? For the record, I'm pretty sure just as many "bad guys" were killed off as heroic characters throughout the books so far.

I think the prose is good, but not great. I'd still highly recommend it to any of my friends with the caveat that if they are looking for high fantasy, these probably aren't the right books for you.

 

[Zaukrie]

Ok, first, Guy Gavriel Kay does not meet your defintion, but he's the best fantasy writer out there. If you are willing to read books with less magic, go for his.

For high fantasy (I have no idea what you've read):

Coldfire Trilogy by CS Friedman
Deed of Paaksanarion by Moon
Dragonlance (not necessarily great writing, but good story)
Magician series by Feist
Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow & Thorn Series


Non-high fantasy:
Glen Cook - The Black Company
Dune by Herbert
Thomas Covenant Books (let the flames begin!)
A Song of Fire and Ice *may never be completed - great read, but I wouldn't start it unless I knew it would finish*
Julian Mays Plistocene Epic (Not sure if that is the title, but it is combo fantasy/sci-fi)
Brust's books are very light and entertaining
The Golden Compass Books - much more adult in theme than you'd expect from their bookstore placement
Elric by Moorcock (not sure, I haven't read in years)

 

[Remus Lupin]

There are a lot of very valid reasons not to like GRRM. The explicit sex and incest alone would make reading them an impossibility for my wife, with whom I can't even TALK about the books without being subject to moral scrutiny!

On the other hand, once you've gotten invested in these characters over several THOUSAND pages, what they go through, even "horrible screaming death" is quite affecting. The red wedding left me shaken for days afterward, even though I had read spoilers and knew what was about to happen. That was extraordinarily good writing.

I agree with the Tolstoy comparison as well, which is not necessarily a bad thing at all. But, like Tolstoy, it requires a serious investment of time and willpower. It's not a light weekend read.

I remember being about 12, and seeing my uncle carrying around a copy of "Shogun," and wondering to myself how anyone could read a book that huge. Now I know, since I've read 4 of them by GRRM alone!

 

[amethal]

Dune by Herbert

Great book, but its science fiction, not fantasy. Granted the "scientific" explanations are very much in the background, or sometimes don't make it into the book (and are only in Frank Herbert's papers).

Thomas Covenant Books (let the flames begin!)

I like the first three, but not the second trilogy. Lots of people hate them.

Julian Mays Plistocene Epic (Not sure if that is the title, but it is combo fantasy/sci-fi)

Saga of the Exiles

 

[Atlatl Jones]

Ok, first, Guy Gavriel Kay does not meet your defintion, but he's the best fantasy writer out there. If you are willing to read books with less magic, go for his.

I definitely agree, and his Fionavar Tapestry probably does meet the OP's definition. It's epic fantasy, and has a fair amount of magic in it. Much more than Lord of the Rings, anyway. I'm just finishing it now, and it's blown me away. The first book (of 3) is called The Summer Tree.

I agree with the Tolstoy comparison as well, which is not necessarily a bad thing at all. But, like Tolstoy, it requires a serious investment of time and willpower. It's not a light weekend read.

You aren't kidding! Last I checked, A Song of Ice and Fire is already longer than War and Peace, and there are three more books yet. By the time it's finished, you would need to combine War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Les Miserables, and Moby Dick to equal its size.

 

[Jubilee]

It's really okay not like the Song of Ice and Fire books. Seriously. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Stories where anyone even remotely heroic everyone dies horrible (occasionally inexplicable), screaming (often pointless) deaths are not fun.

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