Recommend me books like SoIaF

[Wombat]

Personally, I'd recommend either Tigana or The Lions of al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. Very thoughtful, very low magic, very adult/serious, very emotional. I really loved 'em!

 

[Zaukrie]

Any book by Guy Gavriel Kay . They are very, very well written, with little or no magic. They do not take place in worlds like SoFaI, however. However, if you like compelling characters, good stories, intelligent dialogue and characaters, I can't recommend his books strongly enough.

 

[replicant2]

Wonderful suggestion. It did not come to mind for me right away, but I'm glad you thought of it.

Have you read Pressfield's other historical fiction? What did you think?

I thought it might be a good suggestion based on the description of the stories he was looking for. Gates of Fire isn't fantasy but it may as well be, seeing as its based on an event some 2,500 years ago, populated by characters that are mostly speculation. As you know its quite serious, mature, and violent, and it's a standalone book.

I have also read Tides of War and thought it was also excellent. Not as good as Gates, as it lacked the tight focus and I also found the main character, Alcibiades, to be annoying at times. But definitely also a very worthwhile read. I never realized the Athenians were involved in such a disastrous campaign as they were in Sicily.

 

[Dagger75]

If it means anything I tried Garden of the Moon and didn't really like it. Same with Assassins Apprentice. I am a pretty picky reader though.

I may try that "The Darkeness that comes before" That sounds interesting.

 

[Pants]

How is the Prince of Nothing? I've seen it in the stores, but didn't pick it up. Same with The Darkness that Comes Before.

Banshee

So far... I love it, but I've only read the first book so far. Hopefully I'll get 'The Warrior Prophet' for my birthday later this month.

I don't want to spoil anything, but Kelhus makes for a fascinating character, even if I'm always hoping that someone will get the better of him. He's not likable, but his charm and charisma oozes off the pages of the book at points. Pretty laudable.

Only bad thing I can say about the book, some of the characters are little whiny and the book doesn't really end, it just stops. It's really just a set-up for the next one, but it's a very intriguing set-up nonetheless.

The Darkness that Comes Before is the first book in the Prince of Nothing series.
The Warrior Prophet is the second book and The Thousandfold Thought is the third, though it hasn't been published yet.

 

[Pozatronic]

Another Vote for R. Scott Bakker and his Prince Of Nothing series. I'd put it right next to Martins SOFAI series....maybe a notch above? Maybe. I think it's a bit more brutal then Martins books, actually. Besides Akka, there's not one character I can say I actually LIKE, although they're all incredably interesting: The manipulative Anasurimbor Kellhus; Cnauir "The most violent of all men"; Drusus Achamian..."Akka"...poor,poor Akka.


Warning...the first book took me about two hundred pages before I got into it. I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters. If you find it a bit dry, keep plunging through it. It gets better. And then Warrior Prophet hits....and it keeps on hitting. Great stuff, better then the first. Bakkers pacing is amazing.


I'll also second the motion for Guy Gavrial Kay. Absolutly nothing like Bakker and Martin, but great in his own right...although his trilogy is a bit too fantastical. His first stand alone "Tigana" is one of my favorite novels.

 

[takyris]

Not sure where the hate for the third book of the Farseer trilogy comes from. It worked for me, but then, I'm not terribly critical.

In terms of books that are similar to certain parts of Martin's books...

Robin Hobb: Her Assassin books (the Farseer trilogy) could be read as an alternate possibility for someone like Jon Snow. Lots of good angst. Her Liveship books, which some people like and some people hate, are good at having a lot of plots with different people in different places, and then tying them back in together well. It's less swashbuckling or gritty action and more political maneuvering, occasional adventuring, and a bit of fantasy-romance to add to the complexity. And the Tawny Man trilogy does a good job, in my opinion, of continuing the Assassin books -- and often answering some of the weaker points of the earlier books.

Gregory Keyes: The Briar King has horrific monsters returning from centuries of rest and an interesting world that has just enough clues floating around for the reader to know that the heroes are going to be facing some nasty stuff. Personally, the fact that most of the bad stuff was rotting, rancid, poisonous, nauseating, and disease-ridden got old for me after awhile, but I'd definitely recommend it. There's also some political maneuvering, although after Martin, it read a bit simplistically.

Matthew Stover: He's the guy who wrote the novelization for Revenge of the Sith, and he has some fantasy novels out if you can find them in bookstores. I haven't read him personally -- he's a bit grittier than I like, and it didn't have the witty banter I wanted to make up for the grit -- but he's a fantasy writer who isn't afraid of the F-word in his fiction, like Martin.

 

[ShrinkyLink]

Errrr....


Erikson is pretty high magic and he's shooting for a 10 book series at the moment. While I think he's great, his Malazan series nothing like aSoIaF.

I was thinking more about the battle scenes in comparison with things like Wheel of Time. I found Erikson very adult--not as perhaps as brutal as Martin, but within shouting distance.

As for Baker--he lives a few blocks from me here in London, btw (sorry for the geek shoutout). Haven't read his book yet, but it's in the house.

 

[Thanee]

While quite different, if you havn't read it, you might want to try Zelazny's Amber Chronicles.

Bye
Thanee

 

[danbuter]

Try David Gemmell. I really liked Legend, White Wolf, and Ironhand's Daughter.
Glenn Cook. The Black Company trilogy.