The Bloody-Nine
Member
Tugs braid....
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Fantasy book series worth reading?
- Thread starter mid83
- Start date
AaronB
Member
Of things that I haven't seen recommended yet, I like the Warhammer Universe, my favorite being the Gotrek & Felix novels. The Warhammer universe is the setting for hundreds of books and dozens of video games because it really is that rich.
I think The Silmarillion is the greatest accomplishment of literature. Most people give up in the first 100 pages, which involve a lot of world-building, but if you have the patience I think it will be rewarded.
RedVIper
Banned
Typhares
Member
Here are my personal favorites, note that I only recommend finished series. I used to start unfinished stuff but never again.
- His Dark Materials
- The First Law trilogy
- Mistborn trilogy (I know it's in the OP but I still recommend to anyone else)
- Night Angel trilogy
- Realm of the elderlings (Farseer trilogy/Tawny Man trilogy mainly. I haven't read the new trilogy yet. Liveship traders was alright too.
- Belgariad/Malloreon (A pure fantasy classic!) (Elenium/Tamuli by the same author is also pretty good)
- Riftwar Saga and Empire Trilogy (another fantasy classic. You can carry on reading the authors follow up series but these two are the best imo)
I have a backlog a mile long too, these are supposed to be good but I haven't read yet:
- memory sorrow and thorn
- chronicles of amber
- Earthsea
- The riyria revelations
- Broken Empire Trilogy
I need to stop bying books until I finished what I have but I'm a sucker for nice hardback editions.
Anyone here has read the Wheel Of Time? It's so long I cannot decide if I want to give it a shot or not.
- His Dark Materials
- The First Law trilogy
- Mistborn trilogy (I know it's in the OP but I still recommend to anyone else)
- Night Angel trilogy
- Realm of the elderlings (Farseer trilogy/Tawny Man trilogy mainly. I haven't read the new trilogy yet. Liveship traders was alright too.
- Belgariad/Malloreon (A pure fantasy classic!) (Elenium/Tamuli by the same author is also pretty good)
- Riftwar Saga and Empire Trilogy (another fantasy classic. You can carry on reading the authors follow up series but these two are the best imo)
I have a backlog a mile long too, these are supposed to be good but I haven't read yet:
- memory sorrow and thorn
- chronicles of amber
- Earthsea
- The riyria revelations
- Broken Empire Trilogy
I need to stop bying books until I finished what I have but I'm a sucker for nice hardback editions.
Anyone here has read the Wheel Of Time? It's so long I cannot decide if I want to give it a shot or not.
The Bloody-Nine
Member
I have. I don't think it's worth it. Others will disagree.
Typhares
Member
I tend to stay away from series that are longer than 3-5 books in general. It's such a big investment and if it doesn't pay off I feel robbed. Same reason I have not read Malazan.
I used to read the sword of truth long ago and really liked it for a while but then quality dropped so I dropped it too.
I also read the Black Company, I didn't really like it for some reason but I stuck with it until the end and I regret it.
I don't mind authors that create multiple cycle in their own world though as long as each trilogy brings a conclusion I can choose to carry on.
dottme
Member
I haven’t finished it yet, but I like the Sword of Truth series. And it’s close to what the Game of Throne is.
en.wikipedia.org
The Sword of Truth - Wikipedia
Pagusas
Elden Member
Read -> Audible
I have a 2 hour commute everyday, yes reading = audible
RedVIper
Banned
I was mostly jesting, but you're really listening in that case though.
Pagusas
Elden Member
Oh I know. I use to read all the time, but work and home life make it almost impossible now, so audible while I’m driving has allowed me to keep up with my favorite authors and keep “reading”
Duellist
Member
So which series should I start with? Mistborn or stormlight?
michaelius
Banned
Witcher saga and all shorter novels
The Bloody-Nine
Member
Mistborn. Stormlight didn't do much for me. I'm not the biggest Sanderson fan, to be honest, but I did enjoy the first Mistborn trilogy, so I reckon that says something.
JareBear: Remastered
Banned
When I was young, I remember reading the Sword of Truth novels. I think I got through 4 of them. The last one I remember is the one with Richard carving the statue on the cover. I really liked them. Should pick them back up atr some point and see how it all ended.
Typhares
Member
Also the stormlight archive is nowhere near finished if you care about that.
JBat
Member
I really enjoy Sanderson. Mistborn is the more accessible of the two. He tends to put a lot to trust into his readers. He introduces terms and concepts with out much explanation but if you stick with it it makes sense. Also most of his stuff is connected in some way. So if you read multiple of his stories you can connect characters is fun ways
S
SLoWMoTIoN
Unconfirmed Member
The Faraway Paladin: Volume 1: The Boy in the City of the Dead - Kindle edition by Yanagino, Kanata, Rin, Kususaga, Rushton, James. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
The Faraway Paladin: Volume 1: The Boy in the City of the Dead - Kindle edition by Yanagino, Kanata, Rin, Kususaga, Rushton, James. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Faraway...
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JORMBO
Darkness no more
I read them when I was younger. I remember liking the first 4 or 5 a lot. After that they started getting a little preachy and the quality wasn't as good.
JBat
Member
always needs to take a piss at times like this
The first law trilogy was really good. Logan ninefingers is an awesome character. I haven't read the follow up yet. Is it just as good as the first 3 books?
The Bloody-Nine
Member
It's better.
Duellist
Member
Loved that series until the story took a shit and I stopped reading somewhere around faith of the fallen or pillars of creation.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson.
"
Thomas Covenant, an embittered and cynical writer, afflicted with leprosy and shunned by society, is fated to become the heroic savior of the Land, an alternate world. In ten novels, published between 1977 and 2013, he struggles against Lord Foul, "the Despiser", who intends to escape the bondage of the physical universe and wreak revenge upon his arch-enemy, "the Creator".
"
Thomas Covenant, an embittered and cynical writer, afflicted with leprosy and shunned by society, is fated to become the heroic savior of the Land, an alternate world. In ten novels, published between 1977 and 2013, he struggles against Lord Foul, "the Despiser", who intends to escape the bondage of the physical universe and wreak revenge upon his arch-enemy, "the Creator".
420bits
Member
Read it, was pretty good!
Now this i stand behind! I've never been much of a reader, my mind strays when I sit down and read a book but a few years ago I started to pickup audiobooks instead, because i do enjoy a good story.
I've listened to the first law (and the other books set in the same world) 3 times I think, it's sooooooo good!
I hope Amazon or some other network picks this shit up and turn it into a tv-series with the same budget as GoT.
The Bloody-Nine
Member
You may be pleased to know that Joe's newest book is scheduled for a September release, I believe.
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Torrent of Pork
Banned
I would like to submit 'The Guild of the Cowry Catchers' by Abigail Hilton. It's a part of her 'Panamindorah' universe. Set in the archipelago of Wefrivain it's a nautical-themed lowish-fantasy setting with the technology of the Golden Age of Sail in everything except the development of gunpowder. The characters are a mix of talking animals and creatures called 'shelts', human from the waist up and animal from the waist down; I promise this isn't furry fiction though.
Here is a picture of two of the main characters for an example of what I'm talking about.
It was initially broken up into 5 books, but the entire series is available on Audible for 1 credit. It's also full-cast with music and sound effects, the two characters you saw are voiced by Norm Sherman of the Drabblecast podcast, and author Nathan Lowel of the 'Golden Age of the Solar Clipper' series respectively.
Notice, Hilton's first Panamindorah series is young-adult friendly, this is not. There are graphic scenes of torture, violence, suicide attempts; and implied scenes of genocide, child sexual slavery, and what we would consider canibalism is rather normalized. There is also a homosexual relationship that develops between two of the characters deep into the book that stays PG-13 until the 5th book, where a single chapter gets pretty damned hard R.
I invite anybody interested to check it out. It's a 40+ hour book with amazing characters and character-building.
Here is a picture of two of the main characters for an example of what I'm talking about.
It was initially broken up into 5 books, but the entire series is available on Audible for 1 credit. It's also full-cast with music and sound effects, the two characters you saw are voiced by Norm Sherman of the Drabblecast podcast, and author Nathan Lowel of the 'Golden Age of the Solar Clipper' series respectively.
Notice, Hilton's first Panamindorah series is young-adult friendly, this is not. There are graphic scenes of torture, violence, suicide attempts; and implied scenes of genocide, child sexual slavery, and what we would consider canibalism is rather normalized. There is also a homosexual relationship that develops between two of the characters deep into the book that stays PG-13 until the 5th book, where a single chapter gets pretty damned hard R.
I invite anybody interested to check it out. It's a 40+ hour book with amazing characters and character-building.
daveonezero
Banned
Came to post and find the name of this series.
They were definitely inspired by Moorcock when it comes to Arthas and Elric. Moorcock is a big influence on the modern fantasy genre. DnD's Drow is based off of the Melniboneans, as are the Dark Elves of Warhammer Fantasy and 40k. Warhammer's Chaos is lifted directly from Moorcock(right down to the eight point arrow star thing). Heck in Game of Thrones Joffery asks what his new sword should get named, and someone shouts Stormbringer, and the Valyrians are just straight up inspired by the Melniboneans
Malazan I think should come with a huge caveat.
The author is big on world building, but characters are not his strong point - main reason I could not get into his books.
There is a new series - The Gates of the World by K.M. McKinley - steampunk-ish fantasy. So far some intricate world building _and_ some fascinating characters.
Tyrants and Kings by John Marco I thought was good.
Heck, from translated Japanese light novels Spice and Wolf is a great series. The protagonist is a travelling merchant and the author really did his homework on medieval life, mentality and how the little people live. Also some free economics 101 lessons.
The author is big on world building, but characters are not his strong point - main reason I could not get into his books.
There is a new series - The Gates of the World by K.M. McKinley - steampunk-ish fantasy. So far some intricate world building _and_ some fascinating characters.
Tyrants and Kings by John Marco I thought was good.
Heck, from translated Japanese light novels Spice and Wolf is a great series. The protagonist is a travelling merchant and the author really did his homework on medieval life, mentality and how the little people live. Also some free economics 101 lessons.
Irobot82
Member
One of my favorite series. Tad Williams writes so well I feel like I can see the story and the words turn into images as I read his work.
One nice thing about reading Malazan now is that there are nice forums that go book by book and can answer all your questions. A resource that would have REALLY helped back when I was reading them as they were published
Duellist
Member
Memory, sorrow and thorn by tad William's is awesome read that first lol
Typhares
Member
No promises that it's the next thing I'll read but it got bumped up the list
Yugrio1212
Member
Harry Potter?!?
Hudo
Member
Oh wow. I didn't realize that he had influence on DnD's Drow and the Dark Elves of Warhammer. I always thought that Moorcock was this underrated author that always stood in the shadows of the big names. That's pretty cool that his writings have influenced some important franchises!
He's the fantasy author every modern author has read. He may not be a household name, but his influence is strong.