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[Seductivpancakes]

Gaf, I'm trying to find some new fantasy novels to read. Fantasy stories to me involve sword and sorcery, and does not have to be set in a medical fantasy.

I've read all the A song of ice and fire books, excluding the stories of Dunk and Egg. (Which I will have to get to). I've enjoyed the series so far, particularly the first three books.

I read The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Return of the King, and The Hobbit. While I think the world Tolkien created is awesome, I thought the story itself was okay.

I'm including Harry Potter cause technically there was a sword to go with the magic. I enjoyed the series.

I tried to get into The Wheel of Time, but I couldn't make it pass the first book. I might give it another try.

I am currently reading Gotrek and Felix: Giant Slayer. I love me some Gotrek and Felix, but I want to expand outside of the Warhammer universe.

It's not a lot of notches under my belt, but this is from what I can remember. I am open to suggestions.

 

[nortonff]

The Name of The Wind is pretty great, although I've read only the first one.

Edit: It's actually called The Kingkiller Chronicle.

 

[lt519]

Robin Hobb has some really fun ones that I enjoyed. Trilogies too so you won't be going balls deep into a 20 book Wheel of Time saga.

Liveship Traders is really good but can spoil the ending to the Assassin's Apprentice trilogy.

Not hugely deep on lore like a Lord of the Rings. But very fun.

Coincidentally Assassin's Apprentice is $1.99 on Kindle right now.

 

[Spanx McFranks]

The Dark Tower series.

 

[Kaladin]

If I may recommend the works of Brandon Sanderson :

His epic fantasy series is called Stormlight Archives:

Though a great starting point is with another fantasy called Mistborn :

 

[Seductivpancakes]

The Dark Tower series.

I've only read some of the comics and I was kind of lost. I'll give the first book a try.

 

[Spanx McFranks]

I've only read some of the comics and I was kind of lost. I'll give the first book a try.

The comics are terrible. I absolutely love the books, but I can't finish more than the 1st trade of the comics.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Malazan book of the Fallen, even if hard to get into and the first book being the weak link, is extremely rewarding as the characters and battle scenes are a blast to read.

As a kid of course it was Harry of the Potter

 

[HStallion]

Anything by China Mieville though some of his works could be considered sci fi however he has everything from weird fiction from the Bas Lag series to modern day fantasy with Kraken and The City & The City.

Also for the edge, the Bible ;D

 

[tariniel]

Mistborn Trilogy
Robin Hobb's Elderlings books, I think there's 4 or 5 trilogies. I've read 3 of the trilogies and they're fantastic.
Dresden Files
The Broken Empire Trilogy (dark and violent, but great)
The Malazan Book of the Fallen (a tougher read than the rest but is amazing)
Kingkiller Chronicle
Stormlight Archive

 

[studyguy]

Been a big fan of Brent Week's Lightbrininger series.

Brandon Sanderson's entire catalog is fun, if a little YAish when it comes to his Mistborn stuff, but the worldbuilding and magic systems are great. Really enjoying his Way of Kings series a lot.

Rothfruss as someone else mentioned has Kingskiller Chronicles going (Name of the Wind, etc).

I like Hobb, but her books she puts her characters through so much suffering it gets depressing.


Most recently I read through The Grace of Kings (Dandelion Dynasty #1) by Ken Liu. It's fantasy but not in the average western style. Ken Liu puts it out closer to something like Romance of the Three Kingdoms where tactics are heavily discussed, tax codes and far more nitty gritty along with mythology and dynastic relationships. I really enjoyed it as it was a huge jump from the average western fantasy but still carried some of the same tropes. Sadly by his twitter it seems like he's going through some writer's block which bums me out.

 

[Tacitus_]

Can't really choose which of Terry Pratchett's books I like the most. The man was a genius.

 

[super-famicom]

Check out Gene Wolfe. I've been enjoying what I've read of his Book of the New Sun series (I'm a third of the way into the second book right now).

 

[Haly]

.

 

[Narag]

Faves of mine that immediately spring to mind:
The Last Unicorn
LotR
The Hobbit
Her Majesty's Dragon
Dragonbane

 

[nortonff]

If you feel like reading a "Harry Potter book for adults" theres Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

I love the original saga of Elric of Melnibone.

They're all super quick reads (seriously I think the average page size across the original 6 books is like 170) but they just have such an awesome atmosphere.

Plus Elric is one of the most interesting characters in fantasy writing.

 

[Ensoul]

My all time favorite fantasy series,

http://www.crydee.com/raymond-feist/reading-order/chronological

 

[womp]

This trilogy right here. Read them when they came out in mid 80's and still my favorite go to fantasy novels.

 

[WolfeTone]

I've read all the A song of ice and fire books, excluding the stories of Dunk and Egg. (Which I will have to get to). I've enjoyed the series so far, particularly the first three books.

I read The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Return of the King, and The Hobbit. While I think the world Tolkien created is awesome, I thought the story itself was okay.


I tried to get into The Wheel of Time, but I couldn't make it pass the first book. I might give it another try.

The appeal of Tolkien to me is purely in the world-building, the main plot and characters of Lord of the Rings are a bit thin. Of all the fantasy I've read, no one has come close to reaching the depth of lore that Tolkien created for Middle-Earth. I'd highly recommend you read The Silmarillion if you're at all interested in world-building. It honestly feels similar to Greek and Norse mythology at times, which I guess makes sense given Tolkien was inspired by Beowulf.

Wheel of Time is a bit tedious especially in the middle. I'd argue that the first 4 books are excellent, 5, 6 and 7 are good but not great, 8-11 are awful and the final 3 books, written by Sanderson instead of Jordan are good, about equal to books 5-7 but not reaching the heights of the first couple of books. I enjoyed the books, but would hesitate to recommend them given the large time investment needed. To be honest, reading WoT has put me off fantasy for a couple of years, though I would like to get back into it.

I'm considering picking up the Mistborn series given that it seems to avoid a lot of the tedium associated with fantasy (too many books, long waits between releases). Would I be right in saying the first 3 novels are relatively self-contained and provide a satisfying conclusion?

Kingkiller Chronicles also comes highly recommended but I'm hesitant to get into a series that isn't finished. Is the upcoming book supposed to end the series?

 

[adj_noun]

I'm a sucker for David Eddings' Belgariad and Mallorean series. Picked 'em up as a young teen and never looked back.

 

[Kaladin]

I'm considering picking up the Mistborn series given that it seems to avoid a lot of the tedium associated with fantasy (too many books, long waits between releases). Would I be right in saying the first 3 novels are relatively self-contained and provide a satisfying conclusion?

Yes. The first trilogy tells a complete story. Mistborn novels after the first trilogy pick up the same world 300 years later. Once stories from that period are complete he will move forward again.

 

[davidcotton]

Terry Brooks Shannara Series (though start with the second Elfstones).

 

[Aiii]

If I may recommend the works of Brandon Sanderson :

His epic fantasy series is called Stormlight Archives:

Though a great starting point is with another fantasy called Mistborn :

Seriously OP, you'll love these.

 

[studyguy]

If you feel like reading a "Harry Potter book for adults" theres Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

If you feel like reading Harry Potter for narcissistic assholes you can read The Magicians.

Spoiler

I kid, Grossman does a wonderful job of breathing life into his characters, its a total love letter to fantasy but he actively makes his characters huge cunts. It's like watching a slow trainwreck, you can't help but look at the destruction caused.

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

"You can never have too many knives" - Logen Ninefingers

 

[Hellshadow]

This trilogy right here. Read them when they came out in mid 80's and still my favorite go to fantasy novels.

This and read the Legends trilogy afterward. Also the Deathgate Cycle by weis and hickman as well.

 

[studyguy]

"You can never have too many knives" - Logen Ninefingers

The First Law trilogy is fucking amazing.
Short and sweet. Forgot about Ambercrombie.
If you're strapped for time and like gritty low fantasy, this is awesome too.

 

[darscot]

This trilogy right here. Read them when they came out in mid 80's and still my favorite go to fantasy novels.

Loved these as a kid, enjoyed the Twins trilogy even more. They are kinda the popcorn movie version of the genre but I still love them.

 

[WolfeTone]

Yes. The first trilogy tells a complete story. Mistborn novels after the first trilogy pick up the same world 300 years later. Once stories from that period are complete he will move forward again.

Cool, thanks for the advice. A buddy of mine got into Sanderson after the last few Wheel of Time books and recommended Mistborn due to how well constructed the magic system is. Seems like an odd thing to get hyped for in a book but I'm excited to give it a shot.

The last fantasy book I read was Magician by Feist. I remember enjoying the book for the most part if it was a little tedious in places. I looked up the series to see what to read next and was turned off by the seemingly endless number of sequels and spin offs. Made it hard to want to get invested in it.

 

[Seductivpancakes]

Since the Kingkiller Trilogy is recommended several times, I'll give that a read next.

This trilogy right here. Read them when they came out in mid 80's and still my favorite go to fantasy novels.

Yes. I was thinking about this. I've only known some of the story from the comics, but growing up, Larry Elmore and his Dragonlance art as well as his other art, was what I always imagined when I thought "fantasy".

The appeal of Tolkien to me is purely in the world-building, the main plot and characters of Lord of the Rings are a bit thin. Of all the fantasy I've read, no one has come close to reaching the depth of lore that Tolkien created for Middle-Earth. I'd highly recommend you read The Silmarillion if you're at all interested in world-building. It honestly feels similar to Greek and Norse mythology at times, which I guess makes sense given Tolkien was inspired by Beowulf.

Yea the world he built is what stuck with me the most out of his work. The depth of his lore is mind boggling. I think his work influenced Warhammer.

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

The First Law trilogy is fucking amazing.
Short and sweet. Forgot about Ambercrombie.
If you're strapped for time and like gritty low fantasy, this is awesome too.

There's also three other standalone novels and a short story collection in that universe for anyone who feels like going more in depth. I prefer that way to the 9 volume epic.

Apparently he's working on a second trilogy now though.

 

[studyguy]

Cool, thanks for the advice. A buddy of mine got into Sanderson after the last few Wheel of Time books and recommended Mistborn due to how well constructed the magic system is. Seems like an odd thing to get hyped for in a book but I'm excited to give it a shot.

The last fantasy book I read was Magician by Feist. I remember enjoying the book for the most part if it was a little tedious in places. I looked up the series to see what to read next and was turned off by the seemingly endless number of sequels and spin offs. Made it hard to want to get invested in it.

All of Sanderson's books that link to his whole Cosmere (think a comic book style link between different universes/stories) have in depth magic systems that run on similar concepts. If you go deep into Sanderson you're basically going to be looking for hints that link all his worlds together. We have a thread of it here on GAF.

 

[Lothar]

Try Dark Tower. Like ASOIAF, there are complicated and interesting characters. The protagonists are not just purely good. You won't know how to feel about them at times. Stephen King is very good at writing dialogue between characters and creating tension. (Unfortunately not good at writing endings so the last few books are not nearly as good as the first four) it's like Lord of the Rings with guns. Or Good, the Bad, and the Ugly with magic. It's a really cool and fun mix.

 

[Kite]

Fantasy + Oceans Eleven heists

 

[Mossybrew]

Malazan book of the Fallen

Malazan is my favorite. It's long, dense, expects the reader's full attention, but it's by far the most Epic fantasy series I've ever read.

 

[Pagusas]

The Name of The Wind is pretty great, although I've read only the first one.

Edit: It's actually called The Kingkiller Chronicle.

Currently 65 chapters into this (first book) I can confirm it is pretty good. Drags in the beginning to me, but makes up for it in the middle.

 

[LSauchelli]

Dresden Files is perhaps a little bit different to the type of book you are looking for (Since it's more Gund & Sorcery than Sword & Sorcery), but it's extremely fun to read and there are a ton of novels out there.

 

[studyguy]

Fantasy + Oceans Eleven heists

Lol the fact that I won't have to wait half a decade to read the next book makes me happy. Love Lynch but the guy left us in limbo forever.

 

[Sylas]

The Dagger and Coin series by Daniel Abraham is really good if you're down with a mix of political shit and fantasy elements. I devoured the series in about 2 weeks and I adored all of the characters and the different "races" of humanity.

 

[Kieli]

I want to recommend the Black Company. I have the trilogy, but have only read the first book.

The premise is that you follow a group of hired mercs hired by the "big bad" to help fight against the "good" in this world. What got me interested was that another gaffer mentioned in his pitch that these mercs, while battle-hardened, were in over their heads as to what they are facing (e.g. demons, occult, etc...). Really cool!

 

[besada]

Lots of people are going to post things written in the last ten to twenty years, and much of that stuff is great, but all of it draws from the noted classics in the genre. So I'm going to list some of those, along with my thoughts on why you should read them.

1: Conan by Robert E Howard. Stretched across twenty some-odd short stories, Robert E Howard creates the iconic hero of Sword and Sorcery, Conan the Barbarian. Like Tolkien, people have been ripping him off every since. You'd be hard pressed to find a modern fantasy writer who wasn't either influenced by him or by those he influenced. The central thrust of Conan is that civilization is weak, corrupt, and bad, and that it's spread across the world is hemming in the wild men of the world. Lots of fighting, fucking, and monsters.

2: Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber. It begins as an on the nose response to Conan's central argument against the value of civilization, but becomes so much more. Fafhrd is a barbarian from the north, the son of a tribal witch. Gray Mouser is a hedge wizard turned thief, a creature of the city. Together they commit crimes, save damsels, and get involved in dark doings, but always have each other's backs. They spend a good deal of time in Lankhmar, a fantasy city so well drawn that only Mieville has competed with New Crobuzon, but they also roam far and wide, often driven to quests by their mentors, who are strange and mysterious wizards, often at cross purposes.

3. Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. The world you live in is nothing but a shadow of the true world, Amber. And the kings and queens and princes and princesses of Amber are playing chess with our lives, in a grand game against each other for ultimate power. Full of strange magic, betrayal, and family squabbles, the series is a fantasy classic.

4. The Black Company by Glenn Cook. If you ever wondered what it was like to be an infantryman in a war against godlike magical creatures bent on owning the world, and you wondered why everyone is so clean and heroic in fantasy novels, then Black Company is for you. It gets down and dirty, as the men of Black Company fight and die for causes they barely understand.

5. Earthsea Trilogy (or Sextology?) by Ursula K. LeGuin. Is there a modern fantasy author that was deeply influenced by these books as a young person? If so, I've never heard of them. LeGuin creates a world of magic and consequences so beautiful you'll want to stay there. One of the best known and well loved coming of age fantasy stories, it's the sort of series that you keep in your heart forever. The three books cover three different stories set in the same world, where knowing the name of a thing gives you immense power, but all power comes with profound consequence.

 

[pashmilla]

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, book one of the Inheritance Trilogy (nothing to do with the Inheritance Cycle, thank christ) by N. K. Jemisin, has an amazing female protagonist, political backstabbery, awesome mythology and some pretty sweet worldbuilding. Would definitely recommend it.

On the other end of the spectrum, I'll nominate the Riyria Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan, which is a cheesy yet awesome pulpy fantasy romp. It's completely dumb, but very fun to read.

 

[CharminUltra]

Conan The Barbarian is pretty great. Also Elric.

Edit: Also love me some Xanth, although you might find some of the content objectionable. Fun series if you can look past that.

 

[DeviantBoi]

There are better fantasy books out there, but there will always be a special place in my heart for Raymond E. Feist:

 

[Pau]

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
I haven't reread The Farthest Shore since I first read it in middle school but I'm sure if I did it would be added to the list. Le Guin just writes fantasy that feels like a lost old legend or folklore. She's good at everything: world building, prose, characters, magic systems, breaking my heart, etc. One of the things I love about her is how compassionate she is towards humanity.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld
Favorites: Small Gods, Night Watch, Thud, A Hat Full of Sky, The Hogfather
Sir Terry changed my life. It wasn't until I read his books that I found someone who had similar morals. His books start off as just being funny but rather simple fantasy satire where everything is in service of the joke. Once he gets into his stride though, his novels become about people and all the good and bad they can do. Still incredibly funny, but now beautiful and heartbreaking as well. Like Le Guin, Sir Terry has so much compassion for people even in really shitty situations.

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
A beautiful fairytale. Deals with loss and change so well.

 

[Kite]

3. Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. The world you live in is nothing but a shadow of the true world, Amber. And the kings and queens and princes and princesses of Amber are playing chess with our lives, in a grand game against each other for ultimate power. Full of strange magic, betrayal, and family squabbles, the series is a fantasy classic.

+1

 

[Huw_Dawson]

The Elenium by David Eddings is my personal favourite book series, but Discworld is by far my favourite setting.

Oh, and I'd also recommend Redwall, along with a few other books in the Redwall series (Salamandastron, for example).

 

[Qasiel]

The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist is my go to Fantasy trilogy. Magician is the book that rekindled my love for the genre and is by far the strongest of the 3 books, but Silverthorn and A Darkness At Sethanon were also good to read.

As someone above me pointed out there's a load of spin-offs and other books involving new main characters who interact with the main characters from Riftwar, but if you'r enot hooked you won't be missing out on too much (although I did enjoy the Conclave Of Shadows trilogy).

Edit: DeviantBoi, you're good people.

 

[JonnyDBrit]

I'll admit my depth of knowledge and experience with proper fantasy novels is somewhat limited, but a recent favourite of mine is The Throne of the Crescent Moon, by Saladin Ahmed. I wouldn't necessarily call it astonishing or amazing, but its got a different flavour to it due to a sort of... pan-Islamic influence I would say? Like, its very much modelled after the regions that were either directly under or heavily influenced by Islamic powers - North Africa, the Middle East, and India especially - so admittedly some foreknowledge of regional history and culture (including as far back as ancient Egypt) goes a long way with helping the experience. But the actual scale of the story isn't too big, and it made for a fun listen - I bought the audio CDs.