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OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Hello friends,
I'm currently working my way through the last books of the Malazan series. Reading reaper's gale and expecting the next books in the series to get published (toll the hounds, dust of dreams and the crippled god). BTW, has any of the last books been published already? Anyway, the thing is I'd really like to hear your recommendation where to go from here?- What books or series are worth picking up? I'm esp. interested in such books that are readily available at the book stores bookshelves. BTW, I picked up the malazan series at the time after reading a recommendation in this very forum so I know ppl here have good, or should I say similar to mine own, taste in books :) Thanks in advanced! |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
"Toll the Hounds" is in paperback in the US. "Dust of Dreams" might be in hardcover in the UK, but I'm not sure (UK gets them first).
There was another massive thread about a year ago on this topic that is well worth searching for. I'm also looking forward to hearing people's current opinions. Here it is (wow...make that 2.5 years ago): http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=34325 |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Fantasy is so vast and you want single recommendations? Huh, tough one.
My favourite fantasy is "The Amber Chronicles" by Roger Zelazny, try that one. Terry Pratchett is also great, surely different. From Glen Cook I liked Chronicles of Dread Empire more than Black Company. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Well, I prefer sci-fi but the few fantasy books I read regularily (from one author that is, not the same books over and over) is Terry Pratchett. I'd suggest you try them out if you want something with a, well, sounds like a cliché, deeper meaning that you have to think of. Though they are fine as mindless entertainment too.
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
I can only reinforce to read Terry Pratchett if you never did that before. The only bad thing about his books is that you grow accustomed to his style after a while.
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Dust Of Dreams is indeed out in hardback UK, I've read it.
If you like Erikson, his work is probably heavily influenced by Glenn Cook, so look that up. Similarly gritty stuff, try R Scott Bakker (Prince of Nothing series), Tom Lloyd (The Twilight Reign series). |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
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I absolutely loved "The Amber Chronicles" -read it like 15 years ago and recently bought the paper back full compilation for a re-read some time soon. Could never relate to Terry Pratchett. I heard so much about Glen Cook and his Chronicles of Dread Empire. I would love to read the series but have never seen it in actual book stores. Not in Israel and neither in the states. Is it only available for online buy? |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
WraithLord:
I am buying my books from Amazon, if I want them in English. Well, didn't have to order internationally yet, but pricing did not seem to be huge [sure, you can probably find them cheaper in your language at some local store or on ebay etc]. "A Cruel Wind" is a tome of 3 books from Dread Empire, they are supposed to be the best. I have to buy remaining ones. I also have that 1,2k pages one-tome edition of Amber Chronicles :) Waiting for some global internet shortage :P Terry Pratchett should be easy to get everywhere [but I'd suggest again reading it in English], he is really popular. Start with the first 2 tomes. And after it anythign with Rincewind is great :D But yeah, they get a bit similar in style. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
The Black Company - Cook. Simply amazing. Best since Donaldson/Tolkien
The Knight - Wolf. Bone Doll Twin - Disturbing. Stephen Weeks Assassin series. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
I'll second the Prince of Nothing series by Bakker. A very interesting read, if a bit wordy.
Brandon Sanderson is suprisingly good... his plot-, character- and world-developement have exceeded my expectations repeatedly. I found the Mistborn series to be particularly enjoyable. My STRONGEST recommendation, however, is for Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind. Absolute top-notch character developement and writing/storytelling. I have not enjoyed reading this much in more than a decade. In fact, it's the only book I've intentionally reread since Terry Goodkind's Stone of Tears. Speaking of unintentional re-reads... C.S. Friedman is doing a new series that was worth re-reading, even if I thought I was buying a new book at the time. :D |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
"A song of ice and fire" series if you haven't read them already. Best fantasy books I've read so far. Can't wait for the fifth one:)
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
The Bible is a good fantasy book.
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Incidentally, Homer and other greek sagas are a great read, yes.
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
I finally had to put down the Black Company about 100 pages in - just couldn't get into it. It was a little too kooky. I am reading Ian Esslemont's Malazan book now and its just barely okay - pales compared to Erikson. I am a big George Martin fan so that would be my next move if you haven't read his series - I think its real..and spectacular.
Following that I'd say Tad Williams Dragonbone Chair and the rest in the series. My all-time favorite is in the sci-fi/cyberpunk genre and its William Gibson's early stuff - Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive up to probably Virtual Light. Lot of cool ideas that are nearly prophetic. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
I'd recommend:
George RR Marin (A Song of Ice and Fire) Joe Abercrombie (Before They Are Hanged) Scott Lynch (The Lies of Locke Lamora) Gregory Keyes (The Waterborn) -by far the most dominions-y Since sci-fi also came up: David Brin (Uplift War) Peter Hamilton (Pandora's Star) Alistair Reynolds (Revelation Space) Vernor Vinge (A Fire Upon the Deep) |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Mervyn Peaks Ghormengast trilogy is absolutely amazing.
Other favourites:
Also strongly recommend Michail Bulgakovs "The Master and Margarita". Not a fantasy book exactly but I think it should appeal to the same audience. In science fiction I´m a big fan of Isaac Asimov. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
A song of ice and fire puts all other serious fantasy to shame.
If you want something with a humorous bent Terry Pratchett is excellent. There's some good armchair philosophy woven into Small Gods if that's your bag. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Yeah, hardcore real get your-hands-dirty philosophers is da shit!
Armchair philosophy, pffft! |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
The Song series by Martin is surely decent, but definately not literature. If you are looking for literature on the scale of Tolkein, forget it.
Otherwise, Zelazny is a great writer, and the first book of the Amber series is one of the best pieces of modern fantasy trivial literature around. The second and third books are also very worth reading. The fourth and fifth are not garbage, but not great. Then he needed money and wrote 5 additional sequels. Going out on a limb, since it's actually "science fantasy", if that really means anything: Gene Wolfe's "Torturer" series. This work is truly outstanding, also in the sense that in some (weak) sense, it approaches the category of serious literature -- though not as well written as, well, fill in the author of your choice (Borges, for example) in that the events about which he writes represent symbolically something themes which transcend the mere immediate action. Ah whatever. It's 4 great books, check them out. (Warning: Wolfe is incapable of writing about women, I cringe whenever opposite-sex interplay rears its head; doesn't happen often; otherwise, the books are gems, really.) Quote:
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
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Tolkien was voted the most important work of fiction of the 20th century by the people who rate those things. More or less popularized the genre - up until Piers Anthony's A spell for Chameleon. There are several series I would put way ahead of "A song.." Anyways sundry other Erewhon We all died at breakaway station John Carter, War Lord of Mars. Of course, the lovecrafts Cthulus books... |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Oh, and how could I possibly forget "The first law" series by Joe Abercrombie?!
Read it, love it! |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
I'd call Tolkien works children stories. It's best to read them around 10-12, later they are well... too naive and childish to enjoy them fully.
Oh, there is also good recommendation for all fantasy lovers - with success of The Witcher it seems they translated some books the game was based on. Check amazon for Andrzej Sapkowski, I see at least "The Last Wish" there, the first tome of the saga. He is the best Polish fantasy write, so if translation is good, it's really worth it. Mature fantasy :) |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Tolkein was a world builder, not a writer. His work was so influential because it was genre defining. His writing is dry and arduous to read, not to mention jam packed with deus ex machinas.
I'm a tolkein fan, but first does not equal best. I say Martin's work is head and shoulders above the rest because it doesn't solve every problem with wizards, and he isn't afraid to let main characters die if it makes the most sense. Most fantasy literature coddles the reader. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Obviously there's a difference of opinion there. Or you're thinking of the Hobbit, which is very much a children's book, but charming in it's way.
I'm not sure what you mean by naive? I'll grant they may not be sufficiently grim and gritty for some and he leaves out the sex and the swearing, if that's what you mean by "mature fantasy". That's a product of his times as much as anything. He also had a fundamentally optimistic outlook that's not much in favor now, based in his Catholic faith. That may pass for naive to the casual observer. Tolkein's writing style is an older style, which may be why it seems dry and arduous to some. I find it elegant and at times poetic, but I like a lot of older works. I enjoyed the first of the Song of Fire & Ice books, but it went downhill after that to my tastes. He takes his reaction to "fantasy literature coddles the reader" almost to a parody of the other extreme. By the time I gave up reading, he'd killed off most of the characters I had any interest in. If Tolkein is naive, I prefer that to the "no good deed goes unpunished" cynicism of Martin's books. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
I've just come across Joe Abercrombie's name in a positive review of "The Blade Itself" and its sequels. Could some of the posters above give their impression not so much in terms of how much they like his work, but rather a general impression of the kind of books they are? What they're like, their strong points?
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Wow. So many good suggestions. It may take years to read all the good stuff brought here.
Thank you all! As for me, I figure I could cover some "holes", starting by going back to the Conan series. Is there a one paper book compilation of Conan BTW (like the one for Amber)? Oh and I've read song of ice&fire. I think it kind of lost momentum towards the end and it kinda reminds me of lost series - with mysteries that would probably never get solved. I don't like this approach all that much... Oh, and if I were to put something on the table I'd recommend Dan Simmons - Hypperion series is good SF while carrion comfort for example is good horror fantasy. Forgotten realms is usually childish and not well written but one series that rose above that usually low level is war of the spider queen. It actually makes for a fun read, not deep or taxing, just fun pass time. Last good read is dom-III manual :D |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
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Whereas I've picked up a variety of Martins books and found them eminently forgetable. Asprins first 6 Myth books are pretty funny. Donaldson's first trilogy - pretty good. Robert Jordan was widely followed. Too many words for my taste. Bersercker- by cook was Ok. Web of the Chosen - by Jack Chalker Cugel the Clever - which sort of chicken and egged DnD magic. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Michelle West's Sun Sword series, and the duology that preceeded it, can't quite recall the names at the moment, is the best series I've read in many a year.
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Del Rey put out a 3 volume series of the original Howard Conan stories a few years ago.
Most of the other reprints are mixed in with other writer's Conan stories. I'll second (or third or whatever) the Amber recommendation. Or pretty much anything by Zelazny. Lord of Light is probably my favorite. Science fiction take on Hindu/Buddhist mythology. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
A good recent choice is Lamentation by Ken Scholes.
Over two thousand years has passed from the end of the Old World and the Age of Laughing Madness. Rising from that devastation, the Androfrancines build a Great Library in the city of Windwir. Within this library the Androfrancines store what lost knowledge of science and magic they can recover from past ages, only releasing to the world such wonders they deem save for humanity. A horrifying column of darkness rises on the horizon. Rudolfo, Lord of the Nine Forest Houses can see the smoke from many miles away, and knows that all the Kingdoms of the Named Lands will soon be at war. The city of Windwir and its Great Library has been destroyed by an ancient weapon. Closer to the catastrophe, a young apprentice is the sole survivor. Neb has seen everyone he has ever known die in an instant. Lamentation has a great mix of steampunk and fantasy. The plot moves swiftly with plenty of schemes, shifting alliances and the obligatory coming of age story. Scholes has a style similar to Greg Keys and is a fun and easy read. Full disclosure, I am a librarian by trade and spend some of each day reading reviews of Science Fiction and Fantasy books and purchasing them for my library. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
There should be a compilation of Howard's Conan stories without any mixing with other authors. And yes, they are very good. There are actually several editions of them by various publishers.
An excellent new series is Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt series, (Empire in Black and Gold, Dragonfly Falling and Blood of the Mantis), which I would rank right up there with Steven Erikson, Glen Cook, Gail Z. Martin (Chronicles of the Necromancer series) and J.V.Jones (Book of Words trilogy and its sequel, the Sword of Shadows trilogy as well as the standalone novel The Barbed Coil) The less said of Terry Goodkind, the better, and I don't particularly care for G.R.R. Martin's work either. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Gene Wolfe: The Knight-Wizard duology. Might be available as a compilation, or as separate books The Knight and The Wizard. I also mentioned this in the previous thread, but it's so great that it's scary. For one thing, it has monsters that are really scary, while still being almost familiar. Giants that are much worse than just big humans, but that still need to eat. The one thing you have to understand about it is that it's not written as a horror book, but as a more realistic take on what it would feel to be the hero, the guy who never lies and always does what is right. I almost had to put the book down because what was right at the time was very far from good.
I've been trying to find Wolfe's other books for a while. There's Books of the New Sun, at least, and probably more. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
A name I have not seen mentioned here, David Gemmell, his books are very good and a very easy read. Legend is one of my favourite books. I like how he completes the entire story in one book, rare nowadays with trilogys, ten book + series that never reach a conclusion.
His Jon Shannow, Druss the Legend and Waylander books are all very good. He has a huge number of books now and if you have never read any and like them, well they will keep you occupied for a long time. Love Terry Pratchett, enjoy his books well you can, there may not be many more. Sci-Fi, Peter F. Hamilton is really good. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
The Elric series, by Michael Moorcock is my favorite series of all time.
The guy has a sword that eats peoples souls. It doesn't get any better than that. The Book of Swords series by Fred Saberhagen is also good. The gods creates 12 swords with different magical powers, and then place them in the world to see what kind of chaos it creates. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
The Lies of Locke Lamora is pretty good and it has the benefit of being a single book.
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
If you like magic, a good series is Master of the Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy. It goes very in depth into all the different schools of magic.
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
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Tried to get into the 2nd/ third book - stylistically too difficult. Really made me notice Wolfe - but I think its up to three books now. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
I thought Clive Barker's Weaveworld was great.
Absolutely hated Imajica though. Well, the first half (or third maybe) of it anyway, since it's one of the few books I've read that I didn't bother to finish. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
I'm finally reading the Malazan books now, and quite enjoying them.
I'm surprised that there was only one, slight mention of Jack Vance, the early master of fantasy (and sci-fi). His Lyonesse series is incredible (The Green Pearl, Lyonesse, Madouc). If you like those, switch to his best sci-fi, The Demon Princes series. Of course, he is best know for his Dying Earth books, of which Cugel the Clever is the masterpiece. Most of his books are back in print now, though you may have to go to Amazon to find them. I enjoyed both GRRM's Ice and Fire series, and Jordan's Wheel of time series, but they both petered off as they went along, and of course Jordan is dead now. Robin Hobb has written a couple of very nice series, The Tawny Man and the Liveship Traders, both very enjoyable reads, but nowhere near the dark tones of the previous books mentioned. I also really enjoyed the Rothfus's Name of the Wind. I can't wait for the new book to come out. And, to wrap it all up, Susanna Clarke's Hugo award winning Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, though a single novel and not a series, is simply one of the best fantasy books ever written. I think someone mentioning Gene Wolfe said that he cannot write about women. That may have been true back in the Book of the New Sun days, but The Knight and The Wizard are both amazing, and do have some very strong female characters. You can check out my Shelfari page here, if you need any more ideas: http://www.shelfari.com/lingchih/shelf |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
All those recommendations sounds great. I'm in mind to list them all in the first post. At the very list I'd be able to print this list while I go book hunting in book stores (I'll probably skip amazon for now since shipment to Israel can be pretty expensive).
Lingchih, I checked your shelfari. Looks great. What is it BTW? |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
I like hobbs assassin page...
In the Science Fiction arena, I'd have to mention I, Robot The Stars like Dust (Best sci fi I ever read) Mission of Gravity by clement I think Foundation Triliogy - loved by others.... ok by me. Books which people loved which didn't much appeal to me Lucifers hammer Ringworld. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Charles Stross, perhaps. Diana Wynne Jones writes some entertaining stuff, although most of it is aimed at younger readers.
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
Did not see Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" above. It's a really fun read, and it has got a whole bunch of everyone's favorite Dom3 pretenders in it.
Bogarus needs Czernobog! |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
I read Tolkien, Gemmell, Vance and Wolfe when I was younger and can add my own hearty recommendation to those. I pretty much gave up on fantasy until recently though as the sub-Tolkien/D&D market pretty much took over the market, and it all seemed too derivative.
Lately however I've found a couple of authors that are writing completely new stuff. China Mieville writes about Cactus-men and ant headed women plotting Marxist revolutions against Magiocracies. Alan Campbell has a city built on chains above the Abyss in a world abandoned by its creator. And not forgetting that "children's" author Philip Pullman whose world of Dust and Armoured Bears I may have read to a daughter but certainly kept me rapt. |
Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
A fairly new author I would recommend would be Rothfuss. His debut book "The Name of the Wind" is probably one of my favorite fantasy books of all time.
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Re: OT: Any reccomendations for good fanatasy books
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Another very good author, imho, is Jim Butcher. The Fury series is great and if you have even the slightest leanings toward urban fantasy, the Dresdan Files books are a must. Finally, the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust is an old and ongoing favorite. |
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