Lately, my friends and I (we have a little fantasy book exchange circle going) have been on the hunt for good fantasy book series that we haven't read yet.

It's relatively new as I met most these guys only 6 months ago and so far I have introduced him to the "ASoIaF" series (and he absolutely loves it now - he's on A Clash of King's ) and he has introduced me to Brandon Sanderson's books (Elantris, Mistborn series, Warbreaker), which, btw, for the most part are amazing. I especially liked the Mistborn series, Sanderson has a real knack for coming up with inventive magic sytems.

Has anybody read any good fantasy series in the the past or are currently reading right now?

For the record I've read:

The aforementioned Brandon Sanderson books, most "main" Dragonlance books, most Drizzt do'Urden books, about 5 of the Wheel of Time books, of course the "ASoIaF" series, Tolkien's books, Lewis's books....etc

The one I meant to inquire is Terry Goodkind's books. I've heard good things but I tried reading the first 100 pages of "Wizard's First Rule" and I just couldn't get into it....is it really a good series?

Anybody got any good discussions or just want to discuss any other fantasy series you deem worth your time?

Advent said:

I like the series, the main story is better then the subplots some times, and he can get a little longwinded. I am not rushing from book to book but am liking the series for the most part.

I also just finished The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb. That one i did rush through the books. I read book 2 and 3 back to back which is rare for me (did it with Game of thrones and clash of kings). It helped that i got them for free too, but they can be gotten cheaply.

Not fantasy in the same vien, but i always recomend the dresden files books. They are quickly paced and fun so are great to break up some of the epics. He [butcher] has a more traditional fantasy series (might be at book 4 now...) that is good but not as good as the dresden files.

I would recomment -

Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards Series. Currently Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies are available.

Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Trilogy - Name of the WInd (book one) is available and book 2 should be available soon.

Steven Erikson's Malazan Empire books are fantastic. Currently 8 of 10 are out. Book 1 is hard to get through but it just rolls after that.

I will second the Dresden Files suggestion. One of the best reads you will have.

Lars said:

Oh, thanks! I will definitely give it another try then.

And thankyou for the other suggestions, I have heard really good things about the Dresden Files and Robin Hobb.

Oh and thanks Venryk, I have been trolling the internets after reading about your suggestions and from everything I've seen all the series you mentioned are top of line... Especially the Mazalan Empire books...I've even heard some say it's on par with ASoIaF! If so, I can't wait to get started. I'm suprised I've never heard about a lot of these series, I must be out of the loop...

Heh, I'm going to have to get a list together before I go to the local borders.

Anyone checked out the Runelords, Acacia, or Prince of Nothing series? Acacia is pretty darn good....

I second the recomendation for Rothfuss' the Name of the Wind. Can't wait for book two

I would also recomend the First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. I am on book 2 and it is so far a great book series. Well developed characters and most have real character not just your standard archetypes for fantasy series. There is a barabarisn but very human and a torturer that make you real care about him, I don't know why but I like the torturer. Which spells literary gold to me.

Advent said:

I tried the Prince of Nothing series. Very philosophical, which I didn't mind, but the names of everything were long and difficult, and I eventually gave up trying. At some point, you stop trying to remember the difference between Eeeeerreee and Eeeeereree. Not a real example, but that's what the names felt like...

Easy with the kingslayer recommednations. The first book (which i read on bloodycelt's recommendation) was excellent but I was bitterly disappointed to learn that Rothfuss has NOT finished the seocdn one yet - and has no idea when it is coming out. Go to his website for soem not funny (though they are supposed to be) cartoons about how he undertsands how George RR Martin feels vis-avis persistent fans and writer's block.

I would urge readers to stay far, far away form this series until the writer gets his ass in gear and gets Book 2 out and has a date set for Book 3. We already enable one tardy authour who is struggling with a plot that has gotten too big for him. No need to do it for Rothfuss as well.

I thought the Prince of Nothing series was first rate, but it is a little dense, as Tail Gunner Joe points out. I recommend checking out Grge Keyes Kingdoms of Thorn and bone series - which he has completed and the final book is out in mmp. Also - JV Jones Fortress of Ice trilogy is quite good and has also been completed.

I will always recommend Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever to people. It's a set of three trilogies, with the first eight books completed, with fantastic, flawed characters (e.g., the major character, Thomas, has leprosy and may be delusional).

Fantasic novels. Absolutely fantasic.

Just to throw votes behind some series mentioned by others: I enjoyed the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb a lot. I'm now on book two of the First Law series by Joe Abercrombie as well after having really enjoyed book one (very interesting characters and story, excellent action sequences, and some clever/funny dialogue). I've recently read the first book of the Mistborn series. I thought it dragged at times during the first half or so, but it finished very strong. I'll probably move onto book two at some point soonish.

Thanks again for the suggestions, I hit up borders with a hand dandy gift card (30$) I recieved a while back and picked up the first book of Mazalan (Gardens of the Moon), Lies of Locke Lamora, Name of the Wind, and the first Farseer book.

Just started in on Gardens of the Moon (80 pages in) and it is extremely well-written but now I know what everybody is talking about. The guy throws you in the middle of the world without the barest hint that there MIGHT be a suggestion of an explanation. I have to look up the people every 3 seconds because the cast is so huge. I can tell that the series is going to be good - if for nothing else there's an assasin named "Sorry". This series is awesome.

On an amusing side note: George R. R. Martin has earned himself another dissappointed fan. My friend is just starting in on A Storm of Swords and looked like he was about to cry when I told him no one knows when the next book is going to to come out - much less when he is going to finish the series.

And, Red, definitely continue on with the Mistborn series...it gets progressively better and the trilogy ends on a very satisfying, yet unexpected, note.

Stags will hate me for this (as he does every time I say it) but Terry Brooks' Shannara novels are really quite good as long as you can get past this Sword of Shannara (his very first novel) being a condensed LotR. Still, I find that he adds enough of his own touch to interest me somewhat even now, though you can easily tell it was his first foray into the writing world. The second novel, Elfstones of Shannara, is the first novel to ever make me cry, so that says something about it.

Also, for the most interesting anti-hero I've ever read, check out C.S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy. Gerald Tarrant may have ice in his veins, but he makes it so **** cool. Has anyone else here read these? I'm sure I've asked before though.

Kennon, I've read the first volume of the Coldfire Trilogy. Twice. But oddly enough, I've never sought out the other two. I need to finish that series one day. You are correct that Tarrant is one of the coolest anti-heroes ever.

I'd recommend Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series. Tons of intrigue, which is one of my favorite things about Martin. Definitely for mature readers, though, as the covers suggest.

Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana is an awesome stand-alone fantasy book. I also enjoyed Gene Wolfe's Wizard Knight books. Both Kay and Wolfe are very literary. Wolfe especially, with tons of allusions and layers of meaning. One really needs to read his work more than once to fully appreciate him, as Neil Gaiman says in this article: http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwng0704.htm .

If you like stuff about the world of Faerie, I'd recommend Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norrell and Lisa Tuttle's The Mysteries .

Anyone read R. Scott Baker's series? I've got the first book on my shelf, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

The Bakker stuff is the Prince of Nothing series Tailgunner Joe and I mention above. its desne, but I liked it better than the Malazan book and I'll probably follow that series as opposed to Erickson's.

I should also mention Katherine Kurtz's Deryni sries - a wonderfully mature politicla fantasy series set in a thinly veiled Western European setting. the lady did her homework, and some of her stuff is as tension filled and gripping as the best of Martin. Check out the Harrowing of Gwynedd trilogy to see what I mean.

I think this series is OOP now though and may be hard to track down.

Well.. the first book Deyrni Rising was reprinted recently.

Amazon has most of them.

And... some of them could be gotten through audible/kindle.

For Terry Brooks: The Magic Kingdom of Landover series. Running with the Demon, and for those who have read Sword of Shanarra, the book Armageddon's Children and it's two sequels are interesting. (Brook's take on post apocalyptic literature... ).

For better authors: Don Quioxte by Cervantes.

Le Morte D'Artur by Ser Thomas Mallory.

Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

Gifts by Ursula K. Le'Guin.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Thomas Covenant Series by Stephen R. Donaldson

The Abhorsen Chronicles by Garth Nix

Metamorphosis by Ovid

Paradise Lost by Milton

Idyll's of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The Divine Comedy by Dante

American Gods by Niel Gaiman

Chronicles of Pyrdain by Lloyd Alexander

Eric and Enide by Chretein Destroyes (it's french and pronounced De Twa)

The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon ( well researched military fantasy... rather surprising).

The Belgriad by David Eddings

The Rose of the Prophet Trilogy by Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman

And in case you haven't read these: The Once and Future King, The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Harry Potter, Wrinkle in Time, Edgar Allen Poe, The first three OZ books are all staples.

Those books are by no means equal in quality or ordered by anything except how I remember them.

Another book series that is fantastice especially if you end up liking Erikson, is the Black Company books by Glen Cook. I have read all but the final for and the first 2 of the final four will be re-released this fall.

longclaw said:

How mature, as compared to the Ice and Fire books? I'm re-reading through I&F, and just finished the Jon Snow and Ygritte chapters. More mature than that, or with more frequency?

I rather enjoyed Carey's Banewreaker and Godslayer, recommend by GRRM on his website..

Woah, thanks for all the new suggestions, guys. This is really helpful and will save me from reading a lot of garbage fantasy books.

I finished Gardens of the Moon, and, man, when Venryk said that was a difficult book to get through he MEANT it. I've NEVER picked up and put down and book so much in my entire life. It's not that it's not well-written or anything like that. It's just that you DON'T know WTF is going on for, at least, the first 300 pages of the book. I'm glad, though, that so many people told me to keep on pushing through the book because it finishes strongly and right now I am halfway through Deadhouse Gates which is much better. I am starting to like the Malazan series a lot.

And am I the only one on this planet who didn't like T.H. White's the Once and Future King? I swear, from what I remember of it, it was horribly dull. Then again I was 16 when I read it so maybe that had something to do with it.

I am also really liking Name of the Wind.

Yeah once you are through Gardens of the Moon and you understand how the world and its magic and gods/ascendants work the rest just flows.

jmccarthy said:

I can't remember exactly how much detail Martin goes into with that relationship, but I'm gonna venture to say that the Kushiel's series is more graphic. The main character is a courtesan trained to subtly elicit information from her patrons which her superiors then use to plot against their enemies. So a lot of scenes take place in the bedroom. But if you like the high levels of intrigue found in Martin, and all the plotting with Varys and Littlefinger and such, you should really enjoy this as well, as this series revolves around nothing but that. Not that there aren't scenes of adventure and battle, but the intricate plotting and betrayal and backstabbing is at the forefront.

On a side note, my wife really loves this series as well. It's got a really strong female protagonist, which seems to appeal to the women readers. So if you've got a wife/girlfriend, even if they don't read much fantasy, you may find it as a good starting point to get her more interested in the genre.

I would't let the adult content scare you off, in short. If I find that kind of thing gratuitous, I don't care for it. But this is really well done.

Yeha - Gardnes took me about six weeks to plow through - and the whole time I had little idea of what was going on. I never went back for more - far too much work form genre fiction to keep my attention. But if you liked it - vive le difference. A lot of folks whose opinion I repsct are big admirers of this series. I can't recommend it though

And I'd stretch out Name of the Wind as long as you can. Its a great book - but Rothfuss can't get the second one out yet. (Yes - I'm just going to mention that eveyr chance I get). **** you bloodycelt.

Satg, just pick up dedhouse gates and pretend its a whole new seriers if you still don;t like it then i'll leave you alone.

I also loathed Once and Future king. I was 14 when i read it (it was summer reading going into high school).

I loved Once and Future King . its message of honor and peace still resonate with me and it occupies a cherished palce on my shlef along with Malory, Cornwall, Mary Stewart (thanks dunk), Tennyson, Twain and Richard Monaco.

I'm an Arthurian though, as well as a bit of an Anglophile (another trait I share with Lovecrfat, one of my favorites)

My personal "problem" with Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series was that by book 4, characters were learning the same "lessons" and dealing with the same "issues" as in books 1 and 2. In general, people seem to say books 1, 2 and 6 are the best in that series, although it really started turning into social commentary by book 5 and a certain tone of self-righteous smugness really starts to pervade the writing. I never finished the series.

The 4 books in "The Kingdom of Thorn and Bone" cycle by Greg Keyes are pretty good. Some of the characters are excessively one dimensional, but others are very relatable and the world he creates is pretty interesting. The series does have some depth in various issues. I found the end of the series somewhat unsatisfying, but on a whole, a good read.

The "Shadowmarch" series by Tad Williams is kind of interesting, provided that you can deal with Williams' writing style. He takes the "epic" in "epic fantasy" to new levels, although not quite the way Jordan does (I swear I started feeling like he was paid by the word in some of The Wheel of Time stuff!). It's more like you start reading and are pretty engrossed in the story, but suddenly, you look and see you've gotten through 100 pages but don't feel like you've actually gotten anywhere yet. But like GRRM, he is good at weaving the tale among many developed characters in many distinct and different places without ever really losing any of the threads.

ktom said:

Hear, hear. The author definitely has a philosophical agenda to promote. I enjoyed the early books, but quit reading when I tired of the agenda.

I also quit reading The Wheel of Time when I tired of the low ratio of plot (or character development) to number of words.

But those may be the only two series that I ever gave up on.

I highly recommend Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series (starts with The First Man in Rome ) -- but I'll admit it's not for everyone. First, it's historical fiction, so it doesn't have the fantasy elements that many of us enjoy. And second, because it's tightly based on history, the author doesn't have much freedom with the broad outlines of the plot. But if those two points aren't deal-breakers for you, the series has a lot of the things we enjoy about I&F : lively characters, a complete spectrum of moral viewpoints, kingdoms at war, and more political intrigue than even the Lannisters could dream up. Plus, you get a first-rate education in the fall of the Roman Republic and rise of the Roman Empire.

Oh, yeah -- and the series is finished too....