That time of the year...to discuss fantasy books

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Guys, I'm stumped.

I'm back on a huge fantasy kick. The problem is that I've read enough books by truly talented authors that I've gotten extremely picky with my fantasy material. And I read enough that what's really good and current, I've probably already read. I need some suggestions. So let's talk about what you've read lately (or plan to read) and maybe I'll pick recs up from this thread. To start, my favorites list:

- Anything by Brandon Sanderson. Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, Legion, and his new one, The Way of Kings (talk about epic - 900+ page book, first in a projected 10-volume series, not to mention almost all of his books all tie into a major story arc set in that particular universe...)

- Song of Ice and Fire - caught up. Waiting impatiently for the 6th one, which will probably come out in about 4 years

- Kingkiller trilogy - caught up on the first two (Name of the Wind, Wise Man's Fear, waiting on the last)

- Belgariad/Mallorean - got this rec from a previous fantasy thread several years ago. More classic fantasy, not the edgier dark fantasy coming out nowadays. Still good.

- Dragonriders of Pern - also a PS suggestion. Also good, though dragons aren't really my thing.

And those are the adult books. YA and sci-fi are a whole 'nother story (would also welcome suggestions on that front too). Most of all, I want something with a great world and set of characters.

What have you been reading?

 

[Kismet]

Have you read the various trilogies (Farseer, Liveship Traders, Tawny Man & Rain Wild) by Robin Hobb? Most of them aren't exactly new, except for the Rain Wild Chronicles which are still in process, but they're really very good. Those four series are set in the same universe but follow different story lines.

 

[distracts]

Judging by your list of books, you have pretty similar tastes to me. Except for ASOIF which I find endlessly boring. I like the tv show though.

If you enjoy all the Brandon Sanderson books but for whatever reason have not read his children's series, Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians, you should. It's lots of fun.

Hmm... if you like urban fantasy the Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs and the Kate Daniels books by Ilona Andrews are awesome. They are pretty similar in feel so I wouldn't go straight from one series to the next, but they're different enough so you won't get bored.

Emma Bull writes good urban fantasy. Jasper Fforde is good too, especially if you like nerdy literary references.

If you haven't read "His Majesty's Dragon" and sequels by Naomi Novik OMG DO SO NOW. First. Before you get to any other books. I don't care if dragons aren't really your thing. You will like them. YOU WILL. I resisted this series for years because, really, a retelling of the Napoleonic war WITH DRAGONS? That sounded horrible to me. It was not horrible. It was wonderful.

The author of the Kingkiller books recommended this book "Libriomancer" in a podcast, so I bought it. I haven't READ it yet though.

 

[rubyshoes]

Oooohh cool thread.

One of all my all-time favorites is the Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey and I just finished the final book - Naamah's Blessing. I've read Banewreaker and Godslayer as well. Now I want to try Santa Olivia.

Really like Karen Marie Moning's Fever series, so I may give her new book (featuring the character Dani) a shot.

Currently reading Anne Rice- Interview With The Vampire. I don't know if I'll read the other two books in this series. Anne Rice is a wonderful writer but her work is so creepy, devoid of all hope (to me). So atmospheric! But it depresses me.

Have you read the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik? Oh my God, I love it! I may re-read the whole series again just coz. If you like fantasy and especially enjoy high adventure and dragons, you must read it. And even if you don't, you must read it! It's awesome.

If you have the patience to read 4 big tomes, I would highly recommend Tad Williams's Otherland series. It took me a whole summer to finish.

I also like the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons. It really annoys me that Warner Bros is considering making a movie based on the books because I'm sure they'll just dumb it down. Hollywood has a way of ruining excellent books.

I love The Mists Of Avalon but it's the only Marion Bradley Zimmer book I've read. I've been meaning to try out some of her other books.

 

[rubyshoes]

If you haven't read "His Majesty's Dragon" and sequels by Naomi Novik OMG DO SO NOW. First. Before you get to any other books. I don't care if dragons aren't really your thing. You will like them. YOU WILL. I resisted this series for years because, really, a retelling of the Napoleonic war WITH DRAGONS? That sounded horrible to me. It was not horrible. It was wonderful.

See? See? Get the Temeraire books!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Sorry, I hated the Liveship trilogy - talk about heaping misery everywhere!

I am rereading Lyonesse by Jack Vance. It is huge, has tons of characters and plot lines (and some characters are more than one character, if that isn't confusing enough), politics, magic and it is great fun, if you can keep everything in place.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

A few I haven't heard of - yay!

I've been meaning to try the Farseer trilogy. I read the first book of Robin Hobb's Assassin series and didn't really get drawn in, so I've avoided her other work since.

I'm not a big urban fantasy fan, unfortunately! I know it's a great genre, but I like my fantasy to have castles and a medieval-esque landscape

I'll go look at His Majesty's Dragon. I've heard of it, but the premise didn't interest me, but Distracts, since you said you still loved it even though it seemed horrible in theory, who knows? I"ll go read a sample at least!

I love Jasper Fforde. I've read all but the most recent Thursday Next series - lots of fun. I'm a literary nerd, after all (English teacher).

Rubyshoes - how are Carey's other books? I have to admit, I hated Kushiel's Dart! Too dark? But I like other dark fantasy books. I think I didn't like the character as much. I tend to fall in love with characters and they make or break the book for me. I haven't heard of the Temeraire series at all though - I'm going to check it out on Amazon now! Ooh and I loved Hyperion. Ilium and Olympos were also fantastic (more sci-fi though). Dan Simmons is such a superb writer.

Lyonesse... hmm... I haven't heard of this one either!

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

I'm reading Across the Universe by Beth Revis right now. I can't tell if its good yet...

But my all time favorite book is The Book of Lost Things. It's about a little boy that travels to a land where all the fairy tales like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty is twisted and sadistic. Very adult. I wish I could erase my memory and read it again.

 

[aviastar]

Belgariad is one of my very favorites! Eddings' other series are enjoyable as well; some say they are just the Belgariad over again with new names and that's kinda true, but I find them very entertaining nonetheless.

I just Juliet Marillier's Sevenwaters series; started as a trilogy, expanded to six plus a short story. Well written, based in ancient Ireland, the first book is a retelling of the fairy tale where the brothers are turned into swans, but it's much darker than most fairy tale retellings. Marillier also does a 12 Dancing Princesses retelling that quite a bit lighter than Severwaters; I enjoyed them all.

The Thief and it's follow up by Megan Whalen Turner are great; I would classify this somewhere between 'young adult' and 'adult'. They are not light and fluffy, but not graphic.

For some good old fashioned fairies, dark, light, magical fantasy Patricia McKillip, I started with Winter Rose.

Almost anything Orson Scott Card. Ender, of course, but also Enchantment.

I've got shelves and shelves of young adult titles, will come back with some later!

 

[Gypsy]

Try the Night Angel series by Brent Weeks. It's not about assassins, the covers are sh*t. Slow for the first 1/2 of the first book then it gets great.

 

[Gypsy]

The Riyria Revelations by Michael Sullivan also might suit. It's YA but TOTALLY works for adults.

 

[GoldFish8]

oooooohhhh lots of new books I haven't read!!!

Have you read the " Tairen Soul " series by C.L. Wilson? They are fantasy (YA-ish)... there are castles, magic,and lots of crazy crazy flying gigantic cat-like things ... pretty amazing and fun to read


ETA - you HAVE to read "Finnikin of the Rock" (The Lumatere Chronicles) by Melina Marchetta ... Hands down that was one of the best fantasy series I have ever read, the last one just came out recently, I have been saving it for when I have a few days to plop myself down in a big comfy couch and read undisturbed!!!

 

[SB621]

I highly recommend The Green Rider series by Kristin Britain- it is AMAZING!!!! Another one that I really love is King Rolen's Kin by Rowena C. Daniels.

For YA are you only looking at high fantasy?

The Seven Realms series by Cinda W. Chima
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

 

[aviastar]

I highly recommend The Green Rider series by Kristin Britain- it is AMAZING!!!! Another one that I really love is King Rolen's Kin by Rowena C. Daniels.

For YA are you only looking at high fantasy?

The Seven Realms series by Cinda W. Chima
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

I've read all the Green Rider books, too, highly enjoyable. The series isn't finished, however, and it looks to be years for the next book to come out.

 

[Circe]

Big ditto for Patricia mcKillip (hey, Winter Rose is my favorite, too! Closely followed by In the Forests of Serre and Shadow of Ombria) and for Vance's Lyonesse trilogy, which is funny and sad and beautiful.

I would also recommend Robin McKinley - Sunshine if you like urban fantasy, Beauty and The Hero and the Crown if you want more traditional - and just about anything by Tanith Lee. Silver Metal Lover is probably my personal favorite, but they're all good. Caroline Stevermer's A College of Magics is amazing (I have owned 6 copies - I keep loaning them to people who never want to give them back). Likewise Elizabeth Hand's Drawing Down the Moon, and Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, which are the best college novels in the whole wide world.

Hm, what else ....

 

[SB621]

I highly recommend The Green Rider series by Kristin Britain- it is AMAZING!!!! Another one that I really love is King Rolen's Kin by Rowena C. Daniels.

For YA are you only looking at high fantasy?

The Seven Realms series by Cinda W. Chima
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

I've read all the Green Rider books, too, highly enjoyable. The series isn't finished, however, and it looks to be years for the next book to come out.

I know right! It usually takes her 4-5 years to put out a new book. However, they are 700-800+ pages so at least they are big!

I have to say though I hate Sevenwaters series and the Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner were allright. I felt both series never really dove into the characters. That is what I love about fantasy. I want to find a champion/ hero/ whoever and identify with them. I felt both those series just sort of told the story and didn't draw you in.

And BEG I also read Kushiel Dart. It was "interesting" my book club loved it and I just thought it wasn't for me. check out Green Rider!

 

[aviastar]

[quote="Circe|1363051355|3402518"]Big ditto for Patricia mcKillip (hey, Winter Rose is my favorite, too! Closely followed by In the Forests of Serre and Shadow of Ombria) and for Vance's Lyonesse trilogy, which is funny and sad and beautiful.

I would also recommend Robin McKinley - Sunshine if you like urban fantasy, Beauty and The Hero and the Crown if you want more traditional - and just about anything by Tanith Lee. Silver Metal Lover is probably my personal favorite, but they're all good. Caroline Stevermer's A College of Magics is amazing (I have owned 6 copies - I keep loaning them to people who never want to give them back). Likewise Elizabeth Hand's Drawing Down the Moon, and Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, which are the best college novels in the whole wide world.

Hm, what else ....[/quote]


Reading Winter Rose is like drinking water when I am thirsty, only for my ears and brain. It's a book I return to over and over again.

I love these threads- all sorts of new books to try!

 

[aviastar]

I highly recommend The Green Rider series by Kristin Britain- it is AMAZING!!!! Another one that I really love is King Rolen's Kin by Rowena C. Daniels.

For YA are you only looking at high fantasy?

The Seven Realms series by Cinda W. Chima
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

I've read all the Green Rider books, too, highly enjoyable. The series isn't finished, however, and it looks to be years for the next book to come out.

I know right! It usually takes her 4-5 years to put out a new book. However, they are 700-800+ pages so at least they are big!

I have to say though I hate Sevenwaters series and the Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner were allright. I felt both series never really dove into the characters. That is what I love about fantasy. I want to find a champion/ hero/ whoever and identify with them. I felt both those series just sort of told the story and didn't draw you in.

And BEG I also read Kushiel Dart. It was "interesting" my book club loved it and I just thought it wasn't for me. check out Green Rider!

Yea, but other people do manage to get things out in 2-3 years, not 5. I read through her FAQ page and her attitude about it was really off putting. Has nothing to do with enjoying her books, but it rubbed me the wrong way.

It's funny what strikes different people, isn't it? I enjoyed Sevenwaters enough to read them all in a row, although I wouldn't rank them as favorites in the long run (there are too many books beloved in THAT category to leave room for simply 'enjoyable'). However, I find The Thief to be hilarious, especially when you know the end and read through a second time.

And Green Rider, which I do enjoy despite this, I find to be wandering in it's plotlines; like the author thought instead of just finishing out strong she would just write her next totally different book tacked on, cause ya know these characters were already here and everything. The earlier books were much more intriguing to me. I'll read the next one, for sure, but if it never came out it wouldn't drive me crazy, either.

 

[rubyshoes]

I'll go look at His Majesty's Dragon. I've heard of it, but the premise didn't interest me, but Distracts, since you said you still loved it even though it seemed horrible in theory, who knows? I"ll go read a sample at least!

Rubyshoes - how are Carey's other books? I have to admit, I hated Kushiel's Dart! Too dark? But I like other dark fantasy books. I think I didn't like the character as much. I tend to fall in love with characters and they make or break the book for me. I haven't heard of the Temeraire series at all though - I'm going to check it out on Amazon now! Ooh and I loved Hyperion. Ilium and Olympos were also fantastic (more sci-fi though). Dan Simmons is such a superb writer.

B.E.G., the Temeraire series is the same thing as His Majesty's Dragon referenced above. Temeraire is the series name, His Majesty's Dragon is the 1st book.

Carey's other books are okay. I'm not a huge fan of Banewreaker/Godslayer but a huge fan of the Kushiel series. But if you didn't like the first one, you wouldn't like the rest. It's certainly very dark. I love Dan Simmons too.

Also, have you read the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman? Graphic novels and not for everyone but... WOW.

 

[rubyshoes]

Bookmarked this thread. OMG so many new books to read! Yay!

 

[Gypsy]

I hated Kushiel's Dart. Well and truly hated it.

 

[ponder]

Just finished King's Dark Tower series, again. Hadn't read it in awhile. That's about as far as I have gotten into fantasy, but I'm really thinking I should branch out. Great thread.

 

[Gypsy]

BEG, if you haven't already, you HAVE to read Pratchett.

Find a copy of "The Last Hero" in a used bookstore (it's a special edition illustrated heavily story-- about 10 bucks used) and if you don't bust a gut reading it, I'll eat a shoe.

 

[read.bradie]

Two long fantasy series I liked are Wheel of Time, the last book just came out, and The Sword of Truth, another finished series, but Terry Goodkind has been writing some prequel style books in the world, but they aren't necessary

The latter series is one of my all time favorites, really cool world and each book is a complete ended adventure with threads that continue on. Well, maybe a couple of stories take more than one volume. The first book is Wizard's First rule.

I just finished a fantasy kick haven't found a new addiction yet.

 

[Circe]

I hated Kushiel's Dart. Well and truly hated it.

Huh! I loved the first three Kushiel books passionately - I thought her world-building was superb, I loved how much thought she put into the alternate history, and I thought the characters were intriguing.

Each successive trilogy has gone down-hill since then, sadly.

I kind of want her, Martha Wells, and Paula Volsky to promise me that they're going to stop trying to map their whole damned worlds - we are not Pokemon collectors! we do not need to collect them all! - and just stick to the history and culture that initially inspired such amazing story-telling from them.

Unlikely ... but it reminds me to recommend Paula Volsky's _Illusion_ and Martha Well's _Death of the Necromancer_. Like the Kushiel books, alternate France, roughly 17th C. if it were to occasionally cross streams with the Belle Epoque by way of steampunky sorcery, very cool.

 

[Circe]

Ooo, and another big ditto for Pratchett. The witch books are the best, IMO. You just can't go wrong with anything involving Nanny Ogg.

 

[lovebug1031]

Oooohh cool thread.

One of all my all-time favorites is the Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey and I just finished the final book - Naamah's Blessing. I've read Banewreaker and Godslayer as well. Now I want to try Santa Olivia.

Really like Karen Marie Moning's Fever series, so I may give her new book (featuring the character Dani) a shot.
Currently reading Anne Rice- Interview With The Vampire. I don't know if I'll read the other two books in this series. Anne Rice is a wonderful writer but her work is so creepy, devoid of all hope (to me). So atmospheric! But it depresses me.

Have you read the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik? Oh my God, I love it! I may re-read the whole series again just coz. If you like fantasy and especially enjoy high adventure and dragons, you must read it. And even if you don't, you must read it! It's awesome.

If you have the patience to read 4 big tomes, I would highly recommend Tad Williams's Otherland series. It took me a whole summer to finish.

I also like the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons. It really annoys me that Warner Bros is considering making a movie based on the books because I'm sure they'll just dumb it down. Hollywood has a way of ruining excellent books.

I love The Mists Of Avalon but it's the only Marion Bradley Zimmer book I've read. I've been meaning to try out some of her other books.

I second this! I mourned for awhile after I had no more to read! I loved those books though! I'm reading the Blakc Dagger Brotherhood Series right now, they're pretty good.

 

[Gypsy]

Ooo, and another big ditto for Pratchett. The witch books are the best, IMO. You just can't go wrong with anything involving Nanny Ogg.

I adore the Witch Series. But my favorite is the Night Watch Series. I love the characters and how the story builds, picks up steam and gets larger and watching the characters grow and the heart in each book, and I like that there are so many books. My only complaint about the Witch series is that the characters don't really evolve at least not the main two. Rincewind's series is a distant third for me in terms of the series he does, it's cute and works for a fix-- but it doesn't grab me and hold me like the other two.

The Last Hero, as far as standalone introductions to his books though... omg, so funny and so SMART.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I LOVE the Discworld books. I've read all of them - have all of them in hardcopy, actually. The witches are my favorite, and the guardsmen right behind - can't wait until the next one comes out.

Not a fan of Terry Goodkind unfortunately. Read Wizard's First Rule - wasn't impressed with the characters. Meh.

I wonder if I should go pick up Eye of the World (Wheel of Time), but I hear the middle books are rather... filler.

 

[Gypsy]

Middle books are filler in WOT. LONG filler. But still... my husband read them all (I stopped at 7) and he's glad he did.

TRUST ME on the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks. If you love Patrick Rufus, you will love this series. Look up the reviews on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Brent-Weeks/e/B004N1S4QY/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Also strongly suggest the Ryria Revelations. Again, you don't have to trust me , read the reviews: http://www.amazon.com/Michael-J.-Sullivan/e/B002BOJ41O/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1