[SalokinX]

I did a quick search on the Other Literature forum and didn't find a similar thread, so I decided to make one.

Simply, what is THE best series or standalone novel you have ever read, fantasy or otherwise?

So far for me, hands down, is A Song of Ice and Fire by George Matin. It is not done yet, but amongst all the novels I've read (I haven't read many. Maybe 30 books) it is by far the best. On a close second is Lord of the Rings.

Aside from these 2 series, all I have read are the 3 first Malazan books, a few books from The Legend of Drizzt (R.A. Salvatore), the Inheritance Cycle (Christopher Paolini), The Last Apprentice (AKA The Wardstone Chronicles or The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney). Not many and some pretty bad, so I would like to know what you guys like the best.

Honest opinion though, The Legend of Drizzt and The Last Apprentice were terrible. They were my first fantasy books and so I liked them back then, but nowadays I even feel ashamed of reading it. The Inheritance Cycle is kind of childish but I guess it won't hurt to read the last book whenever it comes out, just to complete the story. So far the Malazan Book of the Fallen is my 3rd best series, but honestly, I don't feel much for it. It's just better than the other stuff I've read.

So go on, fire it up.

Oh, and please try to avoid making fun of people's opinions. Keep it civil and, PLEASE, avoid spoilers (even though I don't see any reason for any).

This post has been edited by SalokinX: 10 June 2010 - 01:30 AM

[hmqb]

Malazan book of the fallen is my favorite series, and for the rest i'm really not sure. I liked a song of fire and ice, I also have liked some others like the name of wind and lots of others. So malazan is just my favorite so far, but really end up liking most fantasy im not really picky.

[SalokinX]

High Mage Quick Ben, on 10 June 2010 - 01:34 AM, said:

Malazan book of the fallen is my favorite series, and for the rest i'm really not sure. I liked a song of fire and ice, I also have liked some others like the name of wind and lots of others. So malazan is just my favorite so far, but really end up liking most fantasy im not really picky.

Oh God, please fix that.

The Name of the Wind is actually the next book on my fantasy-to-read list. I've seen very good reviews on it and I can't wait to get there, but right now I'm stuck on book 3 of the Malazan Book of the Fallen and I can't get past it. I already bought the rest of the series so stopping isn't an option, but it will take quite a while.

[SpectreofEschaton]

Bakker's Second Apocalypse is the only thing that really comes close to Malazan for me.

I read the the first book of Cook's Black Company and mean to read the rest, but while I enjoyed it, there was just something lacking, whatever it is that elevates Erikson and Bakker from being just sword-and-sorcery.

I read ASOIAF a long time ago when I was rather young and wasn't quite taken with it. If he ever finishes it, I'll likely give it another try.

I find Drizzt monotonous and predictable lately; that series should have ended a long time ago.

I'm divided on LotR (and the Silm.). I love Middle-Earth, but I actually don't like reading about it for some reason. I find it more enjoyable to listen to other people discuss it than to actually read the books (though I still read them, I wouldn't exactly call the experience enjoyable). I suppose I like the story, it's just Tolkien's writing style that doesn't do it for me.

A guilty pleasure of mine is Diablo: The Sin War by Knaak. The writing is sub-par, I know this and am constantly reminded of it as I read, but for the life of me, I can't help liking the books for some reason.

A real gem I'm extremely grateful to have a copy of is The Fortress of Eternity by Andrew Whitmore. A simply awesome short novel, it's only fault being a lack of sequels to flesh out the intriguing cosmos he merely hints at in the book. If you can ever find a copy, I highly recommend it.

Oh, also the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Donaldson, I forgot about those. I rank those near Malazan, too. Not for the vocabularily-challenged, though.

That's about all I can think of at the moment.

My book, of course, once I finish it.

[SalokinX]

SpectreofEschaton, on 10 June 2010 - 01:47 AM, said:

I find Drizzt monotonous and predictable lately; that series should have ended a long time ago.

A guilty pleasure of mine is Diablo: The Sin War by Knaak. The writing is sub-par, I know this and am constantly reminded of it as I read, but for the life of me, I can't help liking the books for some reason.

My book, of course, once I finish it.

Yes, I stopped reading Drizzt after the 6th book (or the ending of the second trilogy in the chronological order) because it was simply becoming a Dragon Ball Z kind of novel. Someone is super strong, but Drizzt can handle it. Same thing over and over. Not to mention I'm not really all-in on the super fantasy world, although I have to admit some admiration for Erikson's world and Middle-Earth, both of which contain insanely large amounts of fantasy.

And whenever you finish your book and it's up for sale I'll be sure to read it. I'm all-in when it comes to supporting upspringing writers and/or bands.

[SpectreofEschaton]

SalokinX, on 10 June 2010 - 01:54 AM, said:

And whenever you finish your book and it's up for sale I'll be sure to read it. I'm all-in when it comes to supporting upspringing writers and/or bands.

Heh, to clarify that's if ever, not whenever. See my post in the Your WIPs thread in Writing. I consider 3 sentences in a day a miraculous accomplishment.

Appreciate it, though. public/style_emoticons/Malazan/;%29.gif

[aulonocara]

The sword of tru.... no some jokes aren't even worth trying, like joking you have a bomb while on a plane.

best is such a subjective thing, but to me ericsons has caught me like no other. after that id say bakker and ive really enjoyed the couple of glen cooks ive read.

on a stand alone, guy kays tigana and song for arbonne are among my favourites

i also really enjoyed tehannu by ursula le guin. the original series was excellent but that book really struck home for me.

[MTS]

Best book I have ever read? Hmm, that's a tough one. Recency can't help but play a part, however I would say Shadow of the Wind is the best book I have ever read, closely followed by The Count of Monte Cristo.

[Beezulbubba]

Well.... of course Lord of the Rings is up there for me (duh), what young boy getting into Sci-fi /Fantasy hasn't read LOTR. However, I liked The Silmarillion more. While a much more difficult read, the richness of the book and how Middle Earth came to be blew me away. Biblical like on all accounts (quite a challenging read.... Erikson doesn't even compare in that regard). A friend of mine suggested Erikson's work to me because he knew how much I liked the Silmarillion. As it stands right now, Erikson's work doesn't stand up (yet), but I am only through reading Memories of Ice.

Raymond E. Feist's "The Riftwar Saga"

You might laugh, but Ann Rice's "The Vampire Chronicles"... I now loathe her though.

I liked R.A. Salvatore's "Icewind Dale Trilogy" and the "The Dark Elf Trilogy". Simple (fluff) reading, but both series had their moments. I particularly enjoyed the sword play between Drizzt and Artemis Entreri. Salvatore's writing was descriptive when describing those battles.

I started reading Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" series, but bailed out halfway through the first book (The Eye of the World). I think I started reading that when I was being too serious and thought reading fantasy was not a constructive use of my time. Anyway, I want to revisit that series. I remember there was some sweet building of story threads happening in that first book.

[amphibian]

You sound kind of young - at least in terms of experience with SF (speculative fiction, a catchall term often applied to the general categories of science fiction and fantasy). A good chunk of the forum's populations has about 10 to 15 years worth of reading SF books. So to say "greatest" will get you a bunch of answers from a good number of people.

We're nearly unanimous about what we very strongly dislike (Sword of Truth, Sarah Jessica Parker), but what gets us going is wildly varied.

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings work isn't all that great in comparison to the greatest books that came after it. Hugely influential, paved the way for others, sold millions of copies, but the writing itself is often shoddy, Samwise Gamgee is an awful, awful character and Gandalf coming back after fighting the Balrog makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I'm not even discussing the Sharky fiasco.

Try out the Covenant series, The Black Company books, Dresden, Bakker's Prince of Nothing series, Wolfe's Wizard Knight, Gaiman's The Sandman, Mieville's Perdido Street Station, Salman Rushdie's books, Moby Dick, His Dark Materials, any Philip K. Dick stories (A Scanner Darkly works for me), any Vonnegut etc. etc. etc.

There's dozens of threads recommending books to people who ask "What should I read next?" Almost everybody recommends a personal favorite or a good, solid book. So I'm kind of ticked off that you said you found nothing about the "greatest". What scratches somebody's back is highly individual. Apparently for you, it's GRRM and you're not shy about mentioning it.

Let's see if you still say GRRM in 10 to 15 years.

[beru]

ether Malazan or Mistborn... but to choose between them is Imposible

[Aooga]

Just to make it interesting I'm mentioning only 'completed' series. There...that should get rid of obvious choices like Malazan or ASOIAF.

The Dark Tower
The Lord of the Rings
Hyperion Cantos

followed closely by:
Mistborn
The First Law
Otherland
any one of Robin Hobb's Elderling trilogies as they're all very closely matched in quality.

[Aptorian]

amphibian, on 10 June 2010 - 06:17 AM, said:

We're nearly unanimous about what we very strongly dislike (Sword of Truth, Sarah Jessica Parker), but what gets us going is wildly varied.

ಠ_ಠ

[Morgoth]

Faust by Goethe if we allow plays (mind you, if you separate it into two parts as you should, part 1 is vastly superior to part 2) ..

If not plays then Lasso Around the Moon by Agnar Mykle, or Pan by Knut Hamsun, closely followed by the Count of Monte Cristo and Don Quixote.


If we limit ourselves to fantasy and sci fi alone, I'd say I am Legend and Blindsight or Use of Weapons.

[Paran]

While I liked the first 3 book in aSoIaF, book 4 left a LOT to be desired, and in this case, I'll definitely wait before putting it up there. I'd rate the Malazan series and the Prince of Nothing series (Bakker) ahead of that now. Thomas Covenant and LotR are both hard work vocabulary and style wise, but worth it. Kearney's Monarchies of God series is very good; Abercrobie's First Law trilogy was excellent at subverting cliches and had some excellent characters (Glokta, Bloody Nice, Bayaz, etc); Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber are awesome in so many ways; Guy Gavriel Kay consistently puts out great work - Sarantine Mosaic (2 books), Last Light of the Sun, Tigana, Lions of Al Rassan, etc.; Rowling did a great great job of completing a 7 book series in total control with the HP books; Gene Wolfe with his New Sun series; China Meiville's Perdido Street Station and The Scar are two fantastic stand alone novels; The Dresden Files is a very entertaining series by Jim Butcher.

Still, best for me is Malazan, by a fair way.

[worry]

In the realm of fantasy, my favorite series is Malazan for sure, but I'll second Robin Hobb's books as well. The scope isn't as awe-inspiring as Malazan, but in terms of planning out a story from start to finish and having everything come together, she's as good as anyone. The Princess Bride is fantastic. The best YA fantasy to me are the Prydain books, Harry Potter, and His Dark Materials. For popcorny stuff, I liked the Shannara books up to a point. The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue was a very good stand alone fantasy.

In terms of fairly modern non-fantasy my favorite author is Tom Spanbauer, who to oversimplify writes what are basically coming out novels, with an immensely pleasurable, readable literary flair. I also like George Pelecanos, who started out with urban detective fiction and has since moved on to more interesting urban crime in general, set in Washington DC. He's one of the novelists who worked on The Wire, btw. Joe (by Larry Brown) was great but I haven't read his other books. It presents abject southern poverty without flinching. I really like Sarah Vowell, especially The Wordy Shipmates. Um, Ender's Game is obviously awesome, and I liked its three main sequels more than the average reader perhaps (though they do indeed get progressively weaker). I'd also recommend anything Stephen King wrote in the 1970s...I like a lot of what he's done since then, but those early books are probably the most broadly liked, and it's certainly before he started screwing up his endings on a semi-consistent basis. And I like Watership Down and The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams a whole lot. I like the Cormac McCarthy I've read (No Country, Blood Meridian, and especially The Road). And I haven't read the rest of the series, but I think Lonesome Dove might actually appeal to more fantasy fans than one might guess.

In terms of classics (not sure where an end-date would be), my favorites are Moby-Dick, 1984 (or anything else by Orwell really), Of Mice and Men/East of Eden, Lord of the Flies, Huck Finn, the Alice books, Treasure Island, The Call of the Wild, Gatsby, Cuckoo's Nest, The Stones of Summer, Kindred. I'll cut it off there.

[Ulrik]

Oh, oh. So many greatest I have...
R.E.Howard´s anything.
Abercrombie´s First Law and Best Served Cold,
Gemmell´s Legend, King Beyond Gate, Quest for Lost Heroes, Waylander, Knights of Dark Renown...well, most of his work.
LOTR
Herbert´s Dune
Sapkowski´s short stories
Bakker´s Prince of Nothing
Moorcock´s Elric from Melnibone
Pratchett´s Reaper
Richard Morgan´s Steel Remains and Kovacs things
Wright´s Generation Kill
Eco´s Name of the Rose
GRRM´s A Song of ice and Fire
MBoF
Puzzo´s Godfather.
Green´s Nightside (guilty pleasure)

Damn, I dont know:) Im reading belletry for twenty years, I forgot battalion of great books so...take it as best bunch of books. Cant take one...or five. (and yeah, after ten years Ill probably change my opinion...fifteen years ago I would add Belgariad, Elenium, Riftwar, Gates of Fire...not anymore)

[Use Of Weapons]

The single best series?

Lois Bujold's Vorkosigan saga.
http://en.wikipedia....#Selected_works

Which also features the best single short story I've ever read, 'The Mountains of Mourning'.

[Salk Elan]

From my present reading-experience this would be: Stone Dance of the Chameleon by Ricardo Pinto, MBotF by SE, Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker, Dune-series by Frank Herbert, Books of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (and to a slightly lesser extent and for brilliant, fascinating character-building the Engineer Trilogy by K. J. Parker).

I tried ASOIAF a few years ago but didn't get quite far. It's a bit to standard-fare for my tastes and to be honest I found his writing rather… hmmm… middling . So I didn't really warm to it, although my sister is very into it. Maybe I'll give it another try sometimes.

But I think, what someone finds great can be completely awful for someone else. We have all a different filter in our head and set value to different aspects of a story.

I for one am a very emotionally committed reader. I like complex characters but even more so I love vast scope… and I mean VAST… which explains my list of favourites.
All of them contain countless millennia of history in them, the rise and destruction (preferably in the most bloody and apocalyptical way possible, just for effect… something for the big screen) of whole civilisations.
That's what makes a great story for me: to feel the abyss of time all around (sorry, Abyss). For this I'd be always poised to do without a lot of straight-up action, so someone else might find these books rather long-winded if not outright boring.

On the other hand there are lots of brilliantly written, fast-paced, action-loaded, humorous, highly imaginative books and series out there, I find very entertaining and valuable, which would never the less never make it to my top-rack because they lack the above mentioned quality, many of which were mentioned already: Monachies of God by Kearney, Black Company by Glen Cook (although it is a bit too fairytale for my tastes), Memory, Sorrow& Thorn by Tad Williams, Dragonlance and Death Gate Circle by Margarete Weis & Tracy Hickman, Nightrunner by Lynn Flewelling (the first two volumes anyway), Vlad Taltos-Series by Steven Brust, Elric and Corum by Michael Moorcock, Druss and Waylander by David Gemmel, Belgariad by David Eddings or even Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling and many, many more…

So what is great is really just a matter of taste and probably personal reading experience.

[Werthead]

Hmm. I'd probably say that for best stand-alone book something like The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, The Stand by Stephen King (although the ending lets it down), The Silmarillion by Tolkien, Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds or Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke, but probably The Separation by Christopher Priest edges them out for me.

For series, The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton and The Helliconia Trilogy by Brian Aldiss rank very highly for me. In terms of fantasy, The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe is an important series and more people need to read The Monarchies of God by Paul Kearney (new Erikson-blurbed omnibus editions coming soon!). In terms of incomplete works, A Song of Ice and Fire ranks highest amongst fantasy, although Bakker could trump it if his series fulfils its potential (the next book I think will be crucial to seeing if this is possible). If Malazan's overall quality had remained at the DHG/MoI level, it would be my favourite series by some distance, but sadly it has fallen off, in some areas badly, since then. I'm actually more interested in Erikson's forthcoming work outside the core series and in ICE's books than in The Crippled God, which even I find depressing. For ongoing, episodic series, I like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files but Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts series is just much more fun (not to mention far more insane).

This post has been edited by Werthead: 10 June 2010 - 09:48 AM