[Mythodikal]

Hey everyone,

I know there are suggestions all over this board, but honestly there are a lot based on reading histories of many series' that I don't know. I hope no one minds but I thought I would just throw out my big series and see if anyone has a similar reading history and maybe found something similar or that they might think would strike my fancy.

MBotF was the last series that I started, actually that isn't true, I've read 3 or 4 of the Jack Whyte series that I really enjoyed, but anyway, MBotF is the last one that has really mattered. My first fantasy novel was Winter Warriors which I was really happy to see mentioned here elsewhere, loved that one way back... eeek around 16 years ago? I then moved on to the Sword of Truth series. I really loved them until some other great series came my way and made me realize how silly these kind of became... all though I will admit I am still reading the new ones that have just come out because I just have to keep going with them. I used to read some Forgotten Realms I think, with Drizzt, they were what they were, silly but yet entertaining.

By far my favorite series is MBotF. Behind that for a long time would have been ASoIaF but.... then I read the Dark Tower series, I absolutely LOVE that series (though very thankful I started reading after all books were already released!) Anyway, I know I'm not throwing a lot of titles in here, I've also read Sara Douglas (some enchanter series), the first book of a Terry Brooks series involving a girl in the modern world (a long time ago)... I guess top 5 would be Malazan, Dark Tower, A Song of Ice and Fire, The Wheel of Time (though hated some of the middle books, was happy with the way Sanderson tied things up), and then Jack Whyte's Arthurian legend books.

So I bow down to you much more knowledgeable readers for any suggestions that will relieve me of re-reading all of these old great stories (though I love it). I could really use the excitement of a new, great series!

Thanks everyone!!! I really appreciate it!

(and in my slight justification for this post, a lot of the recommendations that I've seen in these threads seem for VERY experienced readers... I'm hoping I might be speaking for the less experienced reader that you need to assume we haven't read anything except the biggies, or maybe that we might even be unaware of what some of the biggies are!)

thanks again!

[amphibian]

I find that interspersing the books of tones of "really dark and complex" with the "somewhat fanciful and light" works better for my mindset and life than doing a straight run of one for months/years on end.

If you've not gotten to the Harry Potter books, those would be the "fanciful and light gimungous series that most fantasy people have read" for the most part. The Tolkien/Lord of the Rings books, starting with The Hobbit, would be next, followed by the Narnia books (The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe being the starting point). I'd also advise trying some Diana Wynne Jones (young adult books involving magic that are still terrific to read as adults), Frank Herbert's Dune (maybe the most famous science fiction book ever and heavily focused on war, economics and revolutions) and Douglas Adams' Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy books (absurdist British humor books about a regular man accidentally shoved into weird space situations).

For the darker, more complex stuff, try The Black Company by Glen Cook (Erikson said it best: "Vietnam War fiction on peyote"), the Engineer series by KJ Parker (really grim, calculated siege-warfare stuff with jerk characters that are still compelling), Iain Banks's Culture books (some of the most moving science fiction ever written).

For in-betweeners, try the Codex Alera books by Jim Butcher (a boy's rise through the ranks of an army in a fantasy world), the Paksenarrion books by Elizabeth Moon (better "holy warrior called by the gods to do good" stories than the Drizzt books, although somewhat similar from a 10,000 foot overview) and most Salman Rushdie books (I recommend starting with Shalimar the Clown and not jumping straight into The Satanic Verses).


There are a lot more, but these are great starting points to figure out what you do like and what you don't like in English SF, while spreading your exposure around.

[worry]

For light reading go with the Prydain books. Five shortish novels and a short story collection. It's young adult fantasy (but more like "all ages") rooted in Welsh folklore, and is farmboy-with-a-destiny at its best.

[D'iversify]

If you enjoy the philosophical aspects and florid writing of MBotF and the ruthless cruelty of aSoIaF, try R Scott Bakker's Second Apocalypse series.

[Tarthenal Theloman Toblakai]

I found Joe Abercrombies First Law Trilogy (and subsequent 3 spin offs) really fun to read. Set in a similar age to ASOIAF sort of iron age, there is some magic, but most is lost, very cool system to explain the magic and wonderful things that happen in the books, most of it is good old fashioned sword and axe swinging.

I recently finished Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire Trilogy which was awesome, I won't reveal any plot here as its really unique and really good to read. Old school swords once more, and some magic mixed in, but mostly swords, and more swords. Very entertaining, and the main characters are your usual hero's either, which is a nice change from some stories. His newest book, Prince of Fools, set in the same Broken Empire, is just as good, and has an even less likely main character. Just solid reads, in a great Fantasy world IMO.

I have been waiting to read the Black Company after reading LOTR and The Hobbit (Which you should certainly read!), so whilst I can't recommend it from my experience, I am excited enough about it, to want to buy and read it myself, so why not!? lol

I haven't read a whole lot besides these and ASOIAF and the Malazan books either, so you are not alone!

[Baco Xtath]

Abercrombie - First Law trilogy
Matthew fucking Stover - Acts of Caine

Morgan - A Land Fit for Heroes
Lawrence - Broken Empire
Anthony Ryan - Raven's Shadow
Brian McClellan - Powder Mage
Miles Cameron - the Traitor Son Cycle
Glen Cook - Black Company
Daniel Abraham - Long Price Quartet, Dagger and Coin
Scott Bakker - the Second Apocalypse
Scott Lynch - Gentlemen Bastards
Brian Staveley - the Emperor's Blades
Patrick Rothfuss - Kingkiller Chronicles

Haven't read but have seen heavily recc'd
Paul Kearney - Monarchies of God
Robin Hobb - Farseer trilogy and more
Brent Weeks - Night Angel and Lightbringer

[acesn8s]

Based on your likes, here are my recommendations:

Epic Fantasy (long series, well defined worlds similar to Erikson, GRRM, and Jordan)
Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives
Patrick Rothfuss' - Kingkiller Chronicles

Easy to Read Fantasy (similar to Terry Brooks and the TSR Forgotten Realms novels)
David Eddings - The Belgariad
David Gemmell's - Drenai Series

Historical Fiction (Similar to the Jack Whyte Arthurian novels)
Bernard Cornwell's - The Warlord Chronicles

If you like Cornwell's Warlord books, try the Saxon Stories (which is my favorite series by him).

[Abyss]

All my gut level recos... Stover's CAINE (at times dark, at all times fucking awesome), Abercrombie's FIRST LAW (steadily improves to a great finish, then gets better), Butcher's CODEX (weak first book, steadily gets better to sheer mad crazy fantasy lit fun), Lawrence's BROKEN EMPIRE (best worse protagonist ever), Bakker's PRINCE OF NOTHING trilo (ugly and brilliant) are covered above and i firmly back them.

Let me try to add a few not already upthread...

Terry Brooks' SHANNARA - start with the second book, ELFSTONES... it's darker and far better written than the first and you'll have no problems missing anything. Then read the first (which i think is better for having started with the second) and proceed chronologically. The beauty of the series is that it can be both dark and fairly light in turn. It's classic fantasy quest stuff with archetypical heroes done in fun ways... Brooks has crafted some of the most memorable fantasy characters and he's worth your time. The series is virtually unending but you can stop whenever you get tired of the basic formula he follows.

Guy Gavriel Kay write historical fantasy, in the sense that his settings are loosely based on real historical settings, ie: the Roman Empire, but called something else. He keeps the magic elements to a bare minimum, but writes some brilliant characters and is one of the few authors who can hold my attention through an entire book with barely an action sequence. The forum is insanely divided on which of his books are best/worst, but most are self-contained and if you start with LIONS OF AL-RASSAN you can't really go wrong. If you dig Arthurian and not offput by portal fantasy (people from 'real' world sent to fantasy world), his FIONAVAR TAPESTRY is a fantasy classic worth a read. Just please for the love of god don't read YSABEL.

A word about Richard Morgan... i love his books deeply, esp LAND FIT FOR HEROES, but consider reading his sf TAKESHI KOVACS series first.

For something slightly different but still fairly classic fantasy (albeit with guns, mutants and an Asian-based setting) Chris Wooding's BRAIDED PATH trilo is worth a look.

[Stormcat]

I would have suggested everything that has already been suggested, all but R. Scott Bakker. I hated Prince of Nothing. Of course Dresden if you have not read those because... Dresden is freaking awesome.

If you like the Dark Tower there is a whole graphic novel series that follows Roland's adventures starting with his meeting of Susan Delgado. The stories are really good and the art is freaking amazing. If you are not a graphic novel fan this series might change your mind. The stories fill in all the blanks from his childhood to some of his adventures before the first Gunslinger novel begins. Really good stuff.

edited to add a link to the first Gunslinger graphic novel.
http://www.amazon.co...gunslinger+born

This post has been edited by Stormcat: 26 August 2014 - 03:01 PM

[Mentalist]

Paul Kearney's "Monarchies of God" - complete series, fairly short (2 mmpb omnibuses)--not too heavy, but nicely epic (Pseudo-Middle Ages/Turkish invasion of Europe + Religious wars + werewolf conspiracy)

I'll second Briar King's recco for Greg Keyes' series "Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone" (esp if you liked ASoIaF), but with a HUGE disclaimer: once you've read the first 3 excellent books, lower your expectations dramatically. Last book was terribly rushed, and it really shows.

For something that's pretty different, but still familiar- try Adrian Tchakovsky's "Shadows of the Apt" series.--it's a mashup of historical themes (Greco-Persian wars, overlaid w/ the 2 World Wars) in a very innovative setting of a human society with insect totems.

Since you aren't yet a 'jaded" fantasy reader, you can also try Tom Lloyd's "Twilight Reign" series. It fills most checkboxes on "epic" and the world is pretty well-realized and interesting, though the characterisation in the first few books can be kind of weak.

If you want a SFF novel that will give you a random infodump on some obscure topic you've probably never thought about, check out Neal Stephenson--the Baroque Cycle + Cryptonomicon is an excellent series, and his Sci-Fi/cyberpunk standalones are great, too.

I haven't read Sanderson's 2nd Stromlight Archives book yet, so I can't say I fully recommend the series. But I will recommend the Mistborn trilogy and the standalone "Warbreaker"

If you want to try "epic" Sci-fi, check out Peter F Hamilton's "Night's Dawn" trilo, The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons, The Gap cycle by Stephen Donaldson or the Expanse series by James S. A. Corey. As a personal recco I'd also suggest the duology "Veteran" and "War in Heavens" by Gavin Smith, which I found to be the best read of 2013.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 26 August 2014 - 07:31 PM

[Khazduk]

You've already got many good suggestions here and most of them should be to your liking. But I always return to Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar (Fafhrd/Grey Mouser) series, written when the fantasy world as we know it today (the "sword and sorcery" part of it at least) was still very young.

Since almost all of it consists of short stories, look for any available compilations in your region of the world.

[Mythodikal]

You guys are so amazing! I have so much to look into here, and I am so grateful, I am also truly appreciative of the descriptions of the selections, and even more so the comparatives to things that I have already read. Just for the record I would like to state that I have actually read LotR and the Hobbit, I guess I just assumed those would go without saying, haha. I also read the Narnia series when I was young, though I do feel that I would take it completely differently at this stage in the game. The Cook series seems to be one that has come up quite a bit, not just here but other places, also maybe the Sanderson series, considering I did like what he did with the WoT series. I didn't know about the Dark Tower graphic novels and all though they haven't been my style in a while I do have a pretty decent Superman collection. The area of time of The Death of Superman is actually where I really started getting into reading (my parents were worried I was going to be illiterate). Once they saw that I would read Superman comics then they were fine to invest, I actually have some choice collectors issues from that era, including the three part series where Doomsday comes back.

Did anyone know what Terry Brooks series I was talking about, referring to a girl in a small town that realized that she had some sort of magic in her? Also I've often considered the Shianara series... I probably just spelt that like the people in WoT and not the series name...

I also really appreciate the people that noticed my diversity in "fla fla fantasy" versus the more new age harder edge fantasy. I think after the last few "new (to me)" series that I have really enjoyed are mostly the harder edged ones, I think I would lean more in that direction than the more traditional light v. dark type. Would it be a good general consensus to start with the Glen Cook series? (it was Glen Cook right? as I'm writing this and not seeing what was written I'm realizing how the worst part of my memory is for names... haha)

Once again everyone, thank you so much!!! I really appreciate it. It is nice to see that even with all the arguments that take place on this site of this meant that and you're and idiot if you don't think so, that when someone is just loking for a new escape that they can dedicate themselves to, that there is so much support.

Cheers to you guys!

[worry]

That Brooks series is The Word & The Void.

[Mythodikal]

D, on 26 August 2014 - 09:01 AM, said:

If you enjoy the philosophical aspects and florid writing of MBotF and the ruthless cruelty of aSoIaF, try R Scott Bakker's Second Apocalypse series.

I have quite enjoyed the philosophical stuff, but if you look up my post history you might see a controversial conversation from Forge of Darkness that I found a lo of it quite didactic and maybe overly philosophical, and maybe trying to force a certain philosophy. Please let me know if this alters your recommendation...

[Mythodikal]

Abyss, on 26 August 2014 - 02:23 PM, said:

All my gut level recos... Stover's CAINE (at times dark, at all times fucking awesome), Abercrombie's FIRST LAW (steadily improves to a great finish, then gets better), Butcher's CODEX (weak first book, steadily gets better to sheer mad crazy fantasy lit fun), Lawrence's BROKEN EMPIRE (best worse protagonist ever), Bakker's PRINCE OF NOTHING trilo (ugly and brilliant) are covered above and i firmly back them.

Let me try to add a few not already upthread...

Terry Brooks' SHANNARA - start with the second book, ELFSTONES... it's darker and far better written than the first and you'll have no problems missing anything. Then read the first (which i think is better for having started with the second) and proceed chronologically. The beauty of the series is that it can be both dark and fairly light in turn. It's classic fantasy quest stuff with archetypical heroes done in fun ways... Brooks has crafted some of the most memorable fantasy characters and he's worth your time. The series is virtually unending but you can stop whenever you get tired of the basic formula he follows.

Guy Gavriel Kay write historical fantasy, in the sense that his settings are loosely based on real historical settings, ie: the Roman Empire, but called something else. He keeps the magic elements to a bare minimum, but writes some brilliant characters and is one of the few authors who can hold my attention through an entire book with barely an action sequence. The forum is insanely divided on which of his books are best/worst, but most are self-contained and if you start with LIONS OF AL-RASSAN you can't really go wrong. If you dig Arthurian and not offput by portal fantasy (people from 'real' world sent to fantasy world), his FIONAVAR TAPESTRY is a fantasy classic worth a read. Just please for the love of god don't read YSABEL.

A word about Richard Morgan... i love his books deeply, esp LAND FIT FOR HEROES, but consider reading his sf TAKESHI KOVACS series first.

For something slightly different but still fairly classic fantasy (albeit with guns, mutants and an Asian-based setting) Chris Wooding's BRAIDED PATH trilo is worth a look.

Abyss, thank you so much for your response... I know you must spend a lot of time covering this board from base to tip, so you're response comes with a certain extra gravitas. The Caine series is one that I didn't notice elsewhere, though I am sure I just over read it elsewhere, haha, you're description is definitely enticing! Also I see that you included the Lawrence novels in your list, I am noticing on a second read through of these responses that this one comes up a couple of times, I like you're description of a potentially unlikeable hero because as I mentioned my admiration of the Dark Tower series, Roland could only be described as thus.

Thanks again!

[Mythodikal]

worry, on 29 August 2014 - 02:15 AM, said:

That Brooks series is The Word & The Void.

Thanks! I remember really enjoying the first book and actually think I might have the third book hidden on my shelf somewhere but lost the first book, so I was all lost up (great English right? lost up? haha)

[D'iversify]

Mythodikal, on 29 August 2014 - 02:16 AM, said:

D, on 26 August 2014 - 09:01 AM, said:

If you enjoy the philosophical aspects and florid writing of MBotF and the ruthless cruelty of aSoIaF, try R Scott Bakker's Second Apocalypse series.

I have quite enjoyed the philosophical stuff, but if you look up my post history you might see a controversial conversation from Forge of Darkness that I found a lo of it quite didactic and maybe overly philosophical, and maybe trying to force a certain philosophy. Please let me know if this alters your recommendation...

I'd say that whereas for Erikson his philosophical views are expressed within a fantasy world constructed originally for other purposes, for Bakker his philosophical views heavily inform the framing and construction of his world (he has previously stated that he sees genre as a way to bring his ideas to a mass audience). I don't think this necessarily ends up with an overtly didactic style - Bakker definitely has 'take home messages' but his world operates more as a theatre for expressing his ideas than it does as a setting for fables.

[Abyss]

Mythodikal, on 29 August 2014 - 02:23 AM, said:

Abyss, thank you so much for your response... I know you must spend a lot of time covering this board from base to tip, so you're response comes with a certain extra gravitas. The Caine series is one that I didn't notice elsewhere, though I am sure I just over read it elsewhere, haha, you're description is definitely enticing! Also I see that you included the Lawrence novels in your list, I am noticing on a second read through of these responses that this one comes up a couple of times, I like you're description of a potentially unlikeable hero because as I mentioned my admiration of the Dark Tower series, Roland could only be described as thus.

Most welcome. Tnx for the gravitas.
Stover's Caine and Lawrence's Jorge are very very different cretaures from King's Roland, for a variety of reasons, tho as i type this i realize more elements they share than i might have initially thought.
CAINE and EMPIRE are both worth your time and money. When they go dark, they go very dark and when they open a can of asskick, it's generally fistpump stand up holyfuckdidijustreadthat? level stuff. I give Caine the edge for depth and scope of the story ... where it ends is VERY different from where it starts and Stover has a deft hand with dialogue.

Mythodikal, on 29 August 2014 - 02:30 AM, said:

worry, on 29 August 2014 - 02:15 AM, said:

That Brooks series is The Word & The Void.

Thanks! I remember really enjoying the first book and actually think I might have the third book hidden on my shelf somewhere but lost the first book, so I was all lost up (great English right? lost up? haha)

Brooks recently wrote a series linking the SHANNARA books with the WORD/VOID series. If you just sort of start his books in chron order from ELFSTONES or SWORD and work your way through you'll likely enjoy it and you get to watch the evolution of his writing and world. I do think he tends towards a formula that becomes familiar after a point, but that's not a bad thing.

[Salt-Man Z]

Mythodikal, on 29 August 2014 - 02:23 AM, said:

The Caine series is one that I didn't notice elsewhere, though I am sure I just over read it elsewhere, haha, you're description is definitely enticing!

If you didn't notice it elsewhere, it's only because the series is criminally, criminally under-read. It gets a fair bit of love on these forums, at least. (All well-deserved.)

I'll also give a shoutout to Donaldson's GAP Cycle (mentioned upthread); one of my all-time favorite sci-fi series.

[Abyss]

Salt-Man Z, on 29 August 2014 - 03:51 PM, said:

Mythodikal, on 29 August 2014 - 02:23 AM, said:

The Caine series is one that I didn't notice elsewhere...

If you didn't notice it elsewhere, it's only because the series is criminally, criminally under-read....

Seconded.

It kills a small part of me that an author of Stover's level makes more dollars writing licensed property books rather than more Caine. That's just fucking wrong on a universal level.
Ah well, at least we got one complete series.

...which, Mythodikal, you should really read...


Speaking of which, here's the cover for the Bulgarian release of HEROES DIE.... pay attention to the (very clever) bottom part...