[Mercador]

Hello !

I tried several fantasy series in the last five years and not a lot stick with me... Hopefully, I'll find some people that have the same taste as me

I'm reading Malazan at a slow pace since I don't read English as good as I wanted, so it seems to me that I miss a lot of good content and puns from Erikson.

I loved Fire and Ice, read some Black Company and liked it. I liked also Prince/King of Thorns, I should read Emperor this winter. I can read Drizzt at times when I want to get better in English­ (I buy them in English in that purpose).

Tried Wheel of Time, didn't like it, too generic (maybe?) but I read only the first tome. I'm currently reading Memory, Sorrow and Thorns and it's a bit too slow for me. I don't know the word in English but it seems to gentle, happy, not enough grim (typo?). Same for the Assassin's Apprentice trilogy, read the first trilogy but it was a pain to finish. I'm sick of the orphan boy that become the world savior...

What about Sanderson ? Abercrombie ? I really loved Richard Morgan scifi trilogy, how it's his fantasy trilogy ?

Thanks a lot!

[Mercador]

Oh and I really despite Sword of Truth Bought the first five books for nothing, only read the first one and I will probably never go back...

[Andorion]

I absolutely advice you to read Richard Morgan's A Land Fit For Heroes Trilogy. The third book The Dark Defiles just came out so you can get all three of them together.

Could you be more specific about what type of books you want to read within fantasy? So far, from what you have written, you have mainly read epic fantasy, with some grittiness. Is that the way you want to go?

[Mercador]

Yeah, I don't mind big series or big books, but I tried to read them in French since I'm not as good as I would like to be. That's why I read Drizzt in English to train myself, not really hard litterature, just enough to get a better vocabulary.

Edit: but yes, I prefer Epicness

This post has been edited by Mercador: 10 November 2014 - 01:26 AM

[Gwynn ap Nudd]

I second the Brent Weeks suggestion. I enjoyed the Nightangel series and have just started his second series and so far so good.

If you liked the Black Company books, you might want to give the Glen Cook's Dread Empire series a try as well. The writing is a bit rougher, as it was earlier work, but still a decent read. And available in omnibus format similar to the Black Company books.

I do agree with your comment that Tad Williams can be a slow read, but I thought that was more an issue with Otherland and Shadowmarch than with Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (though it has been years since I read Memory, Sorrow and Thorn).

[Abyss]

Mercador, on 10 November 2014 - 01:00 AM, said:

...

What about Sanderson ? Abercrombie ? I really loved Richard Morgan scifi trilogy, how it's his fantasy trilogy ?

Thanks a lot!

Sanderson you will probably like. I think Abercrombie is worth reading, but perhaps wait til you have read a few more series, mainly so you'll see what it is he's trying not to do.
If you like Morgan's sf stuff you should utterly try his fantasy.

Mercador, on 10 November 2014 - 01:06 AM, said:

Oh and I really despite Sword of Truth Bought the first five books for nothing, only read the first one and I will probably never go back...

Welcome brother. You're in good company here.

Other stuff I can suggest...
Weiss and Hickman wrote a 7 parter called THE DEATH GATE CYCLE. You'll know fairly quickly if it's a style you like, but if you do, it's got all the epic.
Butcher's CODEX ALERA... bk 1 is just ok but it steadily improves from there.
Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's low key fantasy but epic characters. Worth your time.
And I third the NIGHT ANGEL trilo recommendation. Weeks did nice work with that series.

[D'iversify]

R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing and Aspect Emperor trilogies (if you like Erikson, Martin and Lawrence, can see this working for you).

Gene Wolf's Book of the New Sun (more science fantasy, but an incredible opus).

Also say keep going with Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, it's slow but pays off well. Didn't care that much for Shadowmarch but inly read the first book.

[Mercador]

Got good feedback from Kay as well.

As for Tad Williams trilogy, I'm at the end of the fourth book in French (around half of second original one) and it gets better but still a bit slow.

[Mercador]

As for SciFi, I really like the writting of Alastair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton, Richard Morgan and Asimov. I didn't like Dune (heresy!!), too much philosophical for my pleasure.

[Andorion]

Mercador, on 10 November 2014 - 01:43 PM, said:

As for SciFi, I really like the writting of Alastair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton, Richard Morgan and Asimov. I didn't like Dune (heresy!!), too much philosophical for my pleasure.

Seems our sci-fi tastes match. I highly recommend Iain M Banks, Neal Asher, Gary Gibson for sci-fi. Also anything by Charles Stross. He started of writing sci-fi, but he has a very nice twist on urban fantasy called the Laundry series going as well.

[Mercador]

The Culture series is on my TO_READ list ;-) Is it serious enough, I heard it might be a bit sattiric. I don't mind humor but I don't like novels like H2G2.

[Wolfdrop]

Would recommend:

Richard Morgan: A Land Fit For Heroes

R Scott Bakker; Prince of Nothing and Aspect Emperor

Michael Moorcock: Any of his Elric, Corum or Hawkmoon books

Glen Cooks: Starfishers Trilogy, it's basically fantasy but set in space. Might be hard to find but well worth it.

Glen Cook: Instrumentalities of the Night

[Mercador]

I read Corum when I was in high school, 20 years ago. It was quite good, I might double-dip.

Someone told me that Anomander Rake is a carbon-copy of Elric. Is that right?

[Mercador]

On Morgan trilogy, I'm not quite sure I want to read homosexuality acts. Not that I mind, my brother-in-law is an homosexual, but I remember how explicit Morgan can be when it comes to sexuality...

[Mercador]

Briar King, on 10 November 2014 - 09:01 PM, said:

I'm not to sure if I'd back up the Gene Wolfe reco for a ESL person. Gene Wolfe is awesome and a brilliant writer and yes Book of New Sun is so great, but it maybe a bit to hard to follow for ESL.

Define ESL ?

Edit; nevermind, English second language I guess

This post has been edited by Mercador: 10 November 2014 - 09:09 PM

[worry]

Sounds like you do mind, or you wouldn't have brought it up.

[Mercador]

Well, actually, I don't mind homosexuality, but reading explicit acts, I'm not quite sure. Though, I never tried so I can't say. It's more because as I remember of Richard Morgan Kovacs series, it can be pretty explicit at times.

[Mercador]

Ok good to know, thanks

Just to make sure worry; I'm not quite comfortable with Kovacs scenes either.

[Mercador]

Briar King, on 10 November 2014 - 09:39 PM, said:

Yeah I actually got the wrong thread to. There's one here somewhere with OP saying they are ESL. If your not then Gene Wolfe is good choice. He's a word genius.

Actually, I am. That's why I take my time with Malazan books because I know that I miss a lot of good stuff while being not quite good at reading it.

[Abyss]

Andorion, on 10 November 2014 - 03:15 PM, said:

Mercador, on 10 November 2014 - 01:43 PM, said:

As for SciFi, I really like the writting of Alastair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton, Richard Morgan and Asimov. I didn't like Dune (heresy!!), too much philosophical for my pleasure.

Seems our sci-fi tastes match. I highly recommend Iain M Banks, Neal Asher, Gary Gibson for sci-fi. Also anything by Charles Stross. He started of writing sci-fi, but he has a very nice twist on urban fantasy called the Laundry series going as well.

LAUNDRY is scifi.