[Baco Xtath]

BEST SPACE OPERA SERIES

Alastair Reynolds - Poseidon’s Children

Alastair Reynolds - Revelation Space cycle

Dan Simmons - Hyperion Cantos

Frank Herbert - Dune series

Iain M. Banks - Culture

Stephen Donaldson - the Gap Cycle

Cixin Liu - Three Body

James S. A. Corey - The Expanse

Anne Leckie - Imperial Radch

Rachel Bach - Paradox series




BEST SCIENCE FICTION

Richard K. Morgan - Takeshi Kovacs

- Thirte3n

Peter Watts - Blindsight

- Rifters trilogy

Hannu Rajaniemi - Jean Le Flambeur

William Gibson - Neuromancer

Tad Williams - Otherland

Daniel Saurez - Daemon

Gene Wolf - Book of the New Sun

G. Willow Wilson - Alif, the Unseen

Claire North - the First Fifteen Lives of Harry August







BEST SPECULATIVE FICTION (mixed genre)

China Mieville - Bas-Lag

Nick Harkaway - the Gone-Away World

Felix Gilman - Thunderer/Gears duology

K.J. Bishop - the Etched City

Chris Wooding - Tales of the Ketty Jay

R. S. Belcher - Golgotha (Six-gun Tarot)

Lauren Buekes - Zoo City

Jeff Vandermeer - Ambergris series

Robert J. Bennett - the Troupe

- American Elsewhere

David Wong - John Dies at the End duology

Ian Tregellis - Milkweed Triptych

Neil Gaiman - American Gods

- Neverwhere

- Anansi’s Boys

Scott Hawkins - the Library at Mount Char




URBAN FANTASY

Kate Griffin - Matthew Swift

Ben Aaronovitch - Peter Grant

Mike Carey - Felix Castor

R. S. Belcher - Nightwise

Jim Butcher - Dresden

Charles Stross - Laundry Files

Glenn Cook - Garrett P.I.

Steven Brust - Vlad Taltos

Tad Williams - Bobby Dollar




BEST FANTASTY SERIES

Steven Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen

George R.R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire

Matthew Stover - Acts of Caine

Joe Abercrombie - First Law

Mark Lawrence - Broken Empire

Richard K. Morgan - A Land Fit for Heroes

Scott R. Bakker - Prince of Nothing

Scott Lynch - Gentlemen Bastards

Patrick Rothfuss - Kingkiller Chronicles

N.K. Jemisin - Inheritance

C.S. Friedman - Coldfire Trilogy

Miles Cameron - Traitor Son

Brian Stavenley - the Unhewn Throne

Robrt J. Bernnett - City of Stairs

Sebastian De Castell - Greatcoats

Daniel Abraham - Long Price Quartet

- Dagger and Coin

Barry Hugart - the Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox

Terry Pratchett - Discworld




BEST FANTASY STAND ALONE

Mary Gentle - Ash: A Secrtet History

Brian Ruckley - the Free

K.J. Parker - Sharps

Guy Gavriel Kay - the Lions of Al’Rassan

- Last Light of the Sun

Helen Wecker - the Golem and the Jinni

Dyachenkoes - the Scar

Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus

Pratchett/Gaiman - Good Omens

This post has been edited by Baco Xtath: 08 November 2015 - 02:43 AM

[Tiste Simeon]

You definitely should read Hamilton. Night's Dawn is immense and the Commonwealth Saga/Void Trilogy is almost as good.

[Esa1996]

Damn you've read a lot of books.


*All books are in alphabetical order*


Best fantasy series:

A Song of Ice and Fire
Malazan Book of the Fallen
Wheel of Time


Other good fantasy series I've read:

Kingkiller Chronicles
The First Law
The Second Apocalypse

Fantasy series I read and liked before discovering ASOIAF (Not that they are bad but after ASOIAF they feel pretty simple and YA):

Harry Potter
Hunger Games (Well, this one is scifi)
Inheritance Cycle
Lord of the Rings
Twilight (It wasn't bad, don't kill me )


Unfortunately that contains pretty much all fantasy I've ever read (And simultaneously most of what I've read in general) I read more than any of my friends, but looking at your list my list is pretty pathetic. Then again I did read Harry Potter ten times, LotR (+The Hobbit) twice, Hunger Games twice, Twilight twice and ASOIAF twice. I'm reading WOT for the second time at the moment. Next up are either the standalone stories from The First Law, Crown of Stars or The Wars of Light and Shadow.

This post has been edited by Esa1996: 07 November 2015 - 10:09 PM

[Itwæs Nom]

Malazan Book of the Fallen

You shouldnt call anything else favourite and you know it.

Blasphemers.

(I think someone should do something about these random occurences of empty lines)

This post has been edited by Charlie Nom: 07 November 2015 - 10:30 PM

[Baco Xtath]

I feel like I should have an honorable mentions category too. So, here it is:

Pierce Brown - Red Rising
Murakami - Hard-Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World
- Kafka by the Shore
Max Gladstone - the Craft Sequence
Anthony Ryan - Raven's Shadow
Jeff Vandermeer - Area X
Paul McAuley - Fairyland
Paul Russo - Ship of Fools
Glen Cook - the Black Company
Ernest Clines - Ready Player One
Roger Zelazny - Lord of Light
- Chronicles of Amber
Lev Grossman - Magicians series
Brian McCellan - Powder Mage series

Brandon Sanderson - Stormlight Archive
Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time
Ken Scholes - Psalms of Isaak
Peter Clines - Ex-Heroes series
Django Wexler - The Shadow Campaigns
Lauren Buekes - Broken Monsters

and I'm sure I'll remember more later.

This post has been edited by Baco Xtath: 08 November 2015 - 01:52 AM

[Binder of Demons]

Considering what you already have on your lists BACO, I'm surprised you haven't mentioned

Neal Stephenson - The Diamond Age
or for other Stephenson novels, Cryptonomicon, The Baroque Cycle.

Michael Swanwick - Stations of the Tide
I also really enjoyed The Iron Dragon's Daughter

Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination
I'd also throw in, The Demolished Man

And since you enjoyed Fairyland, you should check out
Linda Nagata - The Bohr Maker


Clive Barker - Weaveworld
Imajica is really good too but seriously mental.

[Baco Xtath]

Binder of Demons, on 08 November 2015 - 01:44 AM, said:

Considering what you already have on your lists BACO, I'm surprised you haven't mentioned

Neal Stephenson - The Diamond Age
or for other Stephenson novels, Cryptonomicon, The Baroque Cycle.

Michael Swanwick - Stations of the Tide
I also really enjoyed The Iron Dragon's Daughter

Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination
I'd also throw in, The Demolished Man

And since you enjoyed Fairyland, you should check out
Linda Nagata - The Bohr Maker


Clive Barker - Weaveworld
Imajica is really good too but seriously mental.

I have the Diamond Age and The Iron Dragon's Daughter in my TRP and was just checking out the Demolished Man. I'll definitely check out the others you've mentioned. I've been meaning to jump into Stephenson's stuff but I've got so much on my plate I haven't had time yet.

[Baco Xtath]

Another category I should include,

BOOKS I HAVEN'T READ YET THAT ARE CONSIDERED GOOD/GREAT

Stephen Donaldson - the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Jack Vance - Lyonesse trilogy
Catherene Valente - damn near everything
Robin Hobb - the Farseer
Peter F. Hamilton - Night's Dawn
- Commonwealth
Sapkowski - Witcher
K.J. Parker - the Folding Knife
- Engineer
Paul Kearney - Monarchies of God
David Durham - Acacia
Robert Holdstock - Mythago Wood
Kameron Hurley - Worldbreaker
Lukyanenko - Night Watch
Vernor Vinge - Zones of Thought
Neal Stephenson - Anathem

[worry]

[Tiste Simeon]

Quick and Easy Dump Cakes?

That was my nickname in high school!

[HoosierDaddy]

worry, on 08 November 2015 - 06:16 AM, said:

I have no idea how this relates, but it amuses me greatly.

We've got hundreds of threads like this. Is there a reason this one is necessary other than that it's yours?

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Baco Xtath, on 08 November 2015 - 06:03 AM, said:

Another category I should include,

BOOKS I HAVEN'T READ YET THAT ARE CONSIDERED GOOD/GREAT

Jack Vance - Lyonesse trilogy
Robin Hobb - the Farseer

I strongly recommend both for me Lyonesse tailed off in the third book of the three, but it's a really charming fantasy story. It reminded me of nothing so much as The Last Unicorn in terms of its whimsy and humour, but it has a lot of depth to it.

And I recommend Hobb to anyone who reads fantasy. It can be slow going to begin with but worth sticking with.

I shall return and list later!

[Tattersail_]

Try out Brent Weeks' Lightbringer Series. Thank me later.

[Tattersail_]

HoosierDaddy, on 08 November 2015 - 09:09 AM, said:

worry, on 08 November 2015 - 06:16 AM, said:

I have no idea how this relates, but it amuses me greatly.

We've got hundreds of threads like this. Is there a reason this one is necessary other than that it's yours?

Because it is current?

[Tattersail_]

Quote

N.K. Jemisin - Inheritance

C.S. Friedman - Coldfire Trilogy

Miles Cameron - Traitor Son

Brian Stavenley - the Unhewn Throne

Robrt J. Bernnett - City of Stairs

Tell me about these. How many books are in them, are they finished. Which one would you recommend?

[worry]

Inheritance is a quite excellent completed trilogy, fairly hard to describe. It is character driven, including deities, and manages to utilize magic for a wide array of uses beyond action/violence. What action there is though has profound consequences. Romance plays a larger role than in much fantasy, but it's quite grounded (even when it involves the supernatural). It's the kind of good that forces you to notice its conspicuous absence in other works. The trilogy is followed by (in terms of separate publication): one short story, one novella, and one triptych (an ebook featuring three longish short stories). Needless to say I highly recommend it, and Jemisin's an author I plan to be a completist about for the rest of her career.

[Baco Xtath]

Tattersail_, on 08 November 2015 - 09:53 AM, said:

Quote

N.K. Jemisin - Inheritance

C.S. Friedman - Coldfire Trilogy

Miles Cameron - Traitor Son

Brian Stavenley - the Unhewn Throne

Robrt J. Bernnett - City of Stairs

Tell me about these. How many books are in them, are they finished. Which one would you recommend?

Worry sums up Inheritance nicely.

Coldfire is a darker fantasy where leylines/currents of "magic" flow and can be manipulated by a select few. The environment reacts to the populous's psyche and nightmares can become reality. It's been a long time since I read them but I do remember them being great. It's a finished trilogy.

The Traitor Son is set in an alternate Earth's medieval times. It's accurate on how knights and warfare worked for the time period (It's the author's field of expertise). The action is heavy. It's grimdark. And the magic is very original. Three books are out so far (not sure how many are planned) and each is great. First one takes a little while to get into.

The Unhewn Throne is about 3 siblings (children of the emperor) and has more fantasy tropes than the others but it does it well. It's also fairly original. It's pretty dark. Third one is due out in a couple months.

City of Stairs is very original. It's a mystery story set in a city once ruled by gods that are now dead. Great freak'n book. City of Blades is due out soon. No idea how many are planned but it's definitely top notch stuff.

Obviously, I suck at reviews/synopsizes. I suggest googling them. Each is great and none are alike.

[Mentalist]

"Favourite" is such a loaded term...

Still, I'll give it a shot.

Epic fantasy- English: MBtoF & NotME; Russian: Perumov's "Chronicles of Hjorward" + "Chronicles of the Rift" (also includes Godsdoom II... basically anything he wrote in the Consistent Universe)

low fantasy: The Witcher; Paul Kearney's "Monarchies of God"

Standalones: ENG: GGKay's "Sarantine Mosaic"; Russian: Mikhail Bulgakov- 'Master and Margarita"; Viktor & Olga Ugryumov "Blue Blood"

Urban: surprisingly hard. English: Dresden files + "Knights of Breton Court" Trilo. Russian: Lukyanenko's "Watch" books + Panov's "Hidden City" cycle.

New Weird: Bas-Lag books by China Mieville + Ambergris books by Jeff Vandermeer.

Alt. History: "The Years of Rice + Salt" by Kim Stanley Robinson

Sci-Fi: ENg: Kim Stanly Robinson "Science in the Capitol; Neal Stephenson's "Baroque cycle" + "Cryptonomicon". Russian: Strugatsky brothers: "Monday starts on a Saturday", "Hard to be a god", "The Doomed City";

Epic Sci-fi: Neal Asher's Polity stuff (all of it); Donaldson's "Gap Cycle"

Cyberpunk: Eng: Gibson's "Sprawl" trilo. Russian: Panov's "Enclaves" series; Lukyanenko's "Deeptown" trilo.

Mil sci-fi: Gavin Smith's "Veteran" & "War in Heaven" duology.

Non-sci-fi: Mikhail Bulgakov- "The White Guard"; Alexandre Dumas "Twenty Years later"; Jack London- "Valley of the Moon"

[Baco Xtath]

Binder of Demons, on 08 November 2015 - 01:44 AM, said:

Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination

Linda Nagata - The Bohr Maker

Clive Barker - Weaveworld

Just bought these three. Can't believe I haven't read them yet. Thanks.

[Binder of Demons]

Baco Xtath, on 09 November 2015 - 01:54 AM, said:

Binder of Demons, on 08 November 2015 - 01:44 AM, said:

Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination

Linda Nagata - The Bohr Maker

Clive Barker - Weaveworld

Just bought these three. Can't believe I haven't read them yet. Thanks.

You're welcome. I'm a huge fan of Alfred Bester, mainly on the back of his 2 classic novels, The Stars My Destination (originally called Tiger, Tiger), and The Demolished Man. Both feel remarkably modern considering they were written in the 50's, and are hugely influential. The amount of sci-fi tropes that originate in those two novels is amazing.

I'll be curious to see what you make of all 3 of those novels listed above.