[Esa1996]

Wheel of Time:

-My all time favorite book series. Comparable to Lord of the Rings except that it has no dwarfs nor elves, is roughly 14 times longer and thus far more complex. Lots of magic (With clear set rules), lots of characters (2782 named characters), lots of pages (14 600), a hugely detailed world (Second only to that of Malazan), a hugely detailed, long and complex plot (Second to none IMO)... altogether a really epic series.


Sword of Truth:

-A very controversial series it seems. I actually only read it due to how much it gets hate on these forums and was surprised to find out that I actually really liked most of it. The fact that half of its world seems to be copied from Wheel of Time might have something to do with it though.


Wars of Light and Shadow:

-This one is probably a very polarizing series. What I don't like about it: 1. The writing is extremely fancy, up to the point where it occasionally hampers comprehension. 2. The books are written in some strange hybrid of 3rd person and 3rd person omniscient. This made it very hard for me to identify with any of the characters in the first book. What I do like about the series is the detailed world and the plot. Discounting the "big three" (Malazan, Wheel of Time, ASOIAF) and possibly Second Apocalypse, the world is the biggest and most detailed one I've ever seen, but the plot is what really makes the series shine (I don't think it'll ever surpass the plot in WOT, but it might reach it, something no other series has been able to do IMO).


Second Apocalypse:

-Really dark, really violent. The plot is too predictable for my taste and the characters are not very likeable but the world is one of the best. The series also has some of the best action scenes I've ever read.


A Song of Ice and Fire:

-The series that spawned Game of Thrones. Could be described as a grittier, less cliched, less magical, far shorter (A mere 6 000 pages) and slightly less epic version of Wheel of Time. Tied with the Malazan books for my second favorite series of all time.


Stormlight Archives

-Only three out of a planned ten books have been released so far. Again, really good characterization, a decent plot and a decent world. One of the few series to rival Malazan in action scenes.


Kingkiller Chronicles

-Really good characterization. The world and the plot are IMO massively overhyped and are really rather bland. Even so, the characterization is good enough that even when nothing really happens you'll still enjoy every page.

This post has been edited by Esa1996: 25 January 2018 - 03:46 PM

[Mentalist]

Esa1996, on 25 January 2018 - 03:42 PM, said:

Wheel of Time:

-My all time favorite book series. Comparable to Lord of the Rings except that it has no dwarfs nor elves, is roughly 14 times longer and thus far more complex. Lots of magic (With clear set rules), lots of characters (2782 named characters), lots of pages (14 600), a hugely detailed world (Second only to that of Malazan), a hugely detailed, long and complex plot (Second to none IMO)... altogether a really epic series.


Sword of Truth:

-A very controversial series it seems. I actually only read it due to how much it gets hate on these forums and was surprised to find out that I actually really liked most of it. The fact that half of its world seems to be copied from Wheel of Time might have something to do with it though.


Wars of Light and Shadow:

-This one is probably a very polarizing series. What I don't like about it: 1. The writing is extremely fancy, up to the point where it occasionally hampers comprehension. 2. The books are written in some strange hybrid of 3rd person and 3rd person omniscient. This made it very hard for me to identify with any of the characters in the first book. What I do like about the series is the detailed world and the plot. Discounting the "big three" (Malazan, Wheel of Time, ASOIAF) and possibly Second Apocalypse, the world is the biggest and most detailed one I've ever seen, but the plot is what really makes the series shine (I don't think it'll ever surpass the plot in WOT, but it might reach it, something no other series has been able to do IMO).


Second Apocalypse:

-Really dark, really violent. The plot is too predictable for my taste and the characters are not very likeable but the world is one of the best. The series also has some of the best action scenes I've ever read.


A Song of Ice and Fire:

-The series that spawned Game of Thrones. Could be described as a grittier, less cliched, less magical, far shorter (A mere 6 000 pages) and slightly less epic version of Wheel of Time. Tied with the Malazan books for my second favorite series of all time.


Stormlight Archives

-Only three out of a planned ten books have been released so far. Again, really good characterization, a decent plot and a decent world. One of the few series to rival Malazan in action scenes.


Kingkiller Chronicles

-Really good characterization. The world and the plot are IMO massively overhyped and are really rather bland. Even so, the characterization is good enough that even when nothing really happens you'll still enjoy every page.

Um, right. I forgot LOTR as essential, a yeah "Wars of Light and Shadow" would definitely fill the "heavy reading" requirement.

I have to give a major WTF about Sanderson, though. "Stormlight Archive" is many interesting things, but "really good characterization" is DEFINITELY not one of them (imo. After reading the first 2 books). I'd go as far as to say the poor characterization is the main thing dragging this series down for me from an "insta-buy" to a "wait until the mmpb edition is released a year after the initial release" .

Sanderson CAN write characters okay (the Wax + Wayne novels are a great example of evolving characters), but Stormlight is definitely not a good example of that.

Both Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth are huge, and likely influential, but I've read so much about them on this forum over the years that I really don't feel to actually read the books themselves. Also something something ridiculous evil chicken something something.

[Abyss]

First off Ham, you're not 'behind' anyone. You read what you want at the pace you want and chat about what you read when you feel like it. Don't sweat the timing.

Second, this thread (and others) is loaded with great recos, and as with most things subjective, you can't really go wrong trying different authors and continuing with the ones you like.

Third, Malazan is glorious and you should read it all, SE and ICE both.

Fourth, Dresden is crack and you should (must, will) read it all.

Fifth, Sanderson love/hate is subjective. Make up your own mind.

Sixth, Tigana by GGKay is terrible, don't read it. Read his Lions, Arbonne, or Sarantine instead. That's an entirely objective statement there.

Seventh, there is no seventh.

Eighth,...

Hammerhead88, on 25 January 2018 - 01:50 PM, said:

Alternative Goose, on 25 January 2018 - 01:46 PM, said:

...The Acts of Cain books by Matthew Stover is bound to knock your boots off if you're into a mix of low fantasy and future dystopia.

Acts of Cain I have seen mentioned a lot and is high on my list to read soon.

Tattersail_, on 25 January 2018 - 02:58 PM, said:

...The Fucking Acts of Fucking Caine. You may think, "mind your language" and if you fucking do then these books would not be for you. You cannot even buy these books on paperback. When I got my kindle these were the first books I chose to purchase. Matthew Stover writes one of the best stories ever. So get The Acts of Caine and thank the Abyss you did later.

...READ THE FUCKING ACTS OF CAINE.




That is all.

[Salt-Man Z]

Essentials? Let's see... ::cracks knuckles:: (Trying not to do too many repeats here)

Isaac Asmiov (Foundation, Robots)
Jorge Luis Borges
Edgar Rice Burroughs (Barsoom)
Octavia E. Butler
C. J. Cherryh
Glen Cook
Stephen R. Donaldson
Lord Dunsany
Frank Herbert
Robin Hobb
Robert E. Howard (Conan)
Ursula K. Le Guin
H. P. Lovecraft
Michael Moorcock (Eternal Champion, Elric)
C. L. Moore (Jirel of Joiry, Northwest Smith)
Niven & Pournelle (The Mote in God's Eye)
Mervyn Peake (Gormenghast)
Robert Silverberg
Gene Wolfe

[Gorefest]

Oh yeah, damn, forgot to add Donaldson to my list. The Thomas Covenant chronicles are essential reads as well.

[Hammerhead88]

Thanks everyone. Love the effort put in!




It genuinely excites me trying to figure out what to read next!

[Esa1996]

Mentalist, on 25 January 2018 - 04:02 PM, said:

Um, right. I forgot LOTR as essential, a yeah "Wars of Light and Shadow" would definitely fill the "heavy reading" requirement.

I have to give a major WTF about Sanderson, though. "Stormlight Archive" is many interesting things, but "really good characterization" is DEFINITELY not one of them (imo. After reading the first 2 books). I'd go as far as to say the poor characterization is the main thing dragging this series down for me from an "insta-buy" to a "wait until the mmpb edition is released a year after the initial release" .

Sanderson CAN write characters okay (the Wax + Wayne novels are a great example of evolving characters), but Stormlight is definitely not a good example of that.

Both Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth are huge, and likely influential, but I've read so much about them on this forum over the years that I really don't feel to actually read the books themselves. Also something something ridiculous evil chicken something something.

I've only read Stormlight from Sanderson, so I can't comment on Wax and Wayne, but I've always liked the characters in TSA. Most series I've read, even most series in my recommendations list, have some boring POVs in them, but even the worst POVs in Stormlight are quite decent IMO.

As for Sword of Truth, those evil chickens were a big part of what I wanted to see when I began reading the series By the time they came along I was quite addicted, and besides, they weren't nearly as cheesy as I'd feared, so they caused me no problem.

This post has been edited by Esa1996: 25 January 2018 - 09:37 PM

[Salt-Man Z]

Hammerhead88, on 25 January 2018 - 04:57 PM, said:

It genuinely excites me trying to figure out what to read next!

Have fun!



You will die long before you finish reading everything you want to.

[Chance]

The fun thing about something like book reading lists are that they are really really subjective...most of the big ones have been mentioned and you will like most, love some and hate others. Donaldson, Moorcock, Sanderson, Kay, Bakker, Wheel of Time, Feist and several of the others are very divisive in full or in part of their works. They are very much test if you like it and continue only until you don't. Some would likely put Game of Thrones in the same category as it drastically changes a few books in to a slog.

Whatever you do don't waste time on something like Sword of Truth and likely not Eddings, Shannara and their like.

Some less mentioned names below to add to the list (quite a few of them SF) but in my world the big ones are Erikson, Glen Cook, Kay and Wolfe those are required reading if not in full then at least their most important books maybe add series like Dresden, Wheel of Time and Game of Thrones just to know what the fuck people are talking about even if quality varies from book to book.

Glen Cook (You will see the Black Company recommended everywhere and it is good but so is Shadowline, Passage of Arms, Instrumentalties of Night and Garret Files)
C. J. Cherryh (Foreigner universe is brilliant)
CS Friedman (Both Cold Fire and Magister trilogy are splendid)
Hanu Rajaniemi (One of the most imaginative SF trilogies out there)
Ian C Banks (If you should read only one SF series you could do much worse then Banks Culture)
Tales of Ketty Jay (for some steampunk or something like it)
A Crown for Cold Silver (After reading a lot of other things to get a very different perspective on the usual Fantasy troups)
Daniel Polansky (Both series rock but Low Town is a much easier entry)
The Last Wish (One of the best short story collections I've read, the rest of the series is of much less entertainment value however)
The Vagrant (One of the best recently finished fantasy trilogies out there)
The Traitors Son Cycle (Wonderfully detailed fantasy with a lot of historical accuracy for arms, armor and warfare.)
Richard Morgan (Everything he writes is good, but I'd start with Altered Carbon)
Donaldson (Not Covenant but the Mordant's Need and especially the Gap series is gold)
Anthony Ryan (Both his series are good but not everyone agrees)
Ian Tregillis (His alternative ww2 history trilogy is depressing as hell but also so good.)
SM Stirling (Post apocalyptic "fantasy" done very well.)

This post has been edited by Chance: 25 January 2018 - 08:10 PM

[worry]

Not mentioned yet:
Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet -- It's humane, harsh, and beautiful.

[polishgenius]

worry, on 25 January 2018 - 08:38 PM, said:

Not mentioned yet:
Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet -- It's humane, harsh, and beautiful.

What he said.



Also you should definitely absolutely read Nick Harkaway's The Gone-Away World which is basically pure fun squeezed into a book. And his recent release Gnomon, which is making a splash (coz it's also really good).

[Macros]

Esa1996, on 25 January 2018 - 05:24 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 25 January 2018 - 04:02 PM, said:

Um, right. I forgot LOTR as essential, a yeah "Wars of Light and Shadow" would definitely fill the "heavy reading" requirement.

I have to give a major WTF about Sanderson, though. "Stormlight Archive" is many interesting things, but "really good characterization" is DEFINITELY not one of them (imo. After reading the first 2 books). I'd go as far as to say the poor characterization is the main thing dragging this series down for me from an "insta-buy" to a "wait until the mmpb edition is released a year after the initial release" .

Sanderson CAN write characters okay (the Wax + Wayne novels are a great example of evolving characters), but Stormlight is definitely not a good example of that.

Both Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth are huge, and likely influential, but I've read so much about them on this forum over the years that I really don't feel to actually read the books themselves. Also something something ridiculous evil chicken something something.

I've only read Stormlight from Sanderson, so I can't comment on Wax and Wayne, but I've always liked the characters in TSA. Most series I've read, even most series in my recommendations list, have some boring POVs in them, but even the worst POVs in Stormlight are quite decent IMO.

As for Sword of Truth, those evil chickens were a big part of what I wanted to see when I began reading the series By the time they came along I was quite addicted, and besides, they weren't nearly as cheesy as I'd feared, so they caused me no problem.

This post has been edited by Macros: 25 January 2018 - 10:03 PM

[Abyss]

Chance, on 25 January 2018 - 08:03 PM, said:

...Whatever you do don't waste time on something like Sword of Truth and likely not Eddings, Shannara and their like. ...

Counterpoint: Not a waste of time at all.

If, at some point in your reading spree through all things dark, gritty, and stabbyful, you would like to read something lighter and very much 'classic' fantasy in the spirit of Lord of the Rings without all the fucking singing and random archers and gods saving the ineffective heroes, I can highly recommend David Eddings BELGARIAD / MALLOREAN series. It's great. It's absolutely high or classic fantasy, slanting YA but not quite, but can be a fun a fun read. I would recommend stopping there with Eddings. For the love of god, avoiu The Redemption of Althalus.

For Terry Brookes' SHANNARA, the first seven books in the series (SWORD, ELFSTONES, WISHSONG and the HEIRS quad) are utterly worthwhile. SWORD is very by the numbers (tho still fun) but the rest are great, not YA, and worth the time just for some of the characters you meet along the way. You can cheerfully stop the series there, or continue with the next ten or so books in it and the related Word and Void series, ymmv, some people love them, some find them repetitious.

[Aptorian]

Obligatory comment from me stating, that I actually really liked the first Sword of Truth book with the princess kick and the second one with the "Karsa-like" declaration of war at the Sisters.

But then there was the straw that broke the camels already pretty broken back:

Quote

Her power, her magic, was also a weapon of defense. But it would only work on people. It would not work on a chicken. And it would not work on wickedness incarnate.

Her gaze flicked toward the door, checking the distance. The chicken took a single hop toward her. Claws gripping Juni’s upper arm, it leaned her way. Her leg muscles tightened till they trembled.

The chicken backed up a step, tensed, and spurted feces onto Juni’s face.

It let out the cackle that sounded like a laugh.

She dearly wished she could tell herself she was being silly. Imagining things.

But she knew better.

Kahlan frantically tried to think as the chicken bawk-bawk-bawked.

“Mother,” the chicken croaked.

Kahlan flinched with a cry.

In the dark, the chicken thing let out a low chicken cackle laugh.

It hadn’t come from where she expected the chicken to be. It was behind her.

“Please, I mean no harm,” she called into the darkness. “I mean no disrespect. I will leave you to your business now, if that’s all right with you.”

She took another shuffling step toward the door. She moved carefully, slowly, in case the chicken thing was in the way. She didn’t want to bump into it and make it angry. She mustn’t underestimate it.

Kahlan had on any number of occasions thrown herself with ferocity against seemingly invincible foes. She knew well the value of a resolute violent attack. But she also somehow knew beyond doubt that this adversary could, if it wanted, kill her as easily as she could wring a real chicken’s neck. If she forced a fight, this was one she would lose.

The chicken thing let out a whispering cackle.

With the next flash of lightning, she saw chicken feet standing between her and the crack under the door. The thing wasn’t more than a foot from her face.

The beak pinched the vein on the back of her hand over her eyes. The chicken tugged, as if trying to pull a worm from the ground.

It was a command. It wanted her hand away from her eyes.

The beak gave a sharp tug on her skin. There was no mistaking the meaning in that insistent yank. Move the hand, now, it was saying, or you’ll be sorry.

If she made it angry, there was no telling what it was capable of doing to her. Juni lay dead above her as a reminder of the possibilities.

She told herself that if it pecked at her eyes, she would have to grab it and try to wring its neck. If she was quick, it could only get in one peck. She would have one eye left. She would have to fight it then. But only if it went for her eyes.

Her instincts screamed that such action would be the most foolish, dangerous thing she could do. Both the Bird Man and Richard said this was not a chicken. She no longer doubted them. But she might have no choice.

If she started, it would be a fight to the death. She held no illusion as to her chances. Nonetheless, she might be forced to fight it. With her last breath, if need be, as her father had taught her.

The chicken snatched a bigger beakful of her skin along with the vein and twisted. Last warning.

Kahlan carefully moved her trembling hand away. The chicken-thing cackled softly with satisfaction.

[Morgoth]

There is so much better stuff out there than Sanderson, or god forbid, Goodkind.

The New Sun series by Gene Wolfe for instance, or say the Sarantine Mosaic by Gay Gavriel Kay. Stover's Act of Cain are great too, as are numerous other suggestions.

I think recommendations for Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks and David Eddings are based on the nostalgic memories of those books, rather than their actual quality. There's much much better stuff available.

[Chance]

Morgoth, on 26 January 2018 - 08:32 AM, said:

There is so much better stuff out there than Sanderson, or god forbid, Goodkind.

The New Sun series by Gene Wolfe for instance, or say the Sarantine Mosaic by Gay Gavriel Kay. Stover's Act of Cain are great too, as are numerous other suggestions.

I think recommendations for Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks and David Eddings are based on the nostalgic memories of those books, rather than their actual quality. There's much much better stuff available.

Listen to these wise words, there is truckloads written and there is more being written then anyone can keep up with so reading sub-standard works because they where decent in a more mediocre age is a really poor use of time. Find out what you like and don't be afraid to ditch things you don't enjoy just because its a classic or on some must read list.

This post has been edited by Chance: 26 January 2018 - 11:19 AM

[Macros]

Morgoth, on 26 January 2018 - 08:32 AM, said:

There is so much better stuff out there than Sanderson, or god forbid, Goodkind.

The New Sun series by Gene Wolfe for instance, or say the Sarantine Mosaic by Gay Gavriel Kay. Stover's Act of Cain are great too, as are numerous other suggestions.

I think recommendations for Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks and David Eddings are based on the nostalgic memories of those books, rather than their actual quality. There's much much better stuff available.

So much of this.
I reread the Belgariad and Mallorean as an adult like two? years ago. It did not hold up well at all.
The wheel of time having 2230 named characters is not a good thing, it is part of what makes it a bloated mess. That and well turned calves.

And goodkind, that has to be a joke reco

[Slow Ben]

Like Apt I actually enjoyed the first 2 Goodkind books, after that it tumbled headlong downhill.





Dresden is amazing.



I'd also suggest

Kings Dark Tower
and
Cooks Black Company books.

[Khazduk]

I won't argue against any of the above (I've even read the full Sword of truth series by Goodkind... might have skipped that in hindsight.)

But off the top of my head I'd like to push for:
Stephen Donaldson - the Gap cycle, for space opera
The original Dune books (by Frank Herbert)
Everything by Asimov
Everything by Robin Hobb
Everything by Pratchett
Fritz Leiber - the Lankhmar stories (look for collections of the short stories about Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser), for fantasy pre-Tolkien
Butcher/Dresden files of course.

[Mentalist]

Alternative Goose, on 26 January 2018 - 04:11 AM, said:

Obligatory comment from me stating, that I actually really liked the first Sword of Truth book with the princess kick and the second one with the "Karsa-like" declaration of war at the Sisters.

But then there was the straw that broke the camels already pretty broken back:

Quote

Her power, her magic, was also a weapon of defense. But it would only work on people. It would not work on a chicken. And it would not work on wickedness incarnate.

Her gaze flicked toward the door, checking the distance. The chicken took a single hop toward her. Claws gripping Juni’s upper arm, it leaned her way. Her leg muscles tightened till they trembled.

The chicken backed up a step, tensed, and spurted feces onto Juni’s face.

It let out the cackle that sounded like a laugh.

She dearly wished she could tell herself she was being silly. Imagining things.

But she knew better.

Kahlan frantically tried to think as the chicken bawk-bawk-bawked.

“Mother,” the chicken croaked.

Kahlan flinched with a cry.

In the dark, the chicken thing let out a low chicken cackle laugh.

It hadn’t come from where she expected the chicken to be. It was behind her.

“Please, I mean no harm,” she called into the darkness. “I mean no disrespect. I will leave you to your business now, if that’s all right with you.”

She took another shuffling step toward the door. She moved carefully, slowly, in case the chicken thing was in the way. She didn’t want to bump into it and make it angry. She mustn’t underestimate it.

Kahlan had on any number of occasions thrown herself with ferocity against seemingly invincible foes. She knew well the value of a resolute violent attack. But she also somehow knew beyond doubt that this adversary could, if it wanted, kill her as easily as she could wring a real chicken’s neck. If she forced a fight, this was one she would lose.

The chicken thing let out a whispering cackle.

With the next flash of lightning, she saw chicken feet standing between her and the crack under the door. The thing wasn’t more than a foot from her face.

The beak pinched the vein on the back of her hand over her eyes. The chicken tugged, as if trying to pull a worm from the ground.

It was a command. It wanted her hand away from her eyes.

The beak gave a sharp tug on her skin. There was no mistaking the meaning in that insistent yank. Move the hand, now, it was saying, or you’ll be sorry.

If she made it angry, there was no telling what it was capable of doing to her. Juni lay dead above her as a reminder of the possibilities.

She told herself that if it pecked at her eyes, she would have to grab it and try to wring its neck. If she was quick, it could only get in one peck. She would have one eye left. She would have to fight it then. But only if it went for her eyes.

Her instincts screamed that such action would be the most foolish, dangerous thing she could do. Both the Bird Man and Richard said this was not a chicken. She no longer doubted them. But she might have no choice.

If she started, it would be a fight to the death. She held no illusion as to her chances. Nonetheless, she might be forced to fight it. With her last breath, if need be, as her father had taught her.

The chicken snatched a bigger beakful of her skin along with the vein and twisted. Last warning.

Kahlan carefully moved her trembling hand away. The chicken-thing cackled softly with satisfaction.

Obligatory "this is so dumb, it's a chicken, kick it in the ribs" exasperated reply