Fantasy Novels

Guy

Guy

Piper/Leonaedas
Hi folks,

Been a while since I read anything in this genre and I was thinking about gong back and picking something up that I've never read before. Surprisingly, I've never read Robert Jordan or George R R Martin and was gobsmacked when I went into a bookshop and saw 8 (count 'em) novels in the Wheel of Time series staring back at me :) Is there a book that you could recommend me that's around LotR in length (1000 pages) that really stands out? Not quite sure I'm ready for the time investment that 8 books would take :)
 
Cullhaven

Cullhaven

Hernes Son
I would still say read the George RR Martin - overall its probably the best fantasy I've read bar Tolkien. If you like wry humour and strange settings try Kugels Saga by Jack Vance. I'd also reccomend On Ravens Wing by Morgan Llywellyn, a re-telling of the legends of CuChullain by a lady who really knows about the celts and their lifestyles.
 
R

Readon

Full Member
I've got agree to agree with Cullhaven, GRR Martin is probably one of the best fantasy series i've ever read.

Here's a list of them (in order), each is close to 1000 pages.

A Song of Ice and Fire:
* A Game of Thrones, Bantam Books, 1996
* A Clash of Kings, Bantam Books, 1999
* A Storm of Swords, Bantam Books, 2000
* A Feast for Crows, Bantam Books, 2005
* A Dance with Dragons, forthcoming/Bantam Books (late 2008, hopefuly)
* The Winds of Winter, forthcoming/Bantam Books
* A Dream of Spring, forthcoming/Bantam Books

There are also three prequel novellas to the series, set ninety years before the novels.

* The Hedge Knight (1998)
* The Sworn Sword (2003)
* The Mystery Knight (provisonally set for release in 2009)
 
Medivac

Medivac

Doggin' at a spot near you
Is the Gemmel Troy series simillar to Dark Prince, and Lion of Macadonia ? loved them, mind you I'm never found a bad Gemmel book
 
Swither

Swither

Full Member
Medivac said:
Is the Gemmel Troy series simillar to Dark Prince, and Lion of Macadonia ? loved them, mind you I'm never found a bad Gemmel book
Click to expand...

I'd say this is one of his best works, not a bad swan song really.
I've not read the last book yet, as I'm waiting for the paperback.
 
Zeus

Zeus

Full Member
i highly recomend the Aleran Codex series. (Furies of Calderon, Academ's Fury, Cursor's Fury, Captain's Fury). first books a little weak, but they keep getting better imo.
 
R

Readon

Full Member
I've also got to agree with Treebreard, Steven Erikson is also very good, personally i prefer GRR Martin, but Steven Erikson comes a very close second, his work is a little more complicated (hardly surprising since the story spans 10's of thousands of years and is written by 2 authors (Ian Esslemont and Steven Erikson, who jointly created the setting as a RPG world)) but very much worth reading.

Here's a list of the titles in order if you choose to try them out.

Malazan Book of the Fallen
Core books of the series:

* Gardens of the Moon (1999)
* Deadhouse Gates (2000)
* Memories of Ice (2001)
* House of Chains (2002)
* Midnight Tides (2004)
* The Bonehunters (2006)
* Reaper's Gale (2007)
* Toll the Hounds (June 2008)
* Dust of Dreams (forthcoming)
* The Crippled God (forthcoming)

Sidetrack novellas set in the Malazan world:

* Blood Follows (2002)
* The Healthy Dead (2004)
* The Lees of Laughter's End (2007)

edit... almost forgot, the companion books by Ian Esselmont are as follows.

* Night of Knives (2005)
* Return of the Crimson Guard (publication date: 2008)


The Bridgeburners, a military company in the early books are amongst my favorite all time characters, and the chain of dogs book has to be one of my all time favorites.

I would put this series up there as a close second to GRR Martin.
 
UKJett

UKJett

Full Member
Gardens of the Moon (1999)

Thank you. Just snaffeld this from Waterstones in Huddersfield this lunchtime.

Going to give the series a whirl after finishing the Age of Five trilogy by T Canavan. (Age of Five is not as good at the Black Magician Trilogy sadly).
 
D

Dareos

The Bastard Thats Grinding You Down
Martin > Tolkien, mind you a kick in the teeth by a rabid badger > Tolkien

but Martin is pretty awesome, 4 years between last 2 books tho and still waiting on Dance.

Gemmell still the best one book fantasy author out there, his trilogies work rather well too, and the Troy series was pretty decent

Robin Hobb is still the best for my money, Assassins Apprentice is where to start.

oh, or as mentioned previously, Neil Gaimans Neverwhere
 
P

Pegasus Belgar

Red Bull gives me wings!
I agree with others and enjoy all of Gemmell's books and series. He has a very nitty gritty approach and not affraid to explore that which I find lacking with some other authors like Raymond Feist and Terry Goodkind, which I know some people here do not like.

I am currently reading Raymond Feist latest Hardback "Wrath of a Mad God" which has been good so far. But nothing like his earlier work from Magician to Demon King which I think were really good.

I think I will take a look at GRR Martin after I finished with Feist's latest, see what all the fuss is about.
 
Chick

Chick

Cartwheel RIGHT
Treebeard said:
Steven Erikson. Some of the most intelligent fantasy I've ever read.
Click to expand...

OPh, i keep seein ghim in the bookshop and have been tempted to take a break from sci-fi for a while due to being up-to date with all authors i recognise/like.

Can you recomend a particular book?
 
S

Soupytwist

Full Member
Couple of newer Fantasy authors i've been impressed by recently :

James Clemens : The Banished and the Banished series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Banned_and_the_Banished

James Barclay : The Chronicles/Legends of Raven.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronicles_of_The_Raven
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_of_The_Raven

And i'm currently quite liking : K.J. Parker, only read the latest triogy 'The Engineer Trilogy' so far.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_J_Parker

None of these reinvent the wheel, but they all write very enjoyable fantasy.
 
Treebeard

Treebeard

Ranger of the North
Chick said:
OPh, i keep seein ghim in the bookshop and have been tempted to take a break from sci-fi for a while due to being up-to date with all authors i recognise/like.

Can you recomend a particular book?
Click to expand...

Start with Gardens of the Moon mate.
 
Entropy

Entropy

Full Member
I found Steven Erikson very difficult to get into. Read Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates, but they didn't really grip, and I think it was probably due to the complexity of the plot. Worth a go though... a lot of people seem to think good things about them.
 
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