Fantasy book recommendations

Most have already been mentioned but:

Mark Lawrence - Broken Empire trilogy - Very dark, interesting for having a protagonist who you will like despite the fact he's a monster

Brandon Sanderson - Stormlight Archives - Two (four) books into an epic series, I love all of his work to be honest, he writes at a pace though so it's actually hard to keep up!

Stephen Eriksen - Malazan book of the Fallen - Amazing world building, I had to read the first book three times before I felt comfortable with what was going on, well worth it.

Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time - He goes of track towards the end but this truly is a fantastic series of books, fitting ending penned by Sanderson following Jordan's untimely death.

Brent Weeks - Lightbringer Series - Very enjoyable and quite an easy read, interesting magic system

Scott Lynch - The Gentleman *******s - Love this set of books, fantastic characters, proper fantasy oceans eleven/Fagan feel to it.
 
Out of interest, can some of the Sanderson fans explain to me what you see in him?

I love his world building but I find his books very paint by numbers, high fantasy I guess I liked that at one point but I find it too predictable, even his reveals are predictable as you know they are inevitably coming.

It may just be a personal preference thing, I don't begrudge people liking him but I just really don't understand the love he gets.
 
I think he's the best fantasy writer around at the moment. His world building and magic systems are incredible. Every book he writes is pretty original and different. He actually writes as well, several other popular writers (I'm looking at you George R R Martin) are such slow writers that you question whether their one series will ever be finished. Sanderson on the other hand comfortably has 4/5 series on the go and doesn't leave his fans hanging for half a decade at a time.
 
I find his writing quite imaginative compared to others. Not claiming he is the greatest just find the books a fairly easy and entertaining read. Mistborn and Stormlight being the highlights for me. The others are a touch meh.
 
No1newts said:
Out of interest, can some of the Sanderson fans explain to me what you see in him?

I love his world building but I find his books very paint by numbers, high fantasy I guess I liked that at one point but I find it too predictable, even his reveals are predictable as you know they are inevitably coming.

It may just be a personal preference thing, I don't begrudge people liking him but I just really don't understand the love he gets.
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I like his world building, his characters are generally likeable, and his pacing is pretty spot on when compared to people like Jordan or Martin. I guess it's horses for courses really, I can see how the simplicity of his writing might jar with people who prefer a more complex read, though I find I like to alternate between different styles.
 
Fair play to the reasons given, I agree with you all that his imagination and world building is top notch and the pace he writes is great as well for avid readers. Think it is just s preference thing.
 
No1newts said:
Fair play to the reasons given, I agree with you all that his imagination and world building is top notch and the pace he writes is great as well for avid readers. Think it is just s preference thing.
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Conversely I found the Dresden Files not as good as a lot of people say, not to saw they were bad or anything, but just not as good as a lot of other things I've read.

I really enjoy the works of Brandon Sanderson, although I do think the last book to the WoT series was not as good as the two he wrote proceeding it.

I'm currently reading the Hornblower books, I think they lost a lot in translation from the books to the tv show, various things just happen quite differently.
 
No1newts said:
Fair play to the reasons given, I agree with you all that his imagination and world building is top notch and the pace he writes is great as well for avid readers. Think it is just s preference thing.
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Each to their own, I love Sanderson's works but hate Abercrombie and Lynch's books, which others adore, I just couldn't get into them at all. It would be a tad dull if everyone liked the same stuff.
 
Kosmiche said:
Ever book by David gemmel is a must
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Fixed that for you.

jasonmorris said:
R A Salvatore for me. Read them all and even without Drizzt they are good.
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His later work surrounding Drizzt was rubbish, he milked that series for all it was worth, way past when it should have been put to bed with dignity.

exia said:
- Raymond E. Feist; Magician (Riftwar Saga)
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Not forgetting the superb Empire trilogy which compliments the Riftwar series perfectly...
 
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Wow lots of good recommendations that will see me through 2016 and probably beyond, but keep them coming.
I purchased cheaply and got one free aswell with the deals on, heres what I bought:
Blood Song By Anthony Ryan
Magician By Raymond E. Feist
The Last Kingdom By Bernard Cornwell
Ship Of Magic By Robin Hobb (Free)
 
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Everything by Pritchett up until the last few (where his illness had clearly taken hold) is complete gold, certainly worth reading through.

Regarding Feist I would stop at the end of the demonwar saga (still gives you about 10-12 books to read) as he goes off reservation and probably had the books ghost written. The amount of continuity errors and downright bad writing is painful following the glory of his earlier books.
 
ThaReaperGuy said:
Came in to recommend this as well.

The city is also a good read.
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I'm assuming you're referring to the Stella Gemmell, and not Dean Koontz, book called The City, as you were mentioning David Gemmell. I know she finished off the Troy series, which I enjoyed, but I thought The City was awful. One of the very few books I've given up on and never finished.
 
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