Spec me a fantasy fiction series

ThundyCat · 12 Jun 2015 at 18:00

cheesyboy said:
I read Sword of Shannara (Terry Brooks) series when I was a teenager. Seemed pretty good at the time.

Also, as a teen, I went through the Dragonriders of Pern series (a bit more Sci Fi than fantasy, perhaps, despite the dragons), and the Redwall series (though that's a bit more for kids).

Plus the Discworld books, for a parodical take on the genre.

Shannara books are amazing!

Xordium · 13 Jun 2015 at 07:57

No1newts said:
I loved Feist up until the end of the Serpent War saga (the one with Erik as a main character) but I cannot forgive him the later books.

They are so bad, so lazy and just offensive to his own world building continuity (what he did to Erik Von Darkmoor still rankles to this day) that I gave up on the series right after book 12 or 13 when the book had more grammatical and spelling errors in the first 100 pages than I had read in the first 12 book.

Honestly though read the Riftwar, Empire and Serpent trilogies (with the small series in between Rift and Serpent) and that is classic high fantasy at its best.

Yep, I'm with you on this one his books are some of the best I have ever read at the start. But they do weaken as time went on. The initial trilogy is immense though. I've just finished reading the CS Lewis series and they are really good too. Not just for kids - beautifully written with good characters. Peter Brett is a good shout for something a little different.

Quartz · 13 Jun 2015 at 10:16

For a Noir take on fantasy, try the Thraxas series. For modern detective fantasy, I'm enjoying the Peter Grant / Rivers of London series.

Phate · 13 Jun 2015 at 10:46

No1newts said:
I loved Feist up until the end of the Serpent War saga (the one with Erik as a main character) but I cannot forgive him the later books.

They are so bad, so lazy and just offensive to his own world building continuity (what he did to Erik Von Darkmoor still rankles to this day) that I gave up on the series right after book 12 or 13 when the book had more grammatical and spelling errors in the first 100 pages than I had read in the first 12 book.

Honestly though read the Riftwar, Empire and Serpent trilogies (with the small series in between Rift and Serpent) and that is classic high fantasy at its best.

I've just bought Rage Of The Demon King, Serpent War so far has been good. I wasn't a big fan of Rise Of Merchant Prince purely because I found Roo to be a **** that I didn't like

but the bits with Calis & Erik along with other characters were very good.

Also OP - Stephen King - The Dark Tower series. Superb

- The Gunslinger takes over half of the book to 'get going' and it's a hard read for that first half but otherwise the rest of the book and series are mindblowing.
Agreed about Riftwar...my god, I've never been so gripped in a series! I think I'll finish Serpentwar and leave it at that.

jakspyder · 13 Jun 2015 at 16:54

Phate, you've got to check the empire series, it takes place from mid way in the magician and focuses around the Tsuranni perspective of the rift war. Its an excellent series too and despite the fact you'd be going back in time a bit, i personally prefered revisiting that time with a new perspective.

TonyM19 · 13 Jun 2015 at 19:23

More votes for

First Law Trilogy
Black Company (maybe not the later books when they head South)
Malazan

leezer3 · 13 Jun 2015 at 22:05

Some thoughts on some of the above reccomends (Yes, I've read practically everything listed so far, these are just what jump out at me

)
Peter F. Hamilton:
Night's Dawn trilogy- Absolutely read, although it's somewhat of a mix between SF and fantasy, so may head too far in that direction.
If you like these, find his Commonwealth trilogy. It's basically the same science/ fantasy jumble, but hugely enjoyable.
I wasn't as impressed with Great North Road, but it's reasonable solid SF.
Terry Goodkind:
The Sword of Truth series starts out well enough, but IMHO rather bogs down 5-6 books in. Reasonable, but not stellar. Never had enough grey areas for my liking either.
Robin Hobb:
IMHO, the Liveship trilogy is the best of her work. The two Assasain trilogies are also very good, but the Soldier Son trilogy is rather meh by comparison.

Finally, a slightly oddball reccomendation:
Look up the Kusheline trilogy by Jacqueline Carey. (And if you enjoy this, there are two more of the same)
The occupation of the main character means it's by no means everyone's cup of tea, but if you can see past this they are incredibly good books.

-Leezer-

toshj · 14 Jun 2015 at 01:19

fastwunz said:
My wife threw them all out one day after I had finished the last one - apparently as I wouldn't likely be reading them again, there was no point keeping them.

Bit of a shame as the WOT series develops a completely different level when reread - the amount of foreshadowing is crazy! After a few attempts I finished the series last year and am already on The Dragon Reborn again whilst reading other stuff.

After finishing the series I read through the First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. You'll notice immediately that it lacks the depth and world building that WOT has, but it's well worth a read before diving into another large series. Great characters, strong plot and an interesting take on the genre.

I've downloaded both Gardens of the Moon and the Lies of Locke Lamora, but have struggled to get in to both whilst my attention has been elsewhere. Will give them a proper read soon though. Have picked up The Martian this weekend and, although I've barely read any sci-fi, this is a cracking book.

If you want something on the same scale as WOT, the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson has the same depth. Although it's a trilogy it's also essentially separated into 8 books and spans events in the 17th and 18th centuries but with very slight fantasy/sci-fi elements - London, Boston, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Japan, etc. all feature and it requires quite a commitment on behalf of the reader.

Rroff · 14 Jun 2015 at 02:54

rotters said:
The Belgariad by David Eddings is very good.

Once read through The Elenium and The Tamuli series - seemed pretty good at the time but I was quite young and had nothing else to do (stuck at a relatives for a week) so don't really have a way to compare them to other similar literature.

Azer · 14 Jun 2015 at 17:38

Not a series that has to be read in any order, just a collection of books set in the same reality, but the Culture novels by Iain M Banks have always been a big favourite of mine.

Dano · 14 Jun 2015 at 21:40

Azer said:
Not a series that has to be read in any order, just a collection of books set in the same reality, but the Culture novels by Iain M Banks have always been a big favourite of mine.

While they are great books they're not fantasy are they.

Turambar · 15 Jun 2015 at 03:07

I wouldn't recommend reading Glen Cooks Black Company books all at once, too bleak.

OspreyO · 15 Jun 2015 at 08:03

For bleak read Thomas Covenant.

No1newts · 15 Jun 2015 at 14:41

Anyone read the Adrian Tchaikovsky series?

Want something long and relatively non complex to read so picked it up. No recomendations but thought it sounds ok.

Dano · 15 Jun 2015 at 16:06

OspreyO said:
For bleak read Thomas Covenant.

You're not wrong, though I did enjoy the story I'm not sure I could ever recommend them to anyone lol.

OspreyO · 15 Jun 2015 at 16:26

So true. Its like a Frodo in Mordor turned up to 11. But better....and worse.

Gormenghast series is another odd one. Which is brilliant. But not sure if I can recommend that either.

Neither will ever have an arcade version...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauntlet_(1985_video_game)

Another left of field one is Elric of Melniboné.

OspreyO · 15 Jun 2015 at 16:29

I never made it to the Riftwar Saga I just lost interest after a few books.

leemk · 16 Jun 2015 at 09:28

David Gemmel is good , loved his Parmenion duo and Troy.

McGray · 16 Jun 2015 at 10:48

Malazan Book of the Dead series.

Washout · 16 Jun 2015 at 15:33

I know it's not what you asked but I always like flicking from sci-fi to fantasy as it takes me a while to get out of one world and into another.
Started WoT but couldn't get into it as had just come out of the latest ice and fire (game of thrones) book.

I read the Hyperion books by Dan Simmons. First two in particular are simply brilliant. Have Fantasy(ish) elements to them. Would be a shame to miss out on something that good just because there are no Elves/Dwarves in it.

After that I started WoT and on book 14 now! It almost stalled there 4-5 books back but just about kept me going and glad it did as shaping up nicely in the finale.