What fantasy series do you suggest?

[litlady]

As a person getting a literature degree, I rarely read fantasy (since I never had any spare time to read!) but lately have been reading some. What do you suggest?

I have read all Harry Potter, LOTR, and His Dark Materials. Read L'Engle in school and enjoyed those. Read the first book of Narnia in school, not a big fan. Earthsea seems like a good one to read next as I have liked other Le Guin. Are Inkheart and the Inheritance series any good?

Thanks for any other suggestions.

[PDJane]

1. Personally,

I love Cherryh, and would recommend the foreigner series.

[Cheap_Trick]

2. If you're a fan of King Arthur, try these 3 books

Knight Life
One Knight Only
Fall of Knight

all by Peter David.

"From Library Journal
A New York mayoral election takes an unexpected turn when a new, independent candidate appears on the scene, running on a platform of common sense, humor, and knightly virtues. Assisted by his advisers, a ten-year-old boy genius named Merlin, an immortal accountant known as Percival, and a troubled young woman called Gwen, the newcomer, who calls himself Arthur Penn, proceeds to take the town by storm until the arrival of a pair of old enemies threatens to re-create the tragedy of the Arthurian legend. This revised and expanded version of David's first novel (Sir Apropos of Nothing), originally published in 1987 and now out of print, is filled with genuine wit, irony, and keen observations of human nature. It belongs in most libraries where Arthurian fiction is popular."


I'm almost done with the first book. It's a lot of fun and I'm not really up on Arthurian legend (other than Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which gets mention).

[mzteris]

42. Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon cycle

Taliesin
Merlin
Arthur
Pendragon

[mkultra]

3. perhaps dragonlance

but i personally prefer sci fi with Orson Scot Card such as Ender's Game.

[Greyskye]

4. Charles deLint

Any of his "Newford" books are brilliant. Urban Fantasy at its best.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Lint#The_Newford_Series

[Nevilledog]

5. The Fionavar Tapestry (Trilogy) by Guy Gavriel Kay

I was absolutely heartbroken when I finished this series. This trilogy was just awesome.


Currently reading the Sword of Truth series by Goodkind....really enjoying it also.


Lastly, I love reading anything by Mercedes Lackey and she has numerous series, anything about Valdemar is well worth the read.

[burrfoot]

46. I think

I've read everything GGK has written, and it's been hands down some of the best fiction I've ever read of any genre. I heartily support this rec!

[yellowdogintexas]

52. as do I. I love his writing. nt

[ZombieHorde]

6. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. nt

[timeforpeace]

27. Great book, but only book 1 is out. Agree with George RR Martin suggestion, best right now.

However Patrick Rothfuss is the next great fantasy author.

[enlightenment]

7. George R.R. Martin's

"Game of Thrones" series. Not so many books (he's up to five now, I think) that you'll neglect your academics, but enough to enjoy. HBO is getting ready to make these into a series along the lines of "Rome" - looks promising, anyway.

Or try Stephen R. Donaldson's "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" series. Six books. It has a certain similarity to L'Engle in that the protagonist lives in the 'real' world sometimes - and sometimes in a fantasy world that has a certain *cough* resemblance to LOTR.

[LeftyMom]

10. seconded

They're fantastic and they're different from the usual LOTR clone genre crap.

[ThatPoetGuy]

13. Thirded.

Martin's novels are compelling, brilliant work. The characters are rich and deep, and the storyline is both realistic and epic. It's great stuff.

There's also a Polish series, by a man named Andrzej Sapkowski. Fairy tale storylines are turned on their heads; issues like race and power and prejudice are explored in these deep, funny, scary, original books.

[timeforpeace]

28. That number after 3. Yes, best after LOTR, hands down , and still going.

[Salviati]

32. Fifthed!

The only reason to not completely reccomend it, is that it's a series in progress, and it always sucks to get involved in one of those. But this one is worth it.

[yellowdogintexas]

44. Sixthed. and those books are so long book V might be out by the time

the OP has read the first 4

[litlady]

20. Sounds interesting, and I have been done with my degree a year now!

So I can neglect my academics. :) In fact, I try to avoid the stuff I must do like articles and research as much as possible.

After so many years in graduate school reading to break down a work and take copious notes, it is refreshing to just read a work to read it!

[pscot]

75. I read the 1st of those and started the 2nd

but I felt like I was being played. He kept killing people off, and the story seemed to be going nowhere.

[napoleon_in_rags]

8. "We called the boat Sanderling, but do you call her Lookfar"

"We called the boat Sanderling, but do you call her Lookfar, and paint eyes aside her prow, and my thanks will look out of that blind wood for you and keep you from rock and reef. For I had forgotten how much light there is in the world, till you gave it back to me."

I just wrote that in my email like 5 minutes before seeing this har post, its from Earthsea. ITS A SIGN!!!

[litlady]

21. That is the one I will read next. I haven't read much Le Guin but like what I've read. nt

[napoleon_in_rags]

23. Its her best. I took it as a sign I should read it again too, put it on my Amazon list.

Trust me, you won't be disappointed. :)

[OrwellwasRight]

31. Definitely Earthsea.

Such a great storyline. ANd so different than the Harry Potter books. They just use magic on any old thing there and there is no balance, no prohibition on using it for one's personal gain, no fear about overs-using magic. Really no morality about it the way there is in Earthsea. In fact, it was so popular, there are two follow-up novels to the original trilogy. Two thumbs up.

[47of74]

9. Akkrakis...also known as Dune...

The 1984 version of Dune got me into reading the Frank Herbert novels that had been the inspiration for the movie.

[OrwellwasRight]

30. I also saw the 1984 movie

Read the first book immediately and loved it. Didn't read the second book until 2004. Just picked up the third. I really need to go back and read them altogether because of course you lose the details of 20 years!! But there is so much to read. And I am not sure i like them enough to double up when there is so much else out there. Like I just read my first Stephen King. And I have never read the Great Gatsby. Or the Unbearable Lightness of Being. Or a biography of Eugene V. Debs or Emma Goldman. And there are lots of Vonnegut novels I have not re-read yet and really need to.


So is there a Cliff's Notes for Dune that I can refer to just to get my bearings back?


So many books, so little time.

[Salviati]

40. You could watch the Sci-Fi channel miniseries...

It's a bit more faithful to the books than the movie, though it does cut and combine some characters a bit. It would definitely bring you back up to speed though. The first miniseriess covers the events of Dune, the second combines Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, so if you just watch the first part, that should get you up to the third book.

[terryg11]

68. sci fi series wasnt good

taken on its own, its good tv but some of the changes they made had me cringing.
The casting is great, love the leads but its so sterile looking.

1984 version looks better and is quite faithful.

[silverweb]

62. One of my favorites.

:)

[Hekate]

11. Currently am working my way through S.M. Stirling's novels of The Change...

My sister recommended them to me and I have found them very good reading. I started with Dies the Fire, set in Oregon, and am following this series. The other half, if you will, starts in Nantucket and is called Island in the Sea of Time, but since I'm enjoying the characters I started with I think I'll stick with them for the moment.

My only criticism is I get rather tired of the crunchiness of sword-fighting, but Stirling's exploration of how cultures can redevelop after a world-wide technological collapse is really intriguing.

Anything at all by Ursula LeGuin: she is unsurpassed.

If you would like to delight in some humor, try Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, set on a flat planet. About 30 novels with recurring characters in several subsets: the City Guards, the Witches of the Ramtops, and the Wizards of the Unseen University, among others. One of my favorite subsections are the three Tiffany Aching novels, which you will find in the juvenile lit section. Wee Free Men is the first and is hilarious, then A Hat Full of Sky, and finally Wintersmith. They take her to her early teens, and in the estimation of legions of adult readers are kids' books in name only.

Enjoy!

Hekate

[FSogol]

12. The Amber Series by Roger Zelazny. n/t

[timeforpeace]

48. Thanks for the rec, bought it and read it, now one of my three favorite of all time (LOTR, ASOFAI)

[lamp_shade]

14. Watership Down. It's not a series but, as I read it, I became a rabbit. n/t

[stray cat]

39. agreed - that was a superb read!

[sarge43]

15. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber

Satiric spin on the Conan stories and good in its own right. Leiber's take on religion is worth the read alone.

[Lochloosa]

16. The Dragonriders of Pern Trilogy by Anne McCaffrey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_McCaffrey

Dragonfight
Dragonquest
The White Dragon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonflight

[silverweb]

60. Yes!

I just saw "Avatar" and all the wonderful memories of the Pern books came rushing back when those dragons showed up!

I still have them and now want to read them again. :)

[Scout]

66. i like these too

don't you just love F'Lar? :pant: :pant: :drool:

[bowens43]

17. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever

by Stephen Donaldson

[bermudat]

58. I enjoyed those books so much, I couldn't wait for the paperbacks

and bought hardcover. Have you read the newer ones?

[silverweb]

61. Absolutely.

Kind of dark in ways, but both sets are well worth reading.

[Araxen]

18. Legend of Drizzt

You won't be disappointed. RA Salvatore is a master at fantasy and will make you love a Dark Elf! ;)

http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Drizzt-Collectors-Book-I/dp/078694837X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249326142&sr=8-2

[mzteris]

43. just the one Dark Elf!

My kids bought me the first one so I read it thinking it would be just "okay" - I really liked the character, though. I've read some other ones, but evidently I skipped a few in between.

I like the fact that the character shows you can be your own person regardless of the environment and influences in your life.

[bain_sidhe]

19. Depends

Do you like medievalish fantasy (sword and sorcery type) or contemporary urban fantasy? Your list seems to lean toward the sword & sorcery. I'm more fond of contemporary urban fantasy, which takes place in (essentially) our world, but with fantasy creatures like elves, vampires, werewolves & the like. Charles de Lint, Tanya Huff, Kim Harrison, Laura Anne Gilman, Charlaine Harris (her books were the inspiration for the "True Blood" series on HBO. (And some of Huff's books were the inspiration for the "Blood Ties" series on Lifetime a couple of years ago.)

Fantasy has become such a broad genre these days. You could even include some science fiction that *reads* like fantasy, such as Anne McCaffery's Pern novels or Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series.

So, what's your fancy?

[litlady]

22. Good question! I'm open to a lot...

I love reading in general thus the literature degree (and unfortunately for me, I read quite quickly so I sometimes re-read to get full effect). I really like science fiction as well so fantasy in this world is good as well. I have read some Murakami and that was interesting. However, I do really like the European, medieval, dragons, wizardry stuff a lot. :)

What I don't like are vampires. I have seen and read some vampire stuff but really can't get into it.

[bain_sidhe]

24. May I suggest Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarrion series

edited because I forgot the blockquotes!

There are actually five books in the universe, but they've been combined into two omnibus volumes. The two "prequel" books (actually written later), "Surrender None" and "Liars Oath" are combined in "The Legacy of Gird"

Moon's The Deed of Paksennarion has been a blockbuster success in Baen's one-volume trade paper edition--and now the trilogy has a companion. The Legacy of Gird tells of Gird, the liberator, who teaches his people that they can fight--and win--against their Mage-born rulers, and Luap, Gird's sworn follower, who dares not lie and cannot tell the truth--nor face the future.

The three books written first but taking place five centuries after the Gird books "Sheepfarmer's Daughter," "Divided Allegiance," and "Oath of Gold" have been combined into "The Deed of Paksenarrion":

Paksenarrion, a simple sheepfarmer's daughter, yearns for a life of adventure and glory, such as was known to heroes in songs and story. At age seventeen she runs away from home to join a mercenary company and begins her epic life. Trained as a mercenary she distinguishes herself, but leaves the Dukes service to follow the path of Gird, the soldier's god. That path leads her on a holy quest for a lost elven prince that brings the gods' wrath down on her and rests her very limits.

What's exciting (to me) is that after almost 20 years, she's writing a new book in this series that follows that "lost elven prince" mentioned above.

Here's her website about that: http://www.paksworld.com/

[litlady]

25. Thanks for all the choices! Have any of you read Inkheart or the Inheritance series?

I know Eragon at least is popular so was wondering. Inkheart seemed to be about making books come alive and that sounds like an interesting premise.

[Araxen]

35. I've read the Inheritance series..

and it's a good series and it was the first fantasy series I have ever read. I used to think it was some of the best fantasy out there till I started reading the Legend of Drizzt series and the Drizzt series just blows the doors off the Inheritance series. The writing is just so much better as RA Salvatore has made the Drow Society such an interesting read.

[yellowdogintexas]

54. I read Inkheart and enjoyed it immensely. I picked up the two sequels at

Costco a few weeks ago, and I have another of her books as well.

[Doctor_Horrible]

26. I just read the Percy Jackson series and enjoyed them. Also - not sure if Hunger Games would fit as

fantasy... but it is EXCELLENT. I mean EXCELLENT.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins... read it, then tell all your friends to read it. If they don't like it, don't be friends with them. :)

[timeforpeace]

29. Surprised no one has mentioned The Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan. He finished 11 books before passing

but Brandon Sanderson, a good fantasy writer, is finishing the last three and the incredibly long saga will come to a close.

[silverweb]

63. Yup.

I haven't caught up since "Crown of Swords" and am overdue to pick the series up again.

[Salviati]

33. The Realm of the Elderlings series by Robin Hobb

Made up of 3 trilogies, the first book is called Assassin's Apprentice. A great series, and it looks like she's writing a few more in that world as well which I'll have to check out.

[yellowdogintexas]

53. oh these are excellent, all 9 of them. nt

[closeupready]

34. At the top of my list is Zelazny's Amber series.

In a more comic vein, Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are a freaking riot, lol. :D

[LWolf]

36. Inkheart is great.

Better than the movie. The rest of Cornelia Funke's stuff is just okay, but I loved Inkheart.

I also love L'Engle.

One other author I highly recommend is Charles DeLint.

For more, if you haven't already, head over to the fantasy forum and look for a thread I posted several years ago: "Share a fantasy author that you love." It's still alive and on the front page, and has a couple hundred responses; lots to choose from!

[LiberalSEO]

37. Wheel of Time and The BElgariad

Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (RIP) and The Belgariad by David Eddings - these two are classics!
Also The Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin.
From the newer authors I'd suggest upcoming Gail Z. Martin and her Chronicles of the Necromancer...

[Onceuponalife]

38. Anything by J. V. Jones or Sara Douglass

two great female writers in the genre.

I'll add my raves to Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series, the best fantasy epic since TLOTR, IMHO.

A big YES for the first Thomas Covenant trilogy by Stephen R. Donaldson, but NO to the second trilogy. Also check out Donaldson's "Mordant's Need" two-volume epic ("The Mirror of Her Dreams" and "A Man Rides Through").

I still like Orson Scott Card, his politics aside.

Tad Williams' four-volume "Otherland" epic is one of my favorites.

[HamdenRice]

41. For something really, really different, both literary fiction & fantasy, try Bessie Head's work

Bessie Head was a "Coloured" South African woman who wrote about Botswana (to which she exiled herself) in a fantastical way.

After her death and interviews with her editors and friends were conducted and her papers reviewed, the consensus seems to be that Bessie Head was mentally ill - schizophrenic. But that gave her fiction a hallucinatory feel.

Try "Maru" ("Rain Clouds"). (She wrote in English, but sometimes used Tswana words.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Head

http://www.bessiehead.org/

[Moderate Mook]

45. The Heir Trilogy by Cinda Williams Chima

The Warrior Heir
The Wizard Heir
The Dragon Heir

Written for young adults, but they don't pull punches, and form a very exciting (and in the end, emotionally satisfying) saga.

[Broken_Hero]

47. Annals of the Black Company

by Glenn Cook is a very good read, plus his Dread Empire series, :D

[burrfoot]

56. REALLY BIG +1 n/t

[Tesha]

49. Read Sheri S. Tepper's "The True Game" trilogy of trilogies...

They're a bit hard to find these days, but Sheri S. Tepper's nine books
set in the world of "The True Game" can be a fun read.

o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_True_Game

They mostly read like fantasy although it finally turns out that they
are science fiction.

> Each of the trilogies focuses on the point of view of one particular
> character. The Peter trilogy tells the story from the point of view of Peter,
> a shape-shifting youth. The Mavin series tells an earlier portion of the
> story from the point of view of Mavin Manyshaped, Peter's shape-shifting
> mother. The Jinian series overlaps with and extends the Peter series and
> tells the story from the point of view of Jinian, a young wizardly woman.

The middle trilogy in the series (the "Peter" trilogy) is still in print
as a single volume; for the others, you may need a library or a good
used book store.

Tesha

[waiting for hope]

50. I just finished the Kushiel's Legacy trilogy ..

It's pretty sexual, but I found the similarities the author did with religion pretty fascinating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushiel%27s_Legacy

[Onceuponalife]

51. Is it better then Carey's Banewreaker?

Which I found absolutely horrendous. Also hate the Pern series by Anne McCaffrey.

Right now I'm reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson which is fucking amazing!

[waiting for hope]

55. From every review I've read - Kushiel's Legacy is

far better than Banewreaker. I've only read the first three - and I don't think I'll read the following three only because I prefer to keep it as something I enjoyed reading. Have you heard of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series? I highly recommend them. And anything Ursula Le Guin has written, she's fabulous.

[Onceuponalife]

57. Yes to both of those.

I love Le Guin, especially her humanist SF.

[white_wolf]

59. Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

It is a very good series. Extremely detailed and very entertaining IMO.

[MisterP]

64. John Crowley (Little, Big)

[Mudoria]

65. 'The Night Angel" trilogy by Brent Weeks

is well worth checking out as well.

[MrCoffee]

67. China Miéville's Bas-Lag novels

Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council

[cdsilv]

69. The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett - second rec. Very good and funny! n/t

[Hestia]

70. Rachel Morgan series - Dead Witch Walking is the first one

Kim Harrison takes the titles from Clint Eastwood movies, even the obscure one's. For a Few Demons More, White Witch Black Curse. The new one of the series, Black Magic Sanction, is coming out in a few months - yeah! Kelley Armstrongs kinda sorta series, Bitten is the first, werewolves and witches, necromancers, and more!

[tortoise1956]

71. Simon R. Green and Jim Butcher

Simon Green has written several books about a place called the "Nightside". Fast reads, and funny. I laughed my butt off at his characters. Some examples are the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Chainsaw, and Shotgun Suzy, AKA "Oh my God, It's her - run!"

Jim Butcher has a series about Harry Dresden, Warlock for hire. I've read four of them, lookng for the next one. Similar to Green, but set in Chicago. Not too bad...

[arKansasJHawk]

78. Very similar

Is the Felix Castor series by Mike Carey. Darker than Butcher and, judging by your description, much darker than Green, who I haven't read. The level of writing in the Castor books is, to me, a level above Butcher (and I LOVE Butcher).

Castor and Dresden are very similar on the surface. Castor is, well, an exorcist for hire in London. He wears a long coat with many pockets that hold the tools of his trade.

BUT ... in Castor's London, the dead have risen. Ghosts and zombies and animal/human hybrid spirits similar to lycanthropes are all around. They're known to the general public, unlike in Dresden's Chicago. There's not as much in the way of truly spectacular supernatural magic. No fireballs or vengeful faeries.

If I had to pick, I think I'd take Castor by a nose at this point. I've only read two so far, and was really blown away.

[paparush]

72. If you are looking for a fantasy-chuckle, look no further than Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series.

Amazing stuff.

[paparush]

73. For a modern (Cyberpunk) series, William Gibson's 'Sprawl' trilogy is unbelievable.

Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986) and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprawl_trilogy

If you dig those, move on to the Bridge trilogy:
Virtual Light (1993), Idoru, (1996) and All Tomorrow's Parties (1999)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_trilogy

Pattern Recognition (2003) and Spook Country (2007) are also solid.

[lazarus]

74. Steve Brust's series

it doesn't really have a name, but it's set on the world of Dragaera, and has a protaganist named Vlad, so we mostly just call them "Vlad books." Start with the Omnibus "Jhereg", which contains his first three novels.

On the face of it, it's standard sword and sorcery stuff, but set mostly in a large city. There are a lot of subversive (and liberal) elements to it, and quite a bit of humour. In the third book, there's an attempt at a Marxist uprising, which you don't see in fantasy much. The author is a Trotskyite, and he has very interesting views on politics and society and economics which make this series quite a bit different from the other fantasy I've read.

[MicaelS]

76. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dresden_Files

[lucas_g20]

77. inkheart definitely