Fantasy books with an original setting.

[Gizmo1990]

I love to read. My favorite type of books are fantasy and while I love the whole tolkin setting I would love a fantasy book that is different from that and most of them are not.

For example one of my favorite series is the Codex Alerea series by Jim Butcher. A civilisation based on the Roman Empire exept people have the ability to control fire, water, air, earth, wood and metel.

His other series The Dresden Files is also among my favorites. So anyone got anything like these books?

And before anyone says it yes I know that The Dresden Files is not original but it is awsome. Anyonw who has not read them because of the crap TV show they made a few years back should read them. The TV show was completely different.

 

[The Scythian]

You could try the Prince of Nothing series. Very unTolkien, but I don't want to spoil it. Think of it as a corrupt messiah hijacking the Crusades in a fantasy world.

 

[Gabanuka]

Brent Weeks has some pretty good stuff. Nothing Tolkieny at all

 

[Bloodastral]

Steve Erickson - Malazan Books of the Fallen. The series starts with Gardens of the Moon, the books can be pretty tough to get through, usualy has a cast of about 50 characters, but he's created an interestinbg world and an awesome magic system.

 

[ElectroJosh]

Because The Prince of Nothing series is already mentioned I'll go with China Mieville's world of Bas-Lag. There are three standalone novels but it pays to read them in the order they were written: Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council. Very interesting stuff

 

[DrWilhelm]

Steve Erickson - Malazan Books of the Fallen. The series starts with Gardens of the Moon, the books can be pretty tough to get through, usualy has a cast of about 50 characters, but he's created an interestinbg world and an awesome magic system.

A note on this: I've heard it said that it might be easier to start with the second book. Something to do with it lacking significant connections to the first, and being easier to follow. Whether that's true or not I wouldn't know as I've only read the first book so far.

Hmm, off of my nearest bookshelf I would reccomend most anything by Neil Gaiman as well as Naomi Novik's Temeraire series as being quite different from your standard fantasy. A bit closer to Tolkien, though still fairly different would be Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy, Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy and several things by Brandon Sanderson (check out his website, it's an absolute treasure trove, including sample chapters, cut chapters, annotations and even a free novel called Warbreaker).

And yes The Dresden Files and Codex Alera are bloody brilliant. The ending of the last Codex book had me furious, not because it was bad, but because I wanted more. Damn it, MORE I SAY!

 

[Aidinthel]

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is one of my favorites. I never miss a chance to recommend it.

 

[synobal]

The Warded Man and the Desert Spear by Peter V Brett

 

[Smertnik]

Andrzey Sapkowski's Witcher series is pretty unique, I can heartily recommend it. Although I believe not all of the books have been translated to English yet. So I guess you can discard my recommendation if you can only speak English.

 

[TheSchizoid]

Steve Erickson - Malazan Books of the Fallen. The series starts with Gardens of the Moon, the books can be pretty tough to get through, usualy has a cast of about 50 characters, but he's created an interesting world and an awesome magic system.

A note on this: I've heard it said that it might be easier to start with the second book. Something to do with it lacking significant connections to the first, and being easier to follow. Whether that's true or not I wouldn't know as I've only read the first book so far.

Thirded. I think that may be right. I've only read the first three so far (third being my favorite so far). The first was really good and hooked me, which is what an author wants when writing a series I'd think. The second book was really good and it flowed a bit better. I do remember thinking some bits took longer than I wanted and reading ahead just to get back to the other storyline, however. The third tries to tie the first two together if I remember right. I tried getting into the fourth but it started with entirely new characters and made me less interested. So far a good read but be wary of the massive cast. Like I said, it can hurt the continued reading. I hope to get back to it soon though.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Read the Discworld books right now.

 

[TheDoctor455]

There's Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone Saga.
Its a very... deconstructive series...
so it takes everything about a Tolkien-esque setting...
or a Conan-esque character or story...
and turns it on itself.

Often with very disturbing results.

 

[Giest4life]

Steve Erickson - Malazan Books of the Fallen. The series starts with Gardens of the Moon, the books can be pretty tough to get through, usualy has a cast of about 50 characters, but he's created an interestinbg world and an awesome magic system.

A note on this: I've heard it said that it might be easier to start with the second book. Something to do with it lacking significant connections to the first, and being easier to follow. Whether that's true or not I wouldn't know as I've only read the first book so far.

I concur. However, I feel that doing so might rob one of the wonder that you experience when things make sense in retrospect. It's been a couple of years since I last touched Gardens of the Moon, or its sequel, Deadhouse Gates, but I enjoyed the characters a lot more after I found out what they had all gone through and how it all fit in the grand scheme of things (keep in mind that the actual grand scheme of things is very, very hard to grasp).

OT: in case you haven't already deduced it, I wholeheartedly recommend Malazan Book of the Fallen. The system of magic is a far cry from your standard, run-of-the-mill spiritual or object-assisted magic. The world is vast and the the classification of species unique. Lastly, this not your standard "good vs. evil" struggle. As much as Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin challenge conventional notions of morality and ethics, Steven Eriksson delves into philosophical problems far more bold and interesting.

I shed some tears after finishing Reaper's Gale, and the Cripple God, after that.

 

[Klaflefalumpf]

Not a fantasy setting, but I recently read the Temeraire series. Set in the 1800s but with dragons.

 

[DJDarque]

Ninja'd by OP. Codex Alera is my favorite high fantasy because of its different setting. The Dresden Files are just awesome in general.

 

[Me55enger]

Read the Discworld books right now.

This is very much the best and simplest answer you can receive.

Discworld is better than Middle earth. Yeah, come at me.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

For example one of my favorite series is the Codex Alerea series by Jim Butcher. A civilisation based on the Roman Empire exept people have the ability to control fire, water, air, earth, wood and metel.

His other series The Dresden Files is also among my favorites. So anyone got anything like these books?

Jim Butcher is one of my favorite authors. My other two are:

Lois McMaster Bujold and Jacqueline Carey.

Bujold has both the Curse of Chalion trilogy (which won both a Hugo and a Nebula) and the Sharing Knife series (4 books).

Chalion is a human-only world with a number of waring nations. You become a Sorcerer by letting a demon possess you, and then taking control of the demon - which is even riskier than it sounds.

Sharing Knife is a fantasy series set in a post-apocalyptic world - very post - as in it is now just an ancient legend. Life is mostly peasant farming and cities where glass is kind of new-fangled. And every so often, life-sucking demons turn up and need to be slain.

Jacqueline Carey has the Kushiel's Legacy series (three trilogies). It is a fantasy series set in an alternative reality of Earth around 1400 or so where magic exists. Some of the magic is fairly subtle, so for a first time reader who isn't expecting it, the wizard who can control the seas can seem to come out of nowhere. ^^

Her other fantasy novels (Banewreaker) use a Tolkien-esque universe (although they are a trope reversal - the main character is the "Dark Lord" - you get to read about all the crap he has to deal with, and why he does it). Good books, but not nearly as good as Kushiel's Legacy, which is one of my favorite series ever.

 

[ThaBenMan]

Because The Prince of Nothing series is already mentioned I'll go with China Mieville's world of Bas-Lag. There are three standalone novels but it pays to read them in the order they were written: Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council. Very interesting stuff

I will second this, Bas-Lag is very unique - not a dwarf or elf in sight, but instead there are cool non-human races like water-sculpting frog people and lumbering cactus ogres. And the magic is a weird mix of steampunk science and sorcery. A very cool setting.

 

[Wayneguard]

I love the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber. Basically, the stories are about two swashbuckling rogues who travel around Newhon (the world) getting into trouble and then getting out of it. Man I wish someone would make a graphic novel or a comic series out of them. Its setting is entirely original though. No elves or orcs there.

 

[ElectroJosh]

I will second this, Bas-Lag is very unique - not a dwarf or elf in sight, but instead there are cool non-human races like water-sculpting frog people and lumbering cactus ogres. And the magic is a weird mix of steampunk science and sorcery. A very cool setting.

You just made me realise that I said nothing about the setting in my post beyond recommending it.

There are a lot of very interesting creatures and monstors (slake-moths, for example) that populate the world as well. The politics of the setting is also very well realised - not the standard romanticised feudal system a lot of fantasy gives nor, indeed, is there monarchies of any type to speak of.