Fantasy/Sci-fi Books. Any Suggestions?

[Sammaul]

I'm looking for some new before-sleep reading material and was hoping you guys could give me some suggestions.
Now what I want is a grand sci-fi/fantasy saga, the likes of my three favourites which are:

-The Wheel of Time (my favourite, can't wait for the last part)
-Dune (the original six by Frank Herbert, his son and K. Anderson never got the 'tone' right imo)
-Prince of Nothing/Aspect-Emperor (can't really explain why, but this one is freakishly good, not just because it contains my all-time favourite character, Cnaïur-urs-Skiotha, breaker-of-horses-and-men)

I prefer something like the three above, but suggestions along the lines of The Dark Tower and Harry Potter are welcome as well.

Would be nice if you could elaborate on your pick, like a character you love (or love to hate), or a unique setting, etc...

 

[Fayathon]

It's the Napoleonic War, with dragons. [http://www.amazon.com/His-Majestys-Dragon-Temeraire-Book/dp/0345481283]

Temeraire is a great "what if" series. It's made all the better due to the dragons being scientifically feasible (ie, no magic) and sentient to boot.

 

[Taham]

The "Humanities Fire" series. I've never read a book quite the same, and it has an interesting plot that has plenty of twists and surprises. I personally preferred the second book, but the others were still enjoyable. The characters are also very well designed.

 

[Richardplex]

A book I really liked is "The Left Hand of God". It's about some guy who was trained to be the ultimate assassin in standard fantasy times, with the antagonist being basically the catholic church in the witch hunting days. It's actually really good in my opinion.

 

[eribanus]

Steven Erikson, Malazan Tales of the Fallen. Best. Fantasy. Ever.

...and I´ve been reading Fantasy for about 25 years...

 

[Raijha]

Song of Ice and Fire. Being a huge WoT fan myself, I'm finding the Song of Ice and Fire series incredibly engaging and entertaining, it would be my best suggestion. And I wouldnt be surprised if you see it from a bunch of others as well.

 

[HumpinHop]

I'll go ahead and throw in 'A Game of Thrones' since it's inevitable with this thread.

It's a Fantasy book but far less black/white morality than Lord of the Rings. The characters don't fall into archetypes and they cover just about every shade on the morality color wheel. Be warned it does throw a lot of names and locales at you early on so it's a smidgen hard to keep track of who's important, but it's a very interesting read so far.

 

[Togs]

Its not so overtly fantasy (think "magical realism") but the best book Ive ever read has to be American Gods by Neil Gaiman, its bleak, bittersweet and puts great twists on old myths.

Also The Gentlemen Bastards books by Scott Lynch are popcorn brilliance- think what it would be like if Tolkien had written Oceans Eleven and then add pirates for good measure.

 

[Kahunaburger]

If you're looking at something with a similar feel to Dark Tower, I'd advise Book of the New Sun. It's sort of the flagship for "literary SF." A slightly lighter but equally good series in the same vein is Dying Earth by Jack Vance. I also recently read Perdido Street Station by China Mieville and really enjoyed it.

 

[Kenko]

Dan Abnett's Gaunts Ghosts! Best sci-fi adventure novels ever

 

[Sammaul]

Thanks for the suggestions so far, surprised at the number of unfamiliar(to me) titles and lack of ''cookie-cutters'' so far.

 

[Jodah]

Anything by R.A. Salvatore is tops for me. I recommend starting with the Drizzt series, I cannot recall off hand the first book but a quick google search should tell you. Its a somewhat easier read than many but his writing style can keep you interested without seeming condescending or trying to be smarter then is necessary.

If you want something more Sci-Fi the Warhammer 40k books are good. I'm working on the Horus Heresy atm.

 

[Toaster Hunter]

Try A song of Ice and Fire. I have a friend who doesn't like fantasy, but loves the series. Its more Sopranos than Lord of the Rings.

 

[Karloff]

On Stranger Tides (Tim Powers) is an excellent horror/fantasy set in the Golden Age of Piracy: http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Tides-Tim-Powers/dp/006209453X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310661493&sr=1-1

Anno Dracula (Kim Newman) is a really fun what-if, that assumes Dracula beat Van Helsing, dominated Queen Victoria and ruled the British Empire with an iron fist. Its recently been reprinted; Bloody Red Baron (World War One, with von Richtofen as a giant bat) and Dracula Cha Cha Cha (1960s, Bond-style romp) are its sequels, and both of those are due to be reprinted soon.

http://www.amazon.com/Anno-Dracula-Kim-Newman/dp/0857680838/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310661560&sr=1-1

 

[NeoStar]

Ender's Game, about a boy genius who goes to an orbiting military school to train commanders and soldiers to fight aliens called "Buggers" that have invaded earth twice before.
I like how he proves himself to be the best of the best, and the way the school does these things called "Battle Games" and how it organizes them, it's very interesting.

 

[DJDarque]

I'm going to toss out my recommendation of Jim Butcher. Both of his series'. The Dresden Files are more of an urban fantasy which tells the tale of wizard private investigator in Chicago and the shenanigans he gets into. The Dresden Files are still ongoing. His other series, which is finished at 6 books, is the Codex Alera. This series is more high fantasy and is about a civilization much like Ancient Rome with an interesting take on magic thrown in the mix.

 

[Alakaizer]

I'll just list a few of my favorite authors, most of their work is pretty good.

Jim Butcher
Terry Pratchett
Lynn Flewelling
Robin Hobb

captcha: ityursee mk

 

[greyghost81]

Like a lot of other posters, I'll recommend Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. Le Guin's Earthsea cycle is also good and has a shorter page count, so even if you read a novel and don't like if you won't have wasted much time.

 

[s0m3th1ng]

Sword of Truth...wanders a bit towards the end there but still a great romp.

 

[Valredwulf]

David Eddings' The Belgariad and Mallorean series, a la the 'Garion books'. My fav fantasy books ever!