Poll: Best fantasy series

[Gnmish]

The Wheel of Time option was added late. I declare a miscount!

And WTF is with all the LotR love, have you guys read the books? I mean Tolkien was the ground breaker in this area and should be recognised as such, but the books are just PAINFUL to read.

 

[Arsen]

Am I the only one who contemplates not reading anything past "A Dance with Dragons" if Jon Snow is killed? Seriously, him, Danaerys, and Arya are the reasons I keep on reading.

Also, one nitpicky thing I have to name about Martin is HOW characters die. Seriously...some of them are just "random" in every sense of the word.

 

[D33dl3]

was a massive fan of the D&D books from Hickman and Weiss growing up, now I prefer Discworld

 

[Frylock72]

No mention of the Nightrunner Series by Lynn Flewelling? I am also disappoint.

Edit: How could I forget the Saga of Recluce by L.E. Modesitte, Jr.? I am off my game.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Do Dresden Files count? That's sort of modern fantasy.

 

[Fragged_Templar]

this says it all for me

'The Wheel of Time', by Robert Jordan.

It's the only series I've read over 6 times.

 

[GrimTuesday]

Am I the only one who contemplates not reading anything past "A Dance with Dragons" if Jon Snow is killed? Seriously, him, Danaerys, and Arya are the reasons I keep on reading.

Also, one nitpicky thing I have to name about Martin is HOW characters die. Seriously...some of them are just "random" in every sense of the word.

How so? I've never read someones death and thought 'gee that was random' I can't think of any characters death that didn't have a reason.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

The Wheel of Time option was added late. I declare a miscount!

And WTF is with all the LotR love, have you guys read the books? I mean Tolkien was the ground breaker in this area and should be recognised as such, but the books are just PAINFUL to read.

Yes I have, and that's why I voted for them. What's painful for you is not painful for others.

 

[Slippers]

Other:

A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

If you want a Tolkienesque universe, Discworld.

 

[ABLb0y]

Stephen King's the Dark Tower. Just... Awesome.

 

[Serenegoose]

My 'favourite' fantasy series changes as I expand and refine my viewpoint. I used to love the depth of fiction from LOTR, the history of it all, and I still do - but now I find that I value other things more. I find his writing style dry, and insufficiently engaging. Recently, my favourite, encapsulating everything I want (rich world, lots of detail, but wonderful characters) would be the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. I love the originality of the execution, I love the magic system (though I went into it thinking I wouldn't!) and I definitely loved the characters.

 

[veloper]

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series are sorely missing on the poll.

But maybe this is for non-humorous fantasy only, in which case hmmm I'll pick Tad Williams' Shadowmarch.
Maybe if there's any hope of the Song of Ice and Fire ever being finished I may change my mind.

 

[Queen Michael]

Where's Discworld, eh? I love me some Discworld.

 

[Bobbity]

The Lord of the Rings is probably the best, but I've had the most enjoyment from Wheel of Time. That said, A Game of Thrones is very good as well.

Onto the more important stuff, [HEADING=2]Where is Discworld?![/HEADING]

 

[LordOrin]

I'd say The Phantom Tollbooth, but I don't think that qualifies, mostly since it's not a series.

I'm surprised there's no Conan the Barbarian or Discworld on the list. I can see Discworld being too comedic/parodic to qualify, but Robert E. Howard is seminal yo.

 

[Kielgasten]

I'd say The Phantom Tollbooth, but I don't think that qualifies, mostly since it's not a series.

I'm surprised there's no Conan the Barbarian or Discworld on the list. I can see Discworld being too comedic/parodic to qualify, but Robert E. Howard is seminal yo.

It´s still fantasy, comedy or no.

A poll such as this without Terry Pratchett, is no poll at all! /drama ;-)

 

[thespianicism]

A Song of Ice and Fire. I'll deal with the heartbreak of watching every damn character die because they're that good. And, what can I say, I'm a tragedy junkie.

I do really enjoy the WoT series though. It's a fun read and a total escape. But, while I like them a lot, I'm just not invested in them as I am in A Song of Ice and Fire.

 

[Ensiferum]

This was SUCH a hard decision mainly because LOTR, Narnia, Sword of Truth and Legend of Drizzt are ALL favorite fantasy series of mine, especially anything by Tolkien and Lewis. But when it comes to the series that is the most sprawling and epic, not to mention the series without which several others on this list would not exist (R.A. Salvatore quite being a lawyer so he could write fantasy just BECAUSE someone gave him a copy of LOTR in law school) I have to go with Lord of the Rings, but Narnia is a very close second.

Regarding George RR Martin; I don't enjoy his works nearly as much for the same reasons most people seem to love him. To be fair, I've only read the first book in the "Thrones" series, but to call an 850 page book a "fantasy novel" when maybe three pages out of all of them have anything close to actual fantasy going on robs the reader of his expectations. Of course more often than not I love having my expectations exceeded, but here the opposite was the case. To be honest it read more like historical medieval fiction, which is also fine, but it wasn't sold to me on that premise. When a book is called "fantasy" I expect a little more than just some unknown continent filled with douchey humans, a few dragon skulls and some large wolves. On top of that I found most (not all mind you, just most) of the characters to be thoroughly unlikeable. Yes flaws are very important in a character but at the same time said character should strive to and succeed in overcoming them; otherwise they're just boring assholes. With all of that being said I am still interested in checking out the series that premiers April 18th on HBO, mainly because I think the drawn-out elements of the novel will be better condensed and focused on screen. Also if someone wants to try to convince me that the series "does" get better in spite of my current issues with it I welcome your point of view. Then again I definitely prefer "high fantasy" in general so perhaps Game of Thrones simply isn't for me to begin with. Yet I generally love "Sword and Sorcery" (the opposite, right?) such as Conan The Barbarian as well. But if that's the fantasy sub-genre thrones falls under I think the problem I have with Thrones is that there's too much politicking, only a meager amount of swords, and almost no sorcery.

TLDR: I felt like Game of Thrones lied to me by calling itself "fantasy" and while I can understand it isn't "high fantasy," it barely even qualifies as "sword and sorcery" fantasy either, more like historical fiction. If you think it gets miles better after the first book please convince me.

Did you even finish?

Spoiler

at the end of the first book Dany's dragon eggs hatch, the wights (zombies risen by magic), The others/White walkers in the prologue, the children of the forest who aren't seen but are mentioned a lot. In the next few books you get wargs who control animals, giants, A chick give birth the a shadow assassin, there's a guys who has come back to life about 15 times

And that's just the stuff I remember off the top of my head as far as the fantasy elements go, you get more of the sword in later books with the war of the five kings and a few other things. Also why do all the characters have to be likeable? Sure, they aren't all nice people who are nice to every one but that isn't the point, just because someone isn't likable doesn't mean they are not a compelling character. So I would definitely say give it another shot because it only gets better.

I did finish the book and I remember the parts you mentioned but still felt that the fantasy was such a small part of the book that for me it barely qualified as such. And while no not all characters have to be "likeable" in the sense that they'd all be "good and nice" even evil characters can be "likeable" while still being a villain. Look at Darth Vader or The Joker for example. In Game of Thrones I found most of the characters to be overly flawed to the point where they became no longer enjoyable to follow. Like I said, character flaws are incredibly important, it's what makes them feel relate-able, but characters who're flawed to the point where they have no redeeming qualities whatsoever are just boring. With all of that being said you've definitely given me some things to look forward to in the future books so perhaps I'll give them another try. Thanks

 

[Seriphina]

Does Terry prattchet count with the Discworld series?! <3