Recommend a good Fantasy Book Series.

[Solo-Wing]

Hello my fellow Escapees. I am looking for recemondations for a good Fantasy novel series. I personally love them like the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series, as well as the Inheritance cycle (The Eragon books) and the Stoneheart trilogy as well a few more...

I have also read then entire Narnia series. >_>

Don't look at me like that...

Anyways I have heard nothing but good things on the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Anybody recommend it?

Also any other good series would be nice as well...

 

[Kahunaburger]

ASOIAF is pretty good up to 3. I would recommend getting Three of Swords first, though. It's a series of short stories of similar readability to LotR. Writing is excellent - it's kind of a tongue-in-cheek pulp fantasy world. Had a couple of weeks where people on the subway were wondering what I was laughing at.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

The Wheel of Time. It is /the/ fantasy epic of our time. Each volume is roughly the length of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, but because Robert Jordan was much better at writing prose than JRR Tolkien, it flies by like a 200 page pulp novel. We're at 13 volumes plus a prequel, with a 14th and final volume due later this year. I can't wait, personally.

Oh, also, not high fantasy, but Steven King's The Dark Tower is also worth reading. That one is seven volumes long. The two series plus my Tolkien collection take up two entire shelves XD

 

[Solo-Wing]

I should note I am not looking to buy the books unless I can access them at a Library first. I want to know what I am getting into before throwing money at it. It is how I deal with basically all forms of entertainment.

 

[ChildishLegacy]

Garth Nix's "Keys to the Kingdom" series is awesome because it's one of the most unique fantasy universes I have ever seen created, the setting alone makes the books all amazingly fun and interesting to read.
Trudi Canavan's "The Magician's Guild" Series I remember to have enjoyed too, I can't remember it too well as it was a few years ago that I read it.

These are both coming from another big fan of the inheritance series, so we might have a common ground on those too.

I should note I am not looking to buy the books unless I can access them at a Library first. I want to know what I am getting into before throwing money at it. It is how I deal with basically all forms of entertainment.

You may have luck finding Garth Nix books in a library then because he is quite popular, not sure about Trudi Canavan though.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Garth Nix's "Keys to the Kingdom" series is awesome because it's one of the most unique fantasy universes I have ever seen created, the setting alone makes the books all amazingly fun and interesting to read.
Trudi Canavan's "The Magician's Guild" Series I remember to have enjoyed too, I can't remember it too well as it was a few years ago that I read it.

These are both coming from another big fan of the inheritance series, so we might have a common ground on those too.

I should note I am not looking to buy the books unless I can access them at a Library first. I want to know what I am getting into before throwing money at it. It is how I deal with basically all forms of entertainment.

You may have luck finding Garth Nix books in a library then because he is quite popular, not sure about Trudi Canavan though.

He's in luck with The Wheel of Time, too. I don't think I've ever heard of a library that didn't either have most or all of the series, or at least have the whole series easily accessible through inter library loans. Same thing with The Dark Tower. The first book of The Wheel of Time is called The Eye of the World, the first book of The Dark Tower is called The Gunslinger.

 

[SquidVicious]

I second the Discworld series recommendation and would suggest starting off with the Ankh-Morpork City Watch series, which begins with Guards! Guards!. Absolutely hilarious from start to finish with some of the finest characters I have ever read in a fantasy setting. The books are super cheap too, no more than $8 if you buy new, and probably closer to $2 or $3 if you check your local used bookstores.

I would also suggest The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist, starting with Magician.

If you are looking at the Song of Fire and Ice series I would say go ahead, dig in. Those books are amazing (including book 4 and 5) and I'm really happy that the mainstream audience is starting to pay attention to the fantasy genre again.

 

[GoaThief]

Aside from the obvious Wheel of Time, The Three Worlds Cycle;View from the Mirror quartet, Well of Echoes quartet, and The Song of Tears trilogy.

I've only got through the View from the Mirror but my other half was/is properly addicted to the series, and from what I've read it's certainly up there with the best.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I should note I am not looking to buy the books unless I can access them at a Library first. I want to know what I am getting into before throwing money at it. It is how I deal with basically all forms of entertainment.

You can get some Fritz Leiber stories free online, some of which are in Three of Swords. I recommend starting with The Circle Curse and The Jewels in the Forest, which should give you a pretty good idea of what the series is like.

 

[lokisarrow]

This book is not a part of a fantasy series but it is a hell of an urban fantasy novel that will keep you busy for a night or two while you find your next great fantasy trilogy. BUCKYBALL by Fabien Roy. An ebook is available at http://lokisarrow.wordpress.com/

enjoy the ride.

 

[mParadox]

A Song of Ice and Fire? Hell yeah I recommend it, I just finished the 3rd book(last 20 pages left, shaddup). And it's amazing. Totally worth it and a brilliant read. Thankfully, the cast is not that large and it only gets smaller. ;D

 

[Shadowsetzer]

Look for the 'Codex Alera' books by Jim Butcher - great characters and writing in a setting that throws a Roman Legion, werewolves, psychic yetis, barbarians, and pokemon together.... and it WORKS.

 

[WolfThomas]

Song of Ice and Fire is certainly quite good. The Wheel of Time is huge and epic. Realm of the Elderlings (Starts with Assassin's Apprentice - The Farseer Trilogy) fluctuates in quality but is fantastic at it's best (whenever Fitzchilavry is the main character).

Also Brandon Sanderson's books are pretty good. Warbreaker is a fun read, short and interesting with lots of subversion and inversion of standard character roles. Just started the Stormlight series and it's pretty good.

 

[cerebus23]

Dune the stuff by Frank Herbert.

 

[Cheery Lunatic]

The Kingkiller Trilogy is fantabulous.

Check it out.

And yeah, A Song of Ice and Fire is great. It takes a while to get into just because GRRM keeps introducing new POVs.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I would also suggest The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist, starting with Magician.

This post scared me because it made me think I had grabbed the wrong book at a thrift shop a while back, because my copy of the first book (which I haven't read yet) is entitled Magician: Apprentice. Anyway, I looked it up, and it turns out the full novel is called Magician, but in the US it's printed as two volumes, Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. In the UK, it's apparently still sold in the original one volume format.

 

[theLadyBugg]

Not sure how library-accessible it is, but Gail Z. Martin's Chronicles of the Necromancer series is a pretty solid four part epic. The follow up Fallen Kings Cycle got a little ridiculous, but the universe was worth sticking with.

 

[Grumpy Ginger]

Look for the 'Codex Alera' books by Jim Butcher - great characters and writing in a setting that throws a Roman Legion, werewolves, psychic yetis, barbarians, and pokemon together.... and it WORKS.

Also by Jim Butcher is the Dresden Files Starting with Storm Front its urban fantasy set in Chicago with a wizard whose a private eye in a world with demons, vampires, holy knights, werewolves, fae and a talking skull with an extremely dirty mind. Probably my favorite series right now

 

[Labyrinth]

If you're looking for light fantasy try Tamora Pierce. If you're looking for something slightly more heavy and a little bit sci-fi, Isobelle Carmody. For the dark Neil Giaman, for the brilliant, Terry Pratchett.