Recommend me some fantasy novels!

[QuickDEMOL1SHER]

The Icewind Dale trilogy as well as the other Drizzt books.

The are without a doubt, my favorite fantasy series, even more so than LOTR. And yes, I just said that. I know I will get a lot of arguments for this, but the thing I never liked about LOTR is that there is never any classic magic. You get magic here and there, but never fireballs and the like.

But anyway, get the Icewind Dale trilogy. You will enjoy it.

EDIT: Damn ninjas.

 

[InvisibleSeal]

Night Angel Trillogy.

(first book; Assassins Aprentice)

Um, if you are talking about the Brent Weeks series The Night Angel Trilogy, the first one is called "The Way of Shadows"

 

[silentsentinel]

Read you some Terry Pratchett, sir.

 

[Z(ombie)fan]

I wouldn't recommend them that strongly, probably because I'm a outside of their a
Another book that I suggest is Nothern Lights (a.k.a. Golden Compass), the first book on it's Dark Materials trilogy. The other books aren't that good. Anyway, it isn't like the film, if you saw it, it has more depth to it, and if you haven't seen the film, good for you.

I don't know, The Subtle Knife had its moments. Pullman didn't fully lose it until The Amber Spyglass, by which point the actual story had been shoved to one-side to make room for the soapboxing against all things C.S. Lewis (and in so doing managed to duplicated everything there is to dislike about Lewis' works). Speaking of which...

[sub] fucking narnia films, skipping 1 & 3 [/sub]

Well, The Magician's Nephew is in the running for worst book in the series (it's either the worst, or second to The Last Battle) plus Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was written first. The Horse and His Boy is better, but it has essentially nothing to do with the rest of the series so it's not like they're going to create any continuity problems by skipping it (and they are working on a budget).

really? magicians nephew was my favourite!

 

[Serioli]

The Farseer trilogy. Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassin's Quest. Quite enjoyed that one.

Yeah, the Farseer Trilogy is pretty good. Shame the sequel trilogy doesn't really live-up to them (I gave-up on it on the second book, after it became obvious the Fritz had somehow failed to develop in any significant way at all in the 15-or-so years since the end of Farseer). Still wasn't as agonisingly unenjoyable as the Soldier Son but the less said about that the better.

It does go on to explain that mind you,perhaps not enough justification to read them if you're having a hard time but it does get resolved.

Spoiler

Interacting with dragons the way he did took part of his personality,his 'drive' or whatever you call it. Thus he stagnated for 15 years, basically just found a shack, fixed it up enough to live in day to day and just meandered through life. He later gets his full personality restored, (I can't remember if by a dragon or another Skill user as I have lent the books...

 

[confessor]

Raymond E. Feist - the first book is Magician. It's an incredibly far reaching storyline that extends through several different collections and so far there's probably a good 20-30 books out. And there's only two that were a bit lame.

Trudi Canavan - Either the Black Magician series of the Age of Five series, both are really well done, but the Age of Five is probably the one you want to start on.

Garth Nix - The Old Kingdom Trilogy of course, and Shade's Children - that book was awesome.
Tales of the Old Kingdom and that other series of his...meeh, just kind of read if you're on crack or something.

 

[Double A]

George R. R. Martin - A Song of Fire and Ice Serise

R. A Salvatore - The Drizzt Do'Urden books (Icewind Dale Trilogy, The Dark Elf Trilogy, etc.)

I can, in good conscience, recommend both these series (and all the spinnoffs from Drizzt), and also recommend you start reading them now if you want to be finished by next year.

 

[flying_whimsy]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly; it's the best book I've read in the last two years. He also has a short story collection called Nocturne and a newer novel called The Gates. I'm still really amused that he's actually a thriller/crime drama writer (note: the titles I've listed are straight up fantasy).

I think I'll bookmark this thread so I have something to reference when I'm looking for something new to read after I hit up Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

 

[nin_ninja]

Gotta love the Wheel of Time series.

True, dat.

Night Angel Trillogy.

(first book; Assassins Aprentice)

Um, if you are talking about the Brent Weeks series The Night Angel Trilogy, the first one is called "The Way of Shadows"

Another good series.

 

[CJ1145]

Go read yo self some Redwall, fool!

Brian Jacques FTW!

 

[maninahat]

The Gomenghast Trilogy by Mervin Peake (Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus alone). Yes, it's about as far removed from 'conventional fantasy' as you can get; yes, Peake's writing style can be a little heavy-going, but still I would definitely put this on a must-read list. There's not any high adventure or world-saving involved, but it's an involving drama with some extremely well-realised characters and a fair dash of dark humour.
It may not have had the level of influence as it's contemporary, Lord of the Rings, but still it's definitely a work that anyone interested in the genre should read.

It's pretty much the only fantasy series I've liked. Are there any other like it?

 

[maninahat]

Well, The Magician's Nephew is in the running for worst book in the series (it's either the worst, or second to The Last Battle)

Blasphemy! The Magician's Nephew was my favourite of the series. It was that much more creepier and atmospheric. Plus the white Witch actually got a bit of much needed backstory.

 

[Shanannara]

I think she was overshadowed by the awesomeness that was Kylar.... seriously though, I didn't hate her, she irritated me alot of the time - she seemed too judgemental and a little one-dimensional in her beliefs. And actually, yes, she was overshadowed by how much I adored most of the other characters.

Her judgemental attitude does get addressed in the... second book I think it was. No, probably third. When she eventually realised why Kylar does what he does. She's got absolutely nothing on Vi, who is by far and away my favourite character in the series. The proverbial tart with a heart.

 

[Jimmydanger]

My favorite series' of all time The Belgariad and the Mallorian by David Eddings. Even my brother who hates reading loved them. Both series have 5 books and they center around the same characters. Last one was written in 1991 so you should be able to get them dirt cheap too.

 

[firemark]

I greatly enjoyed most of the works of Orson Scott Card, who as most people on this thread will point out is known for his Sci-Fi. But I loved his collection of short stories, "Maps in the Mirror" which had some fantasy in it. In addition to this I will agree with those who ninja'd me and say that the Wheel of Time series is entertaining, although I was rather uninspired at about the fifth book in the series.

 

[Antjenks]

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett go without saying.
Definitely, definitely, definitely the Wolfblade series by Jennifer Fallon. She is something of a genius when it comes to building tension and dramatic irony. I can't reccommend her highly enough.

I was gonna suggest checking out Jennifer Fallon She has quite a few books out and I loved every one I read.

I've only read the Wolfblade ones, none of my local bookshops carry any of the others. The level of characterization makes it really difficult to re-read. Particularly the Makhas, Leila, Starros situation and Eleazar bit.

I read the original Hytryun chronicles, the first two of the wolfblade trilogy and the Second Son trilogy. But to be honest, it's been so long most of it is a mess in my head. Maybe it's time to dig them back up and read them again.

 

[Becoming Insane]

I heard the Eragon books were awesome and the movie was a huuuuge disappointment after reading them.

I liked the books, can't wait for the 4th one to arrive. Haven't watched the film, I have bit of a morbid curiosity for it though, I kinda want to see it just to see how bad it is.

It's really bad. Almost all of the major plot points are intact, but there are so many little things wrong with it that it doesn't matter.

Case in point: Saphira flies into the sky before Eragon has named her, turns into an adult in the space of a minute, then lands next to Eragon, saying "I am Saphira." Grr.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

I don't know if you have yet since you mentioned Lord of the Rings, but I would suggest the Hobbit. Great book and I'm reading it myself right now. Other then that, I got nothing. I don't delve too deep into the Fantasy Genre.

 

[quantum mechanic]

Apart from what has already been mentioned (which I either haven't read or recommend wholeheartedly except for the Eragon books, which are "meh"):

"Off Armageddon Reef" by David Weber combines sci-fi and fantasy in an interesting way.
"The Dark is Rising" Sequence is pretty good, especially if you like Welsh/Celtic mythology.

And he doesn't strictly speaking write fantasy, but Neal Stephenson's novels are worth a look if you like long, complex books (I recommend "Snow Crash" and the Baroque Cycle in particular).

 

[SulfuricDonut]

R. A Salvatore - The Drizzt Do'Urden books (Icewind Dale Trilogy, The Dark Elf Trilogy, etc.)

Yep, that is my favorite series of books.
If you decide to read them then it'll be quite awhile before you need to look for any new ones.

Also from Wizards of the Coast, you could try the Dragonlance Chronicles, as they too are very well written.