Top Fantasy Books
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I am working on the recent three, Orc King, Pirate King and Ghost King(I believe, need to google them sometime), ?I have orc King, need the other 2.Tasachan said:
1)Lord of the Rings
2)Foundation Series
3)Raymond Feist books
4)Tigana by Guy Kay?
5)Dark elf series
6)song of ice and fire by george rr martin
7)****Dune series (very very good)***
8)Anything by Frank Herbert-Dosadi Experiment is good
9)Dark Tower by Stephen K
10)Dragonlance chronicals are OK
11)Wheel of time series
12)Golden Compass series (I don't know why its considered a kids book.. theres more killing in it than most other scifi/fantasy books
2)Foundation Series
3)Raymond Feist books
4)Tigana by Guy Kay?
5)Dark elf series
6)song of ice and fire by george rr martin
7)****Dune series (very very good)***
8)Anything by Frank Herbert-Dosadi Experiment is good
9)Dark Tower by Stephen K
10)Dragonlance chronicals are OK
11)Wheel of time series
12)Golden Compass series (I don't know why its considered a kids book.. theres more killing in it than most other scifi/fantasy books
Pretty much any series by Weis and Hickman is a good choice. I'm partial to Dragonlance, personally.Pimppeter2 said:
i like the sword of truth series by terry goodkind, though the quality falls off near the end, but the first few books were amazing.
Yet another Weis/Hickman suggestion would be the Death Gate Cycle. Four (or more if you count the Nexus and the Labyrinth, etc.) unique worlds, good characterization, and nice pace to the writing. All in all very good. There's 7 books in the series. I've read 3.Nigh Invulnerable said:
Either Dune or some of Raymond E Fiests Books, start with Magician, best book i have ever read and ive read quite a few.
Terry Pratchetts Discworld series are great reads and will have you in stitches.
Same with Good Omens.
If you want something more serious read The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It's a great book with an interesting take on magic.
Same with Good Omens.
If you want something more serious read The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It's a great book with an interesting take on magic.
While he is no longer with us, I suggest David Gemmell. He was one of the world's best in heroic fiction. While his plots were fairly basic, and many of his peers called him "the thirty word author" (he did not use alot of elaborate language) he wrote incredibly intriguing and powerful characters.
He is most famous for his Drenai Series.
(In Chronological order, not publishing order)
Waylander
Waylander 2 (UK title, in America it was called 'In the Realm of the Wolf')
Hero in the Shadows (A Waylander novel, could be considered a trilogy with the previous 2)
Druss the Legend
Legend of the Deathwalker (A Druss the Legend Novel)
White Wolff (A Skilgannon novel, but featuring Druss)
Legend (His first novel, a Druss the Legend Adventure)
King Beyond the Gate (stand-alone)
Quest For Lost Heroes (Stand-alone)
Winter Warriors (Stand-alone, but connected to Hero in the Shadows)
The Swords of Night and Day (A Skilgannon novel)
I might have missed a few.
He also wrote a fantastic four book series called the Rigante Saga.
Sword in the Storm
Midnight Falcon
Ravenheart (this is probably the only book I have ever shed a tear in)
Stormrider.
He has several other standalone and smaller series. Right before his death he wrote a retelling of Troy which encompassed a Trilogy (he actually died halfway through the final one, his wife finished it). Good books, an interesting take on the old Legend.
Lord of the Silver Bow
Shield of Thunder
Fall of Troy
I do agree on the George RR Martin suggestions, and have been meaning to pick up the Black Company series.
As for RA Salvatore's Drizzt series... he has come along way as an author (dude's got some cajones for writing Chewbacca's death) but I strongly dislike the early Dark Elves books... Drizzt was far to much of a Gary Stu. He was not even supposed to be the main character of the series, heck he did not even want to use Drizzt, his original treatment had a character another author wrote and killed.
He is most famous for his Drenai Series.
(In Chronological order, not publishing order)
Waylander
Waylander 2 (UK title, in America it was called 'In the Realm of the Wolf')
Hero in the Shadows (A Waylander novel, could be considered a trilogy with the previous 2)
Druss the Legend
Legend of the Deathwalker (A Druss the Legend Novel)
White Wolff (A Skilgannon novel, but featuring Druss)
Legend (His first novel, a Druss the Legend Adventure)
King Beyond the Gate (stand-alone)
Quest For Lost Heroes (Stand-alone)
Winter Warriors (Stand-alone, but connected to Hero in the Shadows)
The Swords of Night and Day (A Skilgannon novel)
I might have missed a few.
He also wrote a fantastic four book series called the Rigante Saga.
Sword in the Storm
Midnight Falcon
Ravenheart (this is probably the only book I have ever shed a tear in)
Stormrider.
He has several other standalone and smaller series. Right before his death he wrote a retelling of Troy which encompassed a Trilogy (he actually died halfway through the final one, his wife finished it). Good books, an interesting take on the old Legend.
Lord of the Silver Bow
Shield of Thunder
Fall of Troy
I do agree on the George RR Martin suggestions, and have been meaning to pick up the Black Company series.
As for RA Salvatore's Drizzt series... he has come along way as an author (dude's got some cajones for writing Chewbacca's death) but I strongly dislike the early Dark Elves books... Drizzt was far to much of a Gary Stu. He was not even supposed to be the main character of the series, heck he did not even want to use Drizzt, his original treatment had a character another author wrote and killed.
Just to prove my geek credentials; I have read most of the series mentioned so far. O I will post on a couple of them now and, perhaps if I have time, post on some more. I also realize a lot of you may disagree with what I am about to say but I do this to help the OP make informed choices.
Lets start with: Raymond E Feist
Okay so I would say you should read the first three 1) Magician (sometimes split into Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master) 2) Silverthorn and 3) A Darkness at Sethanon - they are fine Epic fantasy. If you like them read the next lot (Prince of the Blood, The King's Buccaneer) because its more of the same but as standalone novels.
After this it gets tricky. The Serpentwar Saga (in four books) starts off fine with Shadow of a Dark Queen - nothing wrong with the book and a fine setup for what is to follow. The Rise of a Merchant Prince is excellent and goes on a quite a different tack to most fantasy novels. The problem is that the next two are terrible and don't do the first two any justice. He introduced some elements to the story which he didn't know how to handle right and couldn't really finish in a satisfactory way. I like triumph, tragedy or a mix of the two but not the heap of lukewarm banality the final book gave as a conclusion. Feel free to read them but don't expect to like them.
The next series he does are better than those two but feel like he's just phoning it in. New characters emerge but they are basically rehashing old characters (who are now dead or dying) over and over again. They are fine for what they are but only bother if you have nothing else to read.
He also wrote two books based on computer games set in his world: Krondor the Betrayal and Krondor the Assassins. They are decidedly average (and I am big fan of Betrayal at Krondor which the first book is based on) so only read them if you really need to.
Next I'll handle: Robert Jordan.
My advice here is simple. Read the first three in the Wheel of Time and then stop and pretend it ended there. Easy, done.
If you want me to elaborate further I will. The next three books are fine and fun reads but by reading them you are forced to keep going if you want to reach the end of the story (the third book ends in such a way that you could stop and be mostly satisfied). Book 7 onwards begins a sharp decline into tedium. The amount of interesting and exciting events in books 7 through to 10 could take up one book as he started focusing on too many dull characters. Also: it is about this point that you realize he only has one female character type that all the women seem to fit into with slight variances. Red-head, Rich-girl, Brunette, Short-hair and Old-woman describe some of the main ones - all are controlling, bitchy and can't admit their mistakes (except one, who is different by being mega-bitchy). It honestly makes you wonder about his unresolved Mother issues although, to be fair, they could all be based on his wife.
Anyway that's my view on two of the authors and their works. I may check back and discuss some of the others to help you decide.
Lets start with: Raymond E Feist
Okay so I would say you should read the first three 1) Magician (sometimes split into Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master) 2) Silverthorn and 3) A Darkness at Sethanon - they are fine Epic fantasy. If you like them read the next lot (Prince of the Blood, The King's Buccaneer) because its more of the same but as standalone novels.
After this it gets tricky. The Serpentwar Saga (in four books) starts off fine with Shadow of a Dark Queen - nothing wrong with the book and a fine setup for what is to follow. The Rise of a Merchant Prince is excellent and goes on a quite a different tack to most fantasy novels. The problem is that the next two are terrible and don't do the first two any justice. He introduced some elements to the story which he didn't know how to handle right and couldn't really finish in a satisfactory way. I like triumph, tragedy or a mix of the two but not the heap of lukewarm banality the final book gave as a conclusion. Feel free to read them but don't expect to like them.
The next series he does are better than those two but feel like he's just phoning it in. New characters emerge but they are basically rehashing old characters (who are now dead or dying) over and over again. They are fine for what they are but only bother if you have nothing else to read.
He also wrote two books based on computer games set in his world: Krondor the Betrayal and Krondor the Assassins. They are decidedly average (and I am big fan of Betrayal at Krondor which the first book is based on) so only read them if you really need to.
Next I'll handle: Robert Jordan.
My advice here is simple. Read the first three in the Wheel of Time and then stop and pretend it ended there. Easy, done.
If you want me to elaborate further I will. The next three books are fine and fun reads but by reading them you are forced to keep going if you want to reach the end of the story (the third book ends in such a way that you could stop and be mostly satisfied). Book 7 onwards begins a sharp decline into tedium. The amount of interesting and exciting events in books 7 through to 10 could take up one book as he started focusing on too many dull characters. Also: it is about this point that you realize he only has one female character type that all the women seem to fit into with slight variances. Red-head, Rich-girl, Brunette, Short-hair and Old-woman describe some of the main ones - all are controlling, bitchy and can't admit their mistakes (except one, who is different by being mega-bitchy). It honestly makes you wonder about his unresolved Mother issues although, to be fair, they could all be based on his wife.
Anyway that's my view on two of the authors and their works. I may check back and discuss some of the others to help you decide.
Any of the terry Pratchett books: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett
Personaly i like the Watch ones (Thud!, Feet of Clay, Guards! Guards! and men at arms( and Going Postal
Really i have not done these books justice, they are increadible well written and funny.
There is something in these novels for everyone.
Personaly i like the Watch ones (Thud!, Feet of Clay, Guards! Guards! and men at arms( and Going Postal
Really i have not done these books justice, they are increadible well written and funny.
There is something in these novels for everyone.
Great Call on the Night Angel. Loved that series: my favourite series are:axle 19 said:
1. Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (being finished by Brandon Sanderson)
2. Belgariad by David Eddings there are 2 series - read both
3. The Farseer and the Tawny Man Trilogies by Robin Hobb - Amazing First person fantasy
4. any and All of the RA Salvatore Drizzt books - nothing need be said. It's Drizzt!
5. Pratchett for Laughs start with colour of magic and Rincewind
6. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (nothing in that can disturb you if you enjoyed the Night Angel Trilogy) - and a very good book too
7. Song of Ice and Fire series - not read much of this but it's a must
hell there is loads out there . have fun!
