Fantasy/Sci Fi recommendations?

dr gonzo

I must say im quite partial to both of these genres but i dont read them very often so lately ive been think that i might pick one up again as i loved books like Dune, LOTR etc. The problem however is i dont really know where to begin, these are huge genres.

Does anyone have any books or series that might be worth looking into?

toomevara

Have you read Ian M Banks 'Culture' novels? Brilliant . Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn trilogy, great space opera.

lemon_sherbert

Some of my favourite fantasy books are;

The Assassin trilogy - Robin Hobb
The Mistborn trilogy - Brandon Sanderson
The Wheel of Time series - Robert Jordan (though admittedly, this is very long, and some people have complained about the later books, but I still love them)

Neil Gaiman has also written some great modern fantasy, particularly American Gods

sxt

Some excellent Fantasy series here.

Song of fire and ice - George Martin

The Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson

The Prince of Nothing - R. Scott Bakker

Green Hornet

"The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" are excellent. Very dark and not very uplifting but a fantastic read.

I think they are like "The Lord of The Rings" for adults. Much darker and very broody.

Poly

toomevara wrote: »

Have you read Ian M Banks 'Culture' novels? Brilliant . Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn trilogy, great space opera.

+1 on the "Culture" books, "Consider Phelbus" was mind blowing.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

ash - a secret history - mary gentle

fansmeggingtastic

dr gonzo

I was actually given Consider Phlebas as a gift, is that the first one in the series?

Also ive read most of Gaimans stuff including American Gods which is great.

Rockshamrover

The Foundation series of books by Asimov.

The Riverworld series by Philip Jose Farmer.

Amtrak wars by Patrick Tilley.

+ 1 on the Thomas Covenant books.

wintear

For a lighter version of Sci Fi you could try Deathstalker by Simon R green. Proper pulp, easy to read sci fi/ fantasy. For a more highbrow sci fi read Dan Simmons Hyperion is really good.

They are both part of larger arcs of books. Both enjoyable but fairly different from each other.

Caboose

Dragonlance Chronicles by Weis & Hickman. If you like that trilogy then try the Legends trilogy by same authors.

Always enjoyed David Eddings Belgarion. The Mallorean is very similar/identical. Sparhawk series the same.

The Magician series from Raymond Feist.

For very light humour try Terry Pratchett's Discworld. These are like marmite - you hate them or love them.

Pygmalion

Best book series I've ever read (although obviously that's subjective) has got to be the Nightwatch series (by Sergei Lukyanenko).
It's Fantasy, but modern fantasy (set in modern day Russia, perhaps not what you're looking for), I rarely read (I just don't seem to have the attention span), but I couldn't put this series down.

Only other fantasy series I've read and liked was the Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan, but I'm not sure if I liked it enough to really recommend it above anything else, parts of it were hit-and-miss.

Rockshamrover

Pygmalion wrote: »

Best book series I've ever read (although obviously that's subjective) has got to be the Nightwatch series (by Sergei Lukyanenko).
It's Fantasy, but modern fantasy (set in modern day Russia, perhaps not what you're looking for), I rarely read (I just don't seem to have the attention span), but I couldn't put this series down.

Only other fantasy series I've read and liked was the Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan, but I'm not sure if I liked it enough to really recommend it above anything else, parts of it were hit-and-miss.

Was made into a fantastic film (in Russian) This film is brilliant in it's own right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYF5EhoIsA8

dr gonzo

Great recommendations, ive heard a lot about the wheel of time so i might give that a go.

Tried to read The Colour of Magic but it didnt grab me at all, although i have heard Pratchett fans saying its not the best one to start with, is that true?

Is Stephen King's The Gunslinger any good? I know people who swear by it but im not a fan of Kings so im a bit wary of it.

Sephiroth_dude

Neil gaimen-neverwhere (cant recommend this enough)
Neil gaimen-american gods
Jim butcher-the dresden files
David and Leigh Eddings-The Redemption of Althalus

Pushtrak

I can't speak to its quality, but I have been strongly recommended the Hyperion novels.

LenaClaire

David Weber does some good military Sci Fi and he also has some more fantasy novels (Honor Harrington series and the War Gods series).

Anne McCaffrey also has both Sci Fi and fantasy novels that are really good.

BopNiblets

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson for some Earth-based techno action sci-fi.

Codofwar

Trudi Canaven's Black Magician trilogy is a very good read, I would definitly recommend it.

Moreso though is Raymond E. Feist's magician series. I got the recommendation of him from here at the start of janruary last year and have read every book he has done. you dont have to read them all and can just leave it after the first trillogy. I cant recommend it highly enough though.

Also as has been mentioned here already is Robin Hobb's Assasain trilogy.

Another series I read if you can call it that, just two books is by karen Millen/miller cant remember which surname, Her Innocent mage books are very good also.

lordgoat

Feist's epic saga is a great read. Start with Magician and move on.
Neil Gaiman is also immense.

And i recently read a triology by brent weeks. Can't think of the name of them but by far the best new series out there. i also love George RR Martin's book but i'll wait til he's finished it to read any more.

I'd avoid Robert Jordan great start to the wheel of time but it descended into dross halfway through

Monkeybonkers

Gonzo, I would second what lordgoat says and give the Wheel of Time series a miss. I'm only on the fifth book and already I'm sorry that I ever started it.

Although I've only read the first one in the series, George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire seems pretty good too.

I've read a lot of Ian M. Banks' stuff. It's good too but is a lot more SF than the others that I've already mentioned. I tend to prefer the fantasy stuff but there's no doubt that Banks is a brilliant author. I thought that 'Use of Weapons' was excellent and to a lesser extent 'The Player of Games'. I wasn't quite as impressed with others. If you're going to try one I'd recommend starting with 'Use of Weapons'.

dr gonzo

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Neil gaimen-neverwhere (cant recommend this enough)
Neil gaimen-american gods

Read both and completely agree, i loved Neverwhere.

Thats a no to the wheel of time so, if im going to be taking on some weighty tomes i'd at least like to know that they're well thought of(Im a bit of a sheep that way).

Thats also two recommendations for Robin Hobb's assassin trilogy so thats top of the list now.

lemon_sherbert

dr gonzo wrote: »

Read both and completely agree, i loved Neverwhere.

Thats a no to the wheel of time so, if im going to be taking on some weighty tomes i'd at least like to know that they're well thought of(Im a bit of a sheep that way).

Thats also two recommendations for Robin Hobb's assassin trilogy so thats top of the list now.

I wouldn't write off Wheel of Time completely, while I'll agree that I didn't love books 9-11, book 12 was fantastic (having been taken up by Brandon Sanderson since Jordan died) and the early books are brilliant. Definitely read hobb's trilogy first (and if you find you like it, she has written two more trilogies set in the same universe, with another one on the way ) but I'd keep Jordan in mind, I'm pretty sure my local library has them, so you might borrow them and see what you think, or pick up them up cheap second hand. I don't mean to be so pushy, but they've been some of my favourite books, and would hate to see you miss out

genericguy

dr gonzo wrote: »

Is Stephen King's The Gunslinger any good? I know people who swear by it but im not a fan of Kings so im a bit wary of it.

i've read all of these, and while a couple of them are fantastic, i found a couple of them were utter tripe, particularly the later ones. the gunslinger series would have been much better if there'd been no ending imo.

IrishPhoenix

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch is a brilliant fantasy. Couldn't rate it highly enough.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files are fantastic urban fantasy.

Sephiroth_dude

IrishPhoenix wrote: »

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files are fantastic urban fantasy.

Love those books,reading death masks currently.

Sconsey

Pushtrak wrote: »

I can't speak to its quality, but I have been strongly recommended the Hyperion novels.

+1 for Hyperion, and the follow up book Fall of Hyperion are both great sci-fi. Am reading another Dan Symmons called Illium at the moment, it's interesting.

I read one called Revelation Space a while ago (can't remember the authors name), maybe a little bit heavy at times but a great read if you like sci-fi, it seemed to go under the radar a bit in the media.

There's a sci-fi classic called Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, I read it years ago, it's a great read, especially for younger readers.

Swampy

For Fantasy start with "Magician" by Raymond E. Feist.

All of his series of books are excellent. Magacian is probablt my favourite fantasy book of all time.

Four-Percent

Alastair Reynolds - Chasm City. One of the best books I've ever read.

Sephiroth_dude

I enjoyed the fablehaven books by brandon mull too.

RepublicanEagle

I recommend (highly)that anyone with any interest whatsoever in the fantasy genre,to read the writer;Raymond E Feist's books.Starting off with "The Riftwar Saga",bascially the first series of books he wrote beginning with "The Magician".His books literally knock all others out of the water,including Tolkien.Although "The Wheel of Time" would be a good competitor imho.