New To Fantasy

Winty

Hi

I am a new devotee to Fantasy writing. I started with Philip Pullman's "Dark Material" and instantaneously fell in love. My next love affair is Joe Abercrombie but I have finish the trilogy.

So my question is what next?

I dont want anything heavy something like the dark materials that amature like I can understand.

Any ideas

in-like-Flynn

Magician
by Raymond E Feist...a must read for the new fantasy reader!!

jimmyendless

Raymond E Feist has loads of series and they are all worth a read and also David Gemmell books are fantastic.

Eile

I love Philip Pullman and Joe Abercrombie too so I think I can guess where you're coming from fantasy-wise. More 'mainstream' fantasy I suppose!
I'd recommend Trudi Canavan - especially her Black Magician Trilogy.
Also Peter V Brett's The Painted Man - it's the first of a trilogy and the next one is due this week.
I also recently loved Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind.
Hope those are a few fairly recent releases that you'll like.

Shryke

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin.
All of Robin Hobbs stuff. You could start with The Farseer trilogy. I only read it recently myself. Thought it was brilliant.
Try The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch too. A great fun read.

Dades

George RR Martin's ASOIAF is far more "grown up" fantasy series to Feist's Magician stuff - and far superior imo (though the latter is a good read too).

It's not heavy fantasy at all - as there is very little "magic" involved. Just great characters in a kind of medieval world.

Morgase

Another shout for A Song of Ice and Fire from me, I've just started the third book and loving it.

sxt

Loved the "song of Ice and Fire" and the "book of the new sun" series

How about stand alone fantasy novels- Are there any other good one book fantasy novels?

Trojan

I'm not mad about Ice & Fire at all, just want to put a counter opinion out there. I'd second Feist's "Magician" or some David Gemmell is nice and easy too.

wintear

A good light fantasy read is David Eddings the Belgeriad. A series of 5 books beginning with Pawn of Prophecy.

He has a number of other series but I think that one is the best and after the Hobbit that is what got me into Fantasy.

Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books starting with Storm Front are also a good light read. He is a Magician and a detective in modern day Chicago.

lemon_sherbert

For modern fantasy The Assassin series by Robin Hobb is excellent, I'd also recommend anything by Brandon Sanderson.

NothingMan

Just finishing the last few Raymond Feist books myself and they are really good. David Gemmell is by far the most enjoyable and possibly easy reads of a lot of fantasy and definitely my favourite. I've read every book twice.

Been highly recommended George RR Martin, and my sis (who only ever reads "Daddy no" type books) even loved the first one, so they must be an easy enough read and I look forward to starting them.

Katherine Kerr is another good writer, although I was lent them out of sequence and never finished them.

Most people would have read The Wheel of Time, and as enjoyable as the first 6 books are, it becomes kind of hard work at about book 7 and as it's as ongoing story so you can't just stop, so don't get into that unless you're in for the long haul.

Either way, fantasy is a better genre than any book you'll ever see in the fiction section in any book shop and you'll never go back. Welcome to Nerdvana!

Evac105

Kind of stunned no one mentioned the wonderful Malazan Books of the Fallen by Steven Eriksson and Ian C. Essemont. Amazing series and even more impressed by the fact the plotline is sustained across 75 years and two co-operating authors. The fact that it's substantially based on the authors 5-6 year long role-playing campaign brings a happy little ping to my heart too I must admit

Shryke

Evac105 wrote: »

Kind of stunned no one mentioned the wonderful Malazan Books of the Fallen by Steven Eriksson and Ian C. Essemont. Amazing series and even more impressed by the fact the plotline is sustained across 75 years and two co-operating authors. The fact that it's substantially based on the authors 5-6 year long role-playing campaign brings a happy little ping to my heart too I must admit

Well the OP didn't want anything too heavy but I'd recommend the Malazan series otherwise.

Silvio.Dante

I'm on Book 2 of the Belgariad and absolutely love it. Its so easy to read yet very wel written at the same time. I just learned of Edding's death a few days ago...:(

me-skywalker

Would it be evil to suggest Pratchett considering the grammer of the OP?

Winty

me-skywalker wrote: »

Would it be evil to suggest Pratchett considering the grammer of the OP?

Never Evil, I dont get the Prachett joke (yet) but my grammer is embarrassingly bad.

Again thanks to all for some great suggestions.

Skerries

if you are just starting and don't want anything heavy to start with then must reads are
The Belgariad - David Eddings
anything by David Gemmell
The Sword of Shannara trilogy - Terry Brooks
Orks - Stan Nicholls
The Dark Elf Trilogy - R.A.Salvatore
and other authors to watch out for are Raymond E.Feist, and Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman books
as someone else said The Wheel of Time is a very big read and i wouldn't recommend Malazan starting off

me-skywalker

Winty wrote: »

Never Evil, I dont get the Prachett joke (yet) but my grammer is embarrassingly bad.

Again thanks to all for some great suggestions.

Ah was just joking. Is english your first language? If not then Prachett might be a bit of a difficult read but sure only one way to find out and try one. Ild recommend Nightwatch or Going Postal as starters.

James G

I also suggest The Wheel of Time, by 'Robert Jordan'. Fantastic series (so far, of course).

Somnus

I'll throw in another backing for Robin Hobb.

Easily my favourite writer.

Got the first book of the Farseer Trilogy as a present. From reading the back I didn't think it was going to be great but wow was I wrong.

Her books are mind blowingly fantastic (in my opinion of course).

Start with Assassins Apprentice if you are gonna give her stuff a go. But here's a warning, once you start you will end up reading all 10 books set in that world :P

meditraitor

Winty wrote: »

Hi

I am a new devotee to Fantasy writing. I started with Philip Pullman's "Dark Material" and instantaneously fell in love. My next love affair is Joe Abercrombie but I have finish the trilogy.

So my question is what next?

I dont want anything heavy something like the dark materials that amature like I can understand.

Any ideas

The ones I remember enjoying the most are

The Magician- Feist
Belgarath the Sorcerer - Eddings (polgara was a good foil to that book)
The Dark Elf series - RA Salvatore

ixoy

If you're looking for something relatively accessible then:

* Another recommendation for Robin Hobb. She's a very good writer and focuses on a character level. It means there's not overwhelming amounts of plots, magic, etc.

* Also again for Raymond E. Feist's "Magician". If you like that, there's about 25 sequels of varying quality.

* Patrick Rothfuss' "The Name of the Wind" can also be recommened

* Scott Lynch's "The Lies of Locke Lamora" is superb too. It's sort of a dark fantasy version of "Ocean's 11" following a group of con-men. It's at turns humourous and frightening. It'd be quite accessible as the cast of characters is relatively small, the pacing excellent, and the plot has just the right amount of twists and turns to keep you interested.

If you're just entering the genre I would say only read the following after a while as they're on a larger scale and not as easy to jump into:

* George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" (coming as a HBO show next year)
* Steven Erikson's Malazan sequence
* R. Scott Baker's "Prince of Nothing" trilogy

Trojan

ixoy wrote: »

* Scott Lynch's "The Lies of Locke Lamora" is superb too. It's sort of a dark fantasy version of "Ocean's 11" following a group of con-men. It's at turns humourous and frightening. It'd be quite accessible as the cast of characters is relatively small, the pacing excellent, and the plot has just the right amount of twists and turns to keep you interested.

+1 on Lies of Locke Lamora, fantastic book. The sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies, is very good too (if not quite up to the high standard set by the first).

ArPharazon

I really recommend Tad William's- Memory Sorrow and Thorn series starting with The Dragonbone Chair.

Sir Ophiuchus

ArPharazon wrote: »

I really recommend Tad William's- Memory Sorrow and Thorn series starting with The Dragonbone Chair.

It's great, but maybe a bit too dark considering what the OP was looking for.

Seconding David Eddings' Belgariad (and sequels), Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora, and Raymond E. Feist's Magician.

..Brian..

Steer clear of Steven Erickson's Malazan series for now, very tough read.

I'd recommend some David Gemmel. "Legend," is the first book. Very good read and doesn't get bogged down in loads of politics/magic/races.

If you want magic and Elves etc, get Raymond Feists "Magician." One of the best fantasy books every written and the first book of a excellent series.

Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy is a very good read about assassins, not much magic and fairies and stuff but some very dark subject matter.

J.V. Jones The Book of Words, amazing trilogy with classic fantasy themes. Unlikely hero's, princesses, black magic's etc. Cheesy as it sounds, the BEST fantasy trilogy I have ever read!

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series is another amazing one but he really losses the plot about 5 or 6 books in and it becomes pretty painful.

If you want something completely different from the usual fantasy formula but set in a fantasy-ish world, Ian Irvine, Brandon Sanderson and Adrian Tchaikovsky all have a very fresh and original take on the genre and are highly recommended.

A final piece of advice, ALWAYS START WITH THE FIRST BOOK BY AN AUTHOR! Don't jump in the middle as you'll probably be lost and ruin the plots of previous books! Possibly the only exception is the Terry Pratchett books even then I prefer to read them in order!

eVeNtInE

This post has been deleted.

Daith

Trojan wrote: »

+1 on Lies of Locke Lamora, fantastic book. The sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies, is very good too (if not quite up to the high standard set by the first).

Another recommendation for The Lies of Locke Lamora. Or Perdido Street Station.

ixoy

Daith wrote: »

Or Perdido Street Station.

Miéville is one of my favourite authors (loving "Kraken" right now) but I'm not sure he's accessible. His use of language is wonderful but can also be more trying for those looking for a light read.