Recommend Fantasy "Next Reads" for Cormac

Generic Dreadhead

Ok, so i'll list what I liked and loved, and what I disliked and hated.
Hopefully someone can give me some advice.

Great:
Feist, as far as i'm concerned he's God. I'll never look at another series the way I look at the Magician series. It's the benchmark for me

Eddings though his books are a little more linear, i really like them, they cheer me up and his characters are broad enough to work and be likeable and someway believable, re-reading the Belgariad at present

Good:
Trudi Canavan I really liked her Black magician trilogy, that's all I read, I didn't blow me away and frankly i'm not 100% sold on her characters, maybe she has another good series?

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. I have to admit I only read the Magic of Recluce, but I really liked it, I liked how it was a bit different (with the woodworking etc)

OK
Pratchett I enjoy his stuff, but it doesn't really excite me in the same way it humours me.

Tolkein to be completely and totally honest, I found most of his work a bit overbearing and pompous. Too many songs, too much Tom Bombodill, too many companion books, and of course... The Silmalarion, tried 4 times, can't even get 1/2 way through :rolleyes:

Bad
Goodkind just no, god no, got as far as like book 4 in the Seeker series, couldn't take it anymore, I've heard it picks up by book 6 again, but christ, it was just so dull and lovey-dovey

George RR Martin
I think he's a VERY poor fantasy fiction writer and I found the last couple of books in his series to be incredibly dull. I don't think he can write a proper story with a start middle and end. I think he meanders and he has too many characters. He's creating this big world that I just don't really care about (Feist did it better ). I don't think he can ellict a reaction without a killing or fake killing

Sooooo, what next

Stenth

You seem to be into epic fantasy although at the same time you don't really seem to like the epic parts. Have you tried different types of fantasy books? China Miéville, Philip Pullman, John M Ford, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, to start with some random (but good) examples.

Otherwise, hm. Guy Gavriel Kay would possibly work for you.

Generic Dreadhead

Stenth wrote: »

You seem to be into epic fantasy although at the same time you don't really seem to like the epic parts

Well put :pac:

Manach

Perhaps less focused on the World building than Feist, but would you consider David Gemmell? He is more character driven, has a diverse range of fantasy timelines but all are sort of connected by a common source of magic thread. His earliest work, "Legend" is a good starting point.

jousting with chairs

I love Feist and Gemmell and found this series very good.

You can get the first book free here if you have an Amazon account and Kindle or the kindle app.


http://www.dailyfreebooks.com/free_ebooks/c/?kwfilt=Thinblade&catID=158576011&offset=0


Ps, loads of free books there and updated daily

Wabbit Ears

Re-read feist now you're a bit older, Its all nostalgia!! They aren't actually all that good, have magic systems that make no sense or have any consistency and are some bits esp the flying on dragons to other worlds/dimensions is just downright silly. Mediocre Young adult fantasy at best.

jousting with chairs

Lol, that's probably true but they were good at the time.

Jonny Blaze

If you haven't read Terry Brooks, you haven't read fantasy!

I would skip the first trilogy though personally and go straight to the Scions of Shannara books.

They are unbelievably good.

Trojan

Gotta love the diversity of preferences. I think it's one of the awesome things in this genre.

Nody

Gemmell would be a good fit as noted (start with the older novels and work your way towards more modern stuff); possibly Mistborn trilogy by Sanderson and a series I'm quite certain you'll love is the first three Paksenarrion books (it becomes more tedious after that) by Elisabeth Moon. Also if you've not read them read the two follow up Belgarion series books (Polgara and Belgarath's stories) and the Elenium and Timuli series (there's a third Belgarion book with more lore but it's more if you're really really want to learn more about the world because there's not that much new information in it) and I'd say you're done with Eddings (the latest series was quite poor imo).

Dune series is out, as are Richard Morgan, Joe Abercrombie and Scott Lynch for now (you'll most likely come back and read them all in a few years and love them but not now). As stretch books (i.e. books I'd say you'd like but not fitting your current favorites in style) I'd add Felix & Gotrek (it's based in the Warhammer world but it's not a happy every after story like Belgarion), Asimov's Foundation trilogy and "I, Robot" (minimal connections to the movie; it's a set of short stories about the three rules of robots), Ender's Game (only the first book; don't bother watching the movie because there's no real connection), Old Man's War and Starship Troopers (once again no real connection to the movie with the same name even if they use the movie pictures as cover picture).

shrapnel222

someone already mentioned guy gavriel kay, but it's well worth a read. Try Tigana, as it's just one volume. then you can read the others, especially the fionavar tapestry trilogy.

zelazny obviously with the Amber series

i've also enjoyed lyn flewelling's tamir triad trilogy.

when i was younger, i used to really enjoy Jonathan Wylie's magic systems, not sure how his books would stand up if i read them now though

Croaker

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Start of the brilliant Broken Empire trilogy, quite dark fantasy with black humour. It would be similar in tone to Game of Thrones but there is actually a beginning, middle and end. The main character Jorg though not a very nice person, is now one of my favourite fantasy characters.

Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence

Start of the Red Queen's War. Mark Lawrence's writing is getting better and better all the time. Some people will say that it is not as dark as his previous work but that is not true. Mark Lawrence has just got better at interspersing the rather dark happenings with some of the sharpest humour I have ever encountered in fantasy.

Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan

The French Revolution with Magic. General Tamas has overthrown the monarchy and it's then that his problems really start. The most interesting magic system I have encountered in some time. Powder Mages use gun powder to shoot a musket with perfect accuracy from 2 miles, explode ever bit of gun powder around them and eat gun powder to power up. There are also extremely powerful traditional mages and Gods knocking about. Brilliant series, the second installment 'The Crimson Campaign' is just out.

Conan by Robert E Howard

The original Conan stories are now all in the public domain and you can get them from Gutenberg.org. I think modern fantasy owes more to Robert E Howard than Tolkien. Though they are definitely products of their time in this case the 1930's, they are remarkably fresh and feel quite modern. There are also lots and lots of Conan books written by different authors. The best are those written by Robert Jordan, Steve Perry and Harry Turtledove.

Into the Darkness by Harry Turtledove.

World War II with dragons and wooly rhinos. Nuff said.

Thargor

Try the Malazan series, very character focused.

The Peanut

Thargor wrote: »

Try the Malazan series, very character focused.

Would second Guy Gavriel Kay. Quite a while since I read his books but they have an emotional heart that stayed with me a long time. Tigana is heartbreaking whereas Fionavar is closer to the structure of traditional fantasy epics but also with an emotional wallop.

Robin Hobb - superb writer. Fitz and the Fool will stay with you for a long, long time. Wonderful creations.

Lorraine_C

Try out Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. He just started the series in recent years and won't be finished for a number of years yet, but his style of writing is fantastic. I came across Sanderson when he finished off Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series and I'm addicted ever since. While I loved Jordan's writing, I believe Sanderson outranks him.

I also found this site a while ago when searching out new fantasy books and I found it quite good for comparing the types of fantasy you'll enjoy: bestfantasybooks.com

(I can't post the link here, but if you google this it should come up)

Thargor

Ive only read the Mistborn series but was definitely not impressed with his style, looking forward to Stormlight though based on the reviews.

Lorraine_C

Stormlight is of far better quality. I enjoyed the Mistborn series, but I couldn't put the Stormlight Archive down.

Thargor

Looking forward to it but not too much as Ill wait for it to finish, sick of strating series and not having a clue whats going on when I finally get to finish them a couple of years later...

stuboy01

Try moorcock. Elric series and his other eternal champion stuff. Be warned its pschedelic. Listen to hawkwind warrior on the edge of time when you read them lol.
would second the original Conan books, they're gems. And gemmels books. Good mindless fantasy.
a decent recent effort is Patrick rothfuss's king killer trilogy, third book being written. I like his pseudo magic/science system.

Charliebull

same question guys

3 books left in the Malazan Series and trying to figure out where to go next

top 3

1. Malazan Series
2. Wheel of Time
3. The Belgaraid

Have also read goodkinds sword of truth series

any pointers, might try that Brandon Sanderson series mentioned above, liked his final book of the WoT

Nody

Dune series if you want complexity (while Scifi it's still a good fit imo); The Apt series if you want something more straight forward and of course G.R.R. Martin if you want frustration of when the next book will come out with the fear that the author will die before finishing (like WoT).

jousting with chairs

David A Wells

7th book in the series just released.You can try the first one for free.

http://www.amazon.com/Thinblade-Sovereign-Seven-Isles-Book-ebook/dp/B005563J7A/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1412866391&sr=1-1&keywords=david+a+wells+sovereign+of+the+seven+isles

Thargor

Charliebull wrote: »

same question guys

3 books left in the Malazan Series and trying to figure out where to go next

top 3

1. Malazan Series
2. Wheel of Time
3. The Belgaraid

Have also read goodkinds sword of truth series

any pointers, might try that Brandon Sanderson series mentioned above, liked his final book of the WoT

Have you read everything mentioned on page 1? If not then get a Song of Ice and Fire. the Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss is also excellent, still waiting for book 3 though...

shrapnel222

Charliebull wrote: »

same question guys

3 books left in the Malazan Series and trying to figure out where to go next

top 3

1. Malazan Series
2. Wheel of Time
3. The Belgaraid

Have also read goodkinds sword of truth series

any pointers, might try that Brandon Sanderson series mentioned above, liked his final book of the WoT

belgariad is a great and very easy read. Sanderson and Jordan will put you to sleep, their writing is so dull and dreary. Malazan is awesome but you already know that by now.

Nody

shrapnel222 wrote: »

belgariad is a great and very easy read. Sanderson and Jordan will put you to sleep, their writing is so dull and dreary. Malazan is awesome but you already know that by now.

Well the question is really what level he weants; not much (if anything) hits Malazan complexity; WoT is the huge epic story arcs (which fail a lot but they are intended to be very epic) and Belgarion series is a great introduction to fantasy with some good jokes etc. thrown in. All are different in style and complexity how ever to to find a book matching all three is pretty much impossible.

shrapnel222

Nody wrote: »

Well the question is really what level he weants; not much (if anything) hits Malazan complexity; WoT is the huge epic story arcs (which fail a lot but they are intended to be very epic) and Belgarion series is a great introduction to fantasy with some good jokes etc. thrown in. All are different in style and complexity how ever to to find a book matching all three is pretty much impossible.

actually read his post wrong. I thought he didn't know which to pick between the 3 he mentioned.

FWIW, the Elysium series of Eddings is also very good, and sparhawk is a fantastic character. Really enjoyable read in the same vein as the Belgariad, but maybe slightly more "grown up".

Sephiroth_dude

Thargor wrote: »

the Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss is also excellent, still waiting for book 3 though...

+1 fantastic series!

keane2097

shrapnel222 wrote: »

actually read his post wrong. I thought he didn't know which to pick between the 3 he mentioned.

FWIW, the Elysium series of Eddings is also very good, and sparhawk is a fantastic character. Really enjoyable read in the same vein as the Belgariad, but maybe slightly more "grown up".

Elenium i suspect you mean, read it years ago and loved it. Must get it again actually.

shrapnel222

keane2097 wrote: »

Elenium i suspect you mean, read it years ago and loved it. Must get it again actually.

that's the one. haven't read it in years but loved it at the time.

y0ssar1an22

Sorry if this is high-jacking....

Have finished 'sword of truth' and 'wheel of time'. Looking for something similar such as:

good few books in series
farm boy turned hero
love story

Thanks

shrapnel222

y0ssar1an22 wrote: »

Sorry if this is high-jacking....

Have finished 'sword of truth' and 'wheel of time'. Looking for something similar such as:

good few books in series
farm boy turned hero
love story

Thanks

raymond feist: Magician

David Eddings: the Belgariad