Epic fantasy fiction books

[Thepigeonsarecoming]

What would you recommend? I tend to only read books which are at least a trilogy and are already finished (I hate waiting on a cliff hanger!)

Some examples I’ve enjoyed

JRR Tolkien
GRR Martin
Robin Hobbs
Tad Williams
Robert Jordan
Brandon Sanderson
Terry Brooks
Trudi Canavan

I read a lot and with lock down I’ve started re-reading books I’ve already read. Would love to discover other unknowns though

[PerspicaciaTick]

The Dragons of Pern.
Discworld.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Rivers of London.

These are all in the Fantasy section of your local library...even if they aren't exactly High Fantasy.

[DancelikeEmmaGoldman]

If it’s epic fantasy like Tolkien, rather than just series, you might try Kate Elliot, Guy Gavriel Kay, Stephen Donaldson, Cecelia Dart-Thornton, David Eddings, Joe Abercrombie, Patrick Rothfuss, Mark Lawrence, Raymond Feist, JV Jones or Julian May.

Hand on heart the only ones of these I’ve enjoyed are Patrick Rothfuss and Joe Abercrombie, but fantasy epics are not my favourite genre - I get a bit faint faced with several volumes of narrative.

[MaccaPacca81]

I seem to keep pushing Clive Barker to people at the moment as I'm re-reading a lot of his books but I strongly recommend:

Imajica
Weaveworld
The Great and Secret Show
Everville

I also highly rate Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastard series. So well written and excellent characterisation!

Seconded for Joe Abercrombie - The 1st Law Trilogy were great fun.

[homemadecommunistrussia]

The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gabriel Kay is my favourite.

[homemadecommunistrussia]

Gavriel sorry

[nocoolnamesleft]

The early Raymond Feist stuff is great. As is the trilogy he did with Jenny Wurts .

[forgetthehousework]

Ursula le Guin's 'Earthsea' trilogy.
Mary Stewart's Merlin stories.
Robin McKinley.

[BookWitch]

I was talking on the 50 Books thread about fantasy.
I used to read loads in the 1980s when I was a teenager, and was wondering about re-reading, but was worrying about whether they would have dated badly.
I loved:
David Eddings
Anne McCaffery
Raymond Feist
Guy Gavriel Kay
Julian Donaldson
JRR Tolkien

I have read about the first three GoT, quite enjoyed them but then they just started getting ridiculously complicated and the plot was going nowhere.
I read The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and The Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb and thinking they were OK but never got around to reading the others. I should try them again.

I loved this series by Katherine Kurtz called the Deryni Chronicles. I have never come across anyone else who has ever read them. I'd say it was high fantasy, set in a fantasy medieval world, where some people (the Deryni) have psychic powers but are persecuted by the church who consider their powers to be evil, so they have to keep their powers secret. I loved them back in the 1980s and 1990s and I have re-read them and I think they stand up well.
There are 5 trilogies in the series and a couple of stand alones. If anyone fancies them, I'd start with Deryni Rising, which was the first one published, but not the first chronologically.

[Sadik]

It's a standalone rather than a trilogy, but Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky is suitably epic and incredibly involving.

[PetraDelphiki]

Love the deryni books! Such clever world building. Marginally annoying that the way the powers work seems a little inconsistent between books but otherwise fab!

Also have to recommend the Julian May (read saga of the exiles before you read intervention/galactic milieu trilogy), and Jonny wurts wars of light and shadow! She wins my prize for absolute best author engagement with fans - regular updates, chats and sneak peaks

[chunkyrun]

The painted man series! Converted me to fantasy

[QuentinWinters]

Omg you need Robin Hobb! Seriously

[QuentinWinters]

Yes, and the painted man

[Waiting1987]

Terry Goodkind
Jeff Wheeler
James Maxwell

[walkingchuckydoll]

Terry Goodkind

[BookWitch]

@PetraDelphiki

I'm so glad to "meet" someone else who has read them. I think my favourite ones are The Bishop's Heir and King Javan's Year

[Thepigeonsarecoming]

I’ve read the Blade Itself, and the Riftwar series (that one took a while!!!). Thanks for the other suggestions, will look at them 😃

[PetraDelphiki]

Yes king Javan’s year is one of my favourite s too! Have you read any of her Scottish Templar ones?

Can’t support the recommendations for terry goodkind...loves the first book until the last line when he decided to make it part 1 of god knows how many, and the rest just went downhill :-(

[homemadecommunistrussia]

I'm getting a weird memory of a book I read about 30 years ago. With a silver castle suffering from the 'tarnish' something to do with sears catalogue or something. Does this mean anything to anyone? I wish my brain could work...

[nauticant]

One very highly rated but often overlooked series is Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun:

www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/968868.The_Book_of_the_New_Sun

For something more modern, but not epic in the sense of thousands of pages, Steph Swainston's The Castle series is very good although too off-beat for some:

www.waterstones.com/book/the-castle-omnibus/steph-swainston/9780575091252

[forgetthehousework]

Another deryni fan here, in fact I was rereading them just last year.

I love Anne McCaffrey but she is on record as saying her books are not fantasy but science fiction as all the biology is science based so I didn't include her in my suggestions.
(Name dropping I know, but I actually met her several times and she gave me a name for my dragon or fire lizard - should I ever be fortunate enough to have one).

[PrincessSarene]

You’ve got a few of my favourite authors on your list there OP, so here are my suggestions:

Glenda Larke
Karen Miller
Brent Weeks
Peter V Brett
Anthony Ryan
Mark Lawrence
Stephen Aryan
Sarah J Maas
Tasha Suri
Scott Lynch
Melissa Caruso
Emily R King
James Islington
Janny Wurts
Jay Kristoff
James Maxwell

Also second the recommendations for David Eddings & Anne McCaffrey.

[PrincessSarene]

@forgetthehousework

Another deryni fan here, in fact I was rereading them just last year.

I love Anne McCaffrey but she is on record as saying her books are not fantasy but science fiction as all the biology is science based so I didn't include her in my suggestions.
(Name dropping I know, but I actually met her several times and she gave me a name for my dragon or fire lizard - should I ever be fortunate enough to have one).

I’m rereading the Pern series at the moment. I agree that the premise is sci-fi but the setting and style would be very comfortable for pure fantasy fans.

Also v jealous that you go to meet her. And you got a dragon/fire lizard name! Amazing!!

[HelenaJustina]

I enjoyed Patrick Rothfuss’ latest trilogy Kingkiller Chronicles, except it’s not a trilogy yet and it feels like we’ll be waiting for ever for the third one!

[helpfulperson]

Asimov foundation saga.