Sci-fi/Fantasy book recommendations?

[AnaViaSalamanca]

Any sci-fi and fantasy geeks out there? I am in desperate need of a new escapist page-turner.

Books that I have liked
harry potter
farseer trilogies
red rising
fablehaven

Didn't like
Hunger games
hyperion
dune
vampire stuff

I'm a sci fi reader more than fantasy

Becky Chambers - funny and smart, great female characters. Can be a bit "chick lit in space" but none the worse for that.

Claire North, the sudden appearance of hope - great concept book, strong female characters. More like Proper Literature.

Elizabeth Moon - I love the Serrano books. Again- great female characters. Nice easy read. Less adventure-y than Honor Harrington although I'd second that recommendation.

Lots to add to my list here!

Ooh and Sunshine - Robin McKinley. The grown up Twilight. Brilliantly written and very credible.

Thanks everyone, great stuff :-)

Tad Williams, the Dragonbone chair trilogy.
Katherine Kurtz the Deryni books
Terry Goodkind Sword of Truth

The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear - which are books 1&2 in Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles trilogy. They are spectacularly good. Just waiting for book 3...

Love so many of these!

I’d also include Katherine Arden’s Winternight trilogy starting with The Bear And The Nightingale, especially if you like the Naomi Novik books.

Holly Black’s series starting with The Cruel Prince is pretty good, and Scott Lynch’s The Lies Of Locke Lamora is fantastic.

Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time is one of the best things I’ve read! The sort of book that makes you press it into the hands of everyone saying “you must read this.”

Anne McCaffrey and the pern books are brilliant, start off all fantasy and end up in si-fi. Who wouldn't want their own dragon?Her other books are good too.
Katherine Kerr is another good one, starts off with a prince who makes a mistake and promises not to rest until he puts things right. He really didn't expect to be held to his promise... Great set of books with a handy table to help you remember who's who and who they used to be, while Nevyn lives on...

Anything by Ursula Le Guin.
Spider World Series by Colin Wilson
As well as the Discworld series, Terry Pratchett co-wrote a series called The Long Earth. They pretty different so if you dont like one you might still like the other.

Intelligent fantasy by Mercedes R Lackey, especially the Valdemar series

Goodness I really really hated hyperion, one of the few books I didn't finish and the book really bothered me for ages!

My recommendation is Garth Nix trilogy with lirael, sabriel and abhorsen. I can't remember what order they go in!

I didn’t rate NK Jemisin - it needed fairly brutal treatment at the hands of a good editor IMO.

I came on to recommend Anne McCaffrey. The dragons of Pern!!! Aaah I love that place.

Her other stories are good too.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman - a little bit Harry Potteresque with elements of Narnia, but written for adults. Plays with the idea that many fantasy tropes in real world terms are fucking terrifying, but there are beautiful parts too.

Lots of other things already mentioned that I also love and would have recommended, but I won’t repeat them

YY to Anne McCaffrey. And the Rivers books.

But can't believe noone has so far recommended Ilona Andrews. So many excellent books. Start with Magic Bites. Just amazing.

And Jodi Taylor too. Half fantasy story/half historical as they travel through time to investigate historical events. Really funny too.

The long earth series
The chronicles of Thomas Covenant
The many coloured land (the start isn't brilliant but it becomes really good about halfway through.
A discovery of witches
A court of thorns an roses