Fantasy novels - recommendations?

[Craparinha]

Go through weird phases where I only want t read certain types of book. I have a longing for some escapist fantasy reading but n idea whet start. Did try to get into Phillip Pullman a while ago but found it a bit dull...

Any suggestions? Tia

George R.R.Martin's 'Game of Thrones'. Brilliant.

Hi,

What sort of book do you want?

Big epic quests = Tolkein, David Eddings, Robert Jorden.
One persons story (hero) = Maria v. Snyder (sp?), Trudi Canavan
Urban fantasy = Charles de Lint.

Game of Thrones is good but I personally found that having seem the TV series the book gave name nothing new (but I only read the first 2 chapters and that was just after watching the series.)

Robin Hobb is a very good author. As is Sheri S. Tepper but she can be a bit women's-lib preachy.
Guy Gavril Kay writes a very good book too.

There is a lot of steam punk stuff out there too but I haven't read much to date.

Game of Thrones is excellent. I also enjoyed Robin Hobb's The Farseer Trilogy & The Tawny Man trilogy. Currently reading Trudi Canavan which is good but not as well written as the Martin/Hobb.

Best series has to be "The Wheel of Time" started by robert Jordan and finished off by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan died. Best I have read since LOTR.

Terry Brooks - the Shannara books, Game of Thrones, I love Trudi Canavan, Robin Hobb loved the Farseer and Liveship books but couldn't get into the other series, David Eddings.

Do you know, I hated the WOT series. It started off quite excitingly, but I found it tedious after the 6th or 7th book and just had to leave it alone.

I did enjoy Terry Goodkind's Richard Cypher series, as well as the Trillium series (written by 3 women authors).

Wheel of Time
Sword of Truth
Belgariad/Mallorean/Elenium/Tamuli
Redemption of Althalus
Raymond Feist
J V Jones
Farseer/Tawny Man
Dragon Prince/Dragon Star trilogies
Thomas Covenant
Witch Star series
Mordant's Need
Song of Ice and Fire
Mistborn
Janny Wurtz
Anne McCaffrey (only if you like Dragons)
Guy Gavriel Kay
Malazan Book of the Fallen et. al
Tad Williams
Brent Weeks

I have obviously spent far too many years reading this stuff.

Well if you found Pullman dull, I don't rate your chances with a lot of fantasy tbh - the Pullman is very good and far, far better written than most fantasy imho.

Have you read The LOTR?

Martin Miller, 'Good Fairies Of New York' is fun - quite rude though!

Stephen King's Dark Tower series is awesome.

The Game Of Thrones series is v badly written and pretty boring but lots of people seem to like them. I've read two and won't bother with any more of them. There are only about 3 characters I actually cared about and one of them is dead before the end of book one. I had to trawl through a lot of boring stuff to follow the stories of the characters I was interested in. I think he must believe that, like Dickens, he gets paid by the word - because he certainly uses far more words than necessary!

I didn't get on with Robin H at all. Trudi C has quite interesting characters but the books are v badly written - okay if you only care about character and plot.

How about seem teen fiction? The Knife Of never Letting Go is the first in a v good series. Across The Nightingale Floor is the first in another v good series. Mortal Engines is the first in yet another.

I enjoyed Octavia Butler. But I am not sure whether she's sci-fi or fantasy. Definitely different, though.

Tad Williams' Otherland series is great. Set in the near future where cities have become metropolises (sp?) and the Internet has become a virtual reality world that people can physically explore.
4 books, 2000+ pages, lots of great characters and a cliff hanger at the end of every chapter.

What more can you ask for?

I've enjoyed The Kingkiller Trilogy by Patrick Rothfuss - well the first two, annoyingly he hasn't finished the third yet.

Urban Fantasy-wise, you could try Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift novels, Ben Aaronovitches Rivers of London or Mike Carey's Felix Castor series. All good knockanout fun with ghosts, demons, demi-gods and exorcists.

knockabout, obviously

Lisa Shearin's "Raine Benares" series is great fun There's a list of them in order here
Raine is brilliant, bits of them are laugh out loud funny, and they have a nice twisty plot with lots of surprises and never seem to do "the obvious". I'm waiting very impatiently for the next one to be published...

There's the Riley Jensen series and the Jas Parkes ones too, they're both worth a look if you like the supernatural/preternatural werewolves/vampires/assorted weird creatures type thing.

What about comics? Errant Story (elves, half elves, magic etc) is an online comic book which is in it's closing stages. You can read it from the beginning online.

I've just read Daughter of Smoke and Bone which is written for a young adult audience. She writes very well. I'm reading The Hunger Games at the mo which is Sci Fi but it's brilliant.

I'm absolutely loving the Hunger Games at the moment, Valdeeves! Brilliant books - I have to keep reminding myself that it's a YA series! Other than the lack of sex, you'd never know - its certainly violent enough!

Anne mccafferey dragon riders series is good and there are loads in the series dating back 20+years

YY to Anne McCaffrey and to The Hunger Games.

Have you tried Stephen Donaldson? I understand some think him long-winded but I just love his style and the stories/characters are very detailed, not just black and white, lots of shades of grey.

I've just read Temeraire following a recommendation on here and really enjoyed it (actually it was a recommendation for dd but I was just checking that it was suitable - honest ).

One of the reviews on amazon compares it to a combination of Georgette Heyer and Anne McCaffrey, and I think that is a fair description, a light read but very entertaining.

any kresley cole... v. raunchy but addicted atm

Loving "Songs of Ice and Fire" series. The first book is "Game of Thrones" on which the TV series was based, and then there are 4 others (can get it on Kindle as a single download). If you've watched the TV show, skip the first book as the TV programme is true to the book.

Lian Hearn's Otari trilogy (plus prequel plus sequel) - the most compelling fantasy books I've read in decades, set in a fantasy version of feudal Japan. They're actually young adult, but YA is a rich fantasy vein IME.

Eva Honrung's Dog Boy - not really fantasy, as it takes place in the real world, but transports you to a different experience ie that of a small boy who is taken in by a pack of dogs. Definitely not a fluffy read.

Eva Hornung

OneHandFlapping - I am officially your new biggest fan now! I read about that Dog Boy book AAAAAAAAAGES ago and couldn't remember the title or the author or title. I watched a programme about the boy a few years ago (it's the Russian boy, right?) and it was fascinating. Thank you so much for reminding me of it.