Recommendations for fantasy or sci-fi please

[Fabianthefabulous]

Watching Game of Thrones is inspiring me to read some fantasy. I went to the library to browse earlier but everything that I liked the look of was book 2 or 3 of a series, I couldn't find any book 1's.

In the past I have read:
The Lord of the Rings which I liked
The first few Diskworld books which were ok but have not inspired me to read any more (I think I made the mistake of starting with book 1&2).
The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin - ok but not interested in reading the sequels
The Ocean at the end of the Lane by Neil Gaiman which I really didn't like.

So I like things like LOTR and GOT. Should I read Game of Thrones or is there something better out there?

Try Brandon Sanderson, there's a ton of them. I like the characters more than world building in Sci fi /fantasy, he does both very well imo. I started with the mistborn series.

Garth Nix abhorsen series is for young adults but I enjoy it as an easy but still interesting read

Robert Jordan's 'The Wheel of Time' series might fit the bill.

Go back to Terry Pratchett and try the witches books - start with Wyrd Sisters. The first one or two Discworld ones can be hard to take to.

I have the same problem with trying to find new fantasy books. I end up reverting to children's classics instead.

I love Alastair Reynolds, it's hard sci fi rather than fantasy sci fi but the stories are very absorbing. Revelation Space is the first one that I read.

Placemarking!

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson.

Terry Brooks - Shannara Chronicles (or something like that).
Peter F. Hamilton has some really good 'space' Sci fi which I enjoyed. They're massive and epic, mind!
I also loved GOT but can't stand Terry Pratchett books or Hitchhikers blah blah blah!

Robin Hobb is also very good, start with Assassin's Apprentice. I started out in fantasy with David Eddings, the first book is Pawn of Prophecy. Katharine Kerr is another of my favourites, first book is Daggerspell. I also love Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan as others have suggested.

Hyperion series by Dan Simmons

Patrick rofuss - the name of the wind (first few chapters are a bit slow but bear with it, trust me)

For an easy light read try kel kade -

Don't know much about fantasy but for sci-fi, I would heartily recommend any of Iain M Banks culture novels. Also, Margaret Atwood's Mad Addam trilogy. I'm currently reading The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, which is good fun too.

Anne McCaffrey - anything by her. Though the Dragons of Pern will delight you.
Asimov
Heinlen
Arthur C Clarke

Yes, read Game of Thrones.

Also second the suggestion to try some more, slightly later, Discworld.

My third recommendation would be the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. You might need to push through the first book (but it is short) as it sets things up and is a bit different in tone and style from the books that follow; I gave up on it the first time I started it, but then gave it another go several years later, and thank goodness I did. I was completely enthralled by the series for months of my life and still miss it now, many months after I finished.

I've been reading Joe Abercrombie lately and like it. The writing isn't flawless but it's a lot of fun to read, earthy, brutal and wry.

Raymond e feist

Try other Ursula Le Guin - The Lathe of Heaven, The Left Hand of Darkness, Always Coming Home, Threshold and her short stories (book called A Fisherman of the Inland Sea).

Anne McCaffrey - lots of books about dragons but I prefer her other stuff - Killashandra, Restoree, The Ship Who Sang.

Guy Gavriel Kay - you might like his stuff as he consulted with Christopher Tolkien on the publication of The Simallirion which Tolkein had left unfinished - try the Fionavar Tapestry (3 books), Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan, A Song For Arbonne.

Margaret Atwood - Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, pretty much anything - not so much Sci-fi as dystopia.

Have fun!

Anne McCaffrey
Mercedes Lackey
Ben Aaronvich's Rivers of London series
The St Mary's series

Anything by Robin Hobb

Malazan Book of the Fallen- Steven Erikson

Another vote for Robin Hobb.

Also N K Jemisin is fantastic! I'd recommend starting with the trilogy that begins with "The Fifth Season". Excellent world building, diverse characters (often a problem in old school fantasy novels). Really cannot recommend her enough.

Would also say The mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. They are very good.

Seeing as the two series you have mentioned are a lot less fantasy than most fantasy, have you considered historical fiction? Something like the last kingdom by Bernard Cornwell might interest you.

Also Terry Pratchett night watch or witches storylines are good.

The GoT books are good if can cope with the fact they likely won't be finished in book form.

I adore David Eddings particularly the Belgariad but they are pretty simple by today's fantasy standards.

For some entry level sci fi I love The Martian by Andy Weir (he's got a new book out this October too)

Graceling and Bitterblue by Kristin Lashore
Girl of Fire and Thorns series by Rae Carson
Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

(I've been on a YA fantasy streak!)

Second Guy Gavriel Kay, esp Tigana and the Sarantium series.

Engine Summer (science fiction) and Little, Big (fantasy) both by John Crowley

Earth Abides by George R Stewart (end of the world)

Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky (end of the world science fiction / horror)

The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe (science fiction)

House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski (fantasy / horror)

Dark Eden by Chris Becket (science fiction). This is the first in a trilogy but works well as a stand-alone. I haven't read the other two books.

A Mirror for Princes by Tom de Haan is neither science fiction nor fantasy but is set in an imagined kingdom. It's one of my all-time favourite novels.

Arcadia by Iain Pears (science fiction)

Doomsday Book by Conne Willis (time travel)

Among Others by Jo Walton (fantasy)