Recommend a truly epic read

[ForthegracegoI]

I’m really in the mood for something epic (maybe the real world is just too real atm and my book groups keep picking very depressing reads). I used to read a lot fantasy when I was younger, and with the nights drawing in, I think I’m hankering for something along those lines. I loved the Belgariad, the Dragonlance sagas. Big, long Stephen King novels as well - It, The Stand (though I haven’t read the Dark Tower series - 8 books might be too many). I have read the Lord of the Rings too many times, and just tried to read it again but it’s all messed up in my head with the films now. I’ve dipped in and out of YA fantasy, but I’m not really after all the teenage will-they / won’t-they love stories. I tried the Game of Thrones series a while ago but it didn’t really grab me.

So recommend me something really epic: magic powers, imaginary lands, hand drawn maps, quests etc all welcome.

Mists of Avalon - I loved this and felt quite bereft when I finished it!

I came here to recommend Robin Hobbs! As pp said, start with the assassin’s apprentice.

That series of books got me through a tough time in my life when it was such a relief to dive into a totally different world!!

The first law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

Second Dorothy Dunnett, as epic as it gets.

Also The Dragonbone Chair book 1 of 3. fabulous!

Off to download a million books now

Definitely Robin Hobb, starting with Assassin's Apprentice, or Joe Abercrombie's First Law books, starting with The Blade Itself.

Also, if you liked the five Belgariad books, did you go on to read the five Malloreon books that followed?

Maria v synder she is great and has a number of trilogies/series. My favourite is the poison studies.
stephanie meyers? you know who!!! She wrote twilight series. She wrote a fantastic story called The Host. It is only one book but it’s the size of a brick!!! And in my opinion a much better story.
Mortal instruments Cassandra Clare
Divergent trilogy Veronica Roth
Also I can remember something like the souls or sandman series but it’s at the back of my mind and I can’t remember the exact details. Someone else might know the author.

Yes, I agree. I don’t think LOTRs is even a work of fantasy. Tolkien drew on his vast knowledge of ancient myth and epic, not to mention his unbelievable knowledge of ancient languages (he could read Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse, Gothic, Finnish…you name it). Unfortunately, the novel’s reputation has been ruined by the endless imitations, and by its obsessive fans. It is a serious and profound work of literature that deserves a place in the canon.

If you don’t want to re-read it, how about the Narnia books? They are immensely enjoyable even as an adult. Like Tolkien, Lewis was a serious, heavyweight intellectual who drew on a vast range of learning to create his world. He also wrote a wonderful trilogy of sci fi novels, which mix in fantasy as well (Merlin appears in one of them). I’d really, really recommend them.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen. It. Is. Epic.
It is one of those that starts in the middle, but unbelievable scope.
I read it all again every other year.

I cracked last night and downloaded the fifth Thorns and Roses book. I was going to leave it a week or so to spin it out, but then on the back of this thread I've now got lots of other series to explore!

I cannot believe you’ve not been to The Dark Tower yet.

I also waited way past the time when I should’ve, and he still hasn’t written the last three when I started! Get up that tower.

Hard agree on Robin Hobb and Dorothy Dunnet. Would add Dunnett’s King Hereafter as well.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The Fey saga. 9 books, the first is The Sacrifice.

John Connolly’s Book of Lost Things, and its semi-sequel The Land of Lost Things. You can read either as a stand alone, but they do relate to each other.