• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

GAF, recommend me some good fantasy books

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
So we get sci-fi recommendation threads occasionally around here, but I don't remember the last time I saw one dedicated to fantasy. Now I'm such a sci-fi aficionado that I'm usually doing the recommending, but fantasy is a whole different beast, I really don't read enough of it. Off the top of my head, the fantasy that I've read and really really enjoyed consists mostly of:
Anything Discworld
Elantris, Warbreaker, and the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
His Dark Materials (arguably fantasy)
The Earthsea books
The Narnia books

(Also, I'm not really a fan of D&D/Tolkein inspired stuff, like Dragonlance or The Dark Elf Trilogy)

So Book GAF, what've you got for me?
 
The_Technomancer said:
Hm, okay, could I get a bit of a sell on some of these? Why is A Song of Fire and Ice or Lankhmar good?
Click to expand...

While Martin's prose isn't quite as sharp as Stanek's or JV Jones', his books are highly recommended by GAF and you should read them.
 
The Book of the New Sun and Latro in the Mist (which is a collection of the first 2 Latro novels) by Gene Wolf - the Book of the New Sun is often classified as sci-fi, as it's seemingly set far into Earth's future, but it has a very fantasy feel and is a really intriguing read. Latro in the Mist tells the story of a Roman soldier who after a battle has no memory of his previous life.

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber (collected as The First Book of Lankhmar) - Fritz Leiber's tales of Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser are classics, fantastically written stories about two amazing characters, set in a detailed and intoxicating world.
 
Adam Blade said:
While Martin's prose isn't quite as sharp as Stanek's or JV Jones', his books are highly recommended by GAF and you should read them.
Click to expand...
Yes, we got it the first time.
 
I know they've been mentioned but I'd definitely echo the Song of Ice and Fire series. They are some of the most well-paced and tense books I have ever read. Even though a lot of them are politics and intrigue, it never gets stale.
 
The_Technomancer said:
Hm, okay, could I get a bit of a sell on some of these? Why is A Song of Fire and Ice or Lankhmar good?
Click to expand...
I've only read the first two books of A Song of Ice and Fire so far but its fantastic and I'm not even a real fantasy genre fan. There's so much more to it than wizardry and dragons and mythical creatures. It's a lot of political intrigue and jockeying for power amongst wealthy families and kingdoms. And its always entertaining to me to see one faction get into power and mistreat the other, and then there's a reversal of fortune and you get to see how the new group handles power. Plus, there are about 6 or 7 stories going on at once so you're never bored just reading about one person.
 
Maklershed said:
I've only read the first two books of A Song of Ice and Fire so far but its fantastic and I'm not even a real fantasy genre fan. There's so much more to it than wizardry and dragons and mythical creatures. It's a lot of political intrigue and jockeying for power amongst wealthy families and kingdoms. And its always entertaining to me to see one faction get into power and mistreat the other, and then there's a reversal of fortune and you get to see how the new group handles power. Plus, there are about 6 or 7 stories going on at once so you're never bored just reading about one person.
Click to expand...
This sounds a lot like what I've always loved about Sanderson's work. Can anyone who's read both comment?
 
Raymond Feist - start with Magician: apprentice, and go from there
Margaret Weis + Tracy Hickman - The Death Gate Cycle (7 books, starting with Dragon Wing)

Stay away from eragon, unless you like derivative juvenile fiction :)
 
The Wheel of time Series by the late Robert Jordan, last two books are being finished by Brandon Sanderson. A truly epic series. It's a bit long at 12 books now, with 2 more coming but IMO totally worth your time. Here's the first book:

x5cpj7.jpg
 
i'm shocked that anyone would suggest anything BUT A Song of Ice and Fire.

jeez

i insist you read the first book of the series entitled "a game of thrones". excellently paced, wonderfully written, fleshed out characters.
 
I'm gunna parrot everyone else and say A Song of Ice and Fire. A Game of Thrones is one of the best books I've read in a while, fantasy or otherwise.
 
jon bones said:
i'm shocked that anyone would suggest anything BUT A Song of Ice and Fire
Click to expand...

While I highly enjoy the series and would have recommended myself it if I wasn't so utterly sure that someone else here would have posted it, I generally feel that this sort of rampant fanboyism leads to putting people off rather than encouraging them.
 
geeko420 said:
The Wheel of time Series by the late Robert Jordan, last two books are being finished by Brandon Sanderson. A truly epic series. It's a bit long at 12 books now, with 2 more coming but IMO totally worth your time. Here's the first book:

[IM G]http://i35.tinypic.com/x5cpj7.jpg[/IMG]
Click to expand...

I'd actually recommend against reading the WoT books. After hte third one, they get really bogged down in description. They are insanely bloated, and could have been easily cut in half. The female characters also generally feel tacked on and jesus how many times to I have to hear about braids and dresses

What I would recommend is the Steven Erikson series: Malazan Book of the Fallen. VERY solid books, on par with (though different from) the GMMR books.
 
grumble said:
What I would recommend is the Steven Erikson series: Malazan Book of the Fallen. VERY solid books, on par with (though different from) the GMMR books.
Click to expand...

Fuck, yes. Kalam and Quick Ben are badass.
 
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.

Also, anything by Neil Gaiman is probably a must read. (Good Omens is of course a collaboration between Pratchett and Gaiman)
 
I'd also recommend the 'prince of nothing' series, by r. scott bakker. A little more approachable length-wise, but REALLY well written and complex. Beats the hell out of most fantasy out there (which is pulp, frankly).
 
The Farseer Trilogy - Robin Hobb

If you like them then there's a second trilogy that follows straight on and wraps everything up; Tawny Man Trilogy.

They deviate from the type of Fantasy you don't want to read. They are also very well written.

Also going to go with GRRM's A song of Ice and Fire series. Whilst I found them somewhat not to my taste, I do realise that he is a very excellent writer and what I read was very good....but fucked up shit was too prevalent and not what I look for in my fantasy novels :lol

Then again, I had read them a while ago when younger, so maybe I'll be inclined to move on past the first book after giving it another chance!
 
Peter S. Beagle - The Last Unicorn

Very short, but wonderfully paced. Beagle's use of language is beautiful. No black and white good and evil.
 
grumble said:
I'd also recommend the 'prince of nothing' series, by r. scott bakker. A little more approachable length-wise, but REALLY well written and complex. Beats the hell out of most fantasy out there (which is pulp, frankly).
Click to expand...

I started reading the first book but I barely got into it. It was difficult understanding all the names and proper nouns that were mentioned. I eventually want to give it another try.
 
I really enjoyed all of the Drizzt books by R.A. Salvatore that I read. A really good job at fleshing out an interesting part of the D&D universe...
 
I'll throw out The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. I'm on book 2 and the series is so fast paced and I love it. The characters are all fantastic and diverse. There isn't a dull moment, and it's definitely on par with asoiaf in terms of enjoyability
 
geeko420 said:
The Wheel of time Series by the late Robert Jordan, last two books are being finished by Brandon Sanderson. A truly epic series. It's a bit long at 12 books now, with 2 more coming but IMO totally worth your time. Here's the first book:

x5cpj7.jpg
Click to expand...

Oh god, don't do it. He lies. That series is a trap. The first 5 books are amazing and then you have to suffer through 6 books of utter crap before the series actually get's good again.
And these aren't 6 regular books..this is 6000 pages of crap. They should call every book after 5, "Wheel of Time, Nynaeve pulls her Braids".
You will learn to hate women after reading this series.

But I will admit...the first 5 books are amazing. The rest of the series has glimmers of the same awesome, filled with 800 pages of descriptive fluff (per book). I'm on book 10 now and it's been a chore to get this far. But i see the light at the end of the tunnel and I know it gets better soon.
 
Trent Strong said:
Everything by Piers Anthony.
Click to expand...

I'm not a huge fan of his Xanth books, as they seem kind of childish, but he did write some great sci-fi with his 'biography of a space tyrant' series.
 
Verdre said:
Peter S. Beagle - The Last Unicorn

Very short, but wonderfully paced. Beagle's use of language is beautiful. No black and white good and evil.
Click to expand...

Just finished reading this. So fantastic.

Adam Blade said:
While Martin's prose isn't quite as sharp as Stanek's or JV Jones', his books are highly recommended by GAF and you should read them.
Click to expand...

Stanek. Stanek. STANEK?

Please be joking.
 
I'm gonna kick it old school and recommend the Barsoom books by Eddy Burroughs.

barsoom.jpg


I've only read the first 3 so far, but they're awesome in their own simplistically vintage, fast-paced way.
 
Well, one series that I'm a fan of that no one has mentioned yet is the Black Company series. The method of storytelling is a lot different from other fantasy novels, so I expect that not everyone will like it, but if you're the type of person who likes a twist on the typical fantasy archetypes, you may enjoy it. The author is a former military man, and the tone of the books is generally about the life of a soldier in a fantasy world. It's also quite easy to get into the series now since they have recently been releasing the books in several cheap omnibus volumes.

c20017.jpg
 
Dresden said:
Adam Blade trolls anything related to ASOIAF.
Click to expand...

Ahh, makes sense. All is right again in the world.

Dresden said:
Of the more 'modern' series, I'd recommend, asides from ASOIAF:

a-shadow-in-summer-by-daniel-abraham.jpg
Click to expand...

This. This. A thousand times This!
 
Howabout the best NON-SERIES fantasy books. Are there any?

Every time one of these threads come up, it turns into a battle of the trilogies or longer... Are there any quality self-contained fantasy novels?
 
Teddman said:
Howabout the best NON-SERIES fantasy books. Are there any?

Every time one of these threads come up, it turns into a battle of the trilogies or longer... Are there any quality self-contained fantasy novels?
Click to expand...
Tigana.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Male Vs. Female Fantasy in Books and Media
Social 
31
1K
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt replied
Some good upcoming films
31
1K
Artoris replied
GAF keeps asking me for security verification
5
244
Trilobit replied
Fantasy/Sci-Fi books - GAF Reads sometimes.
29
2K
Trogdor1123 replied
Good dark fantasy animes along the lines of Berserk?
34
3K
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt replied
Top Bottom