What are the top five best fantasy series since 1990?

[Skythe1]

The Dragonbone Chair was published in 1988.

It doesn't say anywhere the series had to start after 1990!

[Happy Ent]

By the way, has anybody read the Kingdoms of Thoranda series? I think this sounds intriguing.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

If we were making top 10 11 lists, these would round out mine.

Off topic: Have you read Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence? I'm reading Three Parts Dead right now, and it reminds me of a slightly darker The Spirit Thief (the only Eli Monpress book I've read so far). It's really quite good.

I have not. I looked up the synopsis and it does sound interesting. Thanks for the rec REG!

[Darth Richard II]

The Long Sun is definitely scifi though.

Edit: Also Wolfe doesn't really have many series. There's the Solar Cycle, which started in the 80s, and Latro, which I THINK was late 80s, I'll have to look that one up. other than that I don't think he really has anything else you can consider a series. Wizard Knight you could argue for but it really is like a single novel published in two parts.

[kephv]

Surprised at the lack of mentions for The Book of the Long Sun. I can easily understand why it's not necessarily someone's favorite fantasy since the 90's -- it ain't an easy read -- but goddamn is it one of the best. I've been getting back into it now and the sheer depth of the series, the creativity, etc., is just mind-blowing.

Agreed. Together with The Book of the Short Sun, it might just be Wolfe's best work.

[sologdin]

if wolfe is out, then RSB is probably out, too, as is anything far future/dying earth.

[john]

Wolfe's not out generally. The Long Sun is set on a spaceship though. Come on.

[skins7778]

After looking at my list I've realized I really enjoy military fantasy.....any recommendations? I've read Bakker you can keep it.

No particular order because its impossible for me to pick one of my babies over the other

ASOIAF - GRRM. I literally scour the internet every week for years and years for sample chapters....you know you all do too!

Gentlemans Bastards - Scott Lynch. My only non-military other than ASOIAF

Malazan - Erickson, Esslemont. I know its love it or hate it, but I love it. I will randomly open Memories of Ice just to read the battle of Capustan with Gruntle and Itkovian. Greatest battle I've read (any other opinions?)

First Law - Abercrombie. The Bloody Nine! The stand alone books Heroes, and Red Country I include, love me some Logen Ninefingers.

The Black Company - Glen Cook. I know, I know it started before 1990, but the last was in 2000 so I'm counting it! I fell in love with these characters, One Eye and Goblin might be my two alltime favorite characters. And I cried like a baby for them I'm not ashamed to admit.

My guilty pleasure

Drizzt Books - Salvatore

Instead of the usual overratted, I'll do up and coming

Stormlight Archive - Sanderson. Amazing, simply amazing

Kingkiller Chronicles - Rothfuss. It hinges on book 3, hows he gonna fit it all in?

Emperors Blades - Brian Staveley. Awesome new series

[Corvinus85]

After looking at my list I've realized I really enjoy military fantasy.....any recommendations? I've read Bakker you can keep it.

No particular order because its impossible for me to pick one of my babies over the other

ASOIAF - GRRM. I literally scour the internet every week for years and years for sample chapters....you know you all do too!

Gentlemans Bastards - Scott Lynch. My only non-military other than ASOIAF

Malazan - Erickson, Esslemont. I know its love it or hate it, but I love it. I will randomly open Memories of Ice just to read the battle of Capustan with Gruntle and Itkovian. Greatest battle I've read (any other opinions?)

First Law - Abercrombie. The Bloody Nine! The stand alone books Heroes, and Red Country I include, love me some Logen Ninefingers.

The Black Company - Glen Cook. I know, I know it started before 1990, but the last was in 2000 so I'm counting it! I fell in love with these characters, One Eye and Goblin might be my two alltime favorite characters. And I cried like a baby for them I'm not ashamed to admit.

My guilty pleasure

Drizzt Books - Salvatore

Instead of the usual overratted, I'll do up and coming

Stormlight Archive - Sanderson. Amazing, simply amazing

Kingkiller Chronicles - Rothfuss. It hinges on book 3, hows he gonna fit it all in?

Emperors Blades - Brian Staveley. Awesome new series

I was thinking of trying this out. How good is it compared to the rest of the stuff you've listed here?

[shortstark]

IN ORDER

Farseer Trilogy by Hobbs

Second Acopalypse by Bakker

ASOIAF

Long Price by Abraham

Sword of Shadows JV Jones.....

Long Price quartet is moving up that list with each reread...

[Darth Richard II]

I don't get the Dresdon love. Way too much testosterone fueled for me. But I digress.

I'm just going to pick series that are finished, and I'm going to include scifi because I fucking' want to.

Culture - Ian M Banks

Warlord Chronicles - Bernard Cornwell

Long Price Quartet -Danial Abrham

Kate Elliott - Crown of Stars(yeah I loved those, suck it)

First Law -Joe Abecrombie.

That's kind of off the top of my head, subject to change without notice, etc.

I'd start a long and intense flamewar in which no one is sparred about how awesome I think Kerr's Devery is, but those started in the early 80s.

Others that are awesome:

Broken Empire

Malazaan

Robin Hobb's everything

Eli Monpress

Not finished:

Dagger and the Coin

ASOIAF(duh)

The Expanse

I'm sure there's more.

[SkynJay]

I was thinking of trying this out. How good is it compared to the rest of the stuff you've listed here?

It was Blood Song lite in my mind. Took forever to get anywhere and was entirely too in love with it's torture as training idea. So transparent I could have made a drinking game out of it.

[skins7778]

It was Blood Song lite in my mind. Took forever to get anywhere and was entirely too in love with it's torture as training idea. So transparent I could have made a drinking game out of it.

Haha, well I liked it. It's a typical first book in a series that does start slow to establish characters. I like where it's going though, it's no stormlight but it's promising

[Darth Richard II]

Haha, well I liked it. It's a typical first book in a series that does start slow to establish characters. I like where it's going though, it's no stormlight but it's promising

This sentence just broke my brain.

[Rorshach]

I really don't do lists well, so I probably shouldn't answer.

However, as was pointed out earlier, one-line-answers don't contribute much. So, in no particular order and without further ado:

The Long Price Quartet, Daniel Abraham

The Farseer trilogy, Robin Hobb

Shadows of the Apt, Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Prince of Nothing trilogy, R. Scott Bakker

Malazan series, Erikson/Esselmont

I've kept myself to finished series, rather than unfinished ones.

[Francis Buck]

Had a brain lapse there, I actually meant The Book of the New Sun in the OP, not the Long one (I haven't read that). So yeah, that series doesn't qualify. Not sure what I'd replace it with though...

I would, however, argue that TBNS is as much fantasy as sci-fi. Like Solo said, if Wolfe is out, then so is Bakker. They're science fantasy -- fantastical books that incorporate some (or even a lot) of sci-fi elements, but the sci-fi is generally quite soft, and they both contain elements that are explicitly "supernatural" and, well, just plain magical.

[Darth Richard II]

New Sun you could argue is a mix, is you don't include the coda. Long Sun I can;t see as anything other than scifi though.

[matt b]

And the end of the day, the Solar Cycle is definitely sci-fi. It's just the technology has advanced to such a point that it looks like magic and many of the characters treat it as such. But still, everything fantastical that happens is rooted in science and technology rather than magic.

But New Sun is out anyway because it's from the '80s.

[Faint]

I find myself having difficulty naming another series apart from A Song of Ice and Fire. I think of everything else as noticeably lower in quality, although there are some series that are similarly ambitious in their own way (i.e., Second Apocalypse, Wheel of Time, Malazan Book of the Fallen). Unfortunately, they are all hopelessly flawed, to the degree that they slide down my estimation into B grade territory because of those flaws.

Having said that, I think the The First Law deserves special mention because of how influential it seemingly is in comparison to other series from the period in question. I have simply stopped counting the number of times I pick up a new fantasy series and think it reads very much like derivative Abercrombie. While I am certainly not arguing that he invented grimdark, a style that seems evident at least as far back as The Black Company, I do think he is the creator of the specific type of grimdark that is particularly popular today. And I also find The First Law series quite good. Apart from how influential it is, it is the equal or near equal of anything else besides A Song of Ice and Fire in the genre, especially if you include the stand alone novels set in the same world, most of which I actually find superior to the books from the original series.

[Gigei]

Why did you say fantasy "literature" with literature in quotation marks? It's bad for. :P Either just avoid the word or just use it without quotes.

About the best fantasy series:

- surely Long Sun is sf?

- my vote goes to Long Price by Daniel Abraham and the Malazan series by Steven Erikson

I'm curious what people think about this. I really only started reading fantasy hardcore when I was maybe 21, after the first GoT season. Then I went down the rabbit hole.

Even so, I really haven't read much fantasy, so my experience is limited (I'm 24 now). I'm most curious to see what other modern fantasy series people think are the best of the best.

Remember, it's top five SERIES only, no standalones, although you can choose a series that has yet to be completed. You don't have to rank the series themselves, just state the top five in general (unless of course you want to rank them, then go ahead.).

Here are mine, listed in no particular order. from my somewhat limited experience with fantasy "literature".

A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin

The Second Apocalypse - R. Scott Bakker

The Fencer Trilogy - KJ Parker

The Book of the Long Sun - Gene Wolfe

Harry Potter - J.K Rowling

I imagine this list would change a bit if I'd read more, and there are still quite few well-known series that I haven't read, chief among them being stuff like like the Caine series by Matthew Stover or Abercrombie's First Law trilogy.

Out of my top five, if I had to choose, TSA is my favorite, but I think The Book of the Long Sun is the best, at least from what I've read of both fantasy and sci-fi. I think the Fencer Trilogy by KJ Parker is prety incredible, but still flawed.

And I just had to put Harry Potter in there. I was like, maybe 8 or 9 when I started reading them? They'll always have a very special place in my heart, despite how silly and irritating I sometimes find them now that I'm older and have, I guess, a more discerning taste.