The Fantasy Recommendation Thread

[Gold Storm]

Just read Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley, I think he is new, I liked his book it had a deep history like ASOIAF and a good story line and complex characters. Also love Bernard Cornwell's Arthur series not fantasy per se but very good historical fiction.

[Zap]

I'm currently reading The Shamer's Signet, part two of the Shamer Quartet, by Lene Kaaberbol. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good young adult fantasy read.

[Daemrion]

Just finished Stormed Fortress by Janny Wurts and Harry Potter Number 7.

Stormed Fortress: The usual Wurts. But I'm really beginning to think that she will outdo Robert Jordan in terms of milking the cash cow. The pacing is just so slow now this one really grated on my nerves. And for goodness sakes someone run a sword through all those Aes-Sedai clones-bots especially Seldidie/Morriel.

5/10 only because I love reading about Arithon, and Sulfin Evend and the Fellowship.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: A good read, right until the Epilogue. I think the last battle at Hogwarts will be made into a spectacular battle scene in the movies. I hope that we get to see an extended Molly Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange duel too.

The only drawback I saw was that the Hallows seemed to pop out of nowhere and become really important (but maybe because I didn't pay attention in the earlier books) and the epilogue was just too scant. JK Rowling has had to deliver tidbits of what happened afterwards in interviews and the such. She probably should have incorporated that sort of information into the epilogue.

8.5/10. It was what I expected, could have been better but a job well done.

[Slynt]

I'm EXTREMLY drawn to GRRM. I can't get over his series. I am intrested in finding other books/series but i'm so afraid they will fall SOOO short of GRRM I am afraid to try anything just on a whim.

With that being said I have a HUGE thing (just like GRRM) for knights. Medieval times, and battles and war and heads rolling and the like are what I am looking for. A close personal friend is a fanatic of WoT by Jordan, and has encouraged me to start this series, I tried and I can't get past the first chapter because it doesn't have an ADULT feel, at least not yet, and thus far no knights, lords, ladies, bastards, executions, or the like.

I'm looking for a story that is adult-Medieval. I'm not to keen on lots of magic either, I like how GRRM has thus far made magic more speculative rather then spells being cast or something.

SO,

--Realistic

--Adult

-- Medieval

--Killing

--Adult Situations

--Good plot and twists

With that criteria is there anything (single book or series) that comes close? I see many series at the book store but like I said I am deathly afraid that I will be throwing money out the window to a shitty author lol.

Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

We are in the same boat, I could have written that post myself. Been searching for something to satisfy, but I usually end up re-reading DAH SERIES. I enjoy more the umpteenth reread of any ASOIAF novel than anything else ---

-- BUT --

recently I have actually been able to finish two non-ASOIAF books, so I will recommend those to you.

(I am tempted to buy this one after reading this thread: http://www.amazon.com/Curse-Chalion-Lois-M...reader_auth_dp)

Anyways.

THE BLADE ITSELF

http://www.amazon.com/Blade-Itself-First-L...4532&sr=1-2

THE SUNNE IN SPLENDOUR

http://www.amazon.com/Sunne-Splendour-Nove...4594&sr=1-1

I have also turned to non-fiction, buying books on heraldry, medieval warfare, castles, etc.

[Frost92]

We are in the same boat, I could have written that post myself. Been searching for something to satisfy, but I usually end up re-reading DAH SERIES. I enjoy more the umpteenth reread of any ASOIAF novel than anything else ---

-- BUT --

recently I have actually been able to finish two non-ASOIAF books, so I will recommend those to you.

(I am tempted to buy this one after reading this thread: http://www.amazon.com/Curse-Chalion-Lois-M...reader_auth_dp)

Anyways.

THE BLADE ITSELF

http://www.amazon.com/Blade-Itself-First-L...4532&sr=1-2

THE SUNNE IN SPLENDOUR

http://www.amazon.com/Sunne-Splendour-Nove...4594&sr=1-1

I have also turned to non-fiction, buying books on heraldry, medieval warfare, castles, etc.

I just finished Curse of Chalion. It's not a typical fantasy novel. There are no dragons or wizards like you would expect. There is not a whole lot of fighting or a great epic war, although there are some fight scenes on a smaller scale. Most of the violent wars and battles are told as history or memories. What this book basically is about is one man's struggle to rid a curse that has a hold on the royal family in Chalion. Religion plays a huge part in this book. It is very similar to the religion in Westeros in the ASOIAF world. The main theme concerns free will...are humans merely puppets or chess pieces for the gods to 'play with' or do humans willingly embrace the will of the gods. The main character basically struggles with that question throughout the book. The character development is done very well. You really get to see inside the main character's damaged soul and truly see how he grows throughout the story, both mentally and physically. It reminds me of the Eddard chapters in A Game Of Thrones. Sadly, the book is only told from one point of view. I would have liked to have read more about some other interesting characters, especially Ista. But the next book in the Chalion series features Ista as the main character, so no doubt the questions I had about her will be answered in that book. My only complaint is the author's use of compound sentences. You will find yourself having to go back an re-read a lot of lines as a result. But that does not take away from the story too much once you get used to her writing style. I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading the other books in the Chalion series.

I also started reading The Blade Itself. So far (five chapters in) it seems very cool. When the opening chapter is titled...The End , and features an exciting fight scene, I got the feeling that this book is taking no prisoners. It 'feels' very much like GRRM title...dark, graphic, and realistic medieval portrayal. You got to love a book that has a crippled torturer as one of the main POV characters! I got a good first impression about this series and Joe Abercrombie.

[Frost92]

Sorry double posted.

[bacchys]

Have you read his The Age of Unreason series? I thought they were pretty good, the author make use of different concepts (scientific alchemy instead of physics) and combines an alternate historical setting with steampunk elements and even some science fiction. Quite an refreshing and enjoyable mix. Plus some historical figures make their appereances: Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin and Peter the Great of Russia.

Yes, I have. I'd puttered past them at the library until I'd read Briar King, and then I decided they were worth a read. I was glad I did. They're more fantasy than alternative history, which is fine, even though the historical figures make their appearance and are relatively accurate character-wise (from what I know).

[Pillars of Irem]

Hey guys! Sorry if this is a frequent question, but I was looking over my favorite fantasy authors and I noticed that besides Robin Hobb and JK Rowling, they're all male. Do you guys have any suggestions? The only other ones I've read are Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffrey...and uhhh...did not like.

As far as female fantasy authors, K. F. Zuzulo is a she and wrote A Genie in the House of Saud: Zubis Rises. It's a supernatural thriller -- pretty fantastic -- delves into the world of djinn as real within the world of humans. This book is the first in a trilogy. Haven't read any of her other stuff. you can get the ebook at www.zubisrises.com

[The Boar of Gore]

Basically I read his book, Wizardry, which was just a massive attack at what he didn't like, filled to the brim with hypocritical nonsense such as decrying anything related to a happy ending. Moorcock never misses an opportunity to personally attack Tolkien, his supporters, legacy, works, life....you name it. It wears thin after a while.

Moreover, his decrying the apparent longing for a beautiful world strikes me as a very bitter guy. Not all fantasy needs to be tormented heroes wandering through gloomy, dark landscapes, only to perish at the end in a completely contrived death.

In fact, his foreward and afterward APOLOGIZE for his style in notes by Mieville and Vandermeer...And moreover, I got disgusted when he was throwing out works like Gormenghast which suffered from the same problems he described in prose and the like...his own novels suffered from such, but the underlying theme seemed to be 'read my books, only I can fix everything!'

Quite frankly, Moorcock struck me as a bitter old hypocrite who has become overshadowed by works and resorts to attacking them.

and then he said most fantasy heroes like Conan, and the like were 'perpetual adolescents' simply for daring to have fun once in a while and act cheerful....when he neglects to note that Conan, Aragorn, Frodo and the like meet their responsibilities in the end while Elric runs away like a spoiled brat again and again and again, lamenting the unfairness of it all. The perpetual child is who again?

Oh, and then he decided to attack other authors' backgrounds and personalities in his criticisms. Articulate he may be, but so's Terry Goodkind.

Plus, he strikes me as having a massive messiah complex.

I really don't see what disliking an author's personality has to do with liking their works. I don't read the books for their opinions; I read them for the story.

My recommendation:

The Many-Colored Land series by Julian May

These are historical novels rather than fantasy but GRRM's stuff has a historical feel:

I, Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves

Belisarius by Robert Graves (if you're really into Byzantine history)

The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault (someone asked after female authors: she mostly writes stories based on classical and archaic Greek history, also Cretan)

Conscience of the King by Alfred Duggan (he mostly writes about the crusades period but this one is set in the darkest of the Dark Ages and even King Arthur gets a look in)

[malek]

Can anyone tell me bit more of Neal Stephenson’s ‘Baroque Cycle’ ?

I heard good things about it, and generally seems like a fantasy with bit of realism, many interesting characters, and decent storyline.

Can anyone recommend it ?

[Defender of the Vale]

I just started the first book in the Baroque Cycle, and I must say that at this point (only 200 pgs into it) their isn't much fantasy there. Seems to me to be more like historical fiction, but maybe it will get more fantastical as it goes along. Either way I'm really enjoying it.

[Marcin]

Unforgettable and much regretted Black Company.

I’d like to recommend The Black Company series. It is really excellent.

I can’t believe that Glen Cook and his books are so little known. Apparently his books are known only to those who accidentally stumbled upon them. Many of such people become Glen Cook’s die hard fans, like me.

I started reading fantasy in late 2006, but I am not a teenager. I’m 30 (THIRTY) years old and I just wanted to read something entertaining to keep me in touch with English. English is not my native tongue, so forgive me if I make mistakes.

I didn’t picked The Black Company totally by accident, but it was close. I wanted to read something fast paced, and with not so much detailed description. I also wanted to read books set in a medieval setting. I read hundreds of reviews and opinions about many books. I read many recommendation lists and in one of them (that site wasn’t even in English) I found it! It was just one sentence (something like the first one above), but it was enough to set me on search for The Black Company. Slowly I found out more and more about this series. I even found on the net the first chapter and it was action from the start. Narrative was maybe a little rough but it didn’t matter. I knew that it was what I was looking for. During next few months I bought and read all of The Black Company books and two more stand alone novels written by Glen Cook - “Tower of fear†(fantasy) and “Dragon never sleeps†(science fiction). All of them are highly recommended.

I know that there are many readers who love to criticize almost everything they read. Don’t listen to them! Every one of us knows better what he/she likes. I like action and gritty realism, spiced with a little humor, and mystery. Glen Cook’s books are full of that stuff. Asked how seriously readers should take his work, Glen Cook answered “Only this seriously: try to have a good time. No writer should be taken as seriously as the parasites want to put on. Especially where the writers think so themselves.â€

Well, I’m having plenty of good time with his books.

[malek]

I just started the first book in the Baroque Cycle, and I must say that at this point (only 200 pgs into it) their isn't much fantasy there. Seems to me to be more like historical fiction, but maybe it will get more fantastical as it goes along. Either way I'm really enjoying it.

Thanks mate, I'm really eager to try it out

[Astra]

I’d like to recommend The Black Company series. It is really excellent.

I am not a teenager. I’m 30 (THIRTY) years old.

I am 34. I read BC about 3 years ago. So...when I enjoyed the series I was not a teenager too

[Insert Edit]

Unforgettable and much regretted Black Company.

I’d like to recommend The Black Company series. It is really excellent.

<snip>

Asked how seriously readers should take his work, Glen Cook answered “Only this seriously: try to have a good time. No writer should be taken as seriously as the parasites want to put on. Especially where the writers think so themselves.â€

Well, I’m having plenty of good time with his books.

There's more than a few writers in the genre today that point to Cook as an influence. Playing around with archetypes, lean prose, morally ambiguous characters. I really enjoyed the BC books. Not everyone's cup of tea - but at least he wasn't churning out the same ol' formulaic shlock lots of other writers were.

[ytee]

For anyone who's thinking of reading Patrick Rothfuss' 'The Name of the Wind' I would try and avoid it. It's being bandied about as 'the next big thing' but if the next installment were to see everyone killed off in a mess of entrails and flying limbs I wouldn't shed a tear. 'The Blade Itself' and its sequel (by Joe Abercrombie) are marginally better. Interesting characters, just wish he'd put them to better use.

[Daemrion]

I'm going to recommend reading The Palace of Impossible Dreams by Jennifer Fallon. Third in the Tide Lords series (with the fourth coming out Dec 1st in Aust).

I loved the twists and turns this one took, especially right at the end. Almost as good as the Red Wedding. I was shocked and had no idea that was coming. The characterisation was great as well. I'll give it a 9/10.

[Melikon]

John Marko's "Tyrants and Kings" Trilogy

Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga.

Terry Brooks Original and Heritage of Shannara series.

Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders Series.

David Eddings Elenium Series.

Conan novels and short stories written by John Maddox Roberts and of course Robert E. Howard.

[Samalander]

I wish to recommend "The Sword Edged Blonde" by Alex Bledsoe.

This is a fantasy book written as a film noir detective novel (or vice versa). There have been attempts to cross film-noir with other genres these past few years (The film "brick" comes to mind: film noir-highschool movie cross). This book has succeeded spectacularly. Could not put it down. Literally. Read the whole thing in 4 hours, and only paused to take a drink of water to avoid dehydration. I really like books that flow even if their quality is not so good. This one has quality and flow. This book also has all the other stuff people trump : Character depth, moral ambivalence, flashbacks...

Go read it!

[Black Wizard]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this earlier but I didn't want to read through pages and pages of posts from last year, sorry.

I'm EXTREMLY drawn to GRRM. I can't get over his series. I am intrested in finding other books/series but i'm so afraid they will fall SOOO short of GRRM I am afraid to try anything just on a whim.

With that being said I have a HUGE thing (just like GRRM) for knights. Medieval times, and battles and war and heads rolling and the like are what I am looking for. A close personal friend is a fanatic of WoT by Jordan, and has encouraged me to start this series, I tried and I can't get past the first chapter because it doesn't have an ADULT feel, at least not yet, and thus far no knights, lords, ladies, bastards, executions, or the like.

I'm looking for a story that is adult-Medieval. I'm not to keen on lots of magic either, I like how GRRM has thus far made magic more speculative rather then spells being cast or something.

SO,

--Realistic

--Adult

-- Medieval

--Killing

--Adult Situations

--Good plot and twists

With that criteria is there anything (single book or series) that comes close? I see many series at the book store but like I said I am deathly afraid that I will be throwing money out the window to a shitty author lol.

Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

I know this quote is from a long time back, but I have to recommend that you read Historical Fiction for the above criteria. Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles are three of the best books I've ever read and satisfy those criteria, and more!