I'm looking for another good fantasy book or series. Everytime I go to my local bookstore I look for a good book and can never seem to find one. Please post your favorite fantasy book so I can give it a try! Thanks These are my favorites -One of my favorite fantasy series is the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, however after about the 3rd book they start to go a bit downhill (ninth may be the exception). -I highly recommend the 'Sword of Shadows' series by J.V Jones. Very well written, the characters are believable, and you want to keep reading until you're done! -'The Farseer Trilogy' by Robin Hobb is interesting and well written! Her Tawny Man Trilogy and Liveship Traders Trilogy are also worth a mention, especially as a few of the characters are interlinked between all the series.
Steven Erikson's Malazan books. First one is Gardens of the Moon. Great series. Nice worldbuilding (in fact probably the best of any series going). Also, George R. R. Martin's series is good, but it isn't complete yet and he's not getting any younger or healthier. That's my only concern with that one.
Aside from my own lol Agatha Christie - Hound of Death is a series of short stories which are fantasy/horror/scifi based. Enid Blyton - The Faraway Tree is still one of my favourites Terry Pratchett - Discworld
The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. A great magic system, nice characters, neat worldbuilding. Plus the magic systems expand further in books two and three. The Night Angel Trilogy, starts with The Way of Shadows, by Brent Weeks. Again, nice characters, a great magic system, and a ton of political intrigue. The Dresden Files, starting with Storm Front, by Jim Butcher. Funny, violent, great magic system. The first one is okay, the second one's good, the third and fourth are okay, and from the fifth book onward the series just gets more and more epic. Excellent urban fantasy. The Codex Alera, starting with Furies of Calderon, by Jim Butcher. This is more epic fantasy than urban -- it takes place more-or-less in an alternate world where a Roman legion got warped to a strange new planet, learned magic and re-built the Empire. The books get better over time, although the first one is still okay. Neat magic system, neat non-human species, and a pretty cool cast of characters. Transformation by Carol Berg. Dark fantasy. Yes, there is magic and a fantastic political / country system, but it is not a happy fuzzy sort of world. I think the main character gets branded on the face on, like, page ten or thereabouts. The book is nonetheless amazing, and I think there is a lot to be said for an author who can write a main character who used to be a great magic user but who can no longer do that sort of awesome magic, and write it so the readers are riveted anyway. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Premise is a more-or-less-retired magical badass is asked for an interview about his life, which is like saying the premise of the Sword of Truth is that Richard Cypher leaves the woods and gets a girlfriend. Well, yes, because anything else spoils it. Nice magic system, nice cast of characters, and a number of fantastic ... oh god spoilers. Um. Just read this book, you'll understand. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik. It's the Napoleonic war, and Britain's air corps -- mounted on dragons -- is having a hard time against Napoleon and his allies. In the meantime, a ship's captain has taken up pursuit of a French vessel with quite valuable cargo. The author is a historian, and it shows; the integration of 1800s society with dragons is kind of amazing. Also, the aerial battles in this series are among the best I've ever read. World War Z by Max Brooks. An oral history of the zombie war. It's great, and scary. Urban fantasy at its best. Highly recommended. Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling. This is, um, an odd combination of alternate history, science fiction, and fantasy. On March 15, 1998, 6:15 p.m. Pacific Time, the Gods change their minds about Earth -- and electicity, explosives and steam pressure get hacked into uselessness. Cells aren't affected, but circuits and gunpowder and nuclear weapons are, and society has to re-build while evacuating cities and trying to re-learn skills like farming sans tractors, hunting sans guns, and building fortified towns with nary a Bulldozer in sight. The magic system is incredibly subtle in this first book; you could even explain it away as the character's opinions, if it weren't for the fact that the magic becomes more pronounced as the series goes on. Watership Down by Richard Adams. Premise: A group of rabbits find a new home. Nonetheless an absolutely amazing book that covers rabbit culture, language, war, mythology, and politics. And a magic system that revolves around prophecy. I second the nomination of Song of Ice and Fire, starting with A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin. Good cast, subtle magic, dangerous politics, and characters the reader can't always be certain of -- including who the good and bad guys truly are.
Never really tried out Erikson's series. But yeah, sometimes I lose faith in GRRM's dedication to completing his series.
Garden's of the Moon is the first one. A lot of dangerous and powerful magic (in contract to GRRM). Erikson's world-building surpasses anything I've read that is currently going (and probably anything overall besides maybe LOTR). Love the GRRM books, though. I just hope he finishes.
Neil Gailmans "Sandman" comics because he redefined fantasy and comics, intertwine the fantastic and divine with the ordinary and is a master storyteller weaving a myriad of smaller stories like the facets of a diamond into a fantastic whole. Combining horror and fairytale, dish bench realism with mythology, and tells a stories about stories. The first album is a bit searching for its form, but in the last story in that album everything begins to take of.
I can't believe no one mentioned R.A.Salvatore. His Drizzt series was pretty epic, though I should mention that is more action than anything else. Robert Jordan also wrote some Conan stories, and they were pretty darn good. Robert E. Howard's Conan series are probably my personal favorite, but he also wrote some very good stories about Solomon Kane, Kull, Bran Mak Morn and one story featuring Red Sonya of Rogatino.
One of my favorite fantasy series is quite unknown. The Twelve Kingdoms series, starting with Sea of Shadow, by Fuyumi Ono. It's heavy with character development and political intrigue. The author is a historian who specializes in Chinese history and it shows in the books. Still, the concepts and character developments are wonderful. You will start out hating a character and by the end, love them as they realize their own flaws with the problems they face in the books.
I like the 'Dragonriders of Pern' series by Anne McCaffrey, 'The Song in the Silence' trilogy by Elizabeth Kerner, 'Liveship' trilogy and 'Dragon Keeper' books by Robin Hobb, 'Samaria' Books by Sharon Shinn. 'Weather Warden' books by Rachel Caine 'Temeraire' books by Naomi Novak "Dinotopia Lost' by Alan Dean Foster 'Elantris' and the 'Mistborn' Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson 'Dragon Delasangre' books by Alan F. Troop You'll notice a distinct pattern of dragon-heavy books there, lol. ...well, I could just go on for days about all my favorite books and series, but those are some of my very favorites.
I was just coming in here to mention R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt series. They are definitely fun reads. I am currently halfway through rereading Sojourn from the Dark Elf Trilogy.
After echoing Abercrombie's The First Law and, of course, Martin's Ice and Fire, one of my favorites is The Fionovar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay. The Drizzt series is getting better now that Salvatore is learning how to kill characters and not have them come back every. sodding. time. I've been meaning to pick up the Malazan books as my boss told me they're quite good. Read The Name of the Wind and found it to be a rather painful bore. The main character was the world's biggest douchebag and not in the good Martin way. In the way that we're supposed to like him as a good guy, but find him ultimately unlikable. Also, everything interesting that is mentioned on the back of the book doesn't happen. I understand it's supposed to be a series, but for heaven's sake...
I liked Name of the Wind. And the main character I don't read the back of books so I can't comment on that.
I immensley enjoy GRRM's series - A Song of Ice and Fire. Though I have been steadily losing faith in him for awhile now. I mean, it's been what, five years since A Feast for Crows? And even if he did finish Dance today, it wouldn't be out till next year I'm guessing. Looking at his blog, he talks more about the NFL and the HBO series - which is going to wrap him up even more. He's getting old, and unhealthy. I'm worried he's going to pull a Robert Jordan.
