Fantasy Book

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Khalifa Kush, Apr 27, 2017.

  1. Roxas MM Augur

    first, i am dutch and i read in dutch ,so i dont know the titles of series in english.
    But if you want to read about dwarfs, there's german writer named Markus Heitz who wrote 6 books about those bearded guys.
    i'm pretty sure in english the series will be called The Dwarfs ( if it exists in english).
    further, i'm a big fan of Joe Abercrombie. his books are fast paced and has a lot of dark humor in it.
    noone mentioned Brent Weeks yet. I have 3 books written by him. The series is probably called the angels of the night ( or something simular). Kinda same commend as Abercrombie. fast paced, humor, but also gruesome at times. ( so there's no wizzard who just can wave his wants and all is well again.)
    Lately we've found David Hair. series is called the moontide Quartet.
    Lastly, there's Elizabeth Haydon. Her bopks about Rapsodie are both by me and my wife read at least half a dozen times by now and still we love reading them again.
  2. Intin Elder

    There are so many good suggestions in this thread. My list would be a rehash of a lot of them:

    Wheel of Time
    Mistborn Trilogy - there is also a followup series to this that is related, but different characters.
    Stormlight Archive - time investment in waiting. Will likely be 6 more years before the first five are finished.
    Assassin's books by Robin Hobbs - There are three trilogies set around Fitz and the Fool. The third one will conclude next month.
    All those Drizzt books. Don't listen to what people say and stop at any point. You must finish them all. The ending is too good to miss.
    PathToEternity likes this.
  3. Troutfest Augur

    Probably the series that got me into fantasy in the first place would be Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books. They were collections of stories that were loosely connected in time but a great read. Older books so might be some folks have missed them.
    Kieren likes this.
  4. Hayzeus Augur

    Tons of good ones listed already, so I'll go into a deeper dive into some more eclectic titles:
    Some of these titles may require a good used book store to find:

    Robert Don Hughes - Pelman the Powershaper series

    Clive Barker - Imajca or Weaveworld (not a series, just two good books)

    Terry Brooks - Magic Kingdom - Landover series

    Jack Chalker - Changewinds series
    Jack Chalker - Dancing Gods series
    Jack Chalker - Well World series (more sci-fi than fantasy, but there are enough books here to keep you busy reading for a while)

    Tad Williams - Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, Thorn series)

    Melanie Rawn - Dragon Prince series

    Melanie Rawn - Exiles - I normally would not add this one as she wrote two (fantastic) books and then stopped writing the series. Twenty years later, in 2014, she finally announced that she will start work on the third novel called The Captal's Tower... so it may be a decent time to pick up the series. Just be aware that she may never write the third book... hrrmpph
    MoveFastRZ likes this.
  5. MoveFastRZ Bloodsaber

    Just giving a thumbs-up to Hayzeus' signature. Real talk.
  6. Ashran Journeyman

    Three fairly new ongoing series I've been reading lately are:

    Song of the Shattered Sands series by Bradley Beaulieu (first book called Twelve Kings of Sharakhai)
    The Wild Hunt series by Elspeth Cooper (first book called Songs of the Earth)

    I'm a bit surprised no one mentioned the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. Or did I just miss it?
  7. Prathun Developer

    The "A Song of Ice and Fire" series might be of interest to you.
    There are dwarves (kinda), giants, dragons, zombies, and magic.
    I'm looking forward to The Winds of Winter, whenever it releases.
    Corwyhn Lionheart and Xanumbik like this.
  8. Chaosflux Augur

    You mean if it ever releases :p
    Xanumbik, Nniki and Prathun like this.
  9. Xanumbik Augur



    If he lives to finish writing it ugg
  10. Brohg Augur

    The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever has not been mentioned. It is challenging, compared to many of the offerings, but highly rewarding. The author's Sci-Fi themed Gap Saga is likewise a rough read, but an incredible journey.
  11. Reht The Dude abides...

    Yes it has....
  12. PathToEternity pathtoeternity.pro

    Sanderson has been mentioned a lot already in this thread and he is most definitely my favorite author, but I only saw one mention of Scott Lynch's books, the Gentlemen Bastard Sequence.

    The writing style is phenomenal, and if you like the heist style of The Final Empire (or Ocean's Eleven) you will love these books, which is the good news.

    The bad news is this author has some kind of serious depression (?) issues or something, and he is super spotty about releasing books. The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies (Ocean's Eleven meets Pirates of the Caribbean?) came out almost back to back about ten years ago, and then we had to wait until 2013 to get the third installment, The Republic of Thieves. Book #4, The Thorn of Emberlain, is still forthcoming, and who knows about the other 3 planned books in the series. I think the release date for Thorn has been pushed back at least twice now, maybe more?

    Thankfully, these aren't really so much of an epic or a saga as just standalone serial novels written about the same main character(s). So if no more books came out they would still be worth reading and except for a small handful of minor plot lines you would still have a nice little self contained trilogy.
    skattabrainz likes this.
  13. Manfred Wilmont New Member

    Brent Weeks - Night Angel/Lightbringer
    Jim Butcher- 'Nother vote
    Terry Pratchett - All of the Discworld
    Glen Cook - The Black Company
  14. Iyacc Augur

    Have read and loved all of these but Kurtz and Erickson - didn't read those two series.
  15. skattabrainz Augur

    I love the series in progress by Scott Lynch, beginning with The Lies of Locke Lamorra. Stellar characterisation and world building by an author whose best years are still ahead of him. Have never recommended the Locke Lamorra books to anyone and heard anything but positive feedback.
  16. Reht The Dude abides...

    Interesting blog on regarding Scott Lynch vs Rothfuss vs Martin.
  17. Stahn New Member

    My favorites have all been covered so I'll move away a bit from the "epic" fantasy genre and make a recommendation that you might like. It is titled the "Thieves World" series.

    The thieves world is centered on a town called Sanctuary, the seediest, most dangerous down and dirty town in the Rankan Empire. It's out of the way and not really considered of much importance by anyone other than those who live there so it get only nominal attention from the governing powers and as a result, well you can imagine it I'm sure. I'll just say that corruption is not unknown in Sanctuary.

    What makes the "Thieves World"series unique is that instead of novels, (there are novels set in the same world fyi), each book is an anthology of short stories written by some of the very best fantasy and sci fi authors ever. Andrew J. Offut, C.J. Cheryh, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Poul Anderson, John Brunner, to name just a few. Each author has their own character within the story world and sometimes they intertwine storylines. What's kind of cool is that the world is dynamic and changes based upon the events in the stories. It's pretty cool. The series was edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynne Abbey, names any fantasy devotee must be at least passing familiar with.

    The series might be out of print but I just checked and used copies are avail on Amazon at pretty nice prices.

    Check it out and join Tempus, Shadowspawn, Randal and evil Roxanne, (the nisbiisi witch ), and the rest of the cast. As series books go, it's my all time favorite.

    Yes, I am a fanboy for Thieve's World.
  18. Reht The Dude abides...

    Probably been 30 years since i thought about or even heard of Thieve's World, boy that brings back some memories!
  19. Corwyhn Lionheart Guild Leader, Lions of the Heart

    Yeah got mentioned but I agree. Loved that series. My dad got me the first trilogy for Christmas and I had read them all within a week.
  20. Roartyger Smoot Elder

    Jack Vance, anything he wrote if you can find it. If you are one of the owners of any of the Vance Integral Editions collecting all his writings, I HATE YOU. I wish I could afford to buy a VIE. Fantasy and Science Fiction. The Demon Princes series is not fantasy but I am ready to read it a third time. Maske Thaery, The Cluster Series, Planet of Adventure, The Lyonesse Trilogy, The Grey Prince, The Dying Earth, anything by Vance really. Vance's Dying Earth books were the inspiration for the D&D magic system.

    Tanith Lee had a somehat quirky Paladin named Cyrian. Don't settle for the one book though she wrote a lot of fantasy, most of it was published by Donald A. Wollheim so you also have some great artwork with the DAWs paperbacks..

    Roger Zelazny. The Amber Series has been mentioned already, also look for Jack of Shadows, G.O.D. Inc., Lord of Light, Creatures of Light and Darkness, The Doors of his Face, The Lamps of his Mouth, Call me Conrad also titled This Immortal, My name is Legion and anything else he wrote.

    Philip Jose Farmer. Steer clear of the sci fi channels Riverworld crap. Just read the books. If you really want to watch the movies keep in mind that PJF did not say good things about it. The World of Tiers, This series is about pocket universes and the ancient race of Thoans. Farmer was a fan of the poet William Blake. Blake had some interesting names and PJF used these names. So of course I had to read the Blake to appreciate the names more, Urizen, Jadawin, Theotormon, Vala, Anana, RED ORC. If you recognize Red Orc then you also may recall Roy Batty in Bladerunner quoting Blake and changing the quote from 'Fiery, the angels rose' to 'Fiery, the angels fell'. Yes that is the correct way to spell 'firey' but fierce isn't firece.

    PJF also wrote some Tarzan stories but the names changed. A feast unknown and The mad goblin. A much grittier and violent Tarzan who really delivers the beat down to his enemies after they go after him, the they being the Nine Immortals who have the secret of eternal life. Some of the Nine may actually be Thoans. Also look for Mother was a lovely beast. A compilation of short stories by other authors about feral children in fictional stories. Tarzan again in the future living a longer than normal life, a bit senile and setting his sights on killing all the members of congress. How it gets there is hilarious. While not written by him the stories in the book are worth looking for the book to read.

    Gene Wolfe. Surprised that no one else has mentioned Sevverian the Torturer. Who wouldn't want a fugilan cloak that was made of a material that was darker than black. Kvothe's enshaedn cloak is Patrick Rothfuss's version. It's interesting reading newer authors and seeing who influenced them. Hmmm Fugilan cloak, fuligan stone of hate?

    Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany. There are some salacious bits in the book. Sex with a tree, a dryad of sorts maybe? Eh some um er um well the second sex scene in the book just try to get yourself past it and then I don't think I recall any others. It's about Bellona, a city somewhere in the midwestern USA that is cordoned off by the military, people are still somehow able to get past the miltary and go into the city. Something about a singularity. Read the book 3 times and I still don't know if I understand what is happening.

    Strange sex your thing? Humans undergoing a metamorphisis? Maybe Storm Constantine's book Wraethu. Humans are evolving, males going through a change around puberty into a race that seems somewhat elven. I want to be clear to those that may have their head explode if they read this book and can't handle it and get mad they bought it. If you are phobic about about guys with guys or girls with girls do not get this book. It doesn't get overtly sexual, but it may make some uncomfortable.

    Eric Van Lustbader's Sunset Warrior Cycle. Post apocalyptic earth samurai saga? I need to dig up my copies and reread it a third time. It's been a long time so I'd rather surprise myself.

    Dumarest of Terra by E.C Tubb. Trying to get all the books in this series may be easier than getting all the Gor books by John Norman. Some people don't like Mary Sue type characters, I prefer to think of them as the everyman hero type, Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China is an everyman hero type, Force of Nature. Earl Dumarest is trying to get back home. As a child stowaway he ends up far far from Earth. So far after many years that no one he asks has ever heard of the planet Earth. As he struggles to get back home he uncovers a conspiracy by an organization caled the Cyclons trying to keep Earth hidden and he become's a target after he acquires a genetic code sequence that they are after. Somewhat of a ladies man. Most of the women who fall for him become the targets of the Cyclons, fueling his rage for any of their agents he comes across.

    Thomas Burnett Swann. The Day of the Minotaur, The Forest of Forever, In these books you will find modern day fictional references to Bixies as the Thriae, a race of jewelcrafting ants called Telchin, Minotaurs, Dryads, Satyrs. These books are out there, often overlooked on the used bookstore shelf. Again DAWs covers and artwork although ACE books published some also.

    I have to stop. I haven't had any grain alcohol to drink and I am somewhat surprised at how much I have put down here and how much there is still left.