Best Fantasy Trilogy/series/Book?

Ruaidhri · 15-04-2002 7:04pm #1

ok not sure if this should go in the litature thread..but hey.i'm not going cross posting.
so what do you think?My personal favourites are
Trilogy: The Cycle Of Fire by Janny Wurts
Series: A Song if Fire and Ice By Geroge R.R. Martin(well it started out as a trilogy..but the last part has 2 books?)
Book:Master of Whitestorm By Janny Wurts

Terminator · 16-04-2002 12:58am

A song of Ice and Fire was never meant to be a trilogy (and thank god for that!). Book 4 should be out later this year.

When it comes to trilogies you really can't get better than LOTR - the world Tolkien created was and still is staggering. I could read it a million times and never get tired of it.

Slydice · 16-04-2002 2:39am

Belgariad for best book series thingey

SHAMAN · 18-04-2002 3:36pm

Originally posted by Slydice
Belgariad for best book series thingey

I second that, though I'm glad it wasn't a trilogy. Lot's of details.

Saruman · 22-04-2002 4:44pm

Lord of the Rings ended up being a Triliogy i suppose... i would have to say that.. however I would have to say the Belgariad is up there.. as is the daughter of the empire series..

Ruaidhri the cycle of fire series i did not think was all that great.. it was good though.

A Song if Fire and Ice By Geroge R.R. Martin i have not read that yet,.. its on my list along with wheel of time.. just finished most of David eddings books apart from that Athalus one and the riven codex (cant be arsed) and im looking out for Polgara the sorceress....

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 22-04-2002 6:30pm

i have a few favourites

prob tad williams "memory, sorrow and thorn" and his Otherland series.. and the wheel of time.. if ever it bloody finishes

bonkey · 22-04-2002 7:15pm

Hmmm.

I think The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stepten Donaldson has to be my all time fave trilogy.

His writing was second only to Tolkiens in descriptiveness, but he had far, far better characterisation.

Series...Hmmm.....I think I'd go for the Newford chronicles by Charles de Lint. More a connected set of stories than a series, I know, but hey.....

Book. Hmmm. Discounting anything which was in a series of some sort....hmmmmmm. I'll need to think about that.

jc

moridin · 22-04-2002 8:49pm

Originally posted by Slydice
Belgariad for best book series thingey

Good God, the Belgariad is such a pile of crap! :mad:

Okay, perhaps that's a little strong, but the Belgariad is pretty obviously a very basic fantasy series, best suited to kids that are just getting their teeth into fantasy.

If you're looking for a good read then you should check out any of Steven Eriksons books, starting with Gardens of the Moon, or as someone else said George RR Martin rocks too

leejon · 22-04-2002 8:54pm

Thomas Covenenant Chronicles.... brilliant.
The Magician Trilogy by Raymond E. Feist.... excellent!

moridin · 22-04-2002 8:59pm

Originally posted by bonkey
Hmmm.

I think The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stepten Donaldson has to be my all time fave trilogy.

His writing was second only to Tolkiens in descriptiveness, but he had far, far better characterisation.

jc

*nod* A good series, although the second series wasn't really up to scratch. Sometimes annoying due to the amount of psycho-babble that went on in it though

Still, a good story, and it started me reading his Gap Series, which is by far and away the best Sci-Fi series that I've read

leejon · 22-04-2002 9:04pm

The Dragonbone Chair - Trilogy by Tad Williams. Started off really boring but turned out great. Well worth a read. Memory Sorrow and Thorn.

Also the Blood Of The Fold Series by Terry Goodkind although they have kind of gotten away from the trilogy thing they are good.

bonkey · 22-04-2002 10:52pm

Originally posted by moridin
*nod* A good series, although the second series wasn't really up to scratch. Sometimes annoying due to the amount of psycho-babble that went on in it though

Agreed. Neither were any of his short stories set in the same world much use either, IMHO.

Actually, after the first trilogy, I was thoroughly unimpressed with anything he wrote until he switched genres to :

Still, a good story, and it started me reading his Gap Series, which is by far and away the best Sci-Fi series that I've read

Its pure class. If this was a fantasy/sci-fi question, I'd have to put The Gap as the top series

jc

Manach · 22-04-2002 11:40pm

Excluding Tolkein's work, my top 3 in no particular order.
Dragonbone chair by Williams.
Farseers by Robin Hobb
Unbeliever Series by Covenant

Bosco · 22-04-2002 11:54pm

George RR Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' gets my vote, not just among sci-fi/fantasy series but among all the books I've ever read. Crackin' stuff.

Still though, it all comes down to taste. You might as well ask what the 'best' flavour of crisps is.

xern · 26-04-2002 1:49pm

i think the Wheel of time book series from Robert Jordan is good. it's up to book 10 now i think. it keeps you coming back for more!

still whatever your into i suppose!!

Scruff · 26-04-2002 2:05pm

Originally posted by Bosco
George RR Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' gets my vote, not just among sci-fi/fantasy series but among all the books I've ever read. Crackin' stuff.

Still though, it all comes down to taste. You might as well ask what the 'best' flavour of crisps is.

I'll second all the above statements....even though A Song of ice and Fire is THE best fantasy series

Ruaidhri · 26-04-2002 9:23pm

George RR Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' gets my vote, not just among sci-fi/fantasy series but among all the books I've ever read. Crackin' stuff.

Definatly..cant wait till winter(4 November)..the scope is MIND BLOWING (and they got dragons)

Clinical Waste · 01-05-2002 8:37am

Originally posted by moridin
A good series, although the second series wasn't really up to scratch. Sometimes annoying due to the amount of psycho-babble that went on in it though

Still, a good story, and it started me reading his Gap Series, which is by far and away the best Sci-Fi series that I've read [/B]

Exactly what I would have said.

EvilGeorge · 01-05-2002 9:32am

Reading the starwars proposed books volumes 7,8,9 (ie set after the movies) by Timothy Zahn - these are excellent, do recommend them if your a starwars fan, but dosent match up to Lord of the Rings I'm afraid - all time classic.

Yoda · 02-05-2002 3:57pm

Fantasy?

There are only two series I can bear reading; so much the rest is terribly derivative.

Middle-earth and Earthsea, that's for me.

Xterminator · 02-05-2002 4:14pm

I would say the Thomas Covenant series was great,

I enjoyed the other stories he wrote with Mirrors and imagers etc ... the name of the series escapes my mind at the moment.

Theresa was the heroine? .. .anybody ... throw me a friggin' bone !

X

che · 03-05-2002 6:16pm

people. you seem to be forgeting Dune by Frank Herbert. all 6 of them. first three rocked and the second three confused (but in a good way)
the 2 Robin Hobb trilogys were great and the new book in her third shows she aint gonna be changing that habit.
i didnt like thomas covenent a whole lot i have to say, cant put a reaon on it,i just didnt enjoy it.
george rr martin rules though .

cerebus · 03-05-2002 6:56pm

Two suggestions which you may not have read/seen before:

James Blaylock:
The Elfin Ship
The Disappearing Dwarf
The Stone Giant (kind of a prequel to the first two - helps to read the other two first though)

These are out of print unfortunately, but you might be able to track down copies in secondhand stores. They may not appeal to everyone, but worth checking out just in case.

Tim Powers:
Last Call
Expiration Date
Earthquake weather

Again, slightly offbeat so may not be everybody's cup of tea. Sort of vaguely similar to stuff by Charles De Lint, so if you're a fan of De Lint it might be worth checking these out.

Who knows, they might even get you interested in other stuff by Blaylock or Powers...

DapperGent · 04-05-2002 1:26am

On the trilogy front there really isn't anything that can compare to the Lord of the Rings and nothing thats even tried to come close.

As a series the one that looked th emost promising was Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time this is turning into a farce with each further installment. A shame but can still be turned around.

Other stuff that was good was Raymond E. Feist before he wrote the last book in the Empire series everything after this is dung.

As a stand alone novel of whihc there are few in Fantasy I'd have to plum for Magician by Feist again but get the the old version not the ten year revisited muck up.

MAn that guy must have had a stroke or something.

Yoda · 04-05-2002 1:30pm

Originally posted by che
people. you seem to be forgeting Dune by Frank Herbert.

Dune isn't fantasy; it is science fiction.

The Corinthian · 04-05-2002 2:04pm

I'd echo the views expressed on the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - the first chronicles anyhow.

Lord of the Rings is obliviously the metre stick by which all other fantasy is measured - or copied. Given this, let's be honest, while Tolken created a rich World in his magnus opus, he did populate it with fairly two-dimensional characters.

Most other works of the genre tend to be poor on a literary level. I remember reading the first page of the Belgariad and thinking "well, no prizes for guessing how this all ends". Easy, fun, pulp reading - the printed equivalent of a straight to video movie.

I suppose the Dragonlance Legends series deserves a mention. As a series of books, Dragonlance was dreadful, but at least the character of Raistlin did add a little something.

(Awaits flame... :rolleyes: )

beserker · 06-05-2002 8:43pm

I dunno if its a true series but the world david gemmel created with Waylander books and the druss books are brilliant. Second only to a Song of Ice and Fire. As mentioned above Daughter\Servant\Mistress of the Empire is excellent as well. I read these over and over. Trying to get started on Wheel of Time but I couldnt find a copy of book 1 anywhere in town (cork) when i looked:(

EDIT: I totally forgot to mention Gemmels books about macedonia. They're about alexander the great. brilliant stuff, really epic.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 07-05-2002 3:58pm

yeah, gemmels drenai series is brilliant, and his new one.. with er.. the (not quite) romsans and celts is cool too.

horndog 2 · 10-05-2002 9:21am

have to say that Raymond E Feist for me is the best Author I read in a long time,

Celt · 11-05-2002 12:43am

Wobin Hobb wulez!

Saruman · 13-05-2002 9:57am

Just started George R.R. Martin 's "Song of ice and Fire" series at the weekend! Impressive so far... I notice (and some might not agree) but he seems to be a little like David Eddings in the way he writes... dont know maybe its just he used the word "melancholy" a few times.. no where near as much as Eddings though!

Best Fantasy Trilogy/series/Book?

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