best fantasy books

Paddy Samurai

Dades wrote: »

Paddy - sounds very interesting...

What of his would you suggest for a first read?

Dades you could try either one..................why not get both ?.

But if only one try "The Drawing of the Dark" I have an affinity for that one, the main character is an Irish Mercenary and beer plays a part in the plot.:D



http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780575074262/The-Drawing-of-the-Dark


http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781930235328/On-Stranger-Tides


PS:If you read it ,let me know what you think?.

ixoy

I've read "The Anubis Gates" and "The Stress of Her Regard" (which had a very interesting take on the likes of Shelley and Byron!). Very original stuff - I mean to read more of his books at some point.

Dades

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

Dades you could try either one..................why not get both ?.

But if only one try "The Drawing of the Dark" I have an affinity for that one, the main character is an Irish Mercenary and beer plays a part in the plot.:D

Both would be pushing it given my backlog and serious lack of reading time! (I read about 8 pages of The Passage in the last two nights before passing out...)

Have noted them down and will pick one up the next time I'm in a reputable bookshoppe!

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

PS:If you read it ,let me know what you think?.

Will do.

Paddy Samurai

Dades wrote: »

(I read about 8 pages of The Passage in the last two nights before passing out...)

That used to happen to me.I invested in a good florescent reading lamp....lol its like a stadium floodlight.No more falling asleep while reading.It makes a big difference.

I know what you mean by backlog.....I have 40+ unread.

Dades

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

That used to happen to me.I invested in a good florescent reading lamp....lol its like a stadium floodlight...

Not an option with a 5 month old at the end of the bed.

xxshebeexx

I'm kind of stuck in a weird rut - I started reading Robert Jordan's WOT ten years ago and I've tried to get into other fantasy since .. I've tried Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit (persevered all the way through but my gosh, was I bored), tried Stephen King and a couple of random books, but I can't get into any of them. Robert Jordan has set my fantasy bar so high that I can't find a match!

Anyone got any recommendations? Something detailed and complex, like WOT, something which preferably runs into a longer series. I'm a huge fan of Star Wars Expanded Universe stuff - so it's long series that draws you in with complex, interesting characters that I'm looking for! Well, even a good trilogy would do! I'd love to read more fantasy but I haven't found anything to match Robert Jordan yet!

Teferi

Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy. I cannot reccomend it enough.

Trojan

Teferi wrote: »

Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy. I cannot reccomend it enough.

I certainly enjoyed it, nice spin on the usual magic vs assassin business.

Can anyone recommend any other "assassin" type books apart from Weeks and Hobbs?

AnCapaillMor

Detailed and long, Terry Goodkinds seeker books, 1st one did'nt really impress me but after that it really picked up, one or 2 dud books in the series(if you've starwarrs you'll be used to the odd dud book). You might try joe abercrombies 1st law trilogy, brutal in the good way and entertaining. 1 3rd the weeks books. Also if you're willing to wait, there's the song of ice and fire books.

Trojan i read weeks trilogy around the same time as abercrombies 1st law and they felt the same. So worth a try.

XshebeX, big into the SW extended universe myself what do you think of the way the universe has gone since the NJO books. Loved the NJO but for me its seriously nosedived since it.

Corsendonk

Trojan wrote: »

I certainly enjoyed it, nice spin on the usual magic vs assassin business.

Can anyone recommend any other "assassin" type books apart from Weeks and Hobbs?

Steven Erikson Malazan Books if you like assassins and magic all in one. David Gemmell Waylander is good too.

me-skywalker

Why on earth does Amazon.co.uk have A Dance with Dragons down for release in on 29th Spetmeber 2011? Theres nothing else to corroborate this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dance-Dragons-Book-Song-Fire/dp/0002247399/ref=sr_1_cc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289848790&sr=1-1-catcorr

ixoy

me-skywalker wrote: »

Why on earth does Amazon.co.uk have A Dance with Dragons down for release in on 29th Spetmeber 2011? Theres nothing else to corroborate this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dance-Dragons-Book-Song-Fire/dp/0002247399/ref=sr_1_cc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289848790&sr=1-1-catcorr

Can we keep this thread just for recommendations and not questions? There's a GRRM thread floating around.

Anyway, to answer your question, those publishing dates are often pulled out of the air and have no basis in anything. I've seen authors themselves query these dates - recently Scott Lynch gave out, saying the publication date was up and he hadn't even finished writing the thing. Ignore them - just use GRRM's site.

AnCapaillMor

me-skywalker wrote: »

Why on earth does Amazon.co.uk have A Dance with Dragons down for release in on 29th Spetmeber 2011? Theres nothing else to corroborate this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dance-Dragons-Book-Song-Fire/dp/0002247399/ref=sr_1_cc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289848790&sr=1-1-catcorr

Probably the same reason they had it down for sometime in september 2010 up until that said date this year.

david75

xxshebeexx wrote: »

I'm kind of stuck in a weird rut - I started reading Robert Jordan's WOT ten years ago and I've tried to get into other fantasy since .. I've tried Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit (persevered all the way through but my gosh, was I bored), tried Stephen King and a couple of random books, but I can't get into any of them. Robert Jordan has set my fantasy bar so high that I can't find a match!

Anyone got any recommendations? Something detailed and complex, like WOT, something which preferably runs into a longer series. I'm a huge fan of Star Wars Expanded Universe stuff - so it's long series that draws you in with complex, interesting characters that I'm looking for! Well, even a good trilogy would do! I'd love to read more fantasy but I haven't found anything to match Robert Jordan yet!

The Farseer trilogy (Assassins Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassins Quest)- Robin Hobb. the titles are ultra misleading but the most well written and engrossing books I've ever read.

Neverwhere-Neil Gaiman..or anything by him at all. he's a great writer.

Ullrich

I know they have some serious flaws but I still love The Wheel of Time and the world dear R.J created

AnCapaillMor

Got to agree, can't put the bloody things down at the moment, onto the fourth book now.

Trojan

Tor are doing a massive poll for best sf/f of 2000-2010 on their blog, over 700 replies listing books so far - well worth a troll through (heh). Looks like Rothfuss is well on his way to the book of the decade.

meditraitor

Trojan wrote: »

Tor are doing a massive poll for best sf/f of 2000-2010 on their blog, over 700 replies listing books so far - well worth a troll through (heh). Looks like Rothfuss is well on his way to the book of the decade.

Just finished "the name of the wind" 10 minutes ago....... brilliant. The next one in the series is due for release on March 1st...

And with the final Steven Erikson book of the fallen out 2 weeks before I think I may have to take a week of work.....

Trojan

I'm surprised American Gods is ranking so highly (#2 at the moment), I thought, it was good, but not best of decade level. Old Man's War added to my reading list, it's taken over #1 and puling away now. Rothfuss holding on at #3 - I'd have ranked it before American Gods.

This is provisional results as of Thursday, not final results:

We present the Top 20 voted novels as of 2:53 PM EST on Thursday, January 13th.

1. Old Man’s War by John Scalzi - 250 votes
2. American Gods by Neil Gaiman - 215 votes
3. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - 180 votes
4. Blindsight by Peter Watts - 168 votes
5. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - 139 votes
6. Anathem by Neal Stephenson -124 votes
7. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin - 118 votes
8. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson - 112 votes
9. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville - 110 votes
10. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - 88 votes

If you haven't voted, go vote here.

Zapp Brannigan

Like that Scott Lynch is getting a look in. Can't wait for the 3rd book to come out.

Just saw on wiki that it has an estimated release date of Spring 2013

ixoy

I've read 6/10 of those and am glad to see Rothfuss and Lynch placing. Two superb debuts (I'd pitch Rothfuss that little higher). Shame the next in the Gentlemen Bastard Sequence is so long away!

'Anathem' was excellent but I'd have though 'Cryptonomicon' would place higher instead.
'Jonathon Norrell & Mr. Strange' - yeah, it's well written but I wouldn't place it in my own Top 10.
'A Storm of Swords' - Deserved entry.
'Perdido Street Station' - Absoultely. I'd move it into the Top 3 (although 'The Scar' is probably better, this is the best known of the series).

'The Way of Kings' surprises me as it's very new. Is it that Brendan Sanderson is popular at the moment and the book is just at the forefront of people's minds? Or is it that good? I'll read it at some point anyway.

'Old Man's War' is on my "to-read" list but less so 'American Gods' (I get a strong "over rated" from many people). Finally - never heard of 'Blindsight'!

Zapp Brannigan

I liked American Gods, but there's no way it's better than The Name of the Wind.

I'd also agree with Ixoy about Scott Lynch, although I did really enjoy the humour in his writing.

Trojan

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

Like that Scott Lynch is getting a look in. Can't wait for the 3rd book to come out.

Just saw on wiki that it has an estimated release date of Spring 2013

Oh no, really? For **** sake they've pushed it back AGAIN! Duke Nukem Forever will be released first...

OwaynOTT

Just looking at that Tor thing. How did the last two Wheel of Time books get there. Compared to the majority of the rest of the series they aint going to stand up. Sure a lot of stuff happens but a lot of it is a bit of an anti-climax.

And agree on American Gods, Anasii's Boys is just as good.

Brandon Sanderson on it like four times. I must reread Mistborn cause I thought it wasn't great. Shallow and really just about how to use the magic system.
Way of Kings was better but again top 10, I dunno know about that.

I'd have one of the first 6 Jordan books there.

ixoy

OwaynOTT wrote: »

Just looking at that Tor thing. How did the last two Wheel of Time books get there. Compared to the majority of the rest of the series they aint going to stand up. Sure a lot of stuff happens but a lot of it is a bit of an anti-climax.

Well I thought they were the best books since Book 7 personally (and I'm not the only one) however... :

Brandon Sanderson on it like four times..

From reading the comments, it looks like it's a typical Internet poll: Certain fans of authors tell each other, and the voting becomes skewed. It's why a relative unknown like Peter Watts is rated up there so highly (the author mentioned the poll on his blog and asked his readers to vote).
It looks like the results won't be much of an indicator of anything.

OwaynOTT

Well I wont disagree with you that they are the best books since seven but come on those few books are the poorest in the series. I was thinking more of the first six really.

Trojan

OwaynOTT wrote: »

Well I wont disagree with you that they are the best books since seven but come on those few books are the poorest in the series. I was thinking more of the first six really.

Tor poll is for 2000-2010. WOT dates of publication:

08. The Path of Daggers 20 October 1998
09. Winter's Heart 7 November 2000
10. Crossroads of Twilight 7 January 2003
11. Knife of Dreams 11 October 2005
12. The Gathering Storm 27 October 2009
13. Towers of Midnight 2 November 2010

Of the eligible WOT books, the Sanderson ones are clearly the best (by a country mile as far as I'm concerned). Arguably worth a position somewhere in the top 20-40.

OwaynOTT

Trojan wrote: »

Tor poll is for 2000-2010. WOT dates of publication:

08. The Path of Daggers 20 October 1998
09. Winter's Heart 7 November 2000
10. Crossroads of Twilight 7 January 2003
11. Knife of Dreams 11 October 2005
12. The Gathering Storm 27 October 2009
13. Towers of Midnight 2 November 2010

Of the eligible WOT books, the Sanderson ones are clearly the best (by a country mile as far as I'm concerned). Arguably worth a position somewhere in the top 20-40.

Oh right, didnt know that.
I would nearly totally agree with you on that comment then. Although I prefer Knife of Dreams but maybe because after Crossroads anything of merit would provoke those feelings.

Paddy Samurai

Hard to choose,but currently among my best would be the following...........

On Stranger Tides By Tim Powers
The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers
Game of thrones(ice and fire) series by George RR Martin
Legend (Drenai series)By Gemmell
Magician(Riftwar saga) by Feist
Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Blade itself by Joe Abercrombie
Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks

Tim Powers is probably the least well known ,but the one with the most interesting ideas.

Lyanna

Lots of my favourites have already been mentioned but I'll add a vote for Daniel Abraham's "The Long Price Quartet". Good characters, interesting magic system and war by economic boycott. It takes a while to get going but it's a lot of fun.

Buttmunchy wrote: »

Stravaganza - Mary Hoffman. Kids book - you wouldn't read it.

I second this - I read the first book when I was 12 and I've kept up reading the series since despite being well beyond the Young Adult target audience by now. I'd love to hit every Twilight-obsessed tween over the head with a copy of this until they realise that there are other, better books in the world.