Best Fantasy Trilogy/series/Book?

The_Conductor

By the same vein I take it that Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is classed as SF rather than fantasy?

-You're a jerk Arthur Dent!

Saruman

SF/Humour yeah.. would not class it as Fantasy.. though it is a Trilogy... in 5 parts of course hehe...

Dune is more a combination of the elements of Sci-Fi, and Fantasy. The first three books were great, but it just got boring after. I love to read fantasy. Sci-Fi has a tendency to bore me, although there has been a few i've like.

Back to Fantasy: Raymond E Feist is great. One of the best series i've read. David gemmell is prob the next best, with Steven Erickson's series coming next.

Tolkien is just too much effort to read. Fantasy should just flow, from one page to the next. The movie is great, but the book? ugh.. torture.

Demandred

The best Fantasy ever written for me has to be The Lord of the Rings, Ever since reading TLOTR over 10 years ago i have been hunting for a world that is as magical and truely soul catching as Middle Earth, Alas to no avail but still there have been some writers who have come close ( AT TIMES!!) to Tolkiens great work. For me the best of these has to be Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, its no where as beutiful as TLOTR but its one hell of a rip roaring story that has soo many plots and subplots that are all connected that a spiders web looks more simpler, it is for me (and i have read my fair share of fantasy) a bloody good read!

Also as a stand alone book Clive Barkers Weaveworld is pretty good fair, I know Barker is more a horror writer than fantasy but here he is certainly a fantasy writer, i wish Barker would turn his pen more to fantasy because the boy is very original if nothing else and thats one thing alot of writers seem to be lacking when it comes to fantasy!

Thanx 4 The Fish

Terry Brook's Shannara series is still amongst my favourites.
Weis & Hickmans' Dragon Lance series also cracking, although it has been a long time since I have read them.
The Death Gate Cycle, again by Weis & Hickman, lost it's way in the fourth and fifth books a bit but made up for it with the last two of the seven and was all told a satisfying series.
Robin Hobb or Megan Lindholm's (is up to you) , Assasin and Liveship series are also well up there.
Still holding the number one slot though has to be TLOTR.

BTW has anybody counted the number of "reverse cut's" in a David Gemmell Book ?

Gorthaur

Tolkien tops the list LOTR simarillion etc
Donaldson close second T Covenant 1 and 2 also GAP series and others
Jordan is going for the endurance record ,but stillhasmy attention after 10+years.
Eddings isjust not in the running IMHO
Haven't read GRRM fire and ice.
Feist did better before he decided to rewrite things and isgetting a bit tedious although FairyTale was V Good
Books- most short story collections from Harlan Ellison
"repent harlequin" said the ticktockman and
"Ihave nomouth and I must scream" are a must.

Gorthaur

Book of the newsun by Gene Wolfe .Written in a strange style but very good

try steven erikson...., and L.E Modesitt isn't bad although his writing is a bit weird. Michael Moorcock still kicks ass especially if you get a bit stoned after reading one of his books and think abt the story :eek:

Avoid Elizabeth Moon like the plague. Ugh! horrible beyond belief.

Khynareth

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.

I would agree with that, it's a great series of book, Donaldson is a master in setting manipulations.

(But I still love Tolkien too)

Khynareth

Originally posted by klaz
Michael Moorcock still kicks ass especially if you get a bit stoned after reading one of his books and think abt the story

I enjoy Moorcock, but as he said himself, he as done: 'Feeding Literature' for years, i.e. publish a book a months as as to feed his family.

He has very good ideas and is very entertaining, but still stick around the stereotype of the hero/quest type of thing, and I wish he would rewrite, given time the series of Corum/Elric.... Because the concept lying behind these books is great.
But I know, I know... He'll never do it....

True. But don't you have fun just reading the 1st Elric novel? I have to say that i can come back and read his stuff time & time again. Theres only a few writers that i can say the same for. Theres always something new to take in. I hesitate to make this comparison, cause i hated the Lord of the Rings, but its the same way. Theres always some new twist to the tale, or a underlying story with plenty of sub-stories to keep an eye out for.

I think i'll go run & hide when the Hobbits in the white coats come to take me away, for saying such things

*hides in the closet*

Ruaidhri

Michael Moorcock still kicks ass especially if you get a bit stoned after reading one of his books and think abt the story

reading stoned is nowhere near as fun as reading when you are not.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

yeah, the words just won't stay still on the page,and the book keeps moving around of it's own accord

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.
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i don't do it often, but its nice every once in a while. And its better with Fantasy than any other classification of novel type.

Ruaidhri

i see yout point, but i think *trying* to read,not just enjoying the book when stoned is not that nice

_CreeD_

Katherine Kerr's Deverry novels deserve a mention too.

Also The Dragon Bone chair is book one of Memory Sorrow and Thorne (Just being pedantic ), not a trilogy in itself. Excellent stuff though.

Mordant's need is the name if the Donaldons couplet with imagers/mirrors btw too. Also fantastic.

There are just too many great series out there to list. (Though LOTR for me was not that great, innovative and worth a read but has been surpassed many times since)

MindPhuck

I cant believe nobodys suggested David Gemmel! (if they have, i missed it). You remember Druss the legend etc.. Brilliant set of books.

Thanx 4 The Fish

I think Gemmel is too repetitive in some books to be in the top five authors, some of his characters would be in my top five fantasy characters list though, in fact.....

Dagon

1. A Song of Ice and Fire - G.R.R. Martin
2. Lord of the Rings
3. The Hawk Quees neries - David Gemmell

I can't believe nobody mentioned the Hawk Queen by Gemmell! Only two books in the series unfortunately, and they're quite short, but they're excellent. Maybe someday he will write another one?

Dagon

The DragonLance "Chronicles" series is quite good, but I read them after reading the first 3 "A Song if Ice and Fire" books by Martin, so - in comparison - they seemed quite unoriginal and slightly contrived. Still, a very enjoyable series nonetheless, although I have a feeling if I was about 10 years younger I would have enjoyed this a lot more!

Some people mentioned the Dragonbone chair by Williams - as it happens I'm eagerly awaiting book 1 of this to arrive in the post so I can get stuck it

Lawdie

Rama series by AC Clarke

growler

Lord of the Rings has to be the alltime best , Feist's first three were excellent, Robin Hobbs Liveship's was brilliant and also worth a mention are Kerr's Deverry series and another author i enjoyed was Patricia Kenneally (ex witch girlfriend of jim doors morrison) who wrote a fairly good trilogy called Keltia (i think) way back !

Personally I found Covenant a pain in the @rse , couldn't enjoy the books at all !

Must read this song of ice and fire

Illkillya

Aside from Tolkien (should have stuck in "aside from tolkien" in thte title of this thread to make it easier), I would have to agree with the Dragonbone Chair series... its not perfect but it was very enjoyable and the more I think of it now the better it seems.

Sticky

The most enjoyable fantasy trilogy I've read recently was Philip Pullamans 'His Dark Materials'. Having got a bit tired of fantasy fiction it was an unexpected pleasure.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

yeah, "His dark materials" is bloody great, i read it in 2-3 days only stopping to sleep, eat/work i was really sad to finish it and the ending had me wrecked heh

probably my fav trilogy so far

Funky

the Assasin Trilogy by Robin Hobb is brilliant imo ( Assasins Apprentice, Royal Assasin , Assasin's Quest )

Sticky

yeah, "His dark materials" is bloody great, i read it in 2-3 days only stopping to sleep, eat/work i was really sad to finish it and the ending had me wrecked heh

I know what you mean - I was loaned the first book and half way through had to run out and buy the other two in anticipation.

The ending wrecked me too, and there are not many fantasy books that have done that to me recently. It's got a place in my top 10.

Sarky

I didn't see anyone mention the Tales of the bard trilogy, by Michael Scott(I think?) They were Magician's Law, Demon's Law, and Death's Law. Anyone read them besides me?

First real fantay I read, I thought it was great. Very "celtic" (read, ripped off from old legends and stories) but I still like the books.

foymaster

i like Robert jordans wheel of time seires but he reuses the same metaphors repeatedly and is a better storyteller than he is a writer .
if you know what i mean.
clive barkers weaveworld and Imajica where absolutely excellent, he should write more fantasy.
i enjoy david gemmel but his books are like a quick ,cheap fix.
Feist rules too.
but i thought that a song of ice and fire was undistinguished and not very good at all.

skittishkitten

OK , I'll give this a shot ......

Trilogy ..... there is an author I like that has wrote several trilogies but they all link back together which would possibly make them a series ??

But ... Mercedes Lackey - Mage Wars ( The Black Gryphon , The White Gryphon , The Silver Gryphon ) , The Last Herald Mage ( Magics Pawn , Magics Promise , Magics Price ) ...... Many more along this line

Series - Terry Goodkin - The Sword of Truth Series ( Wizards First Rule , Stone of Tears , Blood Of The Fold , Temple of the Winds , Soul of Fire , Faith of the Fallen and The Pillars of Creation ) .... don't think I've missed any

Single - Mary H. Herbert - Valorians Children ( actually probably two books but I have it in one so I'm counting it as one )

They are all excellent but Mercedes Lackey and Terry Goodkin are the best of the three ..... not sure I could choose between them if I had to