Well I'm craving something in this genre but I'm a bit overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time. So many titles and yet I'm not sure what to read. Maybe you can help?
I'm looking for something in a high fantasy setting. I'm not too keen on heavy politics and war driven plots (though, I can read that ). What really gets me is interesting characters, good action and magical creatures.
I've loved anything Discworld and I've also enjoyed the First Law books by Abercrombie.
I'm finding that Tolkien, Sanderson and George RR Martin appear on every fantasy list I come across, so if you do recommend something I'd appreciate it be something other than that.
I highly recommend the Earthsea book by Ursula Le Guin (I actually recommend all of her books) and the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Frtiz Lieber. Especially if you are looking for something that is a quick read and not a 20 book, 50 billion page series.
Also the Drizzt novels by R. A. Salvatore, while not the same level of quality, are fun.
I've read only The left hand of Darkness by Le Guin and I totally didn't cry, you understand? If at any point anyone tells you that, they're disgusting liars trying to tarnish my reputation. That aside, I really enjoyed the book and Earthsea was on my list of potential reads. I've never heard of the other recommendations, will keep in mind. Thanks
I recently reread The Dark Elf Trilogy after a long, long time and I still quite liked it. It's funny how differently I see the themes of the first book now than I did as a teenager.
I also remember Weis and Hickman's Draconlance Chronicles trilogy being a fun read back in the day.
I'll add a +1 to some mentioned:
- Cradle series - progression fantasy, basically DBZ or Naruto style progression with a magic system, intelligent beasts/dragons, demigods, etc.
- Night Angel Trilogy - street rat turned assassin with magic. I feel like it leans pretty heavily into fantasy tropes, but they're fun reads.
- Kings of the Wyld - this book is fucking hilarious. The main characters are basically a kickass D&D group but it's 20 years later, they're old and fat, and have to go on one last epic adventure.
It isn't so much dragons, but it it is fantasy. The Cradle series by Will Wight is phenomenal. If you're a fan of audio books they are all available in that format also, narrated by Travis Baldree
+1 for Cradle already mentioned. I'd add
- The Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan
- Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
I love king's little 80's music references. The sequal is coming out at some point.
The Powder Mage trilogy is kind of fun. The setting is more late 18th/early 19th century than medieval, and it is far from perfect, but a bit of French revolution era fantasy with magic and gods and stuff never hurt anyone.
China Miéville's New Crobuzon series must qualify as fantasy somehow. It's New Weird, but you have weird magic and grotesquely weird fantasy races living in a fantasy world, so it must count. Also, because Miéville is some flavor of trotskyist you get a fantasy world written from some kind of Marxist perspective, but because it is a fictional world where Stalin never existed you don't have to read 50 pages about how every successful socialist revolution was never real.
What I've read of Robin Hobb has been fun, but it's been more than a decade so take that recommendation with a pinch of salt.
You could also hate read David Eddings, a child abusing drunk of a hack author who hated the genre of fantasy and all of its readers. That's what I'm doing, because I want to examine my childhood idol more closely. This is a bad idea and will not improve your life in any way, but it is something you could do.
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm curious about the last paragraph. You see, I found an Eddings audiobook and I started with it, considering I've seen the name recommended here a few times. I've been thinking it's well written but also really really boring. Is this why you say he hated the readers? Have you figured why he achieved idol status for you during your childhood?
He got into writing fantasy because he thought the people who read fantasy would read absolutely anything. He wanted to get as much money as possible for as little effort as possible, and since he didn't consider fantasy to be real literature he figured it would be easier than adventure books about rock climbing, which he had written before, because he had to do literally no research. Reading them as an adult it is obvious that they are very lazily written. Every character has a personality that can be boiled down to a single adjective like "grumpy", "sneaky", "funny", or in one very annoying case "having an axe". This lazy writing however means that because the characters never really have much to say about anything things can move at an incredibly fast pace. This is what I liked as a child.
Fast!? I've gone through over 2/3 of the first book and I was thinking the worst so far had been the slow pace. I do agree the characters haven't said much but I figured it was because they were keeping things a secret from the MC. Thanks for sharing your perspective though!
I think the first series he wrote may have a bit of a slow start. The one I'm hate reading is his latter work about the knight Sparhawk. I was convinced the plot of the first book would revolve around stopping the nefarious plot that he - I swear to god - just happened to overhear a villain just explain to an entire room in an inn. Like 8 or so chapters later and he is on a different continent, kidnapping an ambassador after having completely stopped the evil plot, fought in two major battles, adopted a child, commited arson, survived a shipwreck and infiltrated a cultist meeting. It's remarkable how fast things can happen if none of the characters have any personality you have to write around.
The Name of the Wind By Patrick rothfuss.
Still waiting on that third book 5o come out though. It's only been 17 years. It'll happen any day now. 🥲
No worries, if you die before me ill come read it at your grave for you.
That's a good incentive to hang around as a ghost. Unfinished business.
Then while you're waiting, you can read Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.
'Glory Road' by Robert A. Heinlein. Takes all the common fantasy tropes and kicks them in the nads.
I advocate to expand people's thinking of the fantasy genre beyond the usual Euro-centric elves, dwarves, and wizards type stuff.
As such, a fantasy book I recommend is based off of Persian magic and setting is called The Wrath and the Dawn. It is based off of the Arabian Nights legend of that region.
Well, my other recommendation is not a book because it was a web comic, BUT, it fits the fantasy genre. What makes it unique is the fantasy elements are based off of Aztec gods and magic. It is called Leyendas: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/leyendas/list?title_no=63874
There is another fantasy web comic with middle eastern elements called Suihira The City of Water: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/suihira-the-city-of-water/list?title_no=39385
My longtime favs (apart from LOTR by Tolkien) are:
- The Realm of the Elderlings series bei Robin Hobb
- Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams
- Ea Cycle by David Zindell
Ah this book! I've read The Lesser Dead by the same author and was impressed with the quality. I've had the Blacktongue Thief in mind for a while, but I've heard it's part of a trilogy and I'd rather wait for it before jumping on it. In the meantime I'll keep Those Across the River in reserve for whenever I feel like reading about werewolves.
Robin Hobb - Assassin's Apprentice
Very fresh and original high fantasy.
I really enjoyed the first six Dragonlance novels - after that, not so much.
Memory, Sorrow, & Thorn series by Tad Williams is my all time favorite. I also noticed that I relate to different characters as I age which makes rereading it a fun experience.
Hm, not keen on heavy politics or war. Was gonna recommend Malazan: Book of the Fallen but the first book starts out in a war. Still, good book, you might enjoy it.
Second book is a little different than what you're describing. Fool Moon from the Dresden Files series. Pulpy magical detective noire set in modern times, where magic is sort of accepted as a real thing.
