Fantasy novels
Discussion
I have a few personal favourites.
I love Feist. I think I've read a Rift war etc 4 or 5 times.
David Gemmel is also a must but I do prefer his Druss, Waylander and Troy books to his Jon Shannow stories.
New ones I've recently enjoyed
Faithfull and the Fallen series by John Gwynne but the ending feels rushed.
Raven Shadow series by Anthony Ryan
Tweve kings by Bradley Beaulieu. Looking forward to the next in the series.
I love Feist. I think I've read a Rift war etc 4 or 5 times.
David Gemmel is also a must but I do prefer his Druss, Waylander and Troy books to his Jon Shannow stories.
New ones I've recently enjoyed
Faithfull and the Fallen series by John Gwynne but the ending feels rushed.
Raven Shadow series by Anthony Ryan
Tweve kings by Bradley Beaulieu. Looking forward to the next in the series.
mathmos said:
The Joe Abercrombie books are also very enjoyable (also has suburb narration in audiobook form), the first law series in particular I thought was excellent
A mate said exactly the same about the audiobooks. I've picked up the First Law series for 99p each in the Kindle Christmas sale, not started them yet as currently working through an Icelandic crime fiction series.Pigdoguk said:
I have a few personal favourites.
I love Feist. I think I've read a Rift war etc 4 or 5 times.
I used to love Fiest. The initial books were fantastic and some of the sequels were very good. unfortunately the quality dropped considerably and some of the later ones were very poor; it felt like he was simply churning out books without caring if they were consistent with the previous story.I love Feist. I think I've read a Rift war etc 4 or 5 times.
That said the final book 'Magician's End' was a good finale - it is a pity that the 5 books that preceded it were so bad.
I'm not a great fantasy expert - more my wife's interest. Terry Pratchett - much missed and currently being read again. I started re reading Lord of the Rings and was a bit disappointed. Read Gormenghast again though and enjoyed the dark density. I like Neil Gaiman though, and on a vintage note, how about H. P. Lovecraft?
Great thread!Come across a few authors that I'll look into and agree with others who have advocated for Feist, Abercrombie, Eddings, Gemmel, R.A Salvatore the list could go on.
here's my offering:-
Peter V Brett books starts with the Painted Man and the next 3 continue the saga. The story is set in a world where people have to protect there property with wards to stop demons who walk the land after dark, excellent characters development and intrigue along with magic and war.
Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy again great characters and story development this one is about an orphan who convinces a master assassin to allow him to apprentice as they both work in a world of political intrigue and civil war.
Currently listening to the King Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss, its a bit slow but I'm holding out!
here's my offering:-
Peter V Brett books starts with the Painted Man and the next 3 continue the saga. The story is set in a world where people have to protect there property with wards to stop demons who walk the land after dark, excellent characters development and intrigue along with magic and war.
Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy again great characters and story development this one is about an orphan who convinces a master assassin to allow him to apprentice as they both work in a world of political intrigue and civil war.
Currently listening to the King Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss, its a bit slow but I'm holding out!
toon tvr said:
Peter V Brett books starts with the Painted Man and the next 3 continue the saga. The story is set in a world where people have to protect there property with wards to stop demons who walk the land after dark, excellent characters development and intrigue along with magic and war.
Really enjoyed these and can't wait for the 5th and last to be published. Slight suggestion of post-apocalyptic world too, in some of the lost sciences that get mentioned.toon tvr said:
Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy again great characters and story development this one is about an orphan who convinces a master assassin to allow him to apprentice as they both work in a world of political intrigue and civil war.
These too, and his Black Prism series. I also recently enjoyed Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series.
rednotdead said:
I've just finished his 'American Gods', wasn't sure what to expect but it sucked me in within a couple of pages and I couldn't put it down. Recommended.
I'm half way through it at the moment completely agree with that. Also picked up a couple of his American Gods Novellas to try afterwards. irocfan said:
Vocal Minority said:
Never really been into fantasy per se - but a friend recommended Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, which I loved.
not sure if this counts as a guilty pleasure but I enjoyed the TV seriesI'm a bit of a stuck in the mud like that I'm afraid
Wow, this thread brings back some memories. I used to read exclusively fantasy stuff and have read some of the authors / titles mentioned several times in the past :
Loved David Gemmell, particularly Waylander. David Eddings / Belgariad, Stephen Donaldson / Thomas Covenant etc.
These days, I tend to stick to more mainstream / non-fantasy books but am currently re-reading my favourite ever fantasy trilogy : The Fionnavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay - it became available on Kindle very recently.
It's the characters that make this for me - specifically the five that travel to Fionnavar. Each has their own self doubt even though the image they portray to the rest of the world - and hence other peoples impressions of them - can be quite different, which makes them very real to me. The part where Paul is remembering what happened to Rachel gets me every time - brilliant stuff.
Sadly, none of GGKs other stuff lived up to this for me. Tigana was a great idea, but the characters in his other books are entirely one dimensional compared to the ones in the Fionavar series.
Loved David Gemmell, particularly Waylander. David Eddings / Belgariad, Stephen Donaldson / Thomas Covenant etc.
These days, I tend to stick to more mainstream / non-fantasy books but am currently re-reading my favourite ever fantasy trilogy : The Fionnavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay - it became available on Kindle very recently.
It's the characters that make this for me - specifically the five that travel to Fionnavar. Each has their own self doubt even though the image they portray to the rest of the world - and hence other peoples impressions of them - can be quite different, which makes them very real to me. The part where Paul is remembering what happened to Rachel gets me every time - brilliant stuff.
Sadly, none of GGKs other stuff lived up to this for me. Tigana was a great idea, but the characters in his other books are entirely one dimensional compared to the ones in the Fionavar series.
I've just finished the final book of 'The Wheel of Time'series (14 of them!!) written by Robert Jordan. Some of the books meander a bit and I had to leave it for a while, but the last 2 books are totally absorbing. It's a big commitment to get into, but if you're into fantasy, well worth the investment.
Epic is an understatement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time
Epic is an understatement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time
warp9 said:
I've just finished the final book of 'The Wheel of Time'series (14 of them!!) written by Robert Jordan. Some of the books meander a bit and I had to leave it for a while, but the last 2 books are totally absorbing. It's a big commitment to get into, but if you're into fantasy, well worth the investment.
Epic is an understatement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time
I remember them - think I got to somewhere around 6 or 7.Epic is an understatement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time
warp9 said:
davek_964 said:
I remember them - think I got to somewhere around 6 or 7.
Thats also about where I first lost it with them!davek_964 said:
Wow, this thread brings back some memories. I used to read exclusively fantasy stuff and have read some of the authors / titles mentioned several times in the past :
Loved David Gemmell, particularly Waylander. David Eddings / Belgariad, Stephen Donaldson / Thomas Covenant etc.
These days, I tend to stick to more mainstream / non-fantasy books but am currently re-reading my favourite ever fantasy trilogy : The Fionnavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay - it became available on Kindle very recently.
It's the characters that make this for me - specifically the five that travel to Fionnavar. Each has their own self doubt even though the image they portray to the rest of the world - and hence other peoples impressions of them - can be quite different, which makes them very real to me. The part where Paul is remembering what happened to Rachel gets me every time - brilliant stuff.
Sadly, none of GGKs other stuff lived up to this for me. Tigana was a great idea, but the characters in his other books are entirely one dimensional compared to the ones in the Fionavar series.
One of my favourite trilogies as well. A shame his other books aren't a patch on it as you say.Loved David Gemmell, particularly Waylander. David Eddings / Belgariad, Stephen Donaldson / Thomas Covenant etc.
These days, I tend to stick to more mainstream / non-fantasy books but am currently re-reading my favourite ever fantasy trilogy : The Fionnavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay - it became available on Kindle very recently.
It's the characters that make this for me - specifically the five that travel to Fionnavar. Each has their own self doubt even though the image they portray to the rest of the world - and hence other peoples impressions of them - can be quite different, which makes them very real to me. The part where Paul is remembering what happened to Rachel gets me every time - brilliant stuff.
Sadly, none of GGKs other stuff lived up to this for me. Tigana was a great idea, but the characters in his other books are entirely one dimensional compared to the ones in the Fionavar series.
RizzoTheRat said:
rednotdead said:
I've just finished his 'American Gods', wasn't sure what to expect but it sucked me in within a couple of pages and I couldn't put it down. Recommended.
I'm half way through it at the moment completely agree with that. Also picked up a couple of his American Gods Novellas to try afterwards. Gassing Station | Books and Literature | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff