Help me pick a new fantasy series

Books, comics, TV, music
1

I’m out of fantasy to read!! Here’s the list of suggestions I’ve gathered over the years. Which of these is highly recommended, or, what do you suggest? I love Tolkien, GRR Martin, and couldn’t tolerate Erikson and Jordan. I read book 1 of the Black Company, and even though I thought it was good, it didn’t captivate me. Thanks!!

[ul]
[li] - Glen Cook, The Black Company[/li][li] - Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever[/li][li] - R Scott Bakker, and his Prince of Nothing -series[/li][li] - Gene Wolfe, Shadow of the torturer[/li][li] - Riddle master of head[/li][li] - Dave duncan, 7th sword[/li][li] - Theives world, aspirin[/li][li] - Dan Abnett’s Gaunt Ghost’s Books.[/li][li] - First Law series by Joe Abercrombie[/li][/ul]

2

The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss

3

Don’t read anything else until you’ve read Gene Wolfe’s Book of New Sun series (the one you list as Shadow of the Torturer).

4

OMG That series is awful.

Try the L.E. Modesitt Recluce series.

5

Scott Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastard’s series.
China Mieville’s Bas-Lag series. Start with the Scar though, not Perdido Street Station.

6

My mind is boggling.

7

The Prince of Nothing series is great. It’s a very well realised setting, oftentimes brutal, though slow-paced . It also has the most disturbing anti-hero I’ve ever seen.

By contrast, the Gaunt’s Ghosts series is it’s complete opposite, except possibly in the brutality. Fast-paced, tense, action-filled, and terse soldier action in the far future. The backdrop of the armies of the Imperium (religious fascists fighting for the survival of humanity) against the warlords of chaos (religious fanatics fighting for the evolution of humanity - as daemonic servants and occasional masters).

8

Why? 5

9

The Prince of Nothing series sounds as though I’d enjoy it. Did you say it’s in a “realistic” setting, ala GRR Martin’s world?

10

Book of the New Sun certainly isn’t awful, though I didn’t find it altogether satisfying either.

I’d recommend the Lords of Dus series by Lawrence Watt-Evans. Admittedly I was young when I read it, and to an adult it might not work so well. But I found it very striking, and about a billion times better than the Belgariad (which, admittedly, isn’t saying a whole lot). I might go so far as to say it’s the best fantasy I’ve read between Tolkien and A Song of Ice And Fire, but there are a lot of gaps in my knowledge of fantasy lit, so that’s not a particularly authoritative statement either.

11

The scar has an actual plot, and slightly more realized characters. Perdido street Station, I felt, was more a collection of vignettes and character stuff set in a really weird new city. Mieville’s style can be a little obtuse and dense so having something to latch one to and lend suspense actually helps.

That being said, since each of the books are rather stand-alone, just set in the same universe, you can start with anyone you like. Iron Council is particularly good, but the Scar is the one that most recognizable to fantasy tropes, while still introducing a bunch of really cool new concepts.

12

Yes, it’s similar though Bakker’s world is a bit more fantastical since it has actual mages walking around. They are grudgingly accepted, since they can call down a firestorm at will, but they are in their own way uniquely vulnerable and otherwise regarded as religious abominations so they exist at the fringes and their societies are one power amongst many. Religion is also a lot more central to the story.

13

See, I’d say read Perdido Street Station, then read Iron Council, then read…I dunno, A Year in the Linear City or The Etched City or something, and then maybe if he got bored he could try The Scar and see how far he got till he got sick of it. I like Mieville but I don’t have much regard for The Scar at all.

14

This series starts rough, much as I hate to say it. Cook’s writing improves dramatically in the Books of the South follow-on series, but the ideas get a bit whacky and drift from the feel of the earlier books. If the first book didn’t grab you, move it down the list.

  • Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever

An amazing series, but a bit dense and mature. You’ll learn bunch of new words you’ll never see again, such as “roynish”. This leads into the Second Chronicles and the in-progress Third Chronicles, whose books are coming out every 3 years. Because it’s in Donaldson’s contract. It makes a lateral move at the standard perfect fantasy world trope which you’ll either love or hate.

  • R Scott Bakker, and his Prince of Nothing -series

One of the best things I’ve read in years. As mentioned above, a very disturbing anti-hero. It’s basically a port of the Crusades told in a Homeric fashion, but there’s a lot of novel ideas in there that you won’t mind. Cnaiur, for example, is badass. The first book in the second series, The Judging Eye, comes out next month in the US, this month in Canada.

  • Gene Wolfe, Shadow of the torturer

Wolfe is dense and, at times, too subtle for his readers. I love the guy, but the New Sun series is tough for beginning Wolfe readers. And screw you idiots who compare Wolfe to Modesitt, Jesus. Not only did the man invent the Pringle, he’s one of the most technically proficient prose writers being published. Modesitt’s a Jordanesque hack who should cry over every tree killed to publish that tripe.

  • Riddle master of head

Have neither read nor head of this one.

  • Dave duncan, 7th sword

Duncan’s fun, but a bit juvenile in scope. Good timekillers, but it’s like Chinese food, you’ll want more later.

  • Theives world, aspirin

I loved this series, but I read it as a teenager. It’s really a collection of short stories by a group of authors bound into a loose timeline. As such, the character changes are limited in scope and there’s not a lot of “crossover”. They’re good reads, but it drifts a bit when they move out of Sanctuary and various authors start grinding their individual social axes. Awesome covers in the first editions though.

  • Dan Abnett’s Gaunt Ghost’s Books.

Covered above. Couldn’t stand Abnett’s Inquisitor series, it just went on and on and on and on…

  • First Law series by Joe Abercrombie

Heartily endorsed. Fun, plays with the standard tropes and hangs together well. A bit of a quick read though.

Check out Name of the Wind; its sequel comes out in April, allegedly. Very good debut. Also take a look at K.J. Parker’s various trilogies; they’re all decent.

15

Well…, now you’re confusing him. :P

seriously though z22, just pick one and go. Hugin and I will happily disagree about it on a thread you start whichever one you pick first.

16

Speaking of bastards, the First Law series also has my hearty recommendation. Inquisitor Glokta is an awesome character.

17

Poul Anderson’s The Broken Sword

http://cgi.ebay.com/Poul-Anderson-The-Broken-Sword-SciFi-PB_W0QQitemZ120356999639QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Fiction_Books?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

take a quick detour through a classic of the genre.

18

[/li]
[LEFT]Go with either of those. Both authors are wonderful writers with unique, personal styles.

Wolfe is a brilliant writer of dense and (possibly) confusing fiction. There’s a lot to get out of his stuff but it’ll require that you put a lot in. He’s one of (if not the) the best authors sf/fantasy has produced.
[/LEFT]

Patricia McKillip writes this lyrical, dreamlike prose that sometimes reminds me of Le’Guin’s fantasy work. It’s gorgeous stuff and the Riddle Master series is definitely in my top 10 for best fantasy series.

19

Take a week and read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. It’s one volume, it’s great and then you can move on to other stuff.

20

Another vote for the Riddlemaster of Hed. It’s a good, deep read, and a series that is incidentally very approachable by young readers. As a young reader at one time, I was so captured by this world that when I grew into a young adult, I named my son Morgan.