for fantasy book lovers, a series to rival Game of Thrones

[Ken Gargett]

i loved the George Martin books. read them before i watched any part of the series (and still to get past series three - my nephew buggered off to sydney with the DVDs). i just wish he'd hurry up and finish the lot. when the final one comes out, i do plan on reading the lot again. 

i guess everyone is always looking for the next GoT. i must say that did not occur to me when i heard about the Daevabad trilogy (City of Brass; Kingdom of Copper; Empire of Gold) by S.A. Chakraborty. 

i've read the first two (more on all this in a forthcoming Kenfessions but i could not wait) and am unbelievably frustrated as the third volume is not released until June.

i have absolutely loved these. in fact, if someone said you can only read the last of GoT or the last of this series, no contest. i'd grab this one. it is set in the 1800s but that is, so far, completely irrelevant (i suspect it might be less so in the final volume but that is just a guess).

as the 'location' is basically a mystical and imaginary place, it feels more like it is in the time of aladdin or sinbad, neither of which appear. it is actually a muslim fantasy (which sounds rather dull but to be honest, is completely irrelevant and merely adds to the many layers of complexity here). 

perhaps best of all, the author (i think she writes brilliantly) has a wonderful dry sense of humour that runs right through the books. so you can be absolutely edge of your seat stuff - and there is plenty of that - and suddenly find yourself laughing out loud. 

i am a huge fan and most strongly recommend to anyone who likes fantasy or just a great read. 

 

[Zigatoh]

I would recommend the King killer chronicles, name of the wind etc, by Patrick Rothfuss, except that book one came out in 2007, book two in 2011, and book three still has no release date... 

The first two are excellent, which makes the delay even more frustrating! 

[Ken Gargett]

22 minutes ago, Zigatoh said:

I would recommend the King killer chronicles, name of the wind etc, by Patrick Rothfuss, except that book one came out in 2007, book two in 2011, and book three still has no release date... 

The first two are excellent, which makes the delay even more frustrating! 

i have read those and i enjoyed them, especially the first. again, frustrating. 

for me, i found the daevabad books a step up, but i'd be very happy if the third rothfuss would come out. joe abercrombie i really like and richard jordan also. 

[pure_lunatic]

Please also check out the four-book Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons. Though officially classified as sci-fi, I found that there were many fantastical elements that broke the boundaries of the genre. I’d rather not try and elaborate on the brilliance of this series in fear of doing Simmons a disservice. Believe me when I tell you that it is a true masterpiece and will change you forever! 

[Ken Gargett]

19 minutes ago, pure_lunatic said:

Please also check out the four-book Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons. Though officially classified as sci-fi, I found that there were many fantastical elements that broke the boundaries of the genre. I’d rather not try and elaborate on the brilliance of this series in fear of doing Simmons a disservice. Believe me when I tell you that it is a true masterpiece and will change you forever! 

i'll chase that one. i am pretty sure i read a novel dan simmons wrote about Hemingway in Cuba? good fun, if i recall. 

[Deeg]

Ken,I'd also recommend Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams (the first book is "The Dragonbone Chair") for a very traditional high fantasy series.  His Otherland series is also great but science fiction rather than high fantasy.

Waiting for the new Rothfuss novel is indeed torture.

[Hookmaker]

And if you haven't read David Eddings saga "The Belgariad" then you've still got some pages to go through ?

[armada_crew]

Thanks everyone for the book recommendations!  Need to expand the library and have been in a rut just re-reading some my old time favorites. Daevabad trilogy ordered, thanks Ken.  Will also check out some of these others as well, cheers.

[Chibearsv]

I know this isn't a new book and I know that Steven King can be polarizing in terms of people that either like or dislike his writing but I just recently finished 11/22/63 by Steven King and thought it was a terrific read (be sure to read the epilogue as well).  It even has an ending to it (which I normally find as the biggest fault for King - sometimes his endings seem like they're not well thought out).  I realize this isn't a series of books but it's no short story either.

[The Squiggler]

10 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

i am a huge fan and most strongly recommend to anyone who likes fantasy or just a great read. 

Thanks for the recommendation.  I am a huge fan of epic fantasy and always desperate for new stuff to read (especially these days).  I will definitely check these out.  Have you read the Malazan book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson?  It's a 10 book series (roughly 10,000 pages), so it's an epic time trap in addition to being an 'epic', but it's one of the most intelligent and hilarious bits of fantasy ever written (in my mind).  GRRM got nothing on SE ?

[The Squiggler]

5 hours ago, Deeg said:

Ken,I'd also recommend Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams (the first book is "The Dragonbone Chair") for a very traditional high fantasy series.  His Otherland series is also great but science fiction rather than high fantasy.

Waiting for the new Rothfuss novel is indeed torture.

Agreed on both counts.  Tad Williams is great.  Seems like a strong narrative voice and command of the language are  often missing from contemporary fantasy, but Williams has both in spades.  Kingkiller is also fantastic (forgive the light punning).  I'd probably be crucified by rabid fans for likening it to LitRPG, but I've never felt like I was so deeply entrenched in an epic D&D campaign as I did when I read Name of the Wind

[ndhaon91]

If you like the "Muslim Fantasy" vibe, I highly recommend "The Lions of Al-Rassan" by Guy Gavriel Kay. One of the best one-volume stories I've ever read. 

[Ken Gargett]

5 hours ago, The Squiggler said:

Thanks for the recommendation.  I am a huge fan of epic fantasy and always desperate for new stuff to read (especially these days).  I will definitely check these out.  Have you read the Malazan book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson?  It's a 10 book series (roughly 10,000 pages), so it's an epic time trap in addition to being an 'epic', but it's one of the most intelligent and hilarious bits of fantasy ever written (in my mind).  GRRM got nothing on SE ?

thanks for this and to everyone for all the other suggestions. great time for it.

i have had several people recommend erikson and i did start it but i got bogged down in book 1 and was not enjoying it - a while ago so not sure why now. perhaps i need to have another look. 

[The Squiggler]

thanks for this and to everyone for all the other suggestions. great time for it.
i have had several people recommend erikson and i did start it but i got bogged down in book 1 and was not enjoying it - a while ago so not sure why now. perhaps i need to have another look. 

Book 1 (Gardens of the Moon) is a lot better on the re-read. It’s so hard to keep the slew of important characters straight the first time around, and many of the significant nuances are impossible to catch without that familiarity. The brilliance audio audiobook versions are also fantastic, so i’ve been doing a lot of listening this time around. His spinoff series—Karkanas I think it’s called—was a kind of a dud in comparison to the book of the fallen (it’s good in its own right, but hasn’t impressed me nearly as much). I’d probably advise avoiding those and sticking with the original series

[MorgothsServant]

Have to give a hearty recommendation for the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson.  Great world-building, fun magic system, and two out of the three main perspective characters are fantastic. Much less ponderous and self-important than the Kingkiller books, if I may be so bold.  New volume coming out this year too. 

[Deeg]

17 minutes ago, MorgothsServant said:

Have to give a hearty recommendation for the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson.  Great world-building, fun magic system, and two out of the three main perspective characters are fantastic. Much less ponderous and self-important than the Kingkiller books, if I may be so bold.  New volume coming out this year too. 

In defense of the Kingkiller Chronicles (which, full disclosure, I think are pretty great) "ponderous and self-important" are charges I see leveled at pretty much anything high fantasy by readers who aren't generally fans of the subgenre. 

[Ken Gargett]

i have really enjoyed some of the sanderson stuff as well as rothfuss. (so i guess, in defence of both). as i mentioned, the one i struggled with was erikson but happy to have another crack and see if i can do better. 

all that said, for me (and as this thread will clearly show, fantasy readers are all very different), none of these come close to the daevabad series. 

i will be really interested to hear what others think of them. 

[Sluffo]

Based on the series recommended above, if you like those I would highly recommend The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.  The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings.  Those three lead into several more stand alone books that continue threads of the original trilogy in the same world as well as a lot of common characters that show up from time to time.  They aren't as big as GoT in terms of page count or ridiculous side stories, but they are a straight up action packed series.

[Ken Gargett]

2 minutes ago, Sluffo said:

Based on the series recommended above, if you like those I would highly recommend The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.  The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings.  Those three lead into several more stand alone books that continue threads of the original trilogy in the same world as well as a lot of common characters that show up from time to time.  They aren't as big as GoT in terms of page count or ridiculous side stories, but they are a straight up action packed series.

agree with this. mentioned joe abercrombie above. one of my favourites. 

[Chibearsv]

1 hour ago, Ken Gargett said:

i have really enjoyed some of the sanderson stuff as well as rothfuss. (so i guess, in defence of both). as i mentioned, the one i struggled with was erikson but happy to have another crack and see if i can do better. 

all that said, for me (and as this thread will clearly show, fantasy readers are all very different), none of these come close to the daevabad series. 

i will be really interested to hear what others think of them. 

Ok, you've convinced me. I'm going to give them a read. I'll report back. Thank you

[SansSin]

think i've read and enjoyed all the other series mentioned so far? (i read a lot) i'll have to check out daevabad again, i looked at it a while back but the synopsis didn't sound like something i would like so i never gave it a chance.

i would recommend the dresden files for anyone who hasn't read it, its more modern fantasy but i love the humor in it. robin hobb is another awesome writer, loved her farseer trilogy series.

[ndhaon91]

11 hours ago, Chibearsv said:

Ok, you've convinced me. I'm going to give them a read. I'll report back. Thank you

Same. Just downloaded the trilogy. 

Btw, Ken... regarding Erickson... I had the exact same experience with Book 1 of Malazan. I've had several people since mention that you can actually just skip book 1 entirely and not really miss anything. 

[The Squiggler]

12 hours ago, ndhaon91 said:

Btw, Ken... regarding Erickson... I had the exact same experience with Book 1 of Malazan. I've had several people since mention that you can actually just skip book 1 entirely and not really miss anything. 

I'm 8 books into my 3rd read.  I wouldn't recommend skipping the first book, but having said that, it's not essential to read them in order.  Personally I think they work better if read in sequence because certain recurring characters are introduced early on, but most of the major plot threads don't really start connecting until later in the series. 

[OZCUBAN]

Whist not fantasy per say 

DUNE by Frank Herbert  and the prequels and sequels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson .more than enough books in he series to keep everyone busy 

Dune is very relevant for today’s Times global / Politics/ecology 

my favourite book series of all time 

[gweilgi]

Might be worth giving the "Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan.  14 novels of high fantasy is plenty of reading material for a lengthy lockdown ....

And for lighter fare, what could be better than to revisit the entire oeuvre of PTerry Pratchett?  Comic genius with the best damn footnotes ever, and a keen-eyed yet humane observer of the human condition.