Recommendations

[sirigorn]

HI!!
I was wondering if there are any Fantasy books, series, etc. that people recommend to me to read. Because I'm bored and need some books to read.
Sorry if there is already a thread like this. If there is, mods, you can close this.
~Siri

[zinnite]

If you'd like something that's pretty dark, try 'Perdido Street Station' by China Mieville. I just finished it today, and it's easily one of the best and most fulfilling books I've read in years. It's not your typical fantasy novel--imagine a cross between Clive Barker's 'Imajica' and Neal Stephenson's 'Snow Crash' and you get pretty close to the feel of this book. There's also a "sequel" to it, 'The Scar,' which I own but haven't yet read. It sounds really darn good, too.

[Nurvingiel]

I recommend "The Lives of Christopher Chant" by Dianna Wynne Jones, and the other books in that series. Very excellent.
I also recommend "The Mists of Avalon", "The Forest House", and "Lady of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

[sirigorn]

Thanks:D
I did read the Chrestromanci books, Nurv. I liked them too:)

[Grey_Wolf]

Originally posted by sirigorn
HI!!
I was wondering if there are any Fantasy books, series, etc. that people recommend to me to read. Because I'm bored and need some books to read.
Sorry if there is already a thread like this. If there is, mods, you can close this.
~Siri

You could try and read Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality. An excellent series. Even if it's a mixture of Scifi and Fantasy it's worth a read.

[The Gaffer]

I quite enjoyed Stephen Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever.

[BeardofPants]

I didn't... :p

[sirigorn]

You could try and read Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality. An excellent series. Even if it's a mixture of Scifi and Fantasy it's worth a read. Yeah... There's a lot of books by him in the library. And I mean a LOT!!
Was he the guy who wrote the Shannara books??

[BeardofPants]

No. Piers Anthony wrote a whole bunch of sci-fi, plus there's a comedic-fantasy series called the Xanth series - which is moderately funny (gets progressively worse in terms of punning as the series progresses, but the first few are excellent.)

Terry Brooks wrote the Shannara books, I think. I'm not sure - haven't bothered reading 'em as they're supposed to be blatant Tolkien rip-offs.

[sirigorn]

Yeah, it kind of is. I read one, and didn't like it, and I kinda thought Piers Anthony wrote them, becausae they were near his shelf (Anthony, Brooks, a small fantasy section...you can imagine why I thought that). So I didn't want to read Piers Anthony if he wrote Shannara. It is definatly Tolkien-esque.

[brownjenkins]

i enjoyed roger zelanzy's amber series quite a bit... not quite up to the level of tolkien, but good

stephen donaldson also has two-book series... mirror of her dreams and a man rides through... that's also pretty good and much lighter than the covenant stuff

ursula k. le guin's wizard of earthsea trilogy is also fairly good... as is robert jordan's wheel of time stuff... though the series starts to decline after book six or so and gets progressively more stagnent... at this point, it may be quite a few years before it is actually finished

[sirigorn]

A long time ago I started reading the Earthsea novels, but I didn't like them...
Of course, I also started reading the Hobbit a long time ago and didn't like it, so my interests have changed. maybe I'll try Earthsea again to see if I like it now.

[cassiopeia]

I tried to read A Wizard of Earthsea, but I couldn't get past the first five chapters. It just didn't interest me. The Sword of Shannara was all right, but it didn't interest me enough to read the sequels.

I would recommend Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. The Ender books by Orson Scott Card are very good as well (though they're more science fiction than fantasy). The second book in that series, Speaker for the Dead, is one of the best books I've ever read.

[sirigorn]

You guys are great!!! *virtual hugs all around* Thanks so much for these suggestions!! It'll take me a while to get thro all of these!

[BeardofPants]

The first Wizard of Earthsea book *is* hard to get into. I really like the ones that come after though in the Quartet.

[hectorberlioz]

The Song of Albion trilogy, by Stephen R. Lawhead:)

The Paradise War
The Silver Hand
The last book, The Endless Knot, is quite hard to come by though...

[Beruthiel's cat]

Originally posted by cassiopeia

I would recommend Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. The Ender books by Orson Scott Card are very good as well (though they're more science fiction than fantasy). The second book in that series, Speaker for the Dead, is one of the best books I've ever read.

Also the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card. I really like it. It's set in an alternate United States in the 19th century. Interesting perspective and use of historical characters.

[Lalaith_Elf]

Originally posted by sirigorn
A long time ago I started reading the Earthsea novels, but I didn't like them...
Of course, I also started reading the Hobbit a long time ago and didn't like it, so my interests have changed. maybe I'll try Earthsea again to see if I like it now.

You didn't like Earthsea:eek: :eek: :eek:

I thought it was great. Though not as good as some I admit.
I'm reading The Gormenghast Trilogy at the moment. That's good. You should give it a go.:D

[Melko Belcha]

Next to Tolkien's work my favorites are

A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin (Not for younger readers due to language and strong sexual situations)
I - The Game of Thrones
II - The Clash of Kings
III - A Storm of Swords
IV - A Feast for Crows (Forthcoming)

:D Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams (Actually I like this more then LotR, but not The Sil)
I - The Dragonbone Chair
II - Stone of Farewell
III - To Green Angel Tower (Paperback is in two volumes, hardback is around 1,600 pages)

For more action paced stories

Demonwars by RA Salvatore
I - The Demon Awakes
II - The Demon Spirit
III - The Demon Apostale
IV - Mortals
V - Ascendence
VI - Trancendence
VII - Immortals

[cassiopeia]

Originally posted by Beruthiel's cat
Also the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card. I really like it. It's set in an alternate United States in the 19th century. Interesting perspective and use of historical characters.

I really want to read that series, but for some silly reason my library doesn't have the first book! I'll have to fork out my own cash one of these days. :rolleyes:

Another reccomendation I have is the Sword of Shadows trilogy by J.V. Jones. The first book is called A Cavern of Black Ice, and I'm currently reading the second book, A Fortress of Grey Ice.

[sirigorn]

You didn't like Earthsea No, I didn't. But that was a few years ago and I'm only 13, so I was something like 10 then. Books as big as Earthsea are hard to get into at age 10 (tho I was a bit of a nerd then. Still am!!) And BoP says the first is hard to get into, so that might be it.

[Lalaith_Elf]

Originally posted by sirigorn
No, I didn't. But that was a few years ago and I'm only 13, so I was something like 10 then. Books as big as Earthsea are hard to get into at age 10 (tho I was a bit of a nerd then. Still am!!) And BoP says the first is hard to get into, so that might be it.

Yeah it is hard to get into. I've only just read them, and I'm nearly 17 - well I did go through a stage when I was reading pretty much only Tolkien and Anne Rice.....

[Arcala]

A really GOOD book is Lord of Snow and Shadows by Sarah Ash. It's an interesting mix of modern stuff (guns, etc.) magic, and a very interesting plot that never gets you bored. ;)

[Mim Baggins]

I would recommend Hyperion by Dan Simmon. It's science fiction and its has a main story but with short stories throughout. Some of the short stories are brilliant. :)

[Jabberwock]

Aside from the normally recommended classics (which are all good), I'd try some of the following if you're looking for good fantasy that is a little different.

Lord Dunsany's short stories from Pegana etc. - a master of language and story
Barry Hughart's Master Li books - hilarious and wonderful fantasy/mysteries set in old China.
Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books - be warned of extremely thick (but amazing) description
Guy Gavriel Kay - Tigana, Song for Arbonne, Lions of Al'Rassan, or Sarantine Mosaic : best Canadian fantasist - helped put together some of the postmortem Tolkien stuff.

[sirigorn]

Okay, I know I was the one that started this thread, but if anyone else is looking at this thread for books, I found a great new series. Actually, it's more than one series, but they all take place in the same world. They're by Mercades Lackey (I think I spelled it wrong). There's a timeline in the beginning of Brightly Burning, if you want to read them in order...

And thanks for your recomendations, Jabberwock!! (I saw a poem called Jaberwock somewhere... it was a bit strange)

[old scholar]

i would recomend Beggers in Spain by nancy kress
it is a great book and really makes you think

[BelegS]

I commend Jabberwock's post.

Some excellent recommendations there. All of them.

[Falagar]

Yeah, Tigrana is great (though Alessan somewhat reminded me too much of Aragorn). Guy's style is pretty...particular.

[BelegS]

Falagar, have you read 'A Song for Arabonne' by Kay? and 'The Lions of Al-Rassan'?

[Lady Ravyn]

here's a convo beren and i were having in general lit, but i thought maybe it would be better appreciated here ;) ...

The Pearl Saga (The Ring of Five Dragons, The Veil of a Thousand Tears, and The Mistress of the Pearl) by Eric Van Lustbader

Thanks, Lady Ravyn. But the thing is I can't find the whole saga. I know there's the Ring of Five Dragons in one of the bookshops here, but I couldn't find the other two volumes

i don't know if you shop online or if your parents would let you borrow their credit card (that's what mine do and i pay them back in cash when i get the books) but i found them on amazon: Mistress of the Pearl

Thanks for the link, Lady Ravyn (it does work).But unfortunately, I haven't managed to convince my parents to shop for books online (yet... bwahahahaha!) *ahem* but anyway, how does this series compare to other fantasy series (Wot, Lotr, Dune, etc...)?


it's a very different sort of book (something refreshing, i find, in a genre where plots are reused over and over-which isn't always bad, i suppose ;) )i mean, it's obviously not as good as lotr, but i think it's better than many fantasies out there. i'd put the series in my top ten fav books. the way the author describes the society of that world is very detailed; it's a caste-bound society so each caste has sort of its own stereotype, which means, of course, each caste has a character that breaks the boudaries. the plot is also very complicated, so it keeps you thinking (the only thing is you have to constantly try to remember what happened in the other two books :p ) i'm almost done with the third book, and it's still not clear how the series will end, so i'm thinking there will be more than three books. that's fine with me, though as it means more of this awesome series :D
(p.s. - sorry for the lengthy post! :o :p )

[Falagar]

Originally posted by BelegS
Falagar, have you read 'A Song for Arabonne' by Kay? and 'The Lions of Al-Rassan'?
No, but they're now on my list, seeing how Tigrana was. :) Heard lots of good stuff about The Fionvar (sp?) Tapestry.

[BelegS]

Tigana was really good and Finovar Tapestry I guess is also good. [Although on a casual skim I didn't find the beginning very intresting, though I guess a proper read might have adverse effect]

My favorite of Kay's is certainly 'The Lions of Al-Rassan', followed by 'A Song for Arabonne' and 'The Last Light of Sun'. Kay is similar to Martin in one respect that most of the main characters are grey and he makes us sympthize with everyone, be it hero or villian.


Hey, you still post at that AsOFaI boarD? I read some posts by you some time ago but haven't read any recently.


[Waiting for aFFC]

[Falagar]

Some time since I last posted anything on the aSoIaF-board, have gone back to my position as lurker. Have been lurking a bit more than usual lately, so perhaps a post is coming up in a not too distant future. ;)

THanks for the recommendations! :)

[BelegS]

You are Welcome Ser Falagar, Hero of the Trident. ;)