Your Favorite Fantasy Series

[AngelLord]

Mine are:

1. LOTR
2. Shannra and Heritage of Shannra
3. Homecoming
4. Vlad taltos
5. Earthsea cycle


What are yours?

[etherealunicorn]

Well, I will have to include some sci-fi in my list.
I don't really have any particular ranking of favorites, since I like these all fairly well.
LotR
Pern
Foundation
Belgariad
The Well World
Rings of the Master
Dune
Hitchhiker

[IronParrot]

LOTR (incl. Sil and Hobbit. the so-called LOTR "trilogy" alone counts as ONE BOOK.)
Duncton Chronicles (I'm not sure if I'll count the second trilogy, because it isn't that great)
Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Oz
The Dark is Rising

[bmilder]

Hmm...

LotR/Hobbit/Sil.
Riftwar
Dune
Shannara
Harry Potter

[Gez1]

I usually like Fantasy over Sci Fiction but it depends on the author. Some favorites are...
Tolkien (of course)
Asimov
P Morrison (Keltiad)
D Eddings
A McCaffery
R Jordan
T Williams
T Goodkind
Lovecraft
C Barker
And have to say that anything with Michael Whelan art will attract my attention! LOL

[Finduilas]

Tolkien
Lackey's Valdemar books (anyone read "Brightly Burning" yet?)
Deed of Paksenarrion
Darkover books
These just name a few of the books I read repeatedly

[Taimar]

JRR
Robert Jordan
David Gemmell
Tad Williams

These are my favourites.

[emilsson]

1, LOTR
2, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn
3, The Riftwar saga ( especially the first three books about Pug )
4, The Wheel of Time

[jedi master princess]

all of melanie rawn's stuff (i can't remember the series' titles!! args.)
the original riftwar saga
all of jv jones' stuff (though i've yet to read her newest book)
memory, sorrow, and thorn
harry potter :)
the farseer trilogy

there's more...but these come to mind at the moment. and, like gez, michael whelan covers are big with me. :)

[UnknownBountyHunter]

My favorite books individually are:

Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Redwall
Mossflower
The Hobbit
Dragons of Spring Dawning

To list series:

Dragonlance Chronicles
Dragonlance Heroes II
Han Solo Trilogy
LOTR

To list authors:

Brian Jacques
Weis Hickman
J.R.R. Tolkien
Tamora Pierce

[Dfsg]

I have to admit that 2 series are my all time Favorite.

LOTR (Including the enchanting prelude "The Hobbit", although I havent finished The Two Towers yet)

The Chronicles of Narnia. (If you read this one read book 2 first!!)

[Gwaihir]

"The Hobbit" By Tolkien
"The Lord of the Rings" By Tolkien
"The Tales of Narnia" By Lewis
"The Dune Series" (the first few books, anyway) By Herbert
"The Space Trilogy" By Lewis
"The Wheel of Time" (again, the first few books)

David

[Zuliah]

I, personally, am a HUGE fan of The Dragonriders of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey. Arguably the best scifi books, IMNSHO. :)

[etherealunicorn]

Yes, I think those are good, too. The evolution of the Pern story is sorta neat in itself, especially "All the Weryrs of Pern". I like the irony of the situation presented in that one, but I won't spoil it just yet for anyone who may not have read it yet.

BTW, Taimar, since you like Williams' stuff, have you read "Tailchaser's Song"?

Have a nice day:)

[bmilder]

Hey, I own a copy of Tailchaser's Song but never got around to reading it. Is it any good? I've read his other stuff, including MS&T and the first two Otherland books.

[billd37]

LOTR is on the top of my list. Some of the others are:

Wheel of Time (Jordan)
Song of Fire and Ice (Martin) - this is dark and early in the series, but his writing is amazing
DragonWorld (Priess/Reaves) - for "younger" readers
Cycle of Fire (Wurts)
Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis)

[Film Hobbit]

Can someone explain to me what is up with this "wheel of time" series? I keep hearing a bunch of people raving about it but haven't gotten around to picking it up since I've been engrossed in rereading Dune lately.

[inSANaTEE Ordrin]

hmm...

To list the favorite Fantasy Series....

Ok

LOTR(Hobbit and Sil included)
Dragonlance(when Weiss and Hickman authored)
Rose of the Prophet
Deathgate Cycle
Xanth(don't laugh, I enjoyed them)
Narnia
Dragonriders of Pern

to name a few.

[Niffiwan]

Well... I haven't really read many LoTR-style fantasy books...

1. LoTR
2. The Hobbit
3. The Silmarillion
4. The Dark is Rising (the book) & Silver on the Tree
5. the rest of the pentalogy

[Brewhaha]

Hmmm, mine would have to be:

1.Riftwar
2.Empire Trilogy
3.Riftwar Legacy
4.Serpentwar

[Miralys]

Well my faves, in no particular order are:

LOTR
Wheel of Time
Chronicles of Narnia
Magic Kingdom of Landover (Terry Brooks)
Darkover series (Marion Zimmer Bradley)

[Niffiwan]

BTW, I just thought I'd point out;
Brewhaha hasn't read Hobbit, Sil, or LOTR yet (he started the first legend of Sil, hasn't read Hobbit, and got up to about 70 pages before the end of FOTR) so he can't onclude either of them in his favorites
And I can't add Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth (I think that's the first time the full name has been said around here ;) ) to my favorites list because I haven't finished reading it yet.
So the full name would be (of UT)... UTONAME. you to name.

[Elbreth of Carhouth]

Anything by Tolkien, CS Lewis, and George MacDonald. And me of course ;) My newest book hasen't been published yet though.

[Gwaihir]

What books have you published? ;)

David

[Elbreth of Carhouth]

(sheepish look) None.
But that's not my fault, not many people will look at books written by younger people. Unless their related to some famous author. And my books are rather like CS Lewis's, fantasy with a parallel, so their harder to find interested publishers for.

[PTimmins]

Some of my favorites...

LOTR (obviously)
Foundation (and almost anything else by Asimov)
Dune
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Mission: Earth (or whatever it is called, by L. Ron Hubbard)
Chronicles of Pern
Xanth (and others by Piers Xanthony... lol)


A couple of favorite singles:

Stranger in a Strange Land
1984
Tarzan (the original... got boring after the 2nd one)
Frankenstein

That's all for now...
catch ya again soon...

Pat

[Wizard of the Secret Fire]

Besides Tolkien's books;



The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
The Wheel of Time
The Farseer trilogy
The Coldfire trilogy

The Belgariad (entertaining)

[Ensor]

I've enjoyed the following:

1. Do I need mention the first author and his books?
2. Feist and his Riftwar novels (though a bit repetitive)
3. Iain M Banks - best sci-fi author I know of, all the books I've read by him are QUALITY.
4. Wurts/Feist - The Kelewan trilogy. Better than Feist himself at times.
5. Lawhead's Arthurian books. At last, someone has included a Welsh slant to the genre (not entirely Welsh, just some involvement). Arthur IS a Welshman. We gave the world the story, and others took it!
6. Donaldson - Not bad. Hard work at times, but worth it in the end.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE (SO MUCH):

1. Belgariad
2. Goodkind
3. McCaffrey

AND OTHER BOOKS I READ:

1. Iain Banks (fiction novels)
2. Camus
3. Kundera
4. Heller (Catch 22 is amazing)
5. Religious books of mostly Christian background.
6. Anyone heard of Alan Alford or Graham Han@#%$? That kind of stuff always gets me going. Ancient mysteries about Human Cultures. Tidy!
7. Welsh/ancient British stuff.
8. Hoeg.

And I'm just about to tackle The Iliad/Odyssey.

What a crazy ezboard this is! I love it!

[Fat middle]

welcome to Entmoot, Ensor! :)

i think i haven't read any of the books you listed (though i think i'll begin Malory's Artur in some days). anyway, if you keep around i'm sure we'll find a lot of themes to speak about :)

[SarahStar]

I have two questions (this is my curiosity acting here):
1) What McCaffrey have you read that you didn't like? (Seriously, just curious. There are some of her books that I don't think I would have even given a chance if I hadn't read her best stuff first.)
2) You mention the Belgariad. You do not, however, mention the Mallorean, which implies that you are also not considering Belgarath and Polgara. Why? Have you just not read them, or did you just not feel like writing out more than just one name? (Laziness I can appreciate.)

[Ensor]

Fat Middle - Look forward to more talk!

SarahStar - Just realised a mistake; I read the MALLOREAN, not the BELGARIAD. Sorry! Read THE GUARDIANS OF THE WEST, but didn't like it much. Too formulaic. I'm giving a dog a bad name...

About McCaffrey, it was when I was younger, so I can't remember what the book was called. Just didn't get into it. Personal taste! Next I'm going to read Tad Williams I think. Bought it a few weeks ago.

Ensor.

[SarahStar]

The Mallorean and not the Belgariad?!? I'm confused. Have you or haven't you read the Belgariad? (Btw, the Mallorean gets better, Belgarath is excellent, and Polgara is almost a work of art.)

Try a different McCaffrey book. Or try the same one again. I know how that works---I've done it many, many times myself, unfortunately. Especially if you started with Dragonflight. I didn't really get hooked on Pern until I got to the Harper Hall books. (The style changes. Big time.)

[Finduilas]

I started with the Dolphins of Pern (a friend left it in the car accidentally). Went from there to the others and finally stopped being confused by the series.

Another favourite is the Adept series by Katharine Kurtz. I don't like her Deryni series though.

[Ensor]

I feel the need to defend myself! I said that I didn't like Goodkind. Well, things have changed. Into the second book, STONE OF TEARS. Getting better and better! I take it all back...patience is a virtue.

Thank you!


Phil!

[Finduilas]

I'm not a Goodkind fan, and I am just the opposite. I thought the first couple were quite good, but I found that they went downhill from there. Won't spoil it for you by saying why though.

[Finnrodde]

Here is my listed.

1: The Lord of the Rings
2: The Wheel of Time
3: EARTHSEA, the series that got me into fantasy.
4: the 10 thousand Shanara books
5: Dragon's Milk and its sequal/prequel
6: Dragonriders of Pern
7: Song of Ice and Fire
8: Harry Potter
9: Tad Williams' series with the three swords or whatever (I forgettt)
10: Terry Goodkind

[Snowdog]

Finnrodde! Resurrector extrordinaire! Way to go!

[Nurvingiel]

Nice bump Finn. :cool:

In no particular order...

The Silmarillion - The Hobbit - LOTR (which can be thought of as a series): J.R.R. Tolkien

The Pendragon Cycle - Stephen R. Lawhead

The Song of Albion - Stephen R. Lawhead

The Mists of Avalon (and 2 prequels) - Marion Zimmer Bradley

the Shannarah books - Terry Brooks

The Magic Kingdom of Landover - Terry Brooks

Those awesome books by Barbara Hambly whose titles escape me at the moment.

[robertwchandler]

I have really enjoyed A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. A very wonderful fantasy series on an epic scale.

[brownjenkins]

I have really enjoyed A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. A very wonderful fantasy series on an epic scale.

i've just finished up all my "suggested reading" and was thinking of trying his books, since i've heard so much

[BeardofPants]

Yep, read 'em. They're awesome - almost as good as Dune even. ;)

[brownjenkins]

Yep, read 'em. They're awesome - almost as good as Dune even. ;)

speaking of which... finallly finished chapterhouse a few days ago... still mulling over the ending... what a series!

[robertwchandler]

Well the song of ice and fire series is absolutely brilliant. IMO he is much better than other modern fantasists like Jordan. Its the best stuff out there right now IMO.

[Lenya]

Have any of you read Death Gate Cycle by M.Weis & T. Hickman? I just finished the first book and it was not bad at all.

[BeardofPants]

speaking of which... finallly finished chapterhouse a few days ago... still mulling over the ending... what a series!

I've read that book 3 times now, and it *still* ****s with my head. :confused: :D

Well the song of ice and fire series is absolutely brilliant. IMO he is much better than other modern fantasists like Jordan. Its the best stuff out there right now IMO.

I absolutely agree... although, I've only read bk 1 of WoT - that was enough, believe me. :rolleyes:

[Lenya]

I absolutely agree... although, I've only read bk 1 of WoT - that was enough, believe me. :rolleyes:

RJ isn't that bad. You must actually just get past his firts book, it's the boring one. I admit it takes a whole book to get into the story, but I'll say it's worth it. I rather enjoyed the rest. You must just not expect it to be as good as Tolkien's works. It is good fantasy, not great.

[ItalianLegolas]

has anyone ever read 'The Dark Tower' series by Stephen King?? those books are awesome. the Dune series by Frank herbert isn't to shabby either

[Grey_Wolf]

has anyone ever read 'The Dark Tower' series by Stephen King?? those books are awesome. the Dune series by Frank herbert isn't to shabby either


I haven't read it yet (waiting eagerly for parts six and seven), then I'll begin reading it.

As for favourites:

JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
Terry Brooks' Shannara-series
Piers Anthony's Incarnations-series

[ItalianLegolas]

I haven't read it yet (waiting eagerly for parts six and seven), then I'll begin reading it.

Parts 6 and 7 of what? because if you mean the Dark Tower, they are both out already. And if you mean Dune, you might as well just start reading em anyway.

[Lenya]

I haven't read it yet (waiting eagerly for parts six and seven), then I'll begin reading it.

Waiting is a very good idee. I didn't wait for Weel of Time to be finished and now I have to wait for 2 more books. By the time they come out, I'll have forgotten what happened in the previous ones :(

[ItalianLegolas]

well, reading them again never hurts.

[Lenya]

No way. 10 books is an awfully lot to reread and I have a lot of other things I'd rather read.

[ItalianLegolas]

oh, then don't re-read them. is the Pendragon series any good? some people say its good and others say its horrible

[Grey_Wolf]

Parts 6 and 7 of what? because if you mean the Dark Tower, they are both out already. And if you mean Dune, you might as well just start reading em anyway.

Sorry. I didn't specify that I was waiting for The Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower to come out in trade paperback.

[Pytt]

I have just read three fantasy series; WoT, some of Tolkiens work, and Harry Potter.
I think all these three are superb! But Tolkien is the greates, and I can't decide which is the next best. I have to wait to see the end on both before I make up my mind. I don't even know if they can be compared.
But right I am totaly engrossed in WoT, and I probably will be for the next two, three months.

[ItalianLegolas]

Sorry. I didn't specify that I was waiting for The Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower to come out in trade paperback.

Oh, okay, I got the hardcovers, they were really good

[Grey_Wolf]

Oh, okay, I got the hardcovers, they were really good

Well, I've got something to look forward to then. :)

[ItalianLegolas]

the ending of 7 is a bit disapointing though...

[Lenya]

oh, then don't re-read them. is the Pendragon series any good? some people say its good and others say its horrible

No idee. Haven't even seen it. I didn't know it was allready out, I thought he would write it after WoT.

[Grey_Wolf]

the ending of 7 is a bit disapointing though...

Oh, is it? Well, I suppose King could have gotten a bit rushed at the end. :)

[ItalianLegolas]

i dunno, he had 20 years to think of a good ending

[Grey_Wolf]

You're quite right. He shouldn't have but perhaps he did. Him writing three books in the space of two years (if I'm correct).

[ItalianLegolas]

Yeah, he wanted to release them all in 3 succesive months, but his publishing company wouldn't let him

[Mrs.Gimli]

LOTR and my favorourite authors are Brien Jacues,Laura Ingalls,and Narnia.I also like the Lemony Snicket

[Lenya]

LOTR and my favorourite authors are Brien Jacues,Laura Ingalls,and Narnia.I also like the Lemony Snicket

Have you seen the movie (Series of Unfortunate Events)? Jim Carry made it, he was a stunning actor in it, even though I don't usually like him.

[Snowdog]

My favorite fanatsy series is no doubt J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Others would be The Black Company. I have the George R.R. Martin Fire and Ice books, but only started reading them recently.

[ringbearer]

:eek: Suprised that no one has mentioned "The Amber Series" by Roger Zelazny...very impressive and different than anything you will ever read!!!

[Lenya]

My favorite fanatsy series is no doubt J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Others would be The Black Company. I have the George R.R. Martin Fire and Ice books, but only started reading them recently.

I just got the first book in the Fire & Ice series! Finally! I've been searching for it for at least a few months now. (I know I can order a book, but its more fun to actually buy it in a book shop :rolleyes: ) Won't read it just yet though, I'm doing Chronicles of Narnia first.

[Falagar]

The Darkness That Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker seems to be a very, very good series, in the same vein as Martin and Steven Erikson. :) Reading the first book now.

[b.banner]

Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
The Symphony Of Ages by Elizabeth Haydon
Song Of Albion by Stephen R. Lawhead
The Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Prydain Chronicles by Loyd Alexander
The Chronicles Of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

The Rowan of Rin books. Wrinkle in time series. Pern. The Susan Cooper series. Prydain. And Oz is amazing. If you only know the movie, you don't know it. :)

Then you get into Xanth. ;) And the Phaze series.

Not actually "fantasy" but sure "speculative fiction" is Robert Heinlein's books, a series that starts in "Time Enough for Love' and works forward through "Number of the Beast" and "The Cat who walks through Walls."

Not suitable for the very young... he gets racy in his old age. ;)

[Mari]

Hmm, I was sure I allready posted in this thread, but apparently I did not. I haven't really seen Raymond E. Feist mentioned here, but you should definitely read his series! If only I could remember the name of the series... Krondor? Rift-something? Arggh! I forgot... :confused:
Anyway, don't start reading when you don't have much time, because you won't be able to put the book down. ;)

[The Gaffer]

No fans of His Dark Materials?

[Prince Myshkin]

:eek: Suprised that no one has mentioned "The Amber Series" by Roger Zelazny...very impressive and different than anything you will ever read!!!
I was about to pop! Roger Zelazny is one of my favorite authors!
I like, in no particular order and not limited to,

Roger Zelazny
Tolkien
Asimov
Heinlein
Piers Anthony
Anne Mccaffery
And so many more that if i didn' need to go watch a star trek I would keep going!

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Hmm, I was sure I allready posted in this thread, but apparently I did not. I haven't really seen Raymond E. Feist mentioned here, but you should definitely read his series! If only I could remember the name of the series... Krondor? Rift-something? Arggh! I forgot... :confused:
Anyway, don't start reading when you don't have much time, because you won't be able to put the book down. ;)

I believe you're thinking the Riftwar Saga.

[brownjenkins]

1) Roger Zelazny's first Amber Chronicles.
2) Frank Herbert's Dune series.
3) Tolkien, Silmarillion through Lord of the Rings.
4) GRR Martin's Fire and Ice.
5) Moorcock's Chronicles of Corum.
6) Le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy.
7) Donaldson's first Covenant series.

[Mari]

I believe you're thinking the Riftwar Saga.
Ah yes, that might be it! But in he wrote more books in the same world with the same characters returning and growing. I think he is a really good writer who manages to keep his worlds and people interesting and evolving, but not to an unbelievable extent.
Thanks for reminding me :D

[elffreak24]

I like:
LOTR
The legacy of the Drow
Redwall

[Elanor]

I can't believe I haven't responded to this thread. I have so many favorites...

LotR
Narnia
Alice
Oz
Prydain
Enchanted Forest
HP
Riftwar/Serpentwar/etc.
Redwall
The Dark is Rising
Valdemar (ML)
Bedlam's Bard (ML)
Elemental Masters (ML)
Bromeliad
Eragon
Piers Anthony
Tennis Shoes Adventure (obscure; I know no one's heard of it, but it's fun)
Alvin Maker

Sci-fi:
Ender
Pern (AM)
Talent (AM)
Brainships (AM)

I've also read many more series', but this is the list of my favorites, unless I'm forgetting some.

[Belwen_of_nargothrond]

I, personally, am a HUGE fan of The Dragonriders of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey. Arguably the best scifi books, IMNSHO. :)

I love those books. I also like Meredith Pierce and her Darkangel Trilogy.

[Nautipus]

I, personally, am a HUGE fan of The Dragonriders of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey. Arguably the best scifi books, IMNSHO. :)

I read those and really enjoyed them.

[Curubethion]

Ever heard of this dude named JRR Tolkien? I LOOOOVE his stuff...

[Nautipus]

Huh uh, I aint. What did he write?:p

[Belwen_of_nargothrond]

Nothing is better than JRR Tolkien's works.

[Nurvingiel]

My favourite fantasy series, aside from the works of the good professor of course (;)), is "The Winter King" by Bernard Cornwell. It is the best Arthurian legend series I've ever read.

I'm also very fond of Stephen Lawhead's "The Song of Albion," though I'm disappointed in his Arthurian legend "The Pendragon Cycle" (too much preaching). However, it still has the funniest passage of any book I've ever read, wherein Cai is describing a brilliant assault on an enemy fortress where they are insanely outnumbered, so they use clever tactics instead... :D

[Acalewia]

Surprised I haven't posted here :o

1. LotR ~JRRT
2. Inheriatance ~ Christopher Paolini
3. His Drak Matrials ~ Philip Pullman
4. Ranger's Apprintance ~ Don't remember the author's name :o
5. I'm not sure if the series officially has a name, but Stephanie Meyer's vampire series is great. One of the best series to come around in a while. The books are Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse with a new book coming in August.

[Aikanáro]

Most of these have been mentioned before, but:

- Anything by Tolkien, obviously
- A Song of Ice and Fire
- Dragonriders of Pern
- The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
- The Riftwar books, particularly the Empire Trilogy
- The Rai-Kirah trilogy by Carol Berg (well...what I've read of it, anyway)
- Dune (but it *is* sci-fi rather than fantasy)

[feawen]

oh i like fanasty!
lets see i liked...

lotr's of course!
his dark materials
orcs
wind on fire
and this series with a long name that i cant remember but i remember the last book was called the firebirds reverage. very good!

[Eilonwy]

I like
The Narnia series:D

[Grey_Wolf]

Ive only read The Magician's Newphew and LWW. Thought the others a bit tedious.

[Empress_Flynn]

^They're okay until you get to the whole "Oh, this is a Christian allegory" thing... and the whole "problem with Susan" thing...

Anyway... favorite fantasy series... in no particular order...
A Song of Ice and Fire by GRRM
The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

And, not series, but incredible nonetheless...
Anything by Neil Gaiman, especially American Gods
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (though I suppose that could really count more as sci-fi)

I'd like to read more Zelazny when I get a chance, as well

[Earniel]

^They're okay until you get to the whole "Oh, this is a Christian allegory" thing... and the whole "problem with Susan" thing..
Which is my biggest gripe with Narnia as well.

But I agree with you on the Death gate series, they were rather good. The best I have read of Weiss and Hickman so far.

[Empress_Flynn]

Loved Death Gate... I really liked the main character being such an antagonist, and the different world settings gave the books such a rich landscape to work with.

Plus, the Tolkien references always gave me a chuckle :D

[nasuada]

I have to say 'The Chronicles of Narnia' are the best!:)

Then: LOTR
The Prydain Chronicles
The inheiritance Cycle (Eragon, Eldest,Brisingr)
Wheel of Time
The Inkheart series
The Land of Elyon
Harry Potter.^_^