Hello Brad.
I too have read George R.R. Martins "A Song of Ice and Fire" and did enjoy it immensely until it never was finished and I believe it might never been finished unless Brandon Sanderson takes over.
I just wanted to give a headsup to a few other authors I think you should try and read it, if you like George's epic story telling.
My first and foremost favorite author would be Steven Erickson's "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series. By far the most epic piece of fiction I have ever read to date. Huge story line with massive amounts of characters, magic, races, gods, and plenty of twists and turns that never seems to let up but all have very important consequences. Great read and there are enough characters that you will love some, hate others, and some who will probably not even interest you all. (In one book part of the story is from the point of view of an ox but it is still important and hilarious) I forgot to mention he has created some of the most humorous characters I have ever read.
Ian Cameron Esslemont is also a co-creator of the world of Malazan and is writing his own novellas that occur in their world.
Stephen Hunt is also another epic storyteller who writes novels in his unique world of magic and victorian sciences. He has four books out now and they involve everything from super hero like people to "Steam Men" (a race of sentient,boiler coke driven, steam robots) and everyone in between. Read "The Court of Air" and you will be hooked with all his ideas which he bases of actual scientific ideas and dreams from 18th century London.
Those authors have done something different and it works very well and I have enjoyed them greatly. After the next few months and you have some free time give them a go.
If anyone else here has read any of their works let Brad know either for good or worse what you thought of it and why you would recommend it or not. I think it would be awesome to have a game similar to Stephen Hunts world or the "Malazan World".
My favorite WoT character is Perrin.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/simon-r-green/
One of my favorite 'light' fantasy authors. Blue Moon Rising was just a very fun read, and most of the rest of his works are in a similar vein. Though I've not read his detective stuff since the setting doesn't appeal to me so much.
All the Deathstalker books are fun as well, lots of great Sci-Fi ideas.
Not a big fan of Mr. Green's Drood books. They are his supernatural detective books. He is just too powerful and supernatural creatures are everywhere and are a dime a dozen. Has some very neat ideas though but just not my taste.
I will definitely look into his Deathstalker books for sure.
On another note I have just finished "The Girl Who Played With Fire" by Stieg Larsson and it turned out pretty well and the last half of the book was very enjoyable and less smutty than the first half of the book. It is a good read.
Gonna start "The Way of Kings" tonight and I hope it will live up to my expectations of Brandon Sanderson.
Hi, I am a fan of all the above mentioned books . . . in a very particular order
1) George R R Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire . . . I have the habit of reading his books in one setting cuz they are impossible to put down ( as to what GRRM is up to I find this is the best website http://grrm.livejournal.com , he seems to be a very, very busy man and now they are turning the song of ice and fire into a hbo mini series)
2) Robin Hobbs, another writer who i read in single sittings for the same reason as above
3) Stephen Erikson, Malazan Book of the Fallen . . . I believe they are the most complex fantasy world ever created with stories happening on a world wide scale
4) Robert Jordan, Wheel of Time series . . . the first 4 or 5 books were utterly fantastic, and then he got bogged down with an overly meandering storyline, never did finish the series, will do one day after I reread the initial books
5) Terry Goodkind, Sword of Truth series . . . like Jordan the first few books are utterly amazing but the storytelling seems to falter in the later books, I believe there are now 11 books in that series
6) Raymond Feist, the Riftwar cycle . . . loved these alot when I was younger and still intrigued by the main story arc
7) David Eddings, Begariad et al . . . also loved these when I was younger, but i think that at this point in my life I prefer the more complex fantasy stories
8) Robert Scott Baker, Prince of Nothing series . . . another Canadian like Erikson, very complex trilogy, great story though, he just started a second trilogy that follows this one
9)Terry Brooks, Shannara books . . . this guy has been writing forever, and I have been reading his books for thirty years now
10) Kate Elliot, Crown of Stars . . . seven books in this series, very epic story line
11) David Farland, the Runelords series . . . eight books in the series
Hmmmm, I can name more but these are the most memorable books . . . the best thing about high or epic fantasy is that when you read that one really, really good book, you are not done yet, cuz there are many more books in the series to which you can look forward to. However, the problem with some of them is that the plot tends to got convoluted, or you simply get bored with the characters . . . this was the case for me with robert jordan and terry goodkind . . . but was definitely not the case with grrm and stephen erikson.
Cheers!!!
Well, sometimes the best is ignored imo...
I highly recommend Glen Cook's The Black Company which makes George RR Martin's books look like the twilight books in terms of lack of conflict, murder, rapes and general wtf ish...
Thanks for the replies Zorastra and jaythewise. My reading tastes blend in with both of yours quite well with the exception of David Eddings and Kate Elliot. David Farland's are built around a great concept of magic. I have read the first five or six in the "Runelords". I love his take on the magic side and for every plus there is a downside. The more powerful the more your people have to give to make you the way you are.
I have been reading Glen Cook's books since I started Steven Erickson's books. I like his point of view from the Black Company and enjoy reading about them and all there conflicts their bosses (the bad guys). I find his story telling a little had to follow but I enjoy them all the same. Great ideas and some great characters. Kinda reminds me of "Myth:Total Codex" games as the story is mainly a narration about the Black Company.
I have read "The Prince of Nothing" series and it is something that one day I will have to re-read. I have a bad habit sometimes of reading but not taking in what I am reading. Now I do remember alot of the books just it has been awhile and I have read many great authors since.
It was alright.
I have read "The Red Wolf Conspiracy" by Robert V.S. Redick and I enjoyed it. Will get the next book in the series.
I read the whole series. Pretty amazing. Historical fictio
David Gemmell dudes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gemmell
best heroic fantasy ever - properly moving stuff
Druss; Legend
sholland if you notice my name the Druss parts comes from "Druss the Legend"
I agree David Gemmel was the best heroic fantasy author ever. Was very sad to hear that he died. I have alot of his books but my favorite series of his was the "Rigante" Series. He doesn't really do anything new but he can write some pretty amazing stuff which always has an emotional impact. Skilgannon was a great hero/anti-hero. I have one of his Jon Shannow books and wish I could find all of his stuff. Every book is a good good read.
Glen Cook is probably not the best writer out of the bunch... but his is probably the darkest series of books I have ever read. The characters are great as well. It almost reminds me of a war movie with fantasy to be honest. Like following a platoon of guys @ war who rape and kill with magic and get eaten/killed/etc by all sorts of characters who are all sorts of shades of evil...
I think I need to give Steven Erickson another chance. I tried his first book but I just couldnt really get into it. Just too long winded but everyone I know who like George RR Martin likes him as well so meh ill try again...
And for a different type of book I recommend this for everyone who likes really weird books:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scar-China-Mieville/dp/0330392905
China Mieville is more fantasy/sci fi and it is also pretty dark...
I'd missed the reference DariasDruss! Glad to find a fellow Gemmell fan...!
Loved the Rigante series - not ashamed to admit I was blinking back tears at times!
Have you read the Waylander series? Excellent stuff
The 'Troy' alternative history trilogy is superb also; the final book completed posthumously by David's wife, Stella.
WINTER IS COMING 2011!
The reason why GGRM hasn't published the rest of the books is because HBO is making the books into a series. The Fire & Ice, or the the HBO title Game of Thrones, has been in production for the better part of a year now, so I'm hoping early 2011. Here is a link with a few trailers and stuff http://www.hbo.com/#/game-of-thrones . The production so far looks awesomely superb.
-Chuck <LIFE><!----Insert boring stuff here----></LIFE>
I have read almost every book by Gemmel. His older stuff is hard to find though they have been re-publishing them for a few years now.
I like the "Troy" series and it was well written and was much better than the Hollywood Movie version of the legend. His books are a good solid read right through from beginning to end. I really like "Echoes of the Great Song" and "Dark Moon". I recommend him to anyone as it is easy to get into and is alot of fun to read about the heroes as well as the villain. He isn't really an epic writer though as his story focuses around one person or a group of people but they are good to read.
Viruk was an awesome character. Use him to name alot of my heroes I play in games. That or Darias Druss. Darias after the the great Persian Emperor and Druss from "Druss the Axeman" in Gemmel's books. Darias and Druss seem to go together well.
Brad, have you been following the thread and do you have any input as to who you would recommend?
I just started "The Way of Kings" and am about 60 pages in and so far it is good. Hope it gets much better.
Just finished the "Way of Kings" and it is really good. It started off slow and most of the book focused on 2-3 story arcs but there are a few chapters that actually only deal with different arcs that must be explained in the upcoming sequels. Anyone who has read The Mistborn Trilogy are in for a treat because the magic is alot the same in the way one of the characters are able to move about and things they can do.
Like his previous writing he looks at stories and writes outside traditional fantasy views instead of being from the good side or the bad he writes from neither and asks lots of questions that have to do with morals. I felt you could definitely see his writing grow as this was his first book he started writing more than ten yrs ago and by the end it looks like this will be his best yet.
Great reading and I recommend this to anyone who likes George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan, or any of the other writers I have mentioned.
I'm very much looking forward to a Dance with Dragons.
I had the privilege to work with some of the editors at Del Rey who work on the Game of Thrones series. If you haven't read the Elemental related book, I recommend it (I'm biased but there are places you can tell the editing and tweaking was done by the same group).
I will be reading it Frogboy very very soon. I have heard good things so far. Thanks for the reply.
You should read the way of kings Froggy. It has a world that has been destroyed by magic and all sorts of stuff. Storms rage across the world and that is where the energy for life and some kinds of magic comes from. Also it has lots of fighting, philosophy, and heroics. Great read.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Terry Pratchett, China Mieville or Alan Campbell...
Terry Pratchett writes the Discworld novels, for those of us who prefer a little comedy with their fantasy. There's more than 30 books so far. If you haven't read any of them yet, I recommend "Small Gods" as a jumping-off point.
China Mieville is, in my opinion, one of the most original voices in the world of Fantasy at the moment. He has a series of novels beginning with Perdido Street Station that set up a gritty, crowded and believable world full of wonders. I'd like to tell you more about it, but I absolutely do not want to spoil anything. A very enjoyable read.
Alan Campbell wrote a trilogy of books beginning with Scar Night that introduced me to the sprawling, suspended-by-chains city of Deepgate. The concept of a city built along those lines was enough to get me to buy the book. The story made me devour it. A good read with some interesting concepts throughout.
I would also be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to the series of books a drew my name from. The Lone Wolf series of Gamebooks, by Joe Dever. They were a kind of cross between choose-your-own-adventure and a D&D session. I discovered them at an early age and got most of them before they went out of print. Now I hear they are back in print in the UK, not to mention the fact that Mr. Dever was kind enough to let them be reproduced online for the team at Project Aon. I realize that this is not a traditional epic fantasy story, more akin to the Conan mode of storytelling, but they did pave the way for all the fantasy I have read since. If anyone is interested, Flight From The Dark is the first book.
Thanks for the reply Vonotar82.
I am definitely gonna check out China Mieville soon. I love hearing about peoples books and why the recommend them. Gonna have a nice list of new reading material to pickup when I get the chance.
So an Omnibus of sorts came out for the first Black COmpany books. I think the first 3. Is this really good? I hate buying books that are highly recommended and they end up being junk.
I have three of the Omnibus Black Company books. They are alright but I found them hard to read because of his writing style. I enjoyed it but I did force myself to read through them. I would find someone you know who has read them and ask them their personal opinion of them.
I wouldn't recommend them to just anyone. I have friends who like Steven Erickson but couldn't get through the Black Company books. (Steven Erickson says Glen Cooks "Black Company" novels were the greatest impact on his writing). Personally I think Steven is a much better writer and you will see some similarities.
Hello Everyone.
I just finished reading a book called "The Way of Shadows" by Brent Weeks. It is part one of "The Night Angle Trilogy" and once I was a few chapters in it was a great read. Follows the life of a street urchin who becomes a "wetboy". An assassin of sorts, only better. Good story with some really interesting magic and great fight scenes all set in an East Asian setting.
Now I am not a big fan of asian fantasy but this is pretty minimal in this book and you can really imagine this story taking place anywhere.
I enjoyed it and I can't wait to read the next two books in the series. I have them both on my shelve right now and will be starting "The Shadows Edge" this evening.
Thanks for that tip. I´ve read "perdito street station". Great book.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
