Recommend some epic fantasy

julie37619 · March 2015

I'm dying for a summer fling with epic fantasy. DH has been giving me suggestions, but nothing has hit the spot yet. I want something GOT-similar. It should be dark, there should be violence, and there should be shocking twists. Also magic. Dragons are fine, wizards are fine, but I don't want to get too into the PNR side of things - more medieval magic along the lines of Mystborn. Maybe something Terry Pratchett? Any suggestions fantasy lovers?

SnShne322 · March 2015

I've heard good things about The Burning Sky. I have it on my phone to start after I finish my current audiobook.

What about The Wheel of Time series?

julie37619 · March 2015

@SnShne322 DH has read Wheel of Time, but I'm completely intimidated by how many there are! Have you read them? Luke says for the most part he loves them but a few are really boring. I'm torn.

SnShne322 · March 2015

I've read the first one, and half of the second. Both on audio. The second one I didn't finish because it was due back. I mean, they are epic. For sure. I did really like it, but it is daunting. I'd like to read them all eventually.

I think @duxcaelo has read them all and liked them very much.

sfgiantsjo · March 2015

The Wheel of Time series is fantastic, overall. I will admit that there are some books in the series that are slower and more "boring" than others, but it is worth the read. TBH, I find that almost all epic fantasy series have boring parts - I mean, we're talking tens of thousands of pages. But it is hard to slog through if you're not in the mood.

Have you read Sanderson's The Way of Kings? Or The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie?

The Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson is also very good, but it is also really...EPIC epic fantasy. Like epic fantasy on steroids.

I also like Marion Zimmer Bradley's avalon series. Not actually Epic Fantasy, but good stuff.

sassypants527 · March 2015

Chiming in for Wheel of Time. I'm halfway through book 11 of 14 right now. I've been listening to the audio book, and that has been great on my 30 minute each way commute. If you drift a little mentally you really don't miss a lot since the author can be repetitive about minutia (yes, we get it, Nynaeve likes to tug her braid when she's angry). Like PPs have said, some of the middle books drag but it's really kicking now and I am going to be very sad when I finally finish this series.

I like the Marion Zimmer Bradley books, too. Medieval magic and strong female characters. Good times.

duxcaelo · March 2015

You might like the Wheel of Time. It is really long and I'll admit some parts do drag on a little, but I think the story as a whole is fairly interesting. You get to follow around a group of twenty or so characters.

Malazan Book of the Fallen is much more gritty and no handholding. There are probably a hundred different points of view and they jump around a lot, including in time. @sfgiantjo Did you finish all of these? I would love to discuss!

Discworld is good; I've only listened to a handful and that is how I would recommend them. The humor is fairly dry and I think a lot of the irony comes across better that way. The Wee Free Men is my favorite, though I think that one technically is considered YA. I don't think it will have the feel that you mentioned though.

It sounds like you want something a little less lengthy to dive into. I would recommend Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master by Raymond Feist. It centers around two character who start as boys and follows them, I think into early twenties or so. I read a few more after that, but those two are really good and you don't have to read the sequels, especially since the main characters become more of background characters.

I would also recommend The Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks. There should be four total and three have been published. The first starts with The Black Prism. It is the closest I've found to a Mistborn-like feel with a few twists. It is set in a world where people can manipulate the light spectrum as a form of magic.

Have you read Elantris and Warbreaker by Sanderson? I thought both of those were good, even if they weren't quite as epic. I agree The Stormlight Archive (Way of Kings) is pretty epic, but I recommend reading the other two first, since Sanderson has his own universe that everything, including Mistborn, according to rumor, is supposed to tie into at some point in that series.

RevJen · March 2015

Start the Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. It's really fantastic. Or the Crystal Singer series. It's one of my favorites by her. There's also the Tower and Hive series but you should go back and read how Talent got its start. Her universe is incredible.

You could also start Isaac Asimov's Robots series.

InLovewSB · March 2015

I recommended The Burning Sky and The Perilous Sea to the board this week/last week. It's very good. Plenty of magic. Lots of shocking twists. But not GOT dark. Like... HP dark. But you have to wait until October for the 3rd part. But Whoa, Mama! It's going to be awesome!!

I enjoyed Wheel of Time through Book 10 Crossroads At Twilight, and then I got bogged down and moved on to other reading. And now that it's been 5 years, I've forgotten books 1-9 and I'm just not going to reread them so. I don't know... maybe I'll finish it some day. My H, on the other hand, finished the series and he crazy loves it.

I really enjoy David Eddings. He writes two series that are excellent. The first is more knights and battles and magic. It focuses on the character Sparhawk and his band of grumpy, sarcastic, poking fun at eat other all the time knights. His story is two series of three books each - first The Elenium and then The Tamuli. It has some really strong female characters too, which I enjoy. If you want to start this one, begin with "The Diamond Throne."

The second Eddings series is not knights but is more magic and gods and epic battles to save human kind, with sneaky spies and brotherly bonds and horsemen from the plains and berzerkers from the cold north and slippery snake people from the jungle. The worldbuilding is INCREDIBLE. It's amazingly good fantasy. I adore this series. I started the series with Belgarath the Sorcerer, but this is actually kind of a stand alone from one of the main character's POV (as if you were able to read the entire series of HP in one book written from Hermione's POV - you'd be spoiled on the series when you started it, but you'd be able to read it with a layer of richness you wouldn't have had otherwise). Another stand alone is Polgara the Sorceress, which is Belgarath's daughter. But the series is told in two parts-first The Belgariad and then The Mallorean. They are so so good. If you want to read this series, I recommend beginning with "Pawn of Prophecy." I promise you won't be disappointed.

InLovewSB · March 2015

(I'm such sci fi ~ fantasy nerd that reading your post, knowing you're going to start something new, and recommending my all time favorites just makes me really excited for you. I wish I could go back and read them again for the first time.

)

sfgiantsjo · March 2015

@duxcaelo - I read through The Bonehunters - I really need to pick up the rest of that series and get on it. Have you read any of Ian Cameron Esselmont's books?

RevJen · March 2015

@InLovewSB what are the names of the Eddings series?

InLovewSB · March 2015

RevJen said:
@InLovewSB what are the names of the Eddings series?

Sorry I was confusing. Eddings Wikipedia - The series with knights is The Elenium (3 books-The Diamond Throne, The Ruby Knight, The Sapphire Rose). A sequel series with the same characters is The Tamuli (3 books-Domes of Fire, The Shining Ones, The Hidden City).

The series with the magic and battles and saving the world is The Belgariad (5 books- Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, Enchanters' End Game). The sequel series is The Mallorean (5 books-Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda, Sorceress of Darshiva, The Seeress of Kell). Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress are essentially summary books of the first series told from each character's POV.

Each series enjoys it's own storybuilding, climax, conclusion, but I wouldn't read the sequel series without reading the first. You'd miss the depth of character, relationships, worldbuilding...perhaps that's obvious.

sonore32 · March 2015

InLovewSB said:

RevJen said:
@InLovewSB what are the names of the Eddings series?
Sorry I was confusing. Eddings Wikipedia - The series with knights is The Elenium (3 books-The Diamond Throne, The Ruby Knight, The Sapphire Rose). A sequel series with the same characters is The Tamuli (3 books-Domes of Fire, The Shining Ones, The Hidden City).

The series with the magic and battles and saving the world is The Belgariad (5 books- Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, Enchanters' End Game). The sequel series is The Mallorean (5 books-Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda, Sorceress of Darshiva, The Seeress of Kell). Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress are essentially summary books of the first series told from each character's POV.

Each series enjoys it's own storybuilding, climax, conclusion, but I wouldn't read the sequel series without reading the first. You'd miss the depth of character, relationships, worldbuilding...perhaps that's obvious.

I would second those, my DH reads almost exclusive fantasy and he is totally obsessed with Eddings. He has and has read all the books above multiple times.

sagoon · March 2015

Nthing the Wheel of Time series. It really is the definition of epic fantasy. I finished reading them last year and loved them for the most part (it is commonly acknowledged that the series drags a bit around book 10. There's a multi page scene where a character buys wheat. Also the character's tics get annoying - braid pulling, spanking, complete inability to understand the opposite sex etc) The last few books pick up a lot though, and the ending is satisfying for the most part. They are intimidating but well worth the effort. Plus, the series is complete so you won't be waiting years for the author to release the next book.

Another, less epic, fantasy series I like is the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. More for younger readers, but quite good.

Also, anything by Brandon Sanderson. I'm reading his Mistborn trilogy right now and liking it a lot.

GilliC · March 2015

It's classic Roman, rather than Medieval, but I was recently quite impressed with A Brush With Darkness Jamie Maltman. It's a bit GoT-esque, but it's pure magic rather than a world with fantasy creatures. I saw a few twists coming, but it was one of the best self-pubs I've read.

Full disclosure: I originally read and reviewed it at the request of the author. ...grudgingly, since I hate being in the position to say bad things about books by people I know, even if I don't know them so well. However, based on the book itself, I will definitely be paying for the next one in the series.

sassypants527 · March 2015

sagoon said:
Nthing the Wheel of Time series. It really is the definition of epic fantasy. I finished reading them last year and loved them for the most part (it is commonly acknowledged that the series drags a bit around book 10. There's a multi page scene where a character buys wheat. Also the character's tics get annoying - braid pulling, spanking, complete inability to understand the opposite sex etc) The last few books pick up a lot though, and the ending is satisfying for the most part. They are intimidating but well worth the effort. Plus, the series is complete so you won't be waiting years for the author to release the next book.

Another, less epic, fantasy series I like is the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. More for younger readers, but quite good.

Also, anything by Brandon Sanderson. I'm reading his Mistborn trilogy right now and liking it a lot.

Did you know Loial's finger was the size of a fat sausage??? ;-) You'd think by book 11 they could dispense with that repetition of information.

Recommend some epic fantasy

Re: Recommend some epic fantasy

Choose Another Board

Search Boards