/lit/ - Literature

>>5876

Fellow fantasy fan here. The Wheel of Time is an important series and very influential in the epic fantasy genre. Not for everyone, though. The following is a list of fantasy series that I personally enjoyed.

Anything by Brandon Sanderson. Seriously. He finished the Wheel of Time, and he is busy with an even better epic fantady called the Stormlight Archive. His Mistborn series is good too.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld

The Broken Empire series by Mark Lawrence. I am not a fan of ASoIaF, but I loved this series. Easily the three darkest books I have ever read.

Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erickson.

The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher. Not the best, but an interesting fusion of a fantasy series and a crime solving series.

The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss. This and Sanderson's Stormlight Archive are my two favorite fantasy series to date. Seriously. Read them.

Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards.

Those are some of the best I can think of offhand. Will post again if I think of a few more I enjoyed.

>>5878

Bah, right as I posted, I remembered Glen Cook's The Black Company.

>>5885

I used to dislike Mat a lot in the first few books too, but got around that. His story is actually one of the few I'm looking foward to (currently reading Knife of dreams).

>Try Chronicles of the Black Compagny

>>5879

…which sucks after "the white rose".

the first book was the best one anyway.

>>5878

I recently read nearly all the Cosmere books by Brandon Sanderson. I recommend them all.

Just finished the second book (latest entry) in the Fitz & Fool trilogy by Robin Hobb. It had a few subplots that I feel the story could have done without (unless they somehow come back to turn out significant, but I doubt it), but at least stuff happened - the first book was mostly a lull and didn't really get interesting until the last 100 pages or so.

Despite that, I don't feel the main story advanced all that much. But it was a good read, and I'll be waiting for the third book, though at this rate I don't know if the "trilogy" will be able to keep itself contained to one.

For those of you interested in high fantasy that mostly feels like low fantasy, and don't mind progressive undertones, Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings books are a good find. Read them chronologically! Seriously, the trilogies are good on their own, but they're all part of a bigger picture you won't otherwise be able to fully appreciate.

I try not to buy books unless I can get them used at a local bookstore, because I don't have money to pay for shipping off of Amazon. So I usually just end up buying the next book in whatever series I'm reading when I find it, but I never finish anything.

I could see Mat being dislikable early. Any scene with Elayne and him is sort of annoying. He develops a lot though.

I finished book 10 of WoT. I think you read it more for the experience than to find out what happened. Like someone else said it's influential. I don't really want it to end. OP there is one prequel if you haven't read it yet and a "World of WoT" type book coming out soon.

ASOIAF I'm up to date with. I enjoy it, but I don't watch the show and avoiding spoilers with is frustrating. It's kind of ruined the experience at times. From what I gather the show for next year got pushed back, so the book should be out before the show starts again.

I read Gardens of the Moon a while back. I really like this series, but I never have any luck finding these books anywhere used. At first I was conflicted about how much stuff he leaves out (I read it between a couple of Jordan books) but the book just went so fast for me because of it. Plus the way that he tied all the characters different plot lines together was admirable. The history, magic and pantheon system that he's developed really drives the plot for me.

I'm currently reading Hobb, I'm on Assassin's Quest right now. It's weird reading a fantasy that focuses so much on the disabilities of the protagonist. She has an interesting focus for high fantasy, which makes it kind of a breath of fresh air even with limited world-building so far. I gather that the other story lines in this universe focus more on the world building.

I've enjoyed the Discworld books that I've read. I'd like to read them between heavier books, but they're so short and sort of hard to find. I don't have a particular desire to read the entire storylines though.

The Black Company is probably my favorite series. I'm not sure I could have gotten into high fantasy without it. I can't wait for the next two.

>>7408

>but I don't watch the show and avoiding spoilers with is frustrating.

pretty sure that the show has completely derailed plotwise.

I'm gonna be that guy and just say I honestly think WoT was overrated and just beyond annoying.

I found it unrealistic that some people in the southern kingdoms didn't believe in fucking snow when you can walk all the way across the continent at the speed of plot.

I thought the villains were all comically nearsighted when it came to battleplanning, which was okay for them because the heroes all refused to think outside of the box.

And I found Rand to be whiney and annoying.

But that's all just me.

>>6260

The entire Taglios thing should have been 3 books tops. I wouldn't say it sucked, but the good parts were too far apart.

In any case, I'd like to see a sequel. Preferably one that was closer to the books of the north in spirit.

>>7429

how is "the silver spike"?

>>7429

i'd say i enjoyed all of the books but the first 3 were the best. the farther along the series the farther it got from what made the series unique and the closer it got to just high fantasy. i'll read whatever he puts out but i agree that closer to the books of north would be preferable.

>>7433

not that anon. i don't remember much of it, it was a strange stand-alone but i remember liking it. iirc it was almost more in a weird-fiction vein.

i got a kitten that i named toadkillerdog right after i read it, so it left some sort of impression on me. he was a pretty badass cat.

How often do you read fantasy?

If I'm not counting what I have to read for school, I'd say a solid majority of the books I read are fantasy or some other sort of genre fiction. I feel I'm getting burned out, but rather than picking up new genres or literature with more substance to it, I'm becoming disinterested with reading in general. Help me.

You'd tell me if I was just a simpleton, right?

>>7445

so i guess it was an aptly chosen name…

>>7452

what do you find in fantasy novel that you think you cannot find elsewhere?

>>7457

I really had to think about it, and all I could come up with was some superficial elements. I like medieval weapons and warfare, exploring the cultures of different fantasy races, magic, that sort of thing. Monsters make for compelling adversaries and crusaders make for interesting and likable heroes, that's likely why I enjoy genre fiction so much.

>>7463

you probably might like non fiction.

maybe about some roman war, in the sense that you'd probably get the clashing cultures/ different kind of warfare…

maybe in between a fantasy novel and another, so that you can read each with fresher eyes.

Been reading the discworld books, but I'm taking a quick break from that and am currently reading "A Dirty Job" by Christopher Moore. Seems pretty good so far, but I'm only fifty or so pages in at the moment.

Sandman Slim is a pretty good series, although it has it's ups and downs, if you're into fantasy with a hint of noire. Book begins with the main character escaping hell only to land in a greater hell Los Angeles Reminds me of "hardboiled P.I." stories.

>>5876

last fantasy books i read were the magician's series by lev grossman

basically adult harry potter mixed with narnia.

it's fun even though the main characters can be twatty at times

>>7961

The Elenium hes some edgy stuff IMO, a TV series would be great.