Just finished reading the second book in the Kingkiller Series by Patrick Rothfuss. I loved it! I liked the first book a little better than the second, but I think the series as a whole is excellent so far. That being said, it will probably be a year before the final book is released and I need to find something else in the meantime. Any suggestions?
I’ve read all of:
A Song of Ice and Fire.
The Wheel of Time
Dragonlance Chronicles
Lord of the Rings
Xanth series
The series that starts with Wizards First Rule
Most if the Forgotten Realms books.
So, I’m hoping I can get a few suggestions. I’ve been told to read Abercrombe. Anyone read his books? Thanks.
Anything by Brandon Sanderson (I highly recommend The Emperor’s Soul or Legion as excellent short stories that will give you an idea whether you wish to continue on to his Mistborn series and beyond.)
You could also check out Raymond Feist’s Magician books (read the first 4 and then read the Empire trilogy he wrote with Janny Wurts). If you like those you can decide to go on through the series which goes downhill but stayed a good enough quality that I kept reading right through the recently released end of the series.
Ok. Went to the bookstore and picked First Law book 1 and 2, as well as, book 1 of Mistborn. That should get me started. Any more would be appreciated.
Robin Hobb’s books - you’ll need to read them in order, and I’d avoid the Soldier’s Son trilogy unless you really enjoy reading about a guy who keeps on getting his ass kicked by Fate, but all the other trilogies are really good.
Guy Gavriel Kay - try one at first to see if you like his sometimes very emotional writing style. Skip Fionavar Tapestry though.
Celia Friedman’s Coldfire trilogy, maybe. I also liked K. J. Parker’s Scavenger trilogy, but didn’t much care for the next two trilogies after that.
And of course Pratchett if you want more comedy with your fantasy. If you like them and haven’t yet read 'em, you’ll have enough reading for a while.
How about Scott Lynch’s “Gentlemen Bastard” series - The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas under Red Skies are the first two of a planned seven, the third comes out next month.
Seconding these - the main character is actually very similar to Name of the Wind’s protagonist.
Yes, should’ve mentioned that. Pratchett fans tend to disagree which book is the best to start with but most of them agree it isn’t the Colour of Magic. I started with Guards, Guards! and it worked fine for me.
You could try the Godless World trilogy by Brian Ruckley.
It gets mixed reviews but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Or the Chathrand Voyage quartet by Robert V.S. Ridick, with begins with The Red Wolf Conspiracy, which is mainly set on a ginormously large ancient sailing ship…
Also enjoyed book one of the Acacia trilogy by David Anthony Durham, called The War with the Mein. Not got on to the other volumes yet, though.
The original "Earth Sea Trilogy by Ursala Le Guin. They are simple and powerful and filled with wonderful symbolism. I did like the following books that were written decades later. The author seemed to retcon the original works to be more politically correct.
The first three books of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant after the the first three I felt the books lost their way.
One of my favorites is the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher (he of Dresden fame).
It’s a fun series - it uses, quite deliberately, just about every fantasy trope one can possibly think of. Despite that (or perhaps because of that) it’s a lot of fun to read.
I second Guy Gavriel Kay. I thought both Under Heaven and **The Last Light of the Sun **were stunning books that continue to haunt long after the book is over. **Ysabel **was just okay, though I’ve heard others loved it.
I’m currently reading A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Witches, vampires, and daemons in modern day Oxford. Not a whiff of “Twilight,” thank heaven. But may more of a “chick” book, since there is a strong, somewhat fanatastical romance theme amid all the spells and terrific historical references and good writing. I’m trying to not let it interfere with my enjoyment of the rest of the story.
Have you tried Steven Brust? His Vlad Talthos series is lighter fare but good (Vlad is an wise-cracking assassin with a flying poisonous dragon-like reptile as a familiar). I think Jhereg is the first one. I enjoyed the first five books very much. Got a little repetitious after that for me.