# it's been too long - recommend me some fantasy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199 "2007-06-16T00:40:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/1 "2007-06-16T00:40:43Z")
So for the past year grad school has made it impossible for me to read anything outside of class. I can’t remember the last time I read a book that had a coherent plot and likeable characters that actually do stuff instead of sitting in corners having existential crises. Well, now I’m free, and eager to get back to being a fantasy novel whore, but I’ve been so out of the loop that I don’t know where to start. For a start, here are some series I’ve enjoyed: The Farseer Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy (Hobb) The Symphony of the Ages (Haydon) A Song of Ice and Fire (Martin) Chronicles of Prydain (Alexander) The Demon Child Trilogy (Fallon) I never liked Goodkind, Brooks, or Douglass. Feist is okay, but I find his books repetitive. I’ve read two Bujold books and liked them both, but I have a feeling she might turn out to be like Feist. Yes, I’ve already fallen into the Jordan trap. I’ve wondered about Eddings and Donaldson - are they any good? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/2 "2007-06-16T00:51:07Z")
Pratchett, maybe? Or the [Anteros books](http://www.amazon.com/Far-Kingdoms-Allan-Cole/dp/0345380568/ref=sr_1_1/002-5642098-5356811?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181954977&sr=8-1) by Allan Cole and Chris Bunch? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/3 "2007-06-16T01:21:13Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Pratchett, maybe? [/QUOTE] _shakes fist in **silenus** ’s direction_ Neil Gaiman is great–check out _American Gods_ and _Anansi Boys_, and the _Sandman_ trade paperbacks. Douglas Adams, of _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_, is always classic. I’ve really enjoyed Jasper Fforde’s books, like _The Eyre Affair_, and Guy Gavriel Kay’s _Tigana_ and _A Song for Arbonne_. How about _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/4 "2007-06-16T01:31:54Z")
Avoid Eddings like the plague-hugely derivative. I’d second Gaiman. GGK’s _Fionavar Tapestry_ put me to sleep tho. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/5 "2007-06-16T01:36:32Z")
I really like Lynn Flewelling’s _Hidden Warrior_ trilogy. The first book is _The Bone Doll’s Twin_. Her first trilogy is good, too, but I’d read the second one first. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/6 "2007-06-16T02:10:36Z")
You should check out China Mieville (_Perdido Street Staion, The Scar, Iron Council_). Its steampusk-ish fantasy, very original and not Tolkeinesque in the slightest. (Mieville is a great admirer of Tolkein but not an imitator). ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/7 "2007-06-16T02:22:15Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Neil Gaiman is great–check out _American Gods_ and _Anansi Boys_, and the _Sandman_ trade paperbacks. Douglas Adams, of _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_, is always classic. I’ve really enjoyed Jasper Fforde’s books, like _The Eyre Affair_, and Guy Gavriel Kay’s _Tigana_ and _A Song for Arbonne_. How about _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_? [/QUOTE] Oops, forgot to mention Gaiman. I love the Sandman graphic novels. Fforde is a favorite as well. JS&MN has always intimidated me because of its sheer length. People have been recommending it to me for forever, but for some reason I had no idea it was a fantasy book. Thanks for the recs so far, guys. The more the merrier! ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/8 "2007-06-16T02:24:39Z")
Just the thought that someone might think Mieville is imitating Tolkien… hee! How about the classics, caught up on: Roger Zelazny’s _Amber_ books (at least the first 5) Gene Wolfe _Book of the New Sun_ series, and _Soldier of the Mist_ Patricia McKillip’s _Riddle-Master of Hed_ series Tanith Lee’s _Flat Earth_ series good timing if you haven’t read Phillip Pullman’s _Golden Compass_ (/ _Northern Lights_) series ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/9 "2007-06-16T02:25:00Z")
I love Donaldson, but many others don’t. He can be a bit of a downer, though. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/10 "2007-06-16T03:06:46Z")
I’m enjoying Steven Erikson’s “Malazan Book of the Fallen” series. The first book is Gardens of the Moon. I just looked at the Wiki entry, hoping for an enticing summary. Nope. There’s a summary, but it makes the series look hopelessly, unnecessarily complicated. It **is** complicated, but since there are no tests at the end of each book, I’m reading them anyway. 🙂 A couple of new ones you might enjoy are **The Lies of Locke Lamora** by Scott Lynch and **The Blade Itself** by Joe Abercrombie. They read sorta light after the Erikson books, but they’re pretty good. I’m also enjoying the Bartimeaus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. Young magician, djinn, power struggles, humor, violence, lots of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/11 "2007-06-16T03:52:02Z")
Jack Vance’s classic _Dying Earth_ works have been collected into a single volume. If you have ever played Dungeons and Dragons you will immediately pick up on where the magic system came from 😉 : [http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Dying-Earth-Jack-Vance/dp/0312874561](http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Dying-Earth-Jack-Vance/dp/0312874561) Better IMHO, if not nearly as seminal, is his _Lyonesse_ trilogy. Very much the High Fantasy, with wizards, political strife amongst kings and mischieveous faerie. It’s set in an Ireland-sized Hy Brasil in the Bay of Biscay in a fictionalized version of early medieval Europe. > **[Lyonesse Suldrun's Garden: Jack Vance: 9780575073746: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Lyonesse-Suldruns-Garden-Fantasy-Masterworks/dp/0575073748)** > > Lyonesse Suldrun's Garden \[Jack Vance\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Lyonesse Suldrun's Garden You can always go for Tim Powers, for more modern fantasy. His pirate classic ( complete with Ponce De Leon’s Fountain of Youth and functional Voudun ) _On Stranger Tides_ was just recently reprinted: > **[On Stranger Tides: Powers, Tim: 9781930235328: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Tides-Tim-Powers/dp/1930235321)** > > On Stranger Tides \[Powers, Tim\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. On Stranger Tides - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/12 "2007-06-16T03:56:24Z")
For a different kind of fantasy, _100 Years of Solitude_, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is always good. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/13 "2007-06-16T04:03:01Z")
I rather liked Elizabeth Moon’s trilogy that begins with Sheepfarmer’s Daughter. Also known collectively as The Deed of Paksenarrion. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/14 "2007-06-16T04:14:03Z")
[QUOTE=Hello Again] You should check out China Mieville (_Perdido Street Staion, The Scar, Iron Council_). Its steampusk-ish fantasy, very original and not Tolkeinesque in the slightest. (Mieville is a great admirer of Tolkein but not an imitator). [/QUOTE] I came here to mention Mieville’s Bas Lag books. Without engaging in hyperbole, I think that they’re probably the best fantasy novels of the past 30 years or so, if not longer. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/15 "2007-06-16T04:29:03Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] For a different kind of fantasy, _100 Years of Solitude_, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is always good. [/QUOTE] :: looks suspicious :: That’s one of them _literature books_, ain’t it? Actually, it is on my must-read list, but for the moment I’m looking for something slightly more adventure-oriented and less introspective. Thanks for the reminder, though - I definitely do want to read it at some point. Pullman I love - sooooooooo psyched about the new movie. I didn’t know Tanith Lee had written novels - I’ve read one of her short stories, which I liked a lot. :: adds recommended books to must-read list :: ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/16 "2007-06-16T04:42:32Z")
If you can find them, try Hugh Cook’s _Chronicles of an Age of Darkness_ series. Ten books in all, each with a different main character and plot line, but with some intersection between the minor characters and events in the various books. His style is somewhat unique and very hard to capture. Tons of action, plenty of dark humor, and a little bit of romance and sentiment when you least expect it. His books are very violent, sometimes gruesome in the same way as George R. R. Martin’s, but they also have strong messages of redemption. They’re harshly realistic, with characters suffering disease, starvation, and every possible form of brutality. The first book is _The Wizards and the Warriors_. It was also published in the United States as _Wizard War_. Don’t be put off by the generic title; it’s very different from any other fantasy series out there. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/17 "2007-06-16T04:48:53Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] :: looks suspicious :: That’s one of them _literature books_, ain’t it? Actually, it is on my must-read list, but for the moment I’m looking for something slightly more adventure-oriented and less introspective. Thanks for the reminder, though - I definitely do want to read it at some point. Pullman I love - sooooooooo psyched about the new movie. I didn’t know Tanith Lee had written novels - I’ve read one of her short stories, which I liked a lot. :: adds recommended books to must-read list :: [/QUOTE] You won’t be sorry when you do. It’s one of those books that’s just plain fun to read in addition to being literary. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/18 "2007-06-16T05:16:12Z")
Fifthing Neil Gaiman. Love the Sandman epic. A thought, if you’re looking to not-quite-literature, would be Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. (Quit reading after the 6th book and you’ll be alright) Another thought would be George R. Stewart’s Earth Abides, if you want a single volume story. (Though that’s more post-apocalyptic modern society from a survivor angle, from 1949) Edit: Ah, sorry, didn’t see what you said about adventure. Read Tolkien yet? 😛 Feist is a good way to go, then; check out the other trilogy, The Empire. It’s got plenty of good high points and the low ones level out. His standalone _Legends of the Riftwar_ are also good. His Wiki has lots and lots and lots of information and should help you tailor-pick books. (It really is a model for all other authors out there!) ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/19 "2007-06-16T05:25:39Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] I didn’t know Tanith Lee had written novels - I’ve read one of her short stories, which I liked a lot. [/QUOTE] Great Googly Moogly. She’s written rather a _lot_ of novels. IMO, her earlier ones are the better. Start with _Night’s Master_ (which may be currently out-of-print) – it reads rather like a short story collection, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199/20 "2007-06-16T05:31:06Z")
Have you read anything by Diana Wynne Jones? She writes YA fantasy novels and she is wonderful. I particularly recommend Howl’s Moving Castle and her Chrestomanci series. I also recommend Bridge of Birds: A Novel of Ancient China That Never Was by Barry Hughart. That was one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read this year. I love the way the plot wrapped up in the end. [Here’s a review that describes it better than I could](http://www.scwu.com/bookreviews/h/HughartBarryBridgeofBirds.shtml). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-too-long-recommend-me-some-fantasy/408199.md?page=2)