# Recommend me some fantasy books
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 26, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039 "2006-07-26T03:09:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/1 "2006-07-26T03:09:21Z")
Please recommend some fantasy books – no not _those_ kind of fantasy books. I haven’t read much fantasy for a while and I would like to dive back in a bit. I’ve read LoTR and Narnia countless times. My favorite series is Earthsea (even the newer books that everyone else hated). I read (actually listened-to) _The Fifth Sorceress_ and thought it was the worst thing I didn’t read. In fact I stopped listening before end which is pretty bad considering all I had to do was keep the CDs playing. I also didn’t like one by Mercedes Lackey. It seemed like something that I would have liked when I was younger, but just didn’t work for my 35 year-old self. I’ve also read a little over half of Pratchett and loved them all.
So any good suggestions? I’ve read threads in the past, but when I get to the library, I can never keep the authors straight: “Is that the libertarian guy?” or “Is that the guy that everyone thinks should just end his series?” I don’t care if it is a series or not, but if it is a series I like to read them in order. Thanks in advance!
---
### Author:  [@Professor\_Farnsworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Professor_Farnsworth)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/2 "2006-07-26T03:28:09Z")
My personal favorite fantasy books are **The Song of Ice and Fire** series by George R.R. Martin. The series is still being completed (4 of 7 books are finished), but this just gives me an excuse to re-read the series from the beginning each time a new book is released.
The series starts with _A Game of Thrones_ (which is obviously where you would want to start). The whole story is pretty dark and very medieval. I should also note that the series is intended for mature readers (lots of death, violence, and lewdness). The cast of characters rivals any series I’ve ever read; each individual is unique and have believable motives and desires. The story arc can get complex at times, but not overly so. In fact, I think the complexity and depth add to its attractiveness.
I’m anxiously awaiting book 5 (_A Dance With Dragons_). I just hope the series ends with the quality that has held up through the first four books. Sometimes series tend to get bogged down toward the end (I’m looking at you Robert Jordan!). If you’re looking for more info you can check out [George R.R. Martin’s website](http://www.georgerrmartin.com/) .
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/3 "2006-07-26T03:31:50Z")
[Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fafhrd)
[Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld)
[And if you want something a little darker . . .](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.P._Lovecraft)
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/4 "2006-07-26T03:35:10Z")
We’ve had “recommend fantasy books” threads in the past; [here’s one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343945) of them that might give you some ideas. Or if you were more specific about what you do or don’t want, I’m sure there are some fantasy readers here who can give you some good recommendations.
---
### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/5 "2006-07-26T03:37:08Z")
I’ll add Robert Adams’ _Horseclans_ series…
> **[Horseclans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseclans)**
>
> Horseclans is a science fiction series by American writer Robert Adams, set in a North America that had been thrown back to a medieval level by a full-scale nuclear war.
> The books mainly concern the doings of the "Horseclans", a nomadic people originating from the "Sea of Grass"—the Great Plains from present-day southern Canada to central Texas, and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. The Horseclansmen are portrayed as fierce, noble and often gifted with telepathy, which came in ...
Also, consider R.A. Salvatore’s _Forgotten Realms_ books…
> **[R. A. Salvatore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.A._Salvatore)**
>
> Robert Anthony Salvatore (born January 20, 1959) is an American author best known for The Legend of Drizzt, a series of fantasy novels set in the Forgotten Realms and starring the character Drizzt Do'Urden. He has also written The DemonWars Saga, a series of high fantasy novels; several other Forgotten Realms novels; and Vector Prime, the first novel in the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series. He has sold more than 15 million copies of his books in the United States alone, and 22 of his title
---
### Author:  [@verbenabeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/verbenabeast)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/6 "2006-07-26T03:39:10Z")
David Gemmell _Legend_ … go now.
get it.
Salvatore’s Forgotten Realms books are pretty good too, in my opinion.
---
### Author:  [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/7 "2006-07-26T05:07:26Z")
Everything by Diana Wynne Jones. Start with \*Archer’s Goon \*for a laugh or jump right into _Fire and hemlock_ if you want to see how complex she can get.
Connie Willis: _Doomsday book_. Then on to _To say nothing of the dog_.
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/8 "2006-07-26T05:11:58Z")
> [@Oakminster](#):
>
> I’ll add Robert Adams’ _Horseclans_ series…
I’ve never read anything by Adams but I heard him speak at an SF convention once. Based on that, I have no interest in reading anything the slimy never-should-have-been-born-of-woman sumbitch might ever have written.
---
### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/9 "2006-07-26T05:18:26Z")
You sound like me. I liked LOTR and I have read Earthsea books over and over. You might want to check out Jack Vance’s Dying Earth series. His writing is really sharp and I find the characters more fleshed out than in most fantasy writing. Here’s a bit of Jack Vance trivia while we are on the subject: the magic from the Dying Earth system was the basis for the magic system in the original Dungeon and Dragons (I’m a huge geek).
---
### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/10 "2006-07-26T05:28:09Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> I’ve never read anything by Adams but I heard him speak at an SF convention once. Based on that, I have no interest in reading anything the slimy never-should-have-been-born-of-woman sumbitch might ever have written.
Um…ok…now I gotta ask what he said…
---
### Author:  [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/11 "2006-07-26T05:42:16Z")
You have got to -read- right -now -get to- the -bookstore discover Charles de Lint.
He will make you\* think\*, and you will not mind at all.
---
### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/12 "2006-07-26T11:27:22Z")
Anything by David Gemmell. Especially Legend and Morningstar.
The Fionavar Tapestry by Kay.
Prince Ombra by Roderick MacLeish
Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
---
### Author:  [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/13 "2006-07-26T13:07:56Z")
I’d recommed;
**Memory, Sorrow and Thorn** by Tad Willams
**Coldfire Trilogy** by CS Friedman
**The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant** by Stephen R Donaldson
I second;
**The tales of Dying Earth** by Jack Vance
**The Fionavar Tapestry** by Guy Gavriel Kay
---
### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/14 "2006-07-26T13:11:41Z")
_The Bridge Of Birds_ by Barry Hughart
> **[Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient... by Hughart, Barry](https://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Birds-Ancient-Chronicles-Master/dp/0345321383)**
>
> Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient... by Hughart, Barry
> [@](#):
>
> I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world…
A book about a China that never was…_but **should have** been_.
Lyrical.
Read the darn thing.
---
### Author:  [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/15 "2006-07-26T13:18:16Z")
Robin Hobb’s Stuff (Megan Lindholm under a different pen name)
Linked set of 9, but the first 2 trilogies can be read in isolation, the third trilogy ties them together
Farseer Trilogy
-Assassin’s Apprentice
-Royal Assassin
-Assassin’s Quest
Live Ship Trilogy
-Ship of Magic
-The Mad Ship
-Ship of Destiny
Tawny Man Trilogy
-Fool’s Errand
-The Golden Fool
-Fool’s Fate
---
### Author:  [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/16 "2006-07-26T14:32:03Z")
> [@EuroMDguy](#):
>
> I’d recommed;
> **Memory, Sorrow and Thorn** by Tad Willams
Gaaah. I hated those. How many times did Simon get lost and-nearly-starve-and-start-to-go-mad in those books?
Anyways, I recommend Steven Erikson’s **Malazan Book of the Fallen** , beginning with **Gardens of the Moon**.
-Joe
---
### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/17 "2006-07-26T15:02:04Z")
Gene Wolfe: **The Book of the New Sun** tetralogy:
[The Shadow of the Torturer
The Claw of the Conciliator](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312890176)
[The Sword of the Lictor
The Shadow of the Autarch](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312890184)
(links are to two-in-one volumes)
---
### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/18 "2006-07-26T15:03:14Z")
Oops, gave the wrong title for the last volume–it’s **Citadel** of the Autarch.
---
### Author:  [@lucasthegray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucasthegray)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/19 "2006-07-26T17:47:21Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#):
>
> Gene Wolfe: **The Book of the New Sun** tetralogy:
> [The Shadow of the Torturer
> The Claw of the Conciliator](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312890176)
> [The Sword of the Lictor
> The Shadow of the Autarch](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312890184)
> (links are to two-in-one volumes)
I heartily second the recommendation, but you left out the fifth book: [Urth of the New Sun](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312863942/sr=8-1/qid=1153935913/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-6451564-0900659?ie=UTF8)
---
### Author:  [@Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_And_Candy)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039/20 "2006-07-26T18:09:23Z")
ANYTHING by **Tamora Pierce** , **Robin Mckinley** , **Jacqueline Carey** , **Laurie Faria Stolarz** , **Stephenie Meyer** , **Amelia Atwater-Rhodes** , **Juliet Marillier** , **Anne Bishop** , **Sara Douglass** , **Kate Elliott** or **Trudi Canavan** is, like, _really_ good.
I heartily recommend them all.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-fantasy-books/366039.md?page=2)