The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, Herman Wouk
For adolescent fantasy, special mention goes to “School for Good and Evil.”
In my defense, I’m referring to the entire Middle Earth mythology, not just the trilogy & prequel. Hard to find a more expansive job of world building. The First Age stories are glorious and heartbreaking. Just ask Feanor.
For adolescents of a now certain age:
The Hardy Boys
Nancy Drew
Tom Swift
The Bobsey Twins
The Rover Boys
All created by Edward Stratemeyer and published under pseudonyms.
Phone
Bible
Black
Sports
Face
Grand Central Arena by Ryk Spoor
Expeditionary Force by Craig Alanson is fun if you’re into Humanity Fuck Yeah stories.
The Alastair Stone Chronicles by our very own Infovore
The Night’s Dawn trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton
I’m with you, re the three which I’ve bolded (never heard of the other two, I’m afraid). Stirling’s companion Emberverse series has IMO, become beyond-awful.
I’d add:
The Matthew Shardlake historical thrillers by C.J. Sansom
Richmal Crompton’s Just William books – “for kids from seven to ninety-seven”
Hasn’t been mentioned yet, but I rather enjoyed The Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks.
The Malazan books by Steve Erikson is the best sustained series I can think of - ten books. It has periods of extreme wobbliness, but overall it maintains an impressive narrative momentum. Hardest working man in literature - 10 doorstoppers published in 12 years, which must be part of the reason why it manages to keep its impetus, most other epic fantasy series end up going off a cliff at some point.
Ah, the series I’m too intimidated to begin. I wonder how well acted out the audio books are. I keep trying to convince myself to read them, but I am too intimidated. I heard you need to take notes on who is who and what is going on in order to follow it.
I don’t know if I have that in me.
He has an easy, digestible style but it’s true there is a lot going on - I actually picked them up just as the last one was published so read them all straight through, so it wasn’t a problem, but prob most people would prefer not to do this.
The first book is a real gatekeeper-type of novel - seems to be a strong love / hate response to it. He doesn’t spend much time framing or building the story, just throws you into it. I think if you read that you’d likely either never read him again or get stuck into all ten.
Another great series (which I’m halfway through) is Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series.
The Hitman/Keller series by Lawrence Block
Fletch series by Greg McDonald
Kingkiller Series by Patrick Rothfuss
Twenty Palaces by Harry Connolly
Jumpers by Stephen Gould
Honorable Mentions:
Wearing the Cape by Marion Harmon
Travelers Gate series by Will Wight
Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne (though the final book leaves a sour taste)
Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
Grimnoir Trilogy by Larry Correia (another trilogy pending!)
There’s no hiding where my tastes lie (at least recently):
Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle)
Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie)
Inspector Alleyn (Ngaio Marsh)
Inspector Grant (Josephine Tey)
Inspector Wexford (Ruth Rendell)
And two more:
Inspector Banks (Peter Robinson)
Inspector Diamond (Peter Lovesey)
I forgot to add the EarthSea works by Ursula LeGuin, although it weakens a little at the end. Basically invented the young man at the school of wizards genre.
These are the most literate mystery series that I have read:
DCI Wexford series, by Ruth Rendell. A nice long series, which takes him into retirement.
Slow Horses series, by Mick Herron. Actually British spies, but it fits into this by story content. Only 4 books so far, but he’s still writing. Also check out his other books.
David Loogan series by Harry Dolan. Only 3 so far, but he’s still writing.
Ed Loy series by Declan Hughes. Set in Dublin, contemporary.
Quirke series, by Benjamin Black. Set in Dublin in the 50s.
And less literate but still very enjoyable:
Bryant and May (or Peculiar Crimes Unit) series by Christopher Fowler. Very old men. Think Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart as the main characters. Gets a bit repetitive though.
Ian Rutledge series by Charles Todd. Post WWI detective with shell shock.
I’ve only read Zola but Balzac is next on my to do list.
And I put The Malazan Book of the Fallen right up there with Zola.
Or the original version, Conan, by Robert E Howard. There are worthy late additions to the series by John Maddox Roberts, Robert Jordan, and a couple others, and also some pretty bad ones by several others.
Terry Pratchett, Discworld
Patrick O’Brian, Aubrey/Maturin
Walter Mosley, Easy Rawlins
Robert Crais, Elvis Cole/Joe Pike
George Pelecanos, D.C. Quartet
Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat series is lots of fun.