# What should I read next (recomend a good Fantasy novel) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2005, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057 "2005-06-13T08:27:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/21 "2005-06-13T23:35:18Z")
I’ll second **Mercedes Lackey** (particularly for her Valgarth (Valdemar) stuff.) I’d also suggest either set of series by **David Eddings** , which I read when we were still waiting for all the books in _The Tamuli_ (the second universe second trilogy) to be released. My favorites are _The Elenium_ & _The Tamuli_, which are both trilogies set in the same universe with the same charactor groups but the others (which are 5 book series _each_ set in a different universe with different characters) are good too. For something still fantasy-based, but with a crossover detective/horror feel, the _Harry Dresden_ books by **Jim Butcher** are excellent. I think there are 6 now, with another one possibly due later this year. I’m keeping a list too, now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![boofuu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@boofuu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boofuu)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/22 "2005-06-14T00:19:07Z")
I am not sure if this is anything you might be interested in, but I like feminist sci-fi/fantasy. I am not a “feminist” per se and most definitely not a “femi-nazi.” But I like that the stories give a distinctly different view from traditional fantasy. Keeps me on my toes. This [site](http://www.feministsf.org/femsf/) has a list of some authors and reviews. Oddly, a lot of these titles are distopias and contain sexual content, so keep that in mind. > [@Captain Amazing](#): > > He’s lying about that. He was really just a poor boy from Kesh who discovered a secret magical temple. HOT! ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/23 "2005-06-14T00:27:29Z")
If you don’t mind that it’s an e-book, you might want to try _Rentwing_. It’s really dang good. [http://liveoakhouse.info/](http://liveoakhouse.info/) The web page is temporarily down, but should be back up within a day or so. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/24 "2005-06-14T00:31:27Z")
> [@Indyellen](#): > > \ > For something still fantasy-based, but with a crossover detective/horror feel, the _Harry Dresden_ books by **Jim Butcher** are excellent. I think there are 6 now, with another one possibly due later this year. > > I’m keeping a list too, now. 🙂 I quite enjoy the Jim Butcher series. The seventh was just released in hard back. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/25 "2005-06-14T00:51:43Z")
Looks like it’s up to me to mention the old warhorses. If you can tolerate sorcery without the swords, try Ursula K. LeGuin’s \*\*Earthsea \*\* trilogy (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs as Atuan, The Farthest Shore.) Before anyone points out that LeGuin finished off the series with the much more recent Tehannu and (I think) Other Winds, I am not unaware of the later, more “mature” additions to the series. I read them. I just didn’t like them, and I find them depressing. Sure, the original three books were sexist as all getout, but I don’t care, and I’m a woman. If you can stand juvenalia, (and Christian allegorical juvenalia, to boot), there’s always C.S. Lewis’ **Chronicles of Narnia**. (Please start with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, not The Magician’s Nephew, which is best read sixth of the seven books, IMHO and that of many others.) You may or may not be able to stand them, but at least if you read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, you’ll be in a better position to judge the Walt Disney movie coming out at Christmas. Anyway, they’re better than they sound, if undeniably preachy. If you can deal with overblown language and an overwrought protagonist, give **The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever** by Stephen R. Donaldson a shot. Personally, I’d stick with the first three books if I had it to do over again. Donaldson wrote two trilogies and is now (20 years later) in the process of following them up with a final four-book series, but he would have been better off quitting after Lord Foul’s Bane, The Illearth War and The Power that Preserves. Thomas Covenant, too, is soon to be “a major motion picture,” for better or worse. Note that Covenant, himself, isn’t much for hacking and slashing at his enemies, but he does wield magic power (much to his dismay), and there is no shortage of strange beasts, fey people, fell creatures and carnage in the books, to put it mildly. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/26 "2005-06-14T00:59:45Z")
Some that haven’t been mentioned yet—correction, make that _hadn’t_ been mentioned, when I first started writing this. Oh well… If you don’t mind venturing into the YA section of the bookstore/library, I highly recommend **Lloyd Alexander’s _Chronicles of Prydian_**. (It’s a 5-book series, each of which is somewhat self-contained, but they tell a bigger story and should be read in order.) (Okay, on preview, I see this one has been mentioned, but it’s definitely worth mentioning again.) **Ursula K. LeGuin’s _Earthsea Trilogy_** is rightly considered a classic. (She later went back and wrote more; by now there are six volumes, but you _can_ stop after the first three, or even after one or two.) There are wizards and dragons and fun stuff like that, but it’s more philosophical and mystical than it is action and swordplay. **C. S. Lewis’s _Chronicles of Narnia_** and **J. K. Rowling’s _Harry Potter_ books** are, of course, enormously popular and might be close to what you’re looking for. Meanwhile, back in the adult section… **Fritz Lieber’s stories about Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser** are classic Swords-n-Sorcery; they’re one of the first things Terry Pratchett parodied in Discworld. The stories, of varying lengths, have been collected in six volumes that all start with the word _Swords_. The first thing I read after finishing _The Lord of the Rings_ for the first time was **Stephen R. Donaldson’s _Chronicles of Thomas Covenant_**. Some people love it, some hate it—partly it depends on how you react to Donaldson’s prose style and to having a protagonist who isn’t very likable. But I’ll give Donaldson this: he did write a series that is both very Tolkienesque and highly original. Donaldson also wrote _Mordant’s Need_, a separate fantasy in two large volumes (takes several hundred pages to really get going, but worth it if you can stick it out that long), and two impressive volumes of short stories. I’m sure there are others that I’m not thinking of right now. In fact, there have been threads like this before, so if you don’t get enough good suggestions out of this one… ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/27 "2005-06-14T01:25:04Z")
For some interesting fantasy, try Gene Wolfe. His [Soldier of the Mist](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312937342/qid=1118712724/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-9550334-1868917?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) is about a main character who has no long-term memory, and how he tries to deal with being on the fringes of the Persian War (IIRC) with gods and goddesses all interested in him, and he doesn’t know **why**. The follow up book isn’t as good, IMNSHO, but still worth a read. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/28 "2005-06-14T01:59:58Z")
Another recommendation for Raymond Feist - I really think he is one of the best fantasy authors ever. Also I recommend Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, and the Earthsea books, and the Narnia series (starting with _Lion_, of course). One I haven’t seen yet is the Elric books by Michael Moorcock. Wonderfully overwritten, and if you’ve seen the parodies about the doom-laden antihero, this is the inspiration for them. Still a good read. Not so much “high fantasy”, but very good are the Taltos books by Steven Brust - a human assassin in a world of ‘elfs’, where humans are a despised minority. Taltos becoming a mob boss - and later throwing that all away. Lessee…there’s a Poul Anderson book, _Hearts and Three Lions_ I think - good book, forgettable title (at least for me :D) ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/29 "2005-06-14T02:41:18Z")
If you like Conan, try the Brak the Barbarian series by John Jakes. IIRC, Jakes admits that Brak started as a Conan clone, but he’s still good. Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser are better than either - they have brains and humour as well as the big sword. For a turn away from swords, try [Master of the Five Magics](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345334256/qid=1118715784/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-4301678-1647862?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Lyndon Hardy. No dragons, but there are demons. He has two more in the series. Even farther from the OP’s request is the huge amount of stuff by [Lord Dunsany](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=br_ss_hs/103-4301678-1647862?platform=gurupa&url=index%3Dblended&field-keywords=dunsany&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go). He mostly doesn’t have either dragons or demons, but read him anyway. I like _Fifty-one Tales_, or the novel _The King of Elfland’s Daughter_, but just about anything is great. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/30 "2005-06-14T17:34:59Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I quite enjoy the Jim Butcher series. The seventh was just released in hard back. And he started a new more traditional fantasy series, **The Codex Alera** , with the first book, **Furies of Calderon** , out in hardback, due in paperback in August. It ends, but the bad guys are still around and will be back. Fun book. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/31 "2005-06-14T17:43:22Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Robin Hobb has a new series starting soon, the first book will be out in a few weeks down in this part of the world. **Shaman’s Crossing** Holy cow, I hadn’t heard about this one! Thanks for the heads up, **GuanoLad**!! Re Lord Dunsany: absolutely beautiful language and imagery. A lot of his work is available online for free on Project Gutenberg: [Lord Dunsany](http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/d#a2685) ---
**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 14, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/32 "2005-06-14T20:04:54Z")
Really good swords & worcery books. Let’s see, I’m sure I’ve read a few. The Antero Saga, by Allan Cole and Chris Bunch, consisting of _The Far Kingdoms_ , _The Warrior’s Tale_, _Kingdoms of the Night_, and _The Warrior Returns_ . Each book is reasonably self-contained. Fantasy with elements taken from traditional classics such as _The Seven Voyages of Sinbad_. Stories about exploring unknown territory, with huge action sequences and lots of hot lesbian sex. _The High House_ and _The False House_, by James Stoddard. An odd but very entertaining mixture of quest fantasy and dark gothic horror, with truly outstanding writing. Not to be missed. About a young boy raised in a sprawling Victorian mansion with tigers in the basement, dinosaurs in the attic, vilanous furniture, magic books, and all sorts of other stuff. And last but not least, _The Worm Ouroboros_ by E. R. Eddison. These days it’s known mainly as the book that inspired _The Lord of the Rings_, but it’s a great story in its own right, with huge battles, monsters, villainous sorcerers, and lots more. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/33 "2005-06-14T20:34:40Z")
Some of the classics: The Last Unicorn and A Fine and Private Place by Peter Beagle. The Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart ``` Nine Princes in Amber by Zelazny. (Actually, almost any early Zelazny) ``` Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett ---
**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/34 "2005-06-14T20:52:50Z")
If you like Song of Ice and Fire, then I heartily recommend: **The Black Company** by **Glen Cook** It’s emotionally tough going (and sorry, no dragons), but the series is damn good. And finished. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/35 "2005-06-14T21:06:32Z")
Jack Vance’s [Tales of the Dying Earth](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312874561/qid=1118783899/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/103-5869465-1327025). ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/36 "2005-06-14T22:30:18Z")
> [@Stricker van Gogh](#): > > If you like Song of Ice and Fire, then I heartily recommend: > > **The Black Company** by **Glen Cook** > > It’s emotionally tough going (and sorry, no dragons), but the series is damn good. And finished. I enjoyed the Black Company - but take my advice and stop at the first 3! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/37 "2005-06-14T23:32:05Z")
Want to read a book that is really good that’ll leaving you longing for a sequel, which doesn’t exist? **War for the Oaks** by Emma Bull. I was really sad to finish it, because there’s no more. However, **Tithe** by Holly Black is similar enough to give you the same atmosphere, yet different enough to keep you interested, were you to read both. I love David and Leigh Eddings’ first two series (all the books were co-written, but that wasn’t made public until the last decade), and I like Terry Brooks non-Shanara books too: **Magic Kingdom for Sale–Sold! \*\* is the beginning of the Landover series, and \*\* Running With the Demon** is the beginning of The Word and the Void Trilogy. At the moment I’m reading Tamora Pierce’s **Trickster’s…** books and Juliet Marillier’s **Sevenwaters Trilogy** , and both are good one book in - I picked up the second of each today, along with the first Song of Ice and Fire novel, which the library _finally_ has. At the other end of the spectrum, if you ever feel the need to read the worst books by the most famous authors, I dare you to read **Dragon’s Gold, Serpent’s Silver & Chimera’s Copper** by Piers Anthony & Robert Margroff. Holy God, each book is just a little bit worse than the last…I skipped the last two, fearing that reading them would cause irreversible brain damage. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/38 "2005-06-15T13:48:54Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > The Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart Gotta recommend this highly. I’ve got it, & the two sequels. Very Prime. _A Night In The Lonesome October_ by Zelazny is very good, albeit a trifle outside the OP. Also, try Glen Cook’s _Garret_ series. Very fine. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/39 "2005-06-16T19:04:45Z")
[Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060987103/qid=1118949142/sr=8-2/ref=pd_csp_2/103-2787882-6160628?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) - I picked it up on a whim to read on an airplane, and I barely put it down until I had finished it! A gorgeous and clever look at an old favorite fantasy - and I can’t wait to read the author’s take on Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057/40 "2005-06-16T19:33:45Z")
I recommend anything by [Robin McKinley](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/authors/Robin_McKinley.htm). She’s a fantastic writer and her stories are all quick reads. Anything else I say would quickly devolve into fangirl gushing, so I’ll let you judge for yourself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-read-next-recomend-a-good-fantasy-novel/308057.md?page=1)