Can anyone recommend a good fantasy series to read?

Question

Ive just re-read David Eddings Belgariad and Mallorean, and am currently reading Trudi Canavans Black Magician Series.I'm not a huge fan of Pratchett, and don't even mention the Lord Of The Rings. Ive read Jordans Wheel Of Time and Russells Swan Wars, so anything along that line would be great, thanks in advance!

Answer 1

the alchemy's and the magician by micheal scott

best book i have ever read

Answer 2

Eragon series, Harry Potter, twilight saga, these are all really good

Answer 3

Having read the answers you have some good ones Eragon was fantastic eldest not so much. i had a set of three books called the weird museum excellent but sorry i can't remember the author

Answer 4

Try some of these:

Neil Gaiman is an amazing author! Any of his books are good. Try Neverwhere first..

The Sight and Fell by David Clement-Davies

The Abhorsen Trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen) by Garth Nix

His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman

Inkheart and Inkspell and Inkdeath (coming soon!) by Cornelia Funke

The Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini

The Chronicles of Narnia (7 books) by C.S. Lewis

The Wind Singer, Slaves of the Mastery and Firesong by William Nicholson

The Earthsea series (starting with A Wizard of Earthsea) by Ursula K. Le Guin

Answer 5

Absolutely. If you enjoyed Canavan's Black Magician series then you'll also like her Age of the Five series; personally I found it far more captivating. Also along those lines (in terms of style) I would recommend Elizabeth Haydon's Rhapsody trilogy, or for something a bit darker Sara Douglas' Battleaxe trilogy.

For epic fantasy I have to recommend Tad Williams' Memory Sorrow and Thorn; this, for me, blows LOTR (sorry to mention it but it's only for comparison) out of the water, it truly is the best fantasy series I've ever read. Other classics would be Feist's Magician and the follow on novels in the Riftwar saga. And if you want something a bit different try Terrry Brook's Word and the Void.

Edit: Ah I had forgotten about Gemmel. I've only read one of his books - Legend - and I thought it was very good; it was refreshing to read a book which was effectively a stand alone book telling the story of a single event.

Answer 6

George R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice saga

Steven Erickson’s  A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen saga.

Parick Ruthrus The Name of the Wind

David Anthony Durham’s Acacia

R. Scott Baker’s Prince of Nothing trilogy.

Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Trilogy

Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy

Jk Rowling's Harry Potter series.

This site has descriptions and other recommendations based on these books:

http://bestfantasybooks.com/

Answer 7

Read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series....warning, it will keep you up late reading it.  

Answer 8

Probably one of the best fantasy series' I have ever read (besides LOTR and Harry Potter) is Eragon. After Eragon comes Eldest, then Brisingr (coming out in September). It has everything, dragons, heroes, magic (though there is a very different twist on magic that I think is really cool), battles, and princesses. Really, I think you should read this book.

Oh, on suggestion: don't watch the movie first. It really doesn't do the book justice.

Answer 9

I really like the Pellinor books by Alison Croggon. There are four books in the series and the last one is out in September. The first book is called The Gift.

Also if you liked the black magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan then you could try the age of five tilogy by the same author. Although personally I didn't think they were as good.

Answer 10

I would suggest the Book of Swords Series by Fred Saberhagen; The 1st book is called the First Book of Swords. I think you would enjoy them.

Answer 11

Have you read the Riftwar saga by Raymond Feist, they are really good.  Try getting hold of Dave Duncan's early series A Man of his word and A Handful of Men.  These are great and fast moving sets.

David Farland's Runelords are ok, as are Terry Goodkinds books.

Happy Reading.

Answer 12

Just popping in to third the rec for the A Song of Ice and Fire series, by George R.R. Martin. It is huge and epic and amazing, though darker than some. The humans are very, very human, in all our species' horror and glory, and life in Westeros is nasty, brutish, and short, to put it mildly. The death toll is high and routinely includes characters you've gotten pretty attached to.

The series in order:

A Game of Thrones

A Clash of Kings

A storm of Swords

A Feast For Crows

A Dance with Dragons (coming out later this year, hopefully)

Answer 13

I'd recommend trying out the Amber series by Roger Zelazny.

I went through a major Gemmell phase when I was a teenager, and he is very good indeed; but it all started to seem a bit same-y after the first half dozen, so I don't know what his later books are like.

Answer 14

When you read the riftwar series also read the series by Jenny Wurts Mistress of the Empire,Daughter of the Empire it runs at the time of the riftwar but is set in the other world .Have you read the stand alone Althaleus by both the Eddings excellent read.The Song of Ice and Fire series is a must .Jenifer Robeson Del and Tiger series is excellent and

you might like to try KJ Parker her books should match your tastes too.If you want to try Gemmil go for the Druss books first.

Answer 15

I think this is more Sci-Fi, but if you haven't already...definitely read The Hitchhiker's Guide series by Douglas Adams. They are amazingly funny and the characters are great. I liked the second book the best, but they're all wonderful.

Answer 16

Hi there.

Eragon is dreadful, avoid!!!

Finish off the 5 Feist/Wurts "Riftwar" books that follow "Magician" by all means, but avoid those that follow those - they suck in a major manner.

If you like Eddings you will like Gemmell too, definitely give him a spin.

For you, I can also recommend the "Amber" series by Roger Zelazny and the "Abhorsen" trilogy by Garth Nix, you will enjoy them both.

Enjoy, Steve.

Answer 17

i think your on to a winner with the Trudi Canavans Black Magician Series i read them last year and loved them she also has another series called the age of five  

Answer 18

I would very highly recommend the assorted 'mythago wood' novels by Robert Holdstock.

Start with Mythago Wood, then Lavondyss and then the rest (although the later ones aren't as good as the first two that I just mentioned). A list of the books can be found on his website:

http://robertholdstock.com/

I would also recommend 'The Fionavar Tapestry' by Guy Gavriel Kay - it consists of three books: The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire and The Darkest Road

there's some beautifully evocative writing in those three, although the first one starts off rather conventionally in the first few pages. Stick with it, you won't regret it!

Answer 19

Try Terry Brooks' Shannara series, if you liked Eddings you will like his writing.

Answer 20

The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, starts with Wizards First Rule

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, starts with The Gunslinger

Answer 21

why don't you read the Gormengast trillogy.

Answer 22

You might enjoy the Incarnations of Immortality series or the Adept Series, both are by Piers Anthony.

The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne Mccaffrey

The Stainless Steel Rat series by Harry Harrison

The Dune saga by Frank Herbert starts out wonderfully, but after the first 3 excellent books it starts to play out (my opinion).

The Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny