Need a fantasy book recommendations

[jbcohen]

Don't mind deamons, will have to check out netflix to see if they have the dvd on streaming.

[dmspen]

Try rgw Recluce series by L.E.Modesitt. Certain people have the ability to control Chaos and Order. Order is Black and Chaos is White. They are relatively simple, interesting and there's a ton of them.

[fantasyfan]

The "Witch World" series by Andre Norton is very good indeed. She creates an excellent atmosphere and doesn't spend excessive time world building. The core books in the series are:

Witch World
Web of the Witch World
Year of the Unicorn
Three Against the Witch World
Warlock of the Witch World
Sorceress of the Witch World

In some ways these books can be regarded as science-fantasy rather than pure fantasy. One should read Witch World first as it does set the parameters of Norton's universe.

[BillSmithBooks]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

I beleive the dresden files are about vampires? Don't particularly care for vampire tales. However Brett, Freidman and Durham are possibilities. I was looking at Brett's novels this morning and they are looking good.

The Dresden Files are about Harry Dresden, one of the world's most powerful mages who ends up having to slum it as a private detective in modern day Chicago...modern day Chicago with all sorts of magic and monsters.

Good fun, great writing style, fun snarky sense of humor amidst stories that take themselves seriously. In tone, the humor and tension are not unlike the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show -- lots of sarcastic one-liners but great action sequences and a story that takes itself seriously.

Yes there are vampires, pretty serious antagonists of Harry, but there's a lot more magic and such.

I have enjoyed the series immensely. The TV show was decent, the books are much better.

[amy.]

You might like:

The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (a Baen free ebook)
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Die's the Fire by S. M. Stirling

[richvalle]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

I beleive the dresden files are about vampires? Don't particularly care for vampire tales. However Brett, Freidman and Durham are possibilities. I was looking at Brett's novels this morning and they are looking good.

Dresden isn't ABOUT vampires but there are vampires in the books.

The main character is a magic user/detective in Chicago. He does part time work for the Chicago Police when they run into things that 'go bump in the night' they call him to bump back.

It is a VERY good series, probably my favorite one to date and I've read a LOT of books. Great characters, good action scenes, I love the sense of humor that the main character has. As in I find myself laughing out loud while riding the train to work and have to cover it up to a snicker.

I also like how the series builds up. Each book is pretty self contained with it's own story but they build on the history the others have established. Also significant amounts of time can go by between books... a year or so. Over the course of several books some minor characters will age/grow up and become more important.

As for vampires on of the things Butcher does is in his world is that there are different kinds of vampires. None of them are 'good' and they are there to be the bad guys. There are whole books without them though and many other bad guy sorts around. (I love the Denarians... such a cool concept).

It is a LONG series and it is not done yet. He seems to be doing 1-2 books a year. It's one of those series that once you read it and are hooked you try to get everyone else around you to read it. I'm up to about 6 converts myself.

If you want to try it my own personal word of warning... I found the first book (Storm Front) 'ok'. It wasn't bad but far from the greatest book I've read. Things really picked up in the 2nd book (Fool Moon - werewolfs... again different kinds are there). I found the 4th book the weakest in the series so far but things really pick up after that.

Good hunting.

rv

[richvalle]

Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar books are good though the series has gotten long and rambling by now.

The spin off The Empire Trilogy with Janny Wurts also good.

The Videssos series by Turtledove is good if you like a roman angle.

Speaking of Romans Jim Butcher's 'other' series besides Dresden, Codex Alera is very good.

I read The First Law series by Joe Ambercrombie and liked them. I will join what some other's have said on his webpage and would have liked a map.

Hmm, I'll have to think of more.

[Kiwimick]

^^^^

What he said
Jim Butchers "Codex Alera" was a great series

[FatDog]

The spin off The Empire Trilogy with Janny Wurts also good.

"Servant of the Empire" and "Mistress of the Empire" were both excellent books (but you should read the first 3 Fiest books ahead of them).

The Jasper Fford series starting with "The Eyre Affair:A Thursday Next" novel is very entertaining. There are a LOT of characters but the story revolves around Thursday. She plays a Literary Detective investigating crimes of literature. (In one chapter she discovers someone has cloned a thousand Shakespeares and locked them in a room with a bunch of typewriters.) I just finished the latest book. Jasper Ffford is .. interesting. In honor of his books they hold a festival in Swindon, UK where he entered the Jasper Fford look-alike contest ... and lost.

Glen Cook has a series of books starting with "Sweet Silver Blues" that is a favorite of mine. Take Sam Spade and Tolken and mix them up - and you get the idea.

Anything by Lawrence Watt Evans is good. Magic exists - but has rules/limits which seem to cause more problems than they solve.

(Crap - my tree-book library is in box's at the moment. There is no way to remotely scan through my ebook titles to come up with more favorites.)

[richvalle]

Ok... lets see what I can come up with. May have to stop and continue in another post... it's 80-ish outside and I have some home made icecream cooling in the freezer.

Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson. The first book takes a while to get going and there is a rough scene between the main character and a young girl in the first book as well (I know of at least one person that stopped reading at that point). It is also the best book I've seen that has an 'anti-hero' in it. But even with all that EVERYONE else in the book is so cool you just wish you could slap the main character around and take his place. 6 books in all divided into 2 trilogies.

Dragon riders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. Good story. Bunch of different books the series now. My wife read the Dragondrum ones and liked them.

Black Company by Glen Cook. Not your typical fantasy series. Interesting premise and good characters. Bunch of books in the series with some one-offs as well (I think).

Diskworld books by Terry Pratchet. Some of my most favorite books of all time and I'm working my way though the series again in order. Funny, great characters. I liked the starting ones the least but you can see how he develops as a writer as you move along the books. Also great are his young adult books in the same world, the Tiffany Aching series. The Wee Free Men are one of the best 'characters' ever created. Crivens!

The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Fiest. Another series with many, many books in it and he's still going. I've read the newest ones... and they are ok but the beginning ones are the best I think. You fall in love with the characters and follow them though the epic struggle. I mentioned this series already didn't I?

Gotta mention Lord of the Rings right? Probably not for everyone. The writing style is way different then most modern writers but you have to mention the one Trilogy to rule them all.

I like David Eddings's books but am a bit lost on where to start with them. I've read a few of them but have to google the series and see where to start.

Borderline fantasy... Belisarius series by Eric Flint & David Drake. A mix of history, fantasy and a mild amount of sci-fi. Fun because it takes place in a time period/location I didn't know much about... Late Roman empire and also involves India. Great battles. You can get the first 3 books from Baen's free library.

The Myth series by Robert Asprin. Light hearted and fun. Cool magic system, great characters. The series never really gets resolved and he might still be making a few books for it. Another one where the firsts books were the best.

Another series with a lot of books in it... the Dragonlance series. I can't say I read more then the first 10 or so (I just saw something saying there were now 190 books in the series!?) but they were good. Strongly based on D&D though.



Ok... time for icecream.

rv

[richvalle]

Double post.

[covingtoncat73]

I should maybe mention Carol Berg's "Duet," Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone. They're $7.99 each at the Kobo store. Both myself and my mother (kind of surprisingly) really liked them. They are an intimate, first-person narrative in a high fantasy sort of setting. Funnily enough, I didn't care for another series she wrote (Transformation, Relevation, Restoration) as much. I'm thinking of giving her "Collegium" series a try because I really did love the "Breath and Bone" duet.

[covingtoncat73]

Oh, and A Wizard of Earthsea! The only reason I didn't mention it was that I assume everyone has read that series. It is a classic, very beautiful, and, unlike most fantasy, brief.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by richvalle

Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson.
*<snip>*
6 books in all divided into 2 trilogies.

Don't forget the third series... a tetralogy, 3 of which are published. For a total of 10 books.

[richvalle]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Don't forget the third series... a tetralogy, 3 of which are published. For a total of 10 books.

Wow... he wrote more! Have you read them? Any good? I don't know... it would be weird to go back and read more. I've read the first 6 several times and it's kind of finished in my mind.

I read one of his other fantasy series... something with mirrors (checks Amazon...) "The Mirror of Her Dreams, the dazzling first volume of Mordant’s Need". He sure has a thing for complicated, flawed main characters. Very interesting magic system unlike any other I've seen.

I started his sci-fi series The Gap and that just got to weird for me.

rv