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Message
re: NERDS ASSEMBLE: Need rec for a new fantasy series to read
Posted on 7/20/15 at 11:24 am to FT
Posted on 7/20/15 at 11:24 am to FT
I'm not kidding here, if anyone wants to read any of the series I mentioned I have, I am more than happy to ship the first book, or maybe the whole series, to someone. I would like to get them back, but it isn't a huge deal if they are kept. I can buy most of then for less than $3 a piece. Used bookstores ftw. If you want to try the first book in a series, without committing to buying it, email me at VaBamaManTD @ Yahoo.com.
Only way I won't do it, is if the shipping is over $5. Just throwing that out there.
Only way I won't do it, is if the shipping is over $5. Just throwing that out there.
0
Posted on 7/20/15 at 11:36 am to Ash Williams
I've read many fantasy series over the last 17 years. Wheel of Time is my favorite, though quality dips when Brandon Sanderson takes over at book 12. After waiting over a decade for Wheel of Time and ASOIAF to finish, I refuse to start a new series that isn't completed yet.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 11:47 am to LeonPhelps
It seems that the last epic high fantasy writer left is Martin. Sanderson's writings are not high fantasy and not for me. Jordan was the perfect writer for me. I loved Tolkien as well. No one else seems capable of delivering a huge and deeply complex world with an awesome background full of rich mythology and lore coupled with the world teetering on the edge of full annihilation if not for the success of our small group of heroes that are enhanced through skill or innate power, often prophecied to save the world.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 12:19 pm to LeonPhelps
quote:
It seems that the last epic high fantasy writer left is Martin.
I wouldn't consider Martin High Fantasy really. He seems to bridge the gap between High and Low. Game of Thrones was more low fantasy but as the books have progressed and more and more magic is introduced, it starts to get there, but there is no real good versus evil struggle or quest to follow and the story is told from the vantage point of many characters, protagonist or otherwise.
quote:This just isn't true and I hope you learn that. Many of the books suggested in this thread will make you discount what you've just posted.
No one else seems capable of delivering a huge and deeply complex world with an awesome background full of rich mythology and lore coupled with the world teetering on the edge of full annihilation if not for the success of our small group of heroes that are enhanced through skill or innate power, often prophecied to save the world.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 12:40 pm to LeonPhelps
quote:
No one else seems capable of delivering a huge and deeply complex world with an awesome background full of rich mythology and lore coupled with the world teetering on the edge of full annihilation if not for the success of our small group of heroes that are enhanced through skill or innate power, often prophecied to save the world.
You literally just described literally every writer I mentioned. Pick up Lawhead. Seriously.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 12:46 pm to VaBamaMan
quote:Indubitably.
Have you ever fallen in love with a character?
It's awesome, then it usually sucks.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 12:49 pm to VaBamaMan
quote:
Pick up Lawhead.
I've read two of Lawhead's series. I enjoyed them, but it was not the same feel as Lord of the Rings or Wheel of Time. Neither Lawhead series one was grand in scope like Wheel of Time.
This post was edited on 7/20/15 at 12:55 pm
Posted on 7/20/15 at 12:54 pm to LoveThatMoney
quote:
Many of the books suggested in this thread will make you discount what you've just posted.
I will check them out. I had not heard of most of them. You mention Neil Gaiman as your favorite, however, and I couldn't through one book of his. I did not like it at all.
All of the great series I enjoy I began reading in high school in the late 90's. My friend thinks I no longer enjoy new series because the innocence and sense of wonder of my childhood is lost. I hated Mistborn, for example, and rage quit after the second book. I hated In The Name of the Wind, which I recently tried to read - quitting a little more than halfway through when he jumps off the roof thinking his new teacher wanted him to. I hated that scene so much I couldn't continue.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 12:55 pm to LeonPhelps
Which 2?
Also, if you want a long epic. I mean.....Terry Brooks....
Also, if you want a long epic. I mean.....Terry Brooks....
Posted on 7/20/15 at 1:03 pm to VaBamaMan
quote:
Terry Brooks
I've read 3 of his series, including the original trilogy. I have a couple other of his books I haven't read but they are a chore for me to get through. I love his ideas but not his writing style.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 1:06 pm to VaBamaMan
quote:
Which 2
I had to look up his books. I read the Pendragon Cycle and really enjoyed it. I thought I read two of his series but don't recognize the names of the other series on his website. I have the first book of the Celtic Crusades but never read it. The Pendragon Cycle was good but no where near Lord of the Rings or Wheel of Time for my taste.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 1:24 pm to LeonPhelps
quote:
I will check them out. I had not heard of most of them. You mention Neil Gaiman as your favorite, however, and I couldn't through one book of his. I did not like it at all.
Neil Gaiman is my favorite author, period. He does not write epic fantasy, though. It sounds like you would like the Elric books by Michael Moorcock, or Tad Williams or Terry Goodkind. Or shite, Ursula K. LeGuin, Raymond E. Feist, or R.A. Salvatore. Margaret Weis would probably also suit you.
ETA: I always forget to mention this site in threads like these, but Gnooks is a great way to find books/authors you could enjoy.
This post was edited on 7/20/15 at 1:27 pm
Posted on 7/20/15 at 1:27 pm to LoveThatMoney
quote:
It sounds like you would like the Elric books by Michael Moorcock, or Tad Williams or Terry Goodkind. Or shite, Ursula K. LeGuin, Raymond E. Feist, or R.A. Salvatore. Margaret Weis would probably also suit you.
I've read most of those. Terry Goodkind comes closest but really fell off after book 6. Tad Williams has a decent series I read in high school. I read a few Feist series - I really like Pug. Salvatore was too D&D for me - I can't get into those type of books. LeGuin is too weird for me. Robin Hobb was awesome, same with Sara Douglass. But none of them come close to Wheel of Time or Lord of the Rings. Maybe it's because I read it at the perfect time for me, but I don't think I will ever find their equal.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 1:30 pm to Cockopotamus
decided to start the original mistborn trilogy
only 3 short books so its not a huge buy-in and if i like it i can read the rest, then im gonna move on to some of the other recs in the thread
only 3 short books so its not a huge buy-in and if i like it i can read the rest, then im gonna move on to some of the other recs in the thread
Posted on 7/20/15 at 1:30 pm to LoveThatMoney
Nice website! Gnooks puts Martin, Goodkind, and Eddings by Jordan. Unfortunately, I have already read everything those guys have written! Terry Brooks, Robin Hobb, Tad Williams, and Raymond Feist are also close. Is the taste for sweeping epics like Wheel of Time just not there any more? ASOIAF falls short for lack of a clear protagonist and not nearly enough magic.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 1:31 pm to LeonPhelps
Try The Song of Albion series. It is his closest to what you are looking for. His only pure fantasy series is The Dragon King Trilogy. Most of his books, even fantasy like Albion. He weaves some level of historical legend into. Doesn't do that in The Dragon King.
Dragonlance is an epic. Actually that is all that Weis & Hickman write. Epics. Death Gate series, Sovereign Stone, Darksword...etc.
Louis L'Amour's Walking Drum is historical fiction/fantasy, just an amazingly written book.
Martha Wells- The Fall of Ile-Rien series isn't too bad.
Terry Good kind of course, but...eh.
Lawhead's son now writes fantasy too. His The Ancient Earth Trilogy is really well done.
There's Modesitt Jr, I just never could get into his style.
If you like original magic ideas, try The Aracana series I mentioned in my first post. If you can take the fact they neever finished it because of writing differences, and probably never will because Morgan Llewellyn is 78. Llywelyn and Scott's book the Etruscans is a fantasy set in Greece during the Roman Empire. Llywelyn is the only writer who is as good as Cornwell at writing historical fiction. I'll even give em to you so you can try to regain some childhood wonder.
Harry Turtledove wrote a High Fantasy series under the pen name Dan Chernenko. You will find it under either name. The series is called The Scepter of Mercy. Very, very well done books, and a big departure from his normal writings.
I'm literally walking through my library looking at all the fantasy books I can find. I've forgotten how many singles in a series from different authors I've bought. They are everywhere.
Dragonlance is an epic. Actually that is all that Weis & Hickman write. Epics. Death Gate series, Sovereign Stone, Darksword...etc.
Louis L'Amour's Walking Drum is historical fiction/fantasy, just an amazingly written book.
Martha Wells- The Fall of Ile-Rien series isn't too bad.
Terry Good kind of course, but...eh.
Lawhead's son now writes fantasy too. His The Ancient Earth Trilogy is really well done.
There's Modesitt Jr, I just never could get into his style.
If you like original magic ideas, try The Aracana series I mentioned in my first post. If you can take the fact they neever finished it because of writing differences, and probably never will because Morgan Llewellyn is 78. Llywelyn and Scott's book the Etruscans is a fantasy set in Greece during the Roman Empire. Llywelyn is the only writer who is as good as Cornwell at writing historical fiction. I'll even give em to you so you can try to regain some childhood wonder.
Harry Turtledove wrote a High Fantasy series under the pen name Dan Chernenko. You will find it under either name. The series is called The Scepter of Mercy. Very, very well done books, and a big departure from his normal writings.
I'm literally walking through my library looking at all the fantasy books I can find. I've forgotten how many singles in a series from different authors I've bought. They are everywhere.
This post was edited on 7/20/15 at 1:32 pm
Posted on 7/20/15 at 1:36 pm to LeonPhelps
quote:
But none of them come close to Wheel of Time or Lord of the Rings. Maybe it's because I read it at the perfect time for me, but I don't think I will ever find their equal.
Well that's probably fair. I mean, Lord of the Rings is considered one of the best books ever written and is wildly influential, spinning off hundreds of imitators. I have not read Wheel of Time. It would take me an eternity to do so. But my brother swears they are fantastic and he has pretty great taste when it comes to books. Not much else, but books he gets.
You may give Glen Cook a try. He doesn't world build quite as much as Tolkien, but you definitely get a sense of things and have an understanding of this other world. And his characters are incredibly rich. There are 9 Black Company books and they are detailed enough to have inspired a pen and paper role-playing game.
Gene Wolfe is also pretty great, but would not be up your alley at all.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 1:40 pm to WG_Dawg
quote:
Kingkiller series by rothfuss
I don't get the love for this one. The writer is a fantastic wordsmith but an poor storyteller. You will spend 10-15 pages on one particular moment and then realize after you finish those pages that you just wasted so much time on nothing much really happening. These books are looong, and they shouldn't be. A strong editor would've made them far superior than they really are. After getting halfway through the second book, I finally had my Forest Gump moment: I stopped reading and walked away just as abruptly as he stopped running.
quote:
The Dresden Files
great series. Starts off decent and gets phenomenal at about book 3. The last few have been a bit hit or miss though, but still worth the read.
quote:
Neil Gaiman
My personal favorite modern author as well. Read everything by him and you will be thankful
Posted on 7/20/15 at 2:40 pm to LoveThatMoney
quote:
You may give Glen Cook a try.
Doubt Leon would like Cook, too grey and not enough black/white storyline for him.
The black company is excellent though, agreed there (particularly the first 3 and the last couple.
Posted on 7/20/15 at 2:56 pm to Ash Williams
Terry Brooks - Shannara Series - amazing
R.A. Salvatore - Drizzit - some of the best books out there.
R.A. Salvatore - Drizzit - some of the best books out there.
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