Need a good fantasy series to read!?

Question

I really enjoyed A song of Ice and Fire and I have read the Shannara series, any other good fantasy series worth reading. Even good sci fi would do.

Have also already read Salvatore's books. By the way the Highwayman is the best book he has written!

Answer 1

Sci-Fi is my favorite genre. These are my suggestions in no particular order,

1) Anything by the grand masters:
Isaac Asimov http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_asimov
Robert Heinlein http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_heinlein
Arthur C. Clarke http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C_Clarke
Ray Bradbury http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury

2) James P. Hogan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Hogan_%28writer%29
One of my personal favorites. He does hard science fiction. The kind where the fictional science is almost believable. I own all of his books and it would be difficult to pick a favorite. Some that come immediately to mind are "Inherit the Stars", "Thrice Upone a Time", "The Genesis Machine", "The Two Faces of Tomorrow"

3) Frederik Pohl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik_Pohl
The Heechee Series is a great read starting with "Gateway" which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards sometime in the mid-70's

4) Frank Herbert http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert
Dune. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_%28novel%29
If you haven't already, then at some point you must read this. It is a bona fide classic. Period.

5) Orson Scott Card http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_scott_card
The Ender Saga starting with "Ender's Game"

6) William Gibson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ford_Gibson
The Sprawl Trilogy starting with the classic "Neuromancer". I believe "cyberspace" was first coined in this book, and there is also reference to "the matrix - Mankind's unthinkably complex consensual hallucination representing cyberspace"

7) Anne McCAffrey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_McCaffrey
She writes good stories and her lead character is female, which is a switch from most scifi. I'd recommend anything in her Dragonriders of Pern series starting with "Dragonflight". I'd also recommend her Crystal Singer Series starting with "Crystal Singer".

.. that's just for starters. I have about 700 sci-fi novels in my personal library. I won't list them all for you! :)


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On the Fantasy side

1) Everything by Tolkien http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien

2) The Chronicles of Narnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia
by C.S. Lewis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis

3) The Thomas Covenant Chronicles, The Unbeliever http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Covenant
by Stephen R. Donaldson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_R._Donaldson
starting with "Lord Foul's Bane"


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Here's a lot of references for you to find the kinds of scifi/fantasy books that interest you.

About the Hugo awards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award
List of Hugo award winning authors:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hugo_Award_winning_authors
List of Hugo award winning novels:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel

About the Nebula awards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Award
List of Nebula award winning authors:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Nebula_Award_winning_authors
List of Nebula award winning novels:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Award_for_Best_Novel

List of works that have won both the Hugo and Nebula awards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_joint_winners_of_the_Hugo_and_Nebula_awards

Answer 2

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series is good. It's a little hard to get into but once you do it will keep you hooked. Plus it will take you ages to finish all 13 huge books and once your done you can read them all again and you'll notice tons of stuff.

My other favorite series is the Star Wars Extended Universe books. It's easy to be intimidated because there are at least a hundred books and new one comes out at least every six months. If you want to start exactly where the classic trilogy left off you can read the X-wing series or the The Truce at Bakura but it's not necessary. I would start of with the Courtship of Princess Leia, even if your not a big star wars fan you will enjoy it. It's laugh out loud funny. Then I would go to the Thrawn Trilogy. After that I would skip ahead 10 years to the Hand of Thrawn Duology. Then it's get's really hard to recomend. The Junior Jedi Knights Series and the Young Jedi Knights Series (yes they're different) are more oriented towards younger people. I enojoyed the Young Jedi Knights Series but older people might feel like they're reading a baby book. Then there is the New Jedi Order Series which is huge. This covers the Yuuzhan Vong war. The only book in this series that you really really have to read is Star by Star which something really sad happens that you need to read. After that it would be good to read the Dark Nest Trilogy and The Legacy of the Force Trilogy.

Or if you more into the Star Wars prequel era there is a whole series of books (Jedi Quest Series) that follow Anakin and Obi-Wan's adventures between the Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Then there are their adventures between Attack of the Clones and the Revenge of the Sith. Then there is the Sith era and the Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon adventures.
Confused yet? This should clear it up a bit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Wars_books#Coruscant_Nights_.2818_BBY.29

Answer 3

Cool...list of books you have there I will have to check them out myself.

Now here is a list of fantasy authors and their works.

C.S. Lewis books:
Narnia series

Ted Dekker books:
Blessed Child (2000)
A Man Called Blessed (2000)
Heaven's Wager (2000)
When Heaven Weeps (2001)
'"Thunder of Heaven (2002)
Blink (2003)
Thr3e (2003)
Black (2004)
Red (2004)
White (2004)
Obsessed (2005)
Project: Showdown (2006)

Frank E. Peretti books:
This Present Darkness
Tilly
Piercing the Darkness
Prophet
The Oath
The Visitation
Monster

And if you go to the website that I provided for my source you will find a list of more authors and their works.

Answer 4

Have you tried any of Anne McCaffrey books?I have read all of hers.She has many different settings in fantasy style.
Dragonriders of Pern several books in this one
Acorna (The Unicorn Girl) 6 books
To Ride Pegasus (The use of PSI powers example Telekinesis and Teleportation) 2 more books
The Rowen (following the story of PSI powers) with 4 more books
I have also read all of the Shannara's series by Terry Brooks they were great.
Piers Anthony has the Xanth series.I have read over 20 of them and they really made me laugh.

Answer 5

kevin has been here I give up now I am beaten. lol
i suggest the Game of Thrones
this was brought to me by my son and I began to read and could not put it down. There are 3 or 4 in the series and all of them are stellar writing.
I am 48 years old and I enjoyed them, my son and his friends adore them. They are great players of magic and dungeons and dragons, and a couple more role playing types of entertainment.

That should tell you the type of books they would care for, and if I like them as well, how could you not try something that appeals to such a diverse crowd of people?
I love to read too, I am glad you do to.

Answer 6

Check out these authors:
David Eddings
Anne McCaffery
Terry Brooks
I was reading them about the same time as I read the Shannara books.

And of course:
Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time
Frank Herbert - Dune

Answer 7

Try Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, beginning with Kushiel's Dart. Also, David Eddings, starting with the Belgarian series, Anne McCafferey's Pern series, I'd start with Dragonflight.

Answer 8

The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. I am not a big fantasy reader, but this series has caught my attention and can't wait for the new book to come out next month.

Answer 9

David Eddings' Belgariad
Terry Pratchett's Discworld books
Ann Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Death Gate Cycle

Answer 10

Hi there. I have a new medieval fantasy book out that you might like. It has received excellent reviews in the national media and is being considered for a movie deal. The title is THE BLACKGLOOM BOUNTY. It's 445 pages of action, adventure, magic, mystery and mayhem. If you like Conan style books, you'll like this one. This is the first book of a five book series.

If you'd like to try it out, I'll send you a FREE, 4 chapter eBook demo if you email me at [e-mail]. That way, you can see if you like the story or not without spending a dime. Cool huh?

Good luck, whatever you decide to read!


Jon F. Baxley (Author, Editor, Ghostwriter and Proofreader)

THE SCYTHIAN STONE (eBook only)
THE BLACKGLOOM BOUNTY (eBook and hard cover)
THE REGENTS OF RHUM (coming fall '07)

Answer 11

His Dark Materials (3 books) by Philip Pullman
The first volume is entitled The Golden Compass