What is a good fantasy/sci-fi series that i can read?

Question

Other then Harry Potter, Dune or The Wheel of Time?

Be as specific as possible about titles in the series and the author.

Be as specific as possible about titles in the series and the author. A basic idea about what the book is about might also be good.

Answer 1

The Earthsea Quartet is excellent, as is anything by David Eddings. If you like slightly stranger thought-provoking work, Sherri Tepper's fantasy novels are class. My fave of her work is called Beauty, which twists fairy tales and gives a whole new, far darker vision.

Answer 2

Harry Harrison writes some great books:
West of Eden; Winter in Eden; Return to Eden
It takes place in a world where dinosaur descendents (the Yilane) survived & became the dominant sentient species competing with humans. A human child gets captured & grows up with the Yilane point of view. Even my non-reading spouse has read the series twice.

Another good series by Harrison is:
The Hammer and the Cross
One King's Way
King and Emperor
It features Norse & Christian mythology and the conflict between the new & the old. The series takes place around 865AD.

John Varley wrote a great trilogy:
Titan
Wizard
Demon
A team of humans land "in" a world that is sentient itself. It has some very interesting characters & customs.

Hope you have some great reads.

Answer 3

I agree with Riz109 Iain Banks 'Culture' series ... well written, clever. Modern and with more creative ideas per page than any other science fiction author I know.

NB When writing science fiction, Iain Banks writes as 'Iain M Banks'. When writing as Iain Banks he produces equally smart writing ... but not sci-fi.

Consider Phlebas (1987)
The Player of Games (1988)
Use of Weapons (1990)
Excession (1996)
Inversions (1998)
Look to Windward (2000)

If you want something far less intellectually demanding, a literary 'Star Wars' from the first half of the last century you could do a lot worse than try what has been described as the original pulp 'space opera': E.E. 'Doc' Smith's 'Classic Lensman Series'. Outrageous scale action never afraid to explore the outer reaches of a hyperbole. Your question may well result in me reading the series again ... I seem to read it again every 5 years or so.

Triplanetary
First Lensman
Galactic Patrol
Gray Lensman
Second Stage Lensmen
Children of the Lens
(Masters Of The Vortex)

Answer 4

Terry Goodkind's Wizards First Rule there are 10 books out so far. It's an excellent series.(my favorite) If you like dragons then The dragons of pern I herd is very good. If you're into elves then Margret Wise and Tracy Hickman wright some very good books. Ann Rice's vampire Chronicles are also very good. If you are into sci-fi then there are many books like Star Wars Tales of the Jedi. There about the Jedi before Luke and Darth Vader. There's also the Death Stalker series it's about mankind in the future with an evil emperor they are trying to over throw (space based). Then another good action/sci-fi is Deathlands It's about life after the Apocalypse. There are many many books to choose from out there. I my self prefer audio books ( I drive a truck)

Answer 5

The best series I've ever read is A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. The first book is called a Game of Thrones. The book is essentially about the conquest for The Iron Throne which is the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. It follows the story of a multitude of characters. This isn't your prototypical fantasy, it has lots of violence, sex, foul language and not that much magic so be forewarned. Still I highly recommend it if you are looking for a change of pace.

Answer 6

I've categorised them into Fantasy and Sci-fi. Have put single books into brackets.

Fantasy:

I too liked Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy + 1. The adventures of a young wizard etc By the way, Hayao Miyazaki (directed Princess Mononoke) is doing an animated adaptation of The Wizard of Earthsea out next year.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series makes entertaining light reading. It's a bit overzealous (30+ titles) and the consensus is you either love it or hate it ... his attempts at humour get a bit repetitive after a while. Set in the mythical realm of Discworld, which has territories, peoples, customs analogous to our world . Some un-subtle social commentary is injected into the later books.

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. And The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. Yes... the books are better than the movies.

(Neil Gaiman has written a number of novels- Neverwhere, Coraline, Anansi boys, American Gods. Post-modern and chock full of allusions to mythology/Shakespeare/pop culture. But even if you're not familiar with them you'll be able to keep up with the plots)

Sci-Fi

Kevin J. Anderson's writing a series called "Saga of Seven Suns". He assisted Brian Herbert with some of the later additions to the Dune compendium and this series is similar to the Dune universe in some ways - vast galactic empire, several battling powers, advanced techno-organic creations, with romance and mystery. I haven't read all but I quite liked book 5.

Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. You can't miss this! Well the first book was the best. It starts out with Earth being demolished and follows on with the journey of a Brit who had to leave Earth in a hurry. Hilarious!


(Ray Bradbury's written a number of good books... and he's still writing. Try Farenheit 451 or The Illustrated Man. Realism. A little bleak but magnificent nonetheless. )

(Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. The first glimpse of a future utopia/dystopia suggested by cloning technology. His writing style's a little unorthodox but 'tis a classic. )

Arthur C Clarke's books named by numbers- 2001 etc. Regarding technology and mankind's first encounters with alien intelligence. He foresaw the development of satellites and claimed (at the time of publication) that all the technological advances described in his book 2001 would be available and in use by humans by the same year.
Also his Rama series - I personally loved it - a good blend of adventure, thriller, mystery and romance. Kept me interested till the last novel. The encounter of mankind with a vast alien intelligence they called Rama - and the subsequent response.

(Robert A Heinlein's Stranger in a strange land. I read it when I was 15, and didn't get half of it. Re-read it a few months ago. About a human born on Mars, raised by Martians, brought back to Earth and how he sought to change the world)

(John Wyndham's written a number of standalone books - Chrysalids, Day of the Triffids. Style gets a bit repetitive but I love his writing)

Madeleine L'Engle's A wrinkle in time series. Written for teenagers but marvelous. Part sci-fi, part fantasy. Was my literature text in grade 5 - I'll never forget it. Heartwarming. Involves time travel.

John Christopher's Tripods trilogy. About Tripods who come to take over the Earth and enslave humans, save a rebel group that holds out.... Great stuff!

If you want more try the Hugo and Nebula Awards - for fantasy and sci-fi respectively. Happy reading!

Answer 7

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathon Stroud - Set in modern day London, this is an incredibly unique and wonderful series about magicians who summon djinni (genies) and other forms of djinni like afrits, imps, marids. It goes in to great detail in the djinni and one point of view is even by one - witty, fantastic, highly recommend it. You will love it. Anyone would
Have you read Eragon and Eldest? by Christopher Paolini. I'm sure you have, but if you haven't, just type in the name in Google, and you'll get a million articles. Same for Bartimaeus (I think that is how you spell it...if not, just look up Johnathan {Jonathan} Stroud.)
Of course, there is Lord of the Rings too, but you must have read that by now. I have nothing to say.
There is also the Merlin series by Terry Brooks. I read these quite a while ago, but I remember liking them, which means they must be good, since I am a harsh grader. But I don't remember the plot
Hope this helps!!

Answer 8

Jim Butcher's Codex Alera is a fabulous, readable fantasy series, with great characters, swords and sorcery, different races, epic battles, and lots of intrigue, without any of those really long, dull descriptions or unpronounceable names.

They mostly follow Tavi, who starts out the first book as a teenager who's the only one in the realm who can't do any magic.

In order, they're:
Furies of Calderon
Academ's Fury
Cursor's Fury
Captain's Fury (due out this December)

Answer 9

His darkish components- Philip Pullman The secrets and techniques of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel- Michael Scott Septimus Heap books- Angie Sage something via Tamora Pierce depraved sequence- Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie Infernal instruments- Cassandra Clare wish this helps!

Answer 10

The Forge of God
Anvil of Stars

Both by Greg Bear. The first details the destruction of the earth by robots programmed to destroy, as well as other robots that track the destroyers and do their best to help the civilizations that are being destroyed by taking their classics, history, and as many people as they can off the planet before it is too late. The second details the life of children sent by the aiding robots/ships (called "ships of the law") to seek out the offending civilization and destroy them in vengeance for all that they have destroyed. This is a fasnicating delve into law/gospel, justice, ethics etc..