Best Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Epic Books?

Question

Recommend your favorite books that aren't obvious (so NOT Harry Potter, LoTR, etc..)

Answer 1

The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
1 Twilight
2 New Moon
3 Eclipse
4 Breaking Dawn (coming August '08)
Vampire novels with a good strong romance, in fact, I would say more romance than vampire novels, but still good strong plots and amazingly strong characters.

The Bitterbynde trilogy by Cecelia Dart-Thornton
1 the illmade mute
2 the lady of the sorrows
3 the battle of evernight
These books are harder to read, not because they aren't interesting, but because the language is harder. Very much an epic fantasy romance. If you love the England folktales of selkies and brownies and other creatures, these books are chock full of them. They are my favorite series of all time.

Crown Duel (sometimes published as two books- crown duel and court duel) by Sherwood Smith
Title says it all... Some definite romance in the second half, but I bet you won't guess who...

The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier
1 daughter of the forest
2 son of the shadows
3 child of the prophecy
Real strong leaning towards Irish legends but with a very strong hand in romance as well. Beautifully written, but some violence and implied sex.

Chronicles of Bridei- by Juliet Marillier
1 The dark mirror
2 the blade of Fortriu
3 the well of shades
Same as above, except that it's Scottish, not Irish this time.

Attolia Trilogy- Megan Whalen Turner
The Thief
Queen of Attolia
King of Attolia
Beautifully written. Lots of romance and court intrigue and spying and thievery. A great lot of fun.

Spindle's End- Robin McKinley
a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, with all the twists you could ask for. This is not the same story you grew up with.

Rose Daughter- Robin McKinley
a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, also with some really good plot twists.

The Hero and The Crown
The Blue Sword- Robin McKinley
The first is about a princess who is not loved, and she goes out to fight dragons to win the love of her people and finds that she has bitten off more than she can chew. The second is someone who is living while the first is a legend. Not dragons, but something just as dangerous, perhaps more...

The Dalemark Quartet by Dianna Wynne Jones
1 Cart and Cwidder
2 Drowned Ammet
3 the Spellcoats
4 the Crown of Dalemark
I don't even know how to describe this series, except for wonderful. Just make sure you have book 4 right after 3. 3 ends on a cliffhanger, and you find out the ending in the middlish of 4.

"Poison Study" and "Magic Study" by Maria V. Snyder (and still more yet to come)
The grammar can be a little aggravating, but otherwise wonderful books.

Here's my list of absolute favorites, under sub-genres, too. I listed some of them up above, but here they are listed by style, so you can pick what you do and don't like.

Fairytale-fantasy
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
The Goosegirl- Shannon Hale (followed by "Enna Burning" and "River of Secrets")
The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier (Daughter of the Forest, Son of the Shadows, Child of the Prophecy)
The Chronicles of Bridei by Juliet Marillier (The dark mirror, the blade of fortriu, the well of shades)

Epic Fantasy
Crown Duel (sometimes seperated into Crown Duel and Court Duel) by Sherwood Smith

The Dalemark Quartet by Dianna Wynne Jones
1 Cart and Cwidder
2 Drowned Ammet
3 the Spellcoats
4 the Crown of Dalemark

Vampire novels
Sunshine- Robin McKinley
Twilight- Stephenie Meyer
New Moon- Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse- Stephenie Meyer
Breaking Dawn (coming soon)- Stephenie Meyer

Urban Fantasy
The Blue Girl- Charles De Lint
Widdershins- Charles De Lint
Valient- Holly Black
Tithe- Holly Black
Ironside (sequel to Tithe)- Holly Black

Slightly Science Fiction fantasy
The Green and the Gray- Timothy Zahn

Not really anything but still good fantasy
Sharon Shinn's "Safekeeper's Secret", "Truth-teller's Tale", and "Dreammaker's Magic"
" Poison Study" and "Magic Study" by Maria V. Snyder (and still more yet to come)
The Time Quartet by Madeleine L'engle

Also something you might want to consider-
Firebird Fantasy is a publishing company that republishes books for teens. It's an offshoot of Penguin. Almost every book that I've read from them I have loved. Look for the red and black firebird symbol at the top of the spine when you go to the library/bookstore.
www.firebirdbooks.com

Answer 2

I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld universe.
Recently, I started getting into John Ringo's stuff. He's got a couple different sci-fi/thriller series going. I'm enjoying his Ghost books (I've read the first 2 and have #3), Von Neumann's War is awesome, and I'm almost done with Hell's Faire, which is another good one.

Answer 3

Julian May's Saga of the Pliocene Exile (a 4 book set, but could do without the companion sets -- the 2-book Intervention and the 3-book Galactic Milieu).

Answer 4

John Ringo Books Coming Soon

Answer 5

West of Eden; Winter in Eden; Return to Eden by Harry Harrison

Titan; Wizard; Demon by John Varley

Ringworld; Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven

The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay

Answer 6

The Last Warrior Queen by Mary Mackey
The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier
The Twighlight series by Stephenie Meyer
Kushiel's Legacy series by Jaqueline Carey
The Black Jewel Trilogy by Ann Bishop
Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn

Answer 7

I have answered this question so many times, I decided to dedicate a web site to answer this question. Here it is:

http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com

Included is a list of only the best sorcery fantasy books, grade reading level, a short review of each book along with a brief summary of adult content. There is also a "Reader's Choice" list of favorite books, and a list of heroine sorcery fantasy books.

All of these are excellent scifi (author, followed by books).

Jules Verne - free online
Journey to the Center of the Earth (my favorite scifi)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Mysterious Island

H G Wells - free online, and roughly half-length novels
War of the Worlds
The Time Machine (downer ending)
The Invisible Man (unlike many IM stories, he's a villain. This is the original)

Isaac Asimov
I, Robot (you *must* read this - the only "must read" scifi)
Elijah Baley books - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Baley excellent both as scifi *and* as murder mysteries - the best of both worlds
Foundation Series - *the* classic scifi trilogy

Andre Norton - *the* classic female scifi author, most of her books involve "coming of age" and pure scifi adventure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliography_of_Andre_Norton
her best: Star Man's Son (also titled 2250 A.D.)
other excellent:
Judgment on Janus
Forerunner series
Central Control series
Solar Queen series
The Time Traders (Atlantis, magic - very cool!)
The Zero Stone

Another excellent: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Though written for younger readers, I read this recently and it is great! Better than the movie (which was also pretty good).

I hope this helps.

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 8

I really enjoyed the Earthsea Chronicles by Ursula LeGuin, and the Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Two extremes--one sweet, gentle and spiritual, the other cynical, dark and cold.

I also recommend Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials, for younger people.

Beware of "epics" that drag out for 6, 7---11 or 12 volumes! And watch out for "paranormal romances"!

Answer 9

Gordon R. Dickson:
"Three to Dorsai!" (1. Necromancer 2. Tactics of Mistakes 3. Dorsai!)
"The Final Encyclopedia"
"The Chantry Guild"
Or any other book the his "Childe Cycle" series.

Answer 10

very simple the best of them all

DUNE by Frank Herbert

It is an amazing set of trilogies surrounding the desert planet Arrakis.
It is one of the best books I have ever read. Amazing, dense and plausible.
Also I loved

Stephen R. Donaldson's

THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT THE UNBELIEVER.

if you liked Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, this book equals the talent of Tolkien

check them out, I am sure you will agree.