i need a college level fantasy book i can read.?

Question

I want something in the area of writing like j.r. tolkiens lord of the rings or harry potter or something of that genre. I would like something college level i can't think or find any books at the moment.

Answer 1

Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan and the other Gormenghast books

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials

Doug Adams' Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Rober Jordan's Wheel of Time books

Answer 2

Anne McCaffrey Todd McCaffrey L.E. Modesitt,jr David Drake David Weber Eric Flint Larry Niven John Ringo Mike Shepherd Dawn Cook Kathrine Kurtz Mercedes Lackey Patricia Briggs Marion Zimmer Bradley David Eddings Amy Tomson Kristian Britain Robin Hobb Naomi Novik Issac Asimov Elizabeth Moon Wen Spencer Lois McMaster Bujold

Answer 3

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. There is one prequel and 11 books. The shortest is around 500 pages and the longest is like 1100. The author died while writing the 12th and final book, but he had bone cancer and knew he might die so he wrote lots of notes, made many audio recordings and told his wife and cousin the rest of the story and they plan on finishing the final book as per his wishes. His wife writes some and new his style better than anyone so the book should turn out fine. It's an excellent series that's worth the experience of reading even if the last wasn't finished.

Answer 4

From the highest level of reading down to the lowest

Cecilia Dart-Thornton.
1 the illmade mute
2 the lady of the sorrows
3 the battle of evernight
If you like folklore fantasy, this might interest you. They are a hard read, however. It often takes a while to get into them.

The Green and the Gray- Timothy Zahn
a little more on the science fiction side, but well written, with some interesting twists.

Anything by Robin McKinley, specifically her fairy tales
Spindle's end
Rose Daughter
Sunshine (vampire novel)
The Hero and the Crown
The Blue Sword
The Outlaws of Sherwood

Juliet Marillier would be next on my list- I would start with "Daughter of the forest"- it's the first part of a trilogy, but stands alone fairly well.

There's your nice concise list. Enjoy!

Answer 5

Look at this list (my advice below):

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 "Readers' Choice" list of favorite books, and a list of heroine sorcery fantasy books.

Steinbeck definitely qualifies, as does Vance (vocabulary) and Donaldson (style). BTW, I would not consider Tolkien "college level" - it is really (at best) junior high level. College level would be "Le Morte de Arthur" by Mallory, "Canterbury Tales" by Chaucer, and other books that are actually difficult to read or have subtle meaning (you know - when cigars (supposedly) aren't just cigars).

I hope this helps.

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

Answer 6

Margaret Atwood is def. speculative, and def. college level, but probably isn't quite what you're looking for.

If you're female, try Sharon Shinn's books. Her angel series is interesting and unique, while her most recent 12 Houses series (Mystic & Rider is the first) is a more traditional fantasy world.

Robin McKinley is always a good choice. Sunshine and Deerskin are her most mature books (Sunshine def. adult, Deerskin good for mature young adult readers), but all the others are great, too, no matter what your age. (She has one just out that's about dragons and is aimed more at kids. I'm still going to read it, though.)

Lots of people like George R. R. Martin's books.
Tad Williams is good--big, epic series in interesting worlds

Guy Gavriel Kay is one of my very favorites. He's an excellent writer, and most of his stories, while sweeping in scope, are stand alone books (I get tired of all these fantasy series). A lot of his settings are based on historic Europe. Tigana is my favorite of his, I think.

Stephen Brust is another author whose new books I always pick up right away. He has a couple different series: The Phoenix Guards, and the Vlad Taltos series. They're set in the same world, in slightly different time periods and settings, and they're very different in style. So if you don't like the very wordy, almost comic style of The Phoenix Guards, don't dismiss the Vlad books, and vice versa.

You might also check out Mary Doria Russel's two books: The Sparrow and Children of God. They're sci fi, but the science is minimal, and they set up really interesting moral and religious questions.

Answer 7

Ray Bradbury is always a good choice. Some of his lesser known books fall into the fantasy category (unfortunately, I can't recall the names of the most recent books of his that I have read). The Illustrated Man is a good choice, if a bit creepy.

The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander are good. Technically young adult books, though, but highly entertaining reads. Alexander used a lot of Welsh mythology when writing them.

There is also Neil Gaiman. He writes mainly comic books, but American Gods is interesting. Not one of my favorites, but not bad.

Of course, you could always read mythology. The Norse, Irish and Welsh myths are wonderful departures from Greek/Roman.

The classic science fiction stories are great, too. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera and H.G. Wells' The Time Machine are great choices.

Answer 8

Ray Bradbury is an excellent sci-fi writer who dabbles in social commentary from time to time. 'The Martian Chronicles,' 'Something Wicked This Way Comes,' and any of his short stories are always good.
Also- 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by Shakespeare (adult fantasy, although a play), 'Night Watch' by S. Lukyanenko (college level fantasy, but not the same vein as HP or LotR).

Answer 9

Try the Wayfarer Redemption series by Sara Douglass.

Answer 10

Magic Kingdom For Sale by Stephen Sommers. It is a series, VERY good.