# Who likes fantasy?



## azure111 (Aug 28, 2012)

For fantasy lovers:
I haven't read any fantasy in a great while, so I'm looking for fantasy recommendations. If you could only recommend one fantasy book, what would it be?


----------



## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

What kind do you like? (light or epic or sword-and-sorcery, etc)

I highly recommend the Deed of Paxsennarion by Elizabeth Moon from Baen.
Book 1 is free and the omnibus is only $6
http://www.baenebooks.com/p-587-sheepfarmers-daughter.aspx
http://www.baenebooks.com/p-100-the-deed-of-paksenarrion.aspx


----------



## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Baen has many great books from free in their online library. http://www.baen.com


----------



## DavidFWeisman (Jun 10, 2012)

If you can enjoy fantasy with some of the trappings of science fiction, and something really new, try The Brontosaurus Pluto Society.


----------



## MichelleH (Aug 8, 2011)

The problem - fantasy is so broad.  It covers so many sub-genres - high fantasy, urban, contemporary.

Game of Thrones - can't go wrong with the series.  Though just watch the first season of the HBO for the first book (if you want to cheat).  It followed the book exactly.


----------



## Ergodic Mage (Jan 23, 2012)

Besides LotR my favorite fantasy recommendation is Frad Saberhagen's Empire of the East.


----------



## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

It doesn't look like they are available on Kindle yet, but Raymond E. Feist's _Magician: Apprentice_ and Robin McKinley's _Hero and the Crown_ were some of the of the first fantasy books I ever read. I lucked out. They hold up and are still absolutely amazing. Completely worth picking up a used copy for a buck or two.

The one book you can grab on your Kindle that I would recommend would be Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey. It is (I think) some of Mercedes strongest writing. So rich and powerful. I love her early books. This trilogy (along with the two books mentioned above) are what got me hooked on Fantasy.


----------



## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

_The Child Thief_, a dark retelling of the Peter Pan story, by Brom.


----------



## BenJ (Sep 19, 2012)

Malazan Books of the Fallen series by Steve Erikson is by the best fantasy series Ive read.


----------



## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

If you're in the mood for some urban fantasy with a twist, I recommend Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book One by Kevin Hearne. I'm anxiously waiting book 5 to be released the end of this month ....


----------



## rejrej1 (Nov 4, 2012)

I like medieval fantasies, but I was really surprised by Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransome Riggs. It is more of an urban fantasy, but with many historical elements like the holocaust and WW2 Battle of Britain. The orphans are peculiar with gifted talents and hidden away. I couldn't put it down.


----------



## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

Post-Tolkien, my favorite fantasy books are Patricia McKillip's Riddlemaster trilogy, Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series, LeGuin's Earthsea trilogy, McKinley's The Blue Sword & Hero and the Crown. Andre Norton's Witchworld books are a lot of fun.


----------



## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

Susan Cooper - Dark is Rising. Awesome books. New spin on Arthurian tales.
Louise Cooper -Time Master. Great trilogy (and a lovely lady too)
Storm Constantine - wild, gothic and just weird (another lovely lady to have a drink with....)
Melissa Marr - Wicked Lovely - faeries with attititude

Not sure what is available electronically, but all worth reading, IMO.


----------



## Steverino (Jan 5, 2011)

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the publication of _Watership Down_.
I don't think you'll do much better than that.


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

azure111 said:


> ...If you could only recommend one fantasy book, what would it be?


Taking your request literally and no hemming or hawing on my part: The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 (Chronicles of Amber), by Roger Zelazny (unfortunately, not enKindled).



If you extend the requirement to be one book that is (legally) available on Kindle, then Night Watch (Discworld), by Terry Pratchett (though you really should read the other books in the City Watch story arc that lead up to this one, first  ).


----------



## JamescCamp (Oct 18, 2012)

I don't know who well known this series is outside Canada, but it's very good:

http://www.amazon.ca/Fionavar-Tapestry-Omnibus-Guy-Gavriel/dp/0006479502/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352125318&sr=8-1


----------



## Groggy1 (Jun 21, 2010)

you are really going to have to narrow that down a bit.  Fantasy is much too broad a general genre.

Hell, you'd have to break it down to current (written last 4? Years?) to Old-school (>10 years) 

Sos the Rope, Var the Stick, Neq the Sword, By Piers Anthony
Or Tolkien? Or the stories of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever?

Give us some guidance....


----------



## azure111 (Aug 28, 2012)

I am really just looking for your #1 favorite(s). I haven't read much fantasy so I can't narrow it down much. (If it helps, you could focus on current fantasy) So I'm just looking for what you like best and would recommend... thanks!


----------



## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

JamescCamp said:


> I don't know who well known this series is outside Canada, but it's very good:
> 
> http://www.amazon.ca/Fionavar-Tapestry-Omnibus-Guy-Gavriel/dp/0006479502/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352125318&sr=8-1


Gosh. I read the Fionavar trilogy many many years ago (20?) in paperback in the UK. Is it still popular? Great start but I did feel it tailed off a bit.


----------



## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

My favorite ever would probably be the Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist


----------



## ChrisWard (Mar 10, 2012)

After reading Game of Thrones I can't enjoy anything else because its so tame by comparison.  I've started reading Steven Erikson's series and while its pretty good I feel he overdoes the bloodlust a little bit, almost as if he's trying to be shocking.  It doesn't bother me in the slightest, but in GofT it felt more natural.


----------



## Benjamin (Dec 26, 2008)

headofwords said:


> After reading Game of Thrones I can't enjoy anything else because its so tame by comparison. I've started reading Steven Erikson's series and while its pretty good I feel he overdoes the bloodlust a little bit, almost as if he's trying to be shocking. It doesn't bother me in the slightest, but in GofT it felt more natural.


Im just the opposite. Malazan seems natural to me, while in GoT it feels like Martin would kill off people just to kill em off.


----------



## Groggy1 (Jun 21, 2010)

Chad Winters said:


> My favorite ever would probably be the Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist


This is the series that hooked my youngest son into reading as much as his parents. There isn't a book by Feist that he hasn't read.

I'm not sure how I forgot these though...The-Dragonriders-Pern-Anne-McCaffrey

http://www.amazon.com/The-Dragonriders-Pern-Anne-McCaffrey/dp/0345340248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352317244&sr=8-1&keywords=dragonriders+of+pern#reader_0345340248


----------



## gljones (Nov 6, 2012)

It's a guilty pleasure of mine but try
Tim Powersrawing of the Dark.
It's hard to find, been out of print for a while, try Ebay maybe.  It's certainly not high brow but it's a blast


----------



## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

Ray Feist definitely. Also Barbra Hambly if we're going into that era of fantasy.

The Pern books? Again, I loved the early stuff but you can have too much of a good thing, IMO.


----------



## Jenni Norris (Oct 10, 2012)

I recently read Gaspar the Thief by David A Lindsay. It was a great read - he has beautiful prose, and it's full of adventures, magic, goblins etc.


----------



## Lee (Nov 7, 2008)

DavidFWeisman said:


> If you can enjoy fantasy with some of the trappings of science fiction, and something really new, try The Brontosaurus Pluto Society.


I'm now reading Magic Makes You Strange (the first in the series). So far it's great! Thanks for the recommendation.


----------



## gljones (Nov 6, 2012)

My number one has to be Tolkien,(the whole series)
My number two has got to be the Amber books by Zelazney.
Between the two these, we're talking about 14 books, so if you go there, you'll be there a while


----------



## Angela Brown (Nov 16, 2012)

_The Name of the Wind_ by Patrick Rothfuss may be one for you to consider. It's been compared to both GRR Martin's _Game of Thrones_ and as a wonderful Tolkienesque novel.



Tolkien and C.S. Lewis will always be my faves of all time


----------



## Guest (Nov 28, 2012)

Any David Gemmell book, but 'Legend' first.


----------



## BJ Whittington (Aug 30, 2011)

NogDog said:


> The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 (Chronicles of Amber), by Roger Zelazny (unfortunately, not enKindled).


I'd Second this, and add David Eddings books. This is some solid old-style Fantasy that anyone who has not read them should take a look at!


----------



## cekilgore (Oct 31, 2012)

I'm sure I'll get some rolled eyes and flack.. but Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series will always hold a place in my heart and on my bookshelf. That series followed me through HS  and University..


----------



## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I liked the h


cekilgore said:


> I'm sure I'll get some rolled eyes and flack.. but Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series will always hold a place in my heart and on my bookshelf. That series followed me through HS and University..


I liked the first 2 or 3


----------



## Dani Collins (Jan 14, 2012)

Groggy1 said:


> you are really going to have to narrow that down a bit. Fantasy is much too broad a general genre.


This is true and maybe I should post this question to a new thread, but what draws you to certain genres over others? I personally don't care for urban, I want more medieval, but leave the elves and trolls at the door thanks. Special powers with elements is cool; shapeshifting and werewolves kinda wear me out.

*And* please give me a grand romance at the heart of it. Whereas some purists find the romance gets in the way of the rest of the story.

Your preferences?


----------



## L.M.Sherwin (Sep 3, 2012)

If you're looking for fresh new fantasy, check out Lindsay Buroker's "Emperor's Edge" series! The first one is free on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Emperors-Edge-ebook/dp/B004H1TDB0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1354131814&sr=1-1&keywords=emperors+edge


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Reminder:  here in the Book Corner, self promotion is not allowed, sorry.


----------



## gljones (Nov 6, 2012)

cekilgore said:


> I'm sure I'll get some rolled eyes and flack.. but Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series will always hold a place in my heart and on my bookshelf. That series followed me through HS and University..


OK, for another eye rolling moment, I still like the first book "Sword of Shanara" by Terry Brooks. Epic Fantasy but light and easy to read. Maybe that's another place to start? Somebody else mentioned that Fantasy is a very broad label.


----------



## Lensman (Aug 28, 2012)

Fantasy's a very wide realm. It's difficult to find any one set that is definitive.

My personal preferences include Andre Norton's Witch World novels, Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books, and Tim Powers' Anubis Gates.


----------



## gljones (Nov 6, 2012)

Lensman said:


> Fantasy's a very wide realm. It's difficult to find any one set that is definitive.
> 
> My personal preferences include Andre Norton's Witch World novels, Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books, and Tim Powers' Anubis Gates.


Anubis Gates is a good one. 
for lite fare, perhaps the first 3 of the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. Again, it's Young Adult, but I still read it on the subway when I think nobody is looking


----------



## Krystal Wade (Dec 3, 2012)

Well, one of my favorite books, and one that should be on any fantasy-lover's list, is The Hobbit. I liked it better than all the following books by Tolkien. If you haven't read the Narnia books, I highly suggest those as well. These novels really drove my love of writing fantasy, and they inspired my imagination. Hope you enjoy!


----------



## Guest (Dec 5, 2012)

gljones said:


> Anubis Gates is a good one.
> for lite fare, perhaps the first 3 of the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. Again, it's Young Adult, but I still read it on the subway when I think nobody is looking


Don't worry, only fellow fantasy fans will probably realize it's young adult.


----------



## neaughea (Dec 15, 2012)

Only one is really tough, but here it goes:
Elfhunter by C.S. Marks


----------



## Avis Black (Jun 12, 2012)

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number 10 Ox by Barry Hughart. It's a wonderful trilogy set in ancient China, and it's an absolute must-read for any fantasy fan. I can't recommend it highly enough. The quality of Hughart's writing is amazing.


----------



## Jeroen Steenbeeke (Feb 3, 2012)

Angela Brown said:


> _The Name of the Wind_ by Patrick Rothfuss may be one for you to consider. It's been compared to both GRR Martin's _Game of Thrones_ and as a wonderful Tolkienesque novel.


I would definitely recommend this one as well, though I disagree with the GRRM comparison. I found both _The Name of the Wind_ and _The Wise Man's Fear_ to be far from the gritty nature of Game of Thrones. A closer match would be the work of Brandon Sanderson (mostly due to the well-defined magic system), and perhaps Robert Jordan



Bleekness said:


> Y'know, I'm more of a gritty heroic fantasy reader but I liked _Sword of Shanara_, and I still read my favourite from Brooks _The Elfstones of Shanara_ whenever I feel like it's time. Just some all round great reads (in my opinion).


Aside from the Shannara books I would also recommend the Word and the Void series, especially to people who like Urban Fantasy.


----------



## Aya Ling (Nov 21, 2012)

L.M.Sherwin said:


> If you're looking for fresh new fantasy, check out Lindsay Buroker's "Emperor's Edge" series! The first one is free on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Emperors-Edge-ebook/dp/B004H1TDB0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1354131814&sr=1-1&keywords=emperors+edge


Ooh, if I were to pick my favorite indie series, this is the one! I read the first one without any expectations, and was completely blown away! Bought the rest in the series immediately. Lindsay's writing is EXCELLENT, the plot contains lots of twists and turns, and her cast of characters is very memorable. I can't wait for her to release EE6!


----------

