# Best Fantasy Series and why?



## martyns (May 8, 2014)

Call it market research. I'm interested though - what was your favorite fantasy and why? What made one particular series stand out compared to the others?


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## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

Discworld, without question.

Partly because of the humour, of course, and the characterisation that Pratchett has achieved over the decades, but also because of the world-building. Not the crude exposition that takes up a few dozen pages in The Colour of Magic, but the organic world-building that has developed over the course of dozens of very consistent novels.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Roger Zelazny's "Amber" series. Why? I suppose because I love his writing, I enjoy the narrator's "voice", the story is original, the main character changes believably, and, let's see, I love his writing.  I've probably read the original 5-book series around 30 times now since I discovered it in the late '70s (the 2nd 5-book series is good, but not this good); and while I love Pratchett's Discworld, too, Amber has to take this award for me.


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely or Julie Kagawa's The Iron King (The Iron Fey Book 1). But then I love urban faery stuff.

Or older series (still faeries but utterly amazing) is Tom Deitz Windmaster's Bane. This pulls in celtic and native american mythology very cleverly.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

Katherine Kurtz's _Deryni_ Trilogies. They're full of wonderful details and the characters are all brilliantly human in their strengths and weaknesses.


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## Tuttle (Jun 10, 2010)

I'm going to second Discworld. There are others I love too, but for best, I have to go with Discworld. Characters and worlds are what make books great to me (and I really enjoy being fantasy that has effective messages about our world). 

I think some of choosing best fantasy is related to how tropey it is, because fantasy has struggled with being too tropey, even when being very well written. 

(Oh, and this is an answer of "besides Tolkien if you are counting Lord of the Rings because some wouldn't under series and others would because you probably don't want that answer for interest of conversation")


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## bethrevis (Jul 30, 2014)

DebBennett said:


> Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely or Julie Kagawa's The Iron King (The Iron Fey Book 1).


Have you tried Holly Black's Tithe? Sounds right up your alley 

My favorite fantasy series of all time would be Narnia, followed by Harry Potter. But of recent works, I'd say Rae Carson's trilogy starting with The Girl of Fire and Thorns. It's such an amazing, well-written world: every nuance feels real, and the plot is totally unpredictable.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I'd second the original _Amber_ series. I'm not very analytical about what I read, but this series keeps bringing me back every few years. Honorable mention to Steven Brust's _Vlad_ series and Frank Tuttle's _Markhat_ series.

Frequency of re-read is about the only way I can justify the "best" label on them. The characters just appeal to me in a way that others (Harry Dresden, various Discworld characters) don't. The Dresden and Discworld novels I can read once and, although I enjoyed them, I feel no impulse to read them again.

Mike


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## Jill Nojack (Mar 7, 2014)

Also Discworld for me. Wonderful world building, humor, wry political commentary, and actually several different series all tied together by the same world. 

Was there ever a set of of characters more memorable then Vimes, Granny Weatherwax, the denizens of the Unseen University, or Death? (Not to mention all the lesser players I left out.) I think not. I have read them over and over again, depending on whose world view I'm in the mood to share for a while. 

If there was a girl the right age anywhere in the family, I'd get her started on the Tiffany Aching set of stories so that she would be corrupted early in just the right way to enjoy the rest of them later on.


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## Ted Cross (Aug 30, 2012)

Geoffrey said:


> Katherine Kurtz's _Deryni_ Trilogies. They're full of wonderful details and the characters are all brilliantly human in their strengths and weaknesses.


I really need to read those again, because I remember loving them and that was way back in the eighties.

My favorite series depends on my mood, but there are four that to me stand out above all the others:

Tolkien (LOTR, Silmarillion, Hobbit)
GRRM (Song of Ice and Fire)
Rothfuss (Kvothe novels)
Le Guin (Earthsea series)

All of these have amazing writing, characters, and storylines that, for me, make them rise above their peers.


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

bethrevis said:


> Have you tried Holly Black's Tithe? Sounds right up your alley


Ooh - goes off hunting.... thank you!

ETA: But not amazon.co.uk? WHY?!!!


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 7, 2010)

As has been mentioned above, Roger Zelazny's _*Chronicles of Amber *_(the first 5 books) remains my favorite. I just like the storyline and the interaction Corwin has with his brothers intermingled with his adventures.

*Vlad Taltos series *by Brust is right up there, but a couple have been less than spectacular, and up until the last installment of Hearn's *Iron Druid Chronicles*, I'd say that they were #2 on my list instead as the use of additional first person POVs are diluting the story, especially as one just isn't that interesting.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

PS: One other thing I like about the Amber series is that, while it takes 5 (fairly short by today's standards) books to tell the story, that's what it does: it tells a story from beginning to end -- it does not feel like a series of one book after another that never actually resolves something, unlike many of the never-ending, contractual-obligation series out there that have a beginning, a middle, more middle, yet more middle....


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## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. The characters are engaging, the concept is backwards from most fantasy series, and it has the best magic system ever. Plus, I don't feel like women are just a token addition.

I really am not a huge fantasy fan because I got so tired of the same plot over and over. I like things that don't fit the D&D mold.

Close behind would also be Discworld, all of Diane Wynne Jones' books, Harry Potter, and Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series.


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## Claire Frank (Jul 28, 2014)

Although he is only two books in, Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive is amazing. I like Sanderson's other books, and I think the work he did to finish the Wheel of Time series was awesome. But Stormlight has the potential to be my favorite epic fantasy series ever. We'll see how it plays out, but his first two books in the series are incredible, IMO.

I agree with Tolkien being in a class all his own. The Lord of the Rings is pretty much on a pedestal for me, so I don't even compare other books to them.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

NogDog said:


> unlike many of the never-ending, contractual-obligation series out there that have a beginning, a middle, more middle, yet more middle....


This being one of the reasons I read very few series (especially fantasy) these days. There are so many books vying for my attention that I have little patience for 600-page volumes of a continuing story. Maybe it is that I am getting to the age where I may not be around to see the next volume! 

If there isn't a term for a series with entirely self-contained, stand-alone individual stories with continuing characters as opposed to a never-ending series that leaves threads hanging around after each volume then there needs to be. One of the attractions of the Discworld novels is that (if memory serves) one can pick up any of them and get a complete story. I give the Amber Chronicles a bit of slack on this because the individual books aren't that long, as NogDog said.

But that's just me.

Mike


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Yeah, one of the reasons the Discworld has worked for me over 30+ books is that each book (except for the very first) is a self-contained story with a definite ending, plus Pratchett cycles through each story arc and set of characters, so you don't get any real repetition for several consecutive novels. I guess I tend to think of the Discworld as a "milieu" rather than a "series".


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I second Vlad Taltos 
If we aren't counting Tolkein of course


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## Winter9_86 (Sep 3, 2013)

Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel

C.S. Marks - Elfhunter trilogy (not a tolkien clone, read the whole thing-beautiful). 

Jenna Elizabeth Johnson - Oescienne books (ya - cozy)

Apart from the obvious ones of course  

Also In Her Name series, sci fi not fantasy but in greyzone, is one of the best I have read ever.


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## TheGapBetweenMerlons (Jun 2, 2011)

Great thread, lots of new leads to populate my TBR list. 

I also really liked the Deryni books, and the Amber books, as mentioned above. The Amber books were more memorable (for me) as being enjoyable to read, while the Deryni books were probably more influential regarding my own writing (among other influences, naturally). I liked the Wheel of Time series at first, but after about four books I started losing my taste for it and never finished it. I do want to start over someday and read the whole series.

Overall I haven't done anywhere near as much reading as I'd like in the past few years, and definitely not much fantasy reading.


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

Deryni sounded familiar so I looked them up, and of course it was that the author Katherine Kurtz reminded me of the author Katherine Kerr - need to go read her Deverry series again now!


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## eleanorberesford (Dec 22, 2014)

Currently, The School of Good and Evil (desperately waiting for the third!) i can best describe at as a mixture of fairy tales, Harry Potter and Revolutionary Girl Utena, so it's pretty much a fail safe series for me.


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

*The Lord of the Rings* for the beauty of the prose, the grandeur of its mythical history, the charm of the characters, and the haunting sense that in order to defeat evil, there needs to be a sacrifice.

Second to that is Mary Stewart's *Legacy * series, where she brings the tales of King Arthur to vivid life and brings Merlin more to the forefront. An interesting twist, where a well-known saga is glimpsed through the eyes of a secondary character, and we see the celebrated events and personages through his eyes in an eyewitness account.


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## Adaman14 (Mar 20, 2013)

A favorite series of mine is the interrelated short stories of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber. This is sword and sorcery at its finest.
http://www.amazon.com/Swords-Deviltry-Lankhmar-Adventures-Fafhrd/dp/1441844651

A honorable mention is the first five books of the Thieves' World anthology created by Robert Lynn Asprin. The rest of the series is just OK, but the first five books are pure fantasy fun.
http://www.amazon.com/Thieves-World-Book/dp/0441805914


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

oakwood said:


> Thanks, made me remember and want to re-read Amber ! ... it's just depressing to see how little of Zelazny's work is available in e-book format.


Tell me about it. 

I have heard that some of it is because of him not changing parts of his will after he remarried, and his first wife has the e-publication rights to them (and Lord of Light, I presume) and for whatever reason (spite?) will not allow e-book publication. 

PS: "Allegedly"


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

There have already been so many excellent authors/series mentioned.  Does Raymond Feist's Magician books count as fantasy?
The original Magician, Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon are still favorites.  Like Zelazny, however, his early books are not available electronically.  I also enjoyed the set that he did with Janny Wurts about the people on the other side of the Rift.


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## martyns (May 8, 2014)

Tuttle said:


> I'm going to second Discworld. There are others I love too, but for best, I have to go with Discworld. Characters and worlds are what make books great to me (and I really enjoy being fantasy that has effective messages about our world).
> 
> I think some of choosing best fantasy is related to how tropey it is, because fantasy has struggled with being too tropey, even when being very well written.
> 
> (Oh, and this is an answer of "besides Tolkien if you are counting Lord of the Rings because some wouldn't under series and others would because you probably don't want that answer for interest of conversation")


I love discworld! I've read all of them including the Tiffany Aching Trilogy. Well, apart from 'Raising Steam' I'm currently reading his 'Nation' so maybe I'll read that next! Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Some definite books to check out here - I'm bookmarking this thread! 

Martyn


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## Daniel Harvell (Jun 21, 2013)

For traditional fantasy - Lord of the Rings and the Song of Ice and Fire series. For contemporary fantasy, the Harry Potter series. I know these are popular choices, but there's a reason they're popular!


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## Jennifer R P (Oct 19, 2012)

For traditional fantasy it has to be Elizabeth Moon's The Deed of Paksenarrion and the more recent followup Paladin's Legacy.

The former shows Moon's keen knowledge of military life (she's an ex marine) and proves you can write a major series with essentially no romance. (In fact, Paksenarrion is asexual). Paladin's Legacy shows better/more mature writing and messes with tropes.

If you like your fantasy very classic (yes, she has elves, orcs, dwarves, etc), with interesting magic systems and some solid knowledge of sociology...yeah. Highly recommend it.

I'm fond of A Song Of Ice And Fire too, but hold the heretical opinion that it is not Martin's best work. The Lord of the Rings is also on my list along with Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books.

For LESS traditional fantasy, I'm going to give a shout out to Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, if for nothing else than somehow managing to make a dragon the size of a man of war cute.


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## martyns (May 8, 2014)

Jennifer R P said:


> For traditional fantasy it has to be Elizabeth Moon's The Deed of Paksenarrion and the more recent followup Paladin's Legacy.
> 
> The former shows Moon's keen knowledge of military life (she's an ex marine) and proves you can write a major series with essentially no romance. (In fact, Paksenarrion is asexual). Paladin's Legacy shows better/more mature writing and messes with tropes.
> 
> ...


I enjoyed LOTR too! Interesting on can you write without romance. I'm three books into my series and I've not touched on romance yet - some of the characters would like there to be some romance, but it just isn't happening. I haven't ruled it out for later in the series  . Nice to know fantasy CAN work without romance! How big is a Man Of War?

I keep hearing good things about Mercedes Lackey - I haven't read her yet though.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

martyns said:


> I keep hearing good things about Mercedes Lackey - I haven't read her yet though.


Some of Mercedes Lackey's works are very good, especially her early Valdemar novels. She also has some books that she wrote with James Mallory that are good. But her later books, especially the ones in her Elemental series, are getting formulaic and are rewrites of earlier plots...


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## martyns (May 8, 2014)

Which would you say was Lackey's best novel?


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

martyns said:


> Which would you say was Lackey's best novel?


Wow - that's a hard one. This is only my personal opinion - YMMV.
When I go back and reread, I head to the Valdemar books, specifically the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy. Those were the first books that I remember reading of hers. The first one in the trilogy is _Arrows of the Queen_.


I also get a kick out of her Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms. There is something about the idea of manipulating Tradition that makes me smile. I think the first two are the best ones: _The Fairy Godmother_ and _One Good Knight_.
 

And they are pricey, but The Obsidian Trilogy with James Mallory kept my interest as well. The second trilogy was somewhat repetitive.
  

I still read most of the new stuff that she publishes, but I am more likely to check it out from the library or wait for a lower sale price. I have not replaced all my print copies of her earlier books yet. They are on my wish list and I replace them as I want to read them again.


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

Discworld, LOTR, Harry Potter and the "Parasol Protectorate" would definitely be my first choice as well.

I wander if we have any *Vorkosigan saga* fans here?
I've just started reading the first book in the series (it is marked as 4th but the first one in which the main character Miles appears), and it is marvelous. I am not sure where to draw a line between sci-fi and fantasy, it's a bit of both, but the characters are very human and there is no excessive amount of all those made-up names and techno-jargon that I usually find a bit of a turn-off.


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## ElaineOK (Jun 5, 2009)

Although, they aren't in the same league with some of the great classic series listed, I have really enjoyed Naomi Novik's Temeraire series.  The Napoleanic wars with a dragon air corps.  I enjoy the concept, the characters, the complexity of the worldview and the plot details.  They are just good, fun, fast moving books.  

Elaine
Oklahoma


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## Cactus Lady (Jun 4, 2014)

The RiddleMaster Trilogy, by Patricia McKillip


Flesh and Spirit/Breath and Bone, by Carol Berg
 

And so far (through book 5) the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, by Steven Erikson


What I like about them: Rich, complex worlds where magic is part of the essence of the world; adult characters (not the typical coming-of-age or farmboy with a destiny lead characters); plots that aren't the standard fantasy plots; sophisticated prose and storytelling.


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## martyns (May 8, 2014)

Kyra Halland said:


> What I like about them: Rich, complex worlds where magic is part of the essence of the world; adult characters (not the typical coming-of-age or farmboy with a destiny lead characters); plots that aren't the standard fantasy plots; sophisticated prose and storytelling.


This sounds like my cup of tea. I consciously avoided going down the orphaned peasant becomes master of the universe 'coming-of-age' story with my works. It's like flavour of the week or something. I mean, commercially it probably makes sense to write these - they certainly seem to sell. It's all a bit 'been done before' though.


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## Karen Mead (Jul 2, 2012)

Hmm, I guess I'll go Discworld. There are a lot of other fantasy series I like, but Discworld has been a constant in my life. I think I found the first book at my local library when I was 12 or 13, and I've been reading them on and off every since. Someday I'll get the complete collection, because I know I've missed some here and there. My favorite series_ within_ Discworld involves Sam Vimes, although Moist Von Lipwig gets an honorable mention. I do find that in the later books, Pratchett does take some odd leaps-- like, the characters will suddenly know something/do something, and I'm like "Wait, how did they know that? How does that make sense?" but that's just nitpicking.

I've really got to read Amber, I've been hearing good things about it for years and just somehow never got around to it. Kicking myself that I didn't buy that Amber Collected Edition when I saw it -____-


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

For me, scifi would be Clark's Rama series or Azimov's Foundation books. For fantasy, probably Lackey's Eric Banyon series of books. Although, from when I was younger I really enjoyed McCaffrey's Pern books and also David Weber's Honor Harrington books - just plain good fun reading.


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

martyns said:


> Which would you say was Lackey's best novel?


I love the Valdemar stuff, but I also adore Summoned to Tourney and all the other urban elves books she co-wrote and don't seem to be on kindle.


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## suggestmesome (Jan 21, 2015)

Favorite children's fantasy: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, by Patricia Wrede, because they're just so much _fun_, and I love strong female characters.

Favorite adult fantasy: I'll have to be boring and go with A Song of Ice and Fire. The last two books haven't held my interest as well as the first three, but A Storm of Swords in particular just blows me away with how good it is every time I read it.

I also love Discworld, but my favorite Pratchett is actually Good Omens. I think he and Gaiman complement each other's styles really well and I like them together better than individually (it's also my favorite Gaiman novel.)


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## cathywalker (Dec 20, 2014)

Well, it seems as if I'm going to have to read Discworld, considering all the recommendations on this thread. My favorite fantasy series (just to name a few) 

J.R.R. Tolkien - LOTR trilogy
Anne Bishop's - Tir Alainn trilogy
Terry Brooks - Magic Kingdom series
Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth series


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## Sever Bronny (May 13, 2013)

For me it's Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance "Legends" and "Chronicles" trilogies, Game of Thrones, Narnia, and Harry Potter. I know, populist picks, but they really are my favorite. One of my goals in the coming years is to read more obscure fantasy 

Best one for me classically is LOTR. Why? It's genre defining and absolutely absorbing.

For more modern fantasy, I have to go with Harry Potter. Changed my life and is the reason I started writing. It's just so much fun and the most addicting read I have ever come across. I get bored easily so for a series to hold me like that for every page is just ... well, I'm grateful


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## dkersten (Jan 16, 2015)

I have to say Eddings' Belgariad.  Mostly because when I was younger and only read fantasy it was as good as it got.  

The "epic" series like Sword of Truth, Wheel of Time, and Song of Fire and Ice are all great, but in every case fell victim to overcomplicating plotlines that got away from the author and forced them to write thousands of incredibly boring pages to write themselves out of the mess and pull it back together.  Take the first three of any of these series and they are easily the best Fantasy out there.  The next three in each were better at getting me to fall asleep than entertain me.  Being mostly 700-1000 page books, I suffered more than one bruise on my face from falling asleep reading in bed.  

A lot of the series that got me into reading and were at the top of my list as a kid are now a little basic and as an adult I have a hard time considering them the best.  Still great though.  Piers Anthony, Terry Brooks, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and even the various D&D Forgotten Realms books are all fantastic.  I would have to say they all inspired me to write.. it just took me 30 more years to get around to it..


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## J.T. Williams (Aug 7, 2014)

I need to check out Discworld...

Terry Brooks'Sword of Shannara series as well as Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I could probably put Harry Potter up there near the top too.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

J.T. Williams said:


> I need to check out Discworld...


You may want to start with _Wyrd Sisters_ (first in the "Lancre Witches" story arc) or _Guards! Guards!_ (first in the "City Watch" story arc), as that's where the series really hits its stride. Then if you fall in love with it, you can go back to _The Color of Magic_ if you want to start reading in publication order.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

I don't really have any "bests", but I do really like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series.


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## J.T. Williams (Aug 7, 2014)

NogDog said:


> You may want to start with _Wyrd Sisters_ (first in the "Lancre Witches" story arc) or _Guards! Guards!_ (first in the "City Watch" story arc), as that's where the series really hits its stride. Then if you fall in love with it, you can go back to _The Color of Magic_ if you want to start reading in publication order.


I will look into that. Thank you for those recommendations!


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

anguabell said:


> I wander if we have any *Vorkosigan saga* fans here?
> I've just started reading the first book in the series (it is marked as 4th but the first one in which the main character Miles appears), and it is marvelous. I am not sure where to draw a line between sci-fi and fantasy, it's a bit of both, but the characters are very human and there is no excessive amount of all those made-up names and techno-jargon that I usually find a bit of a turn-off.


*Raises hand* Me, me, me! I'm a huge Miles Vorkosigan fan!


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

Love the Vorkosigan series, but I would not have put it in Fantasy


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## Pikko (Oct 21, 2014)

I can't deny that ASOIAF is my favorite, cause it just is. 

With that out of the way, others I love:

Harry Potter
Percy Jackson (because RR is hilarious)
Gregor the Overlander (by Suzanne Collins)
Dragonlance (though it's been decades since I read them)
Shannara books

I recommend the Gregor books to anyone I can because they were so cute and fun, yet dark and serious later. The only negative is the series ended terribly. In that, "Wait, what the hell, where's the end of the book?!" kind of way.


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## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

Since last week's tragic news, I can't read anything except Discworld.


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

In general Discworld, for many of the reasons given.

For epic fantasy, Lord of the Rings.  It has the added bonus of the complete works being only the length of a single book of those bloated multi volume doorstoppers we are getting now.

For more light hearted, simpler fantasy, The Belgariad.  Read it a lot as a teenager.

For grittier, heroic fantasy, The Drenai Saga by David Gemmell.

For sword and sorcery, the Conan stories by R.E. Howard.


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## JeanetteRaleigh (Jan 1, 2013)

The Deed of Paksenarrion. (The name itself kept me from reading this book for two years after a friend kept telling me to read it.  Finally I did.)

This book is epic in a way that I hadn't found since Lord of the Rings (read 15 years prior).  Although the book follows a lot of standard fantasy convention, we see the heroine truly become helpless around the middle of the novel.  I reread this story at least once every three or four years.  I love it that much.  And to think I almost missed it because of the title


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## Alecc0 (Apr 20, 2015)

The Malazan Book of the Fallen series for me. 
It's by far the most complex and epic series I've read, or know of! They're not easy reads, by far, as the author seems to like to not explain things or describe them in obscure ways so a lot of the time you're going along unsure of what is happening, like an outside observer, but things do clear up as you go along the series. 

Also the His Dark Materials trilogy is one of my all-time favourites. A shame what they did with the first book film adaptation!


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## martyns (May 8, 2014)

For the record I almost picked up 'A Game of Thrones' in Waterstones the other day. I've been watching the series (got to end of Season 2) and wanted to give the books a try. 

As to whether it's a great fantasy series or not - I'm kind of torn! It's engrossing and hard to stop watching, but it's also often cringeworthy and frankly horrible. It reminds me of reading 'Pillars of the Earth' by Ken Follett, when I read it - and couldn't stop reading it. However it was mainly because there were certain characters so vile I desperately wanted to read about them getting their come uppance!

I've heard things about Season 3 of GoT that make me actually feel like calling it a day at Season 2. Justified? Are the books any easier to stomach?


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

martyns said:


> I've heard things about Season 3 of GoT that make me actually feel like calling it a day at Season 2. Justified? Are the books any easier to stomach?


Watched Seasons 1-4 of GoT on DVD and am hooked. Season 5 seems much slower, but I'm invested enough in the characters to persevere with it.

The books, though? 1st book was great. Got bored halfway through the 2nd and read the first chapter or so of book 3 before I gave up completely. Too slow and ponderous. I doubt I'd ever have started watching the series if I'd read the books first.


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## Stacey T. Hunt (May 4, 2015)

First fantasy series that came to mind was Lord of the Rings, haha!


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

I gave up on A Song of Fire and Ice (the actual name of the series - A Game of Thrones is the TV name for the series) about half way through the second book.  The TV show, if anything, tones it down.


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## martyns (May 8, 2014)

A. S. Warwick said:


> In general Discworld, for many of the reasons given.
> 
> For epic fantasy, Lord of the Rings. It has the added bonus of the complete works being only the length of a single book of those bloated multi volume doorstoppers we are getting now.
> 
> ...


Ooh, the Belgariad? I'm getting Kat Rose-Martin to narrate my first book and she narrated an Audiobook of Belgariad I think! What's it like?


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## Pamela (Oct 6, 2010)

I loved The Entire and the Rose - by Kay Kenyon.  If you want fantastic world building you'll be hooked. It's a 4 book series that came out in 2010.

Here's a synopsis from the Kindle book.
Kay Kenyon, noted for her science fiction world-building, has in this new series created her most vivid and compelling society, the Universe Entire. In a land-locked galaxy that tunnels through our own, the Entire is a bizarre and seductive mix of long-lived quasi-human and alien beings gathered under a sky of fire, called the bright. A land of wonders, the Entire is sustained by monumental storm walls and an exotic, never-ending river. Over all, the elegant and cruel Tarig rule supreme.


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## Shei Darksbane (Jan 31, 2015)

*Favorite true fantasy:
*
_The Kingkiller Chronicles_ by Patrick Rothfuss 
Because it has some of the most beautiful language I've ever seen in a book, a main character I adore, and a great, compelling story with lots of really neat world ideas. I love the magic system.
_The Stormlight Archive_ by Brandon Sanderson
Because the worldbuilding is the most amazing I've ever seen, the characters are beautiful, and the story stole my breath and then my heart.

*Favorite Urban Fantasy:*

_The Dresden Files_ by Jim Butcher
Because I love the setting, the idea, and the characters so much.
_The Mercy Thompson series_ by Patricia Briggs
Because Mercy is awesome. I don't even know what to say. This series took five books to hook me, and then I couldn't have backed out if I'd wanted to. 
I really think it's heading somewhere incredible.


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## a_urias (Mar 11, 2015)

Favorite fantasy series of all time? Well Lord of the Rings for a start. That was the beginning. Garth Nix's Abhorsen Series is a close second. Someone needs to do a tv show of that. And finally Discworld, of course. Because it's brilliant and awesome. Or to put it simply, because it's Discworld. Small Gods is one of the best fantasy books ever written and one of the best pieces of satire.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Chad Winters said:


> Love the Vorkosigan series, but I would not have put it in Fantasy


Neither would I. I don't recall any fantasy elements in the series.

My new favorite series is _The Markhat Files_ by Frank Tuttle. Also his _Paths of Shadow_ series. He is one of the very few authors I will automatically pre-order new titles from without a second thought. And I'm not even that big of a fantasy fan, although I do read a bit in the genre. I find Tuttle's characters and their dialogue to be engaging, unlike most fantasy.

Mike


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

martyns said:


> Ooh, the Belgariad? I'm getting Kat Rose-Martin to narrate my first book and she narrated an Audiobook of Belgariad I think! What's it like?


It was one of the first farmer boy coming of age stories. Very clichéd at times. But filled with plenty of witter banter and an easy read. I read it when I need to turn off my brain.


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## danpadavona (Sep 25, 2014)

I agree wholeheartedly with Shei regarding The Kingkiller Chronicles, but being as there are only two full-length novels to date, I'll leave it out of the "favorite series vote" for now. Shei is absolutely correct that Rothfuss' prose is beautiful, perfect.

The Shannara books are terrific. They tell straight-forward, wonderful fantasy tales, and as you progress deeper into the series and start to see how the world of Shannara links with our own world, it gets even more interesting.

The Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series _should_ be #1. The first three or four novels, ridiculously humongous as they are, represent the best fantasy adventure I have ever read. But the middle of the series is like pulling teeth...so many characters, so much unnecessary description, a tangle of minor plot lines which are impossible to keep track of...that I can't put the series in my top 3. The series ends great, but it's clear to me that the series should only be half as long as it is. So much filler should have been cut.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

danpadavona said:


> ...
> The Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series _should_ be #1. The first three or four novels, ridiculously humongous as they are, represent the best fantasy adventure I have ever read. But the middle of the series is like pulling teeth...so many characters, so much unnecessary description, a tangle of minor plot lines which are impossible to keep track of...that I can't put the series in my top 3. The series ends great, but it's clear to me that the series should only be half as long as it is. So much filler should have been cut.


+1, though I can't comment on the end, as I completely gave up on it after the 6th or 7th book, I think.


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## VG2311 (May 1, 2015)

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.  The storytelling is excellent, the characters are strong, vibrant and literally jump off the page into a 3D fully sensory view in your head as if you were watching a movie.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

NogDog said:


> +1, though I can't comment on the end, as I completely gave up on it after the 6th or 7th book, I think.


I think I quit after 5 or 6 mainly because it was too intricate and when a new book came out several years later, I felt I had to go back and re-read all the other ones, and just didn't have the time


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## danpadavona (Sep 25, 2014)

Chad Winters said:


> I think I quit after 5 or 6 mainly because it was too intricate and when a new book came out several years later, I felt I had to go back and re-read all the other ones, and just didn't have the time


A common complaint, to be sure.

I recently started re-reading the first few Wheel of Time books. They are even better than I remember, so deep and immersing. True genius story telling.


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## martyns (May 8, 2014)

A. S. Warwick said:


> It was one of the first farmer boy coming of age stories. Very cliched at times. But filled with plenty of witter banter and an easy read. I read it when I need to turn off my brain.


First farmboy coming of age? Does that pre-date even... Star Wars!?


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## martyns (May 8, 2014)

Chad Winters said:


> I think I quit after 5 or 6 mainly because it was too intricate and when a new book came out several years later, I felt I had to go back and re-read all the other ones, and just didn't have the time


I can imagine this sort of thing puts people off starting a series that isn't completed. People have to wait ages for their GoT fix!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

martyns said:


> First farmboy coming of age? Does that pre-date even... Star Wars!?


Wait, was Star Wars a book?  Though to be fair, ASW said "one of the first" in your quote.

Good thread. I'm getting lots of suggestions to add to my TBR pile.

Betsy


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## martyns (May 8, 2014)

I just picked up Lichgates by S.M. Boyce from the Amazon Kindle Free store! Looks really interesting! I keep getting recommended the 'Throne of Glass' series on Goodreads, that looks quite interesting too!


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

martyns said:


> First farmboy coming of age? Does that pre-date even... Star Wars!?


It would be interesting to find the first. Would Frodo count as a farmboy? 
I can think of the The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
The Sword of Shannarra, of course
And of course the farm girl Paxsennarion...


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Chad Winters said:


> It would be interesting to find the first. Would Frodo count as a farmboy?
> I can think of the The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
> The Sword of Shannarra, of course
> And of course the farm girl Paxsennarion...


King David goes back a bit further.  (Goes from being a sheepherder to soldier (defeats Goliath) to King)


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## DISmith (Jul 13, 2015)

It would be really hard to pick just one Fantasy series. Fantasy breeds more Fantasy!

I agree with those who chose Amber, but also Songs of Ice and Fire, the original Shannara trilogy, the Goblin Trilogy by Jaq D. Hawkins and the other Goblin Trilogy by Jim Hines, Death Gate Cycle, Thieves World, Pern, and I'm still working towards making time to read Prydain and Wheel of Time.


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## Annabel Chant (Feb 24, 2015)

Another one for Diana Wynne Jones. Everything, basically but, for series recommendations, The Chrestomanci books and The Dalemark Quartet. Also The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis and the first three of the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix. Still struggling with the latest, sadly.


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## NanSweet (Apr 14, 2015)

I have three favorites.  

The Chronicles of Narnia
The Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit)
The Deed of Paksennarion

I like fantasy where the evil characters are larger than life and as a reader you wonder how the good characters are ever going to defeat them. (But of course, they do.)


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