Good Fantasy?

[kita44]

I read a lot, and I would love good fantasy books for a reading list. I'll read anything for the most part, or I'll try it, so as long as it's fantasy or not too realistic I'll put it on my list.

Help?

[Bowlie]

Try George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. The first book is Game of Thrones. It's great.

Other fantasy/sci-fi books I would recommend:
Terry Brooks - Shanarra series (Sword of Shanarra is not very good, but the rest of the books are really enjoyable--you have to read Sword of Shanarra though because there are references to it in the other books in the series)
Anne McCaffrey - Pern series
Ursula K. LeGuin - Earthsea series
Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game series

[kita44]

Try George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. The first book is Game of Thrones. It's great.

Other fantasy/sci-fi books I would recommend:
Terry Brooks - Shanarra series (Sword of Shanarra is not very good, but the rest of the books are really enjoyable--you have to read Sword of Shanarra though because there are references to it in the other books in the series)
Anne McCaffrey - Pern series
Ursula K. LeGuin - Earthsea series
Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game series

Ooh these all sound great! I've read one or two of the pern series but I've decided I want to read the first ones and try and follow the order so things make more sense, but I can never figure out the order of those books. It doesn't really matter much which ones you read until you get until the latest books, and they don't make too much sense.

[The Mythwriter]

I feel your pain, it's hard to pick fantasy that isn't pulp. I'll assume you've read "The Lord of the Rings," but if you haven't, it should go to your lists' top. Russell Kirkpatrick's "Fire of Heaven" trilogy isn't bad either... not the best of fantasy, but its worthy. Any interest in "Eragon" and its sequels by Chris Paolini?

Let's see... if science fiction is included, Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhikers' Guide" series is great in so many ways, being hilarious foremost. Oh, and Ted Dekker's "The Circle Trilogy," is a great blend of thriller and fantasy, if you don't mind subtle Christian parallels like you'd see in C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia." (Also highly recommended.)

Oh, and John Steinbeck wrote a surprisingly excellent adaptation of the King Arthur stories, entitled "The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights," which was a very pleasant discovery for me a while back.

[Kitten]

I really enjoyed "The Wheel of time series" by Robert Jordan.

[kita44]

I feel your pain, it's hard to pick fantasy that isn't pulp. I'll assume you've read "The Lord of the Rings," but if you haven't, it should go to your lists' top. Russell Kirkpatrick's "Fire of Heaven" trilogy isn't bad either... not the best of fantasy, but its worthy. Any interest in "Eragon" and its sequels by Chris Paolini?

Let's see... if science fiction is included, Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhikers' Guide" series is great in so many ways, being hilarious foremost. Oh, and Ted Dekker's "The Circle Trilogy," is a great blend of thriller and fantasy, if you don't mind subtle Christian parallels like you'd see in C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia." (Also highly recommended.)

Oh, and John Steinbeck wrote a surprisingly excellent adaptation of the King Arthur stories, entitled "The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights," which was a very pleasant discovery for me a while back.

I actually haven't read Lord of The Rings yet. I own it, but I never seem to be able to get into it. I want to read it, but I'll have to choose a time when I have more time to get into it. I haven't heard of the Fire of Heaven books, but I'll look into them. I loved Eragon and the other two. They were really good books.

I'll try The Circle Trilogy, they sound good, but I never really liked the Narnia books.

I look stuff like this, I just love hearing the old tales retold, so I'll be reading the Arthur books as well, thanks for the suggestions.

[michlejhon]

yes i also read the story "The Wheel of time series" i really enjoyed that

[Bowlie]

Ooh these all sound great! I've read one or two of the pern series but I've decided I want to read the first ones and try and follow the order so things make more sense, but I can never figure out the order of those books. It doesn't really matter much which ones you read until you get until the latest books, and they don't make too much sense.

Try starting with either The Dragonriders of Pern or The Harper Hall Trilogy. They both occur at the same time. I read The Harper Hall Trilogy first (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums), and had no problems reading The Dragonriders of Pern afterward (Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon). I think Anne McCaffrey says to do it the other way around. Here's a link to a suggested reading order that was on Anne McCaffrey's site:

www.pern.nl/library/Pern_reading_order_1.7 (dot) pdf

You'll have to replace the dot with an actual "." of course.

[kita44]

Ooh these all sound great! I've read one or two of the pern series but I've decided I want to read the first ones and try and follow the order so things make more sense, but I can never figure out the order of those books. It doesn't really matter much which ones you read until you get until the latest books, and they don't make too much sense.

Try starting with either The Dragonriders of Pern or The Harper Hall Trilogy. They both occur at the same time. I read The Harper Hall Trilogy first (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums), and had no problems reading The Dragonriders of Pern afterward (Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon). I think Anne McCaffrey says to do it the other way around. Here's a link to a suggested reading order that was on Anne McCaffrey's site:

www.pern.nl/library/Pern_reading_order_1.7 (dot) pdf

You'll have to replace the dot with an actual "." of course.

I've read Dragonsong, that was a really good one

[beauvallet]

Anne McCaffrey is great, you should also try Mercedes Lackey esp her Valdemar series although I have enjoyed everything she's written.
David Eddings Belgariad is good for a light hearted series.
For something with a bit more depth you could try Raymond Feist's Magician series which is excellent.
I can also heartily recommend The Daughter of the Empire triolgy by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurst probably the best series I have read. The way the main character develops over the books is brilliant and it really transports you to a different world.

[NoLeftTurn]

The Rift War Saga by Raymond E. Feist.

[william309]

The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, the original 3 novels are classics.

[Joe.]

Don't know how "fantasy" they would be considered, but The Dark Tower by Steven King and The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher are both fairly well received series. His Dark Material by Phillip Pullman, again don't know how "fantasy" it would be considered, is one of my favorite series as well.

Over on IGN's Gen Lit board, Steven Erickson's Malazon Book of the Fallen is always recommended as one of the best fantasy series. Some put it on par with GRRM; plus Erickson actually tries to bring out his novels in a timely fashion. LOL

[william309]

Oh yeah, Dark Tower and the Dresden Files are both some of my favorite series, I also recommend them highly.

[Vault Dweller]

I would also recommend George RR Martin's Ice and Fire series with the caveat that the series is not finished yet, and its been quite a few years since the last book was released. Many fans, myself included, fear that George is going to pull a Robert Jordan. The the series was going to be a trilogy, then four, then the fourth book was split into two books with second half supposed to be released shortly after the forth. (Book four released in 2005 and no sign of book 5 yet). The series is now supposed to be 7 books long. You can see why fans are concerned about the series ever actually being finished.

I have finished the 3rd book, and the series is awesome. Probably the best fantasy I ever read. But I'm going to wait there till the series is finished.