Fantasy recommendations

[distracted247]

I have read and enjoyed, the inheritance series (paolini) and the black magician trilogy (canavan) and I am looking for my next fantasy fix!

Please, please, please share your favourites with me

[GeorgeStorm]

Not sure if it's fantasy.
But I'm a big fan of the Robin Hobb books, especially The Liveship Traders.

[distracted247]

Not sure if it's fantasy.
But I'm a big fan of the Robin Hobb books, especially The Liveship Traders.

I started reading Liveship traders when I received it as a gift for Christmas but I couldn't get into it at the time. I'll have to give it another go, thank you

[Flibb]

If you fancy an easy fantasy read, try some of David Gemmells books. A good place to start would be Legend, followed by The King Beyond the Gate and then Waylander. Can be a bit formulaic, but I like the formula so works for me. The various series sit together quiet well, but you dont generally need to have read one book to understand another.

[GeorgeStorm]

I started reading Liveship traders when I received it as a gift for Christmas but I couldn't get into it at the time. I'll have to give it another go, thank you

Fair enough, I may have to give them another read thanks to mentioning them

The Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies are also good (think I've read them both, can't remember), and set in the same world as The Liveship Traders

[Dareos]

Farseer and Tawny man are far superior tho, Hobb writes better in first person perspective than she does in 3rd. Still my favourite author tho.

Currently reading Joe Abercrombie, guy rocks, finished The Blade Itself, onto the 2nd book now (name escapes me and kindle is downstairs, might be the hanged men or something). Dark humour and lots of gory violence and the story keeps you guessing, its all good.

George Martin will be trotted out at some point in the conversation, so might as well be me, its awesome, but dont expect an ending any time soon and dont get too close to any of his characters, they all die

Flibb mentioned Gemmell, who imo is the best one book fantasy writer out there, as opposed to trilogies etc, but he has the order a bit wrong I think, Legend was written first, but Waylander was set before it, so I would start there (its also his best book imo, just for the bit where Waylander walks into the clearing).

Other than that, Pratchett, Goodkind (if you can stand the love conquers all themes), Jordan (if you stop at book 3) Eddings (if you want to read exactly the same story 4 times) Tad Williams (Memory Sorrow and Thorn trilogy is excellent).

Theres loads of brilliant fantasy out there, its just really hard to find now because idiots have started classing gothic romance novels such as Twilight as fantasy, which really bugs the hell out of me, sometimes I wish vampires were real and very much the Dracula/Nosferatu/Scary as hell thing that nightmares are made of and Anne Rice's plethora of emo romance claptrap copycat writers were stuck in a room with them for a couple of hours, just so I could find the books I actually want to read on Amazon.

[GeorgeStorm]

Farseer and Tawny man are far superior tho, Hobb writes better in first person perspective than she does in 3rd. Still my favourite author tho.

Been a long time since I read any of them, and Liveship were the first I read, and also the only ones I've read more than once (due to owning them rather than borrowing from a library)
Shall have to give the Tawny Man and Farseer another go through I think

[Flibb]

Flibb mentioned Gemmell, who imo is the best one book fantasy writer out there, as opposed to trilogies etc, but he has the order a bit wrong I think, Legend was written first, but Waylander was set before it, so I would start there (its also his best book imo, just for the bit where Waylander walks into the clearing).

The order of reading with Gemmells books is interesting, I prefer the published order to the chronological order. Seems odd, but for me it works better, but as you say they work on their own and can be read in any order you like. I think I own all his books bar one or possibly two, must hunt out the missing ones.

Wiki has the Drenai order as

Waylander
Waylander II: In the Realm of the Wolf
Hero in the Shadows
The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend
The Legend of Deathwalker
White Wolf
Legend
The King Beyond the Gate
Quest for Lost Heroes
Winter Warriors
The Swords of Night and Day

[distracted247]

Thank you all, plenty to look into

[Bluecube]

Try some of the original Conan stories by Robert E Howard. They get a bit samey but for a quick blast they're great fun.

[g8ina]

Just finished Conn Iggletons Julius Caeser and Genghis Khan series, really well writted

Gemmel's Lord of the Silver Bow too is very solidly writted

[Dareos]

I have the last of the Khan ones to read, Silver Empire, owned it for ages, shame on me.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Raymond Feist early books where good. Similarish to Canavan.


Read Bernard Cornwells athurian series years ago and really enjoyed it.

[Smudger]

Another vote for Robin Hobbs. You have to read the Farseer Trilogy before the Tawny Man one, but I think the Liveships ones are standalone, although there is reference to Rain Wilds people in the Tawny Trilogy.
Other than that, I was pleasantly surprised by the Artemis Fowl series. Alright, it's mainly for kids, but for a quick train read, it's pretty good. Obviously, the whole Terry Pratchett canon has the be given a go...

[blueball]

Fantasy recommendations:

Keira Knightley on a desert island beach but hey each to their own

[pollaxe]

Peter Morwood & Mary Gentle are two writers I really rate. Also, another vote for Ginge's recommendation on Bernard Cornwell's Arthurian trilogy - quite simply, three of my favourite novels.