Any suggestions for books I should buy? (Fantasy)

[Paul Adams]

I'm fast approaching the end of the last unread book in a pile I bought a while ago, so I'm looking for input as to what I should possibly get next.

I'm only interested (at this point) in fantasy books, though if push comes to shove I might try a little sci-fi.


Here's an example of what I have read (possibly still got) and enjoyed, so I don't get those suggested:

J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings (tried the Silmarillion and Book of Lost Tales, didn't really like those)

Margaret Weiss/Tracey Hickman - Dragonlance (Chronicles & Legends - the spin-offs by other authors were a bit lame), also read the Death Gate series

Raymond E. Feist - Riftwar saga (got a little tired of it after Prince of Blood), Empire saga, Talon of the Silver Hawk, Faerie Tale

L.E. Modesitt Jr - Order & Chaos series (I forget which ones I've read, they were all kind of similar though)

Robin Hobb - Assassin trilogy, Liveship Traders trilogy, Tawny Man trilogy

Melanie Rawn - Dragon Prince series

Maggie Furey - Aurian saga

Mickey Zucker Reichart - Renshai series, The Legend of Nightfall

J.V. Jones - Sword of Shadows series, Book of Words series

David Eddings - The Redemption of Althalus, Belgariad series (including the prequels), Malloreon series

K.J. Parker - Scavenger trilogy, Fencer trilogy

George R.R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire series

Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time series

Sara Douglass - Axis trilogy, Wayfarer Redemption trilogy

Stephen Donaldson - Thomas Covenant trilogies (second was a bit long-winded though)

Terry Pratchett - read up to about Feet of Clay I think, but his writings were getting a little flat - Pyramids was one of my favourites, Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman)

Robert Rankin - everything he's written so far, waiting on The Witches of Chiswick to come out in paperback, he never fails to make me burst out laughing while reading


On the sci-fi front, the ones that really stood out for me are Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, Stephen Donaldson's Gap series and Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game (and the sequel, but after that it went a bit flat).


There may well be more, but I can't think of any right now
So, got any suggestions?

[Devilbod]

Books based on the Games Workshop stuff?

http://www.blacklibrary.com/index.html

I have read almost everyone thats come out until a few months back, some of them are poo and not everyones cup of tea, Dan Abnett can be v.good and so can William King.
Theres a PDF Archive that has a couple of chapters for sampling.

All the Dune books (there is a few) are a great read.

[klarrix]

Try Ian Banks. He does some sci-fi that'll blow you away- Try "Consider Phlebas"
Also, "The Wasp Factory" is brilliant but not so much sci-fi or fantasy.

[directhex]

Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman)

neil gaiman's sandman graphic novel series.

just because they're comics, doesn't mean they haven't won literary awards

[Proplus]

Try the Clive Barker books....truly out of this world, out of all the authors I have read, his imagination is by far the best. Start with something like Weaveworld or Galilee.

For plain fiction, I like reading the Net Force series by Tom Clancy.

Currently reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, just recently won a major book award in the US (which Stephen Hawkings won before).

[Flibb]

David Gemmell is a good read, waylander and the druss storys are his best. Similar to D. Eddings in some ways but better writtern.

Can also recommend Ian Banks, am half way through his scifi stuff.

ANother suggestion is the new Dune books, by Frank Herberts son. Very good, as good if not better than the originals.

The Games Workshops books are worth a go, some short storys others are novels

[Applecrusher]

Try Terry Goodkinds: Sword of truth series.

Its an Awsome read and you wont want to put the books down.

The first book is Wizards First Rule

[Iain]

If you like David Eddings and Raymond E. Feist type stuff then I recommend the following

Terry Goodkind - Sword Of Truth series
David Gemmell - Any novel but the Waylander and Druss series are probably the best
Alan Dean Foster - Spellsinger series if you like something a bit more offbeat, not quite Terry Pratchett but still has more humour than most fantasy.
Terry Brooks - Shannara series
David Farland - Runelord series, they have an interesting approach as to how characters gain their "powers"

[petrefax]

neil gaiman's sandman graphic novel series.

just because they're comics, doesn't mean they haven't won literary awards

i'll definitely second that.

[Nick]

If yu're buying Ian Banks stuff, make sure you get Ian M. Banks... the stuff he writes under Ian Banks is more drama and mystery than fantasy.

[Paul Adams]

Sorting out for me to make notes for when I go shopping ...

Devilbod:
Games Workshop - Dan Abnett, William King
[seconded by Flibb]

Dune books - actually I read the original and one or two of the (umpteen) follow-up books but they started to get very dull and drawn-out, similar to the Krondor books by Feist

kirb:
Ian Banks - Consider Phlebas, The Wasp Factory
[seconded by Flibb & Deckard - plus Ian M. Banks]

directhex:
Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novel series
(Oooh, good call - my girlfriend's into graphic novels too, Sandman and The Crow were a couple of things I meant to check out years ago)
[seconded by petrefax]

Proplus:
Clive Barker - Weaveworld, Galilee

Tom Clancy - Net Force series
(Ah, now I've read a little Tom Clancy - usually on holiday - and found him most entertaining, very reminiscent of Frederick Forsyth)

Flibb:
David Gemmell - Waylander series, Druss series
[seconded by Az]

The 'new' Dune books - Frank Herbert's son

Applecrusher:
Terry Goodkind - Sword of truth series
[seconded by Az]

Az:
Alan Dean Foster - Spellsinger series
Terry Brooks - Shannara series
David Farland - Runelord series


Thank you one and all, gives me a bit to be going on after finishing my last book at 2am

I feel a trip to Borders, with their Starbucks franchise in-store, coming on

[Iain]

Also if you like near future thrillers then anything by Robert Ludlum is usually excellent

[Paul Adams]

Right, back from Borders and here's what I bought:

Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind
Stone of Tears - Terry Goodkind
Iain M. Banks - Consider Phlebas
Sword of Shannara trilogy (in 1 book) - Terry Brooks
Weaveworld - Clive Barker
Impossible Places - Alan Dean Foster (only book of his there, and it looks brief enough to get a taste of his writing style)

Probably would have bought all the Sword of Truth books, but they didn't have number 3 (I hate it when that happens).
There were some of the other books suggested, but typically only books 3 onwards in some sets (I hate it when that happens more).
There were some of the Druss series, but at 8 quid a pop for a book that I would read in a day it would be stupidly expensive - they'd have to be really good for me to go for that.

Thanks for the all the suggestions, these should keep me occupied for a bit

[Applecrusher]

Right, back from Borders and here's what I bought:

Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind
Stone of Tears - Terry Goodkind
....
Probably would have bought all the Sword of Truth books, but they didn't have number 3 (I hate it when that happens)....

Youll hate more that youll want to know what happens next in the book in the series, and cant find out...

I've been waiting for the 8 th (i think its the 8th) since i finished reading the 7th.... a week after it was released....

[Paul Adams]

The 2 I have will take a while to get through I think, plenty of time to scout around the local Waterstones for a copy of that elusive third one

I'm also waiting on Fool's Fate (Robin Hobb, third in the Tawny Man trilogy) and Crossroads of Twilight (Robert Jordan, tenth (!) book in the Wheel of Time series) in regular-sized paperback.

For the graphic novels I think I'll need to take a trip to the Trafford Centre, Stockport's Borders doesn't sell any

[Iain]

I've got the 10th Wheel of Time novel, due to start it soon. More than happy to send you a couple of David Gemmel books on loan to give you an idea. Trusting fool that I am

If that's of any use pm me your address and I'll sort it out