I recently picked up 3 series to kill time till A memory of Light shows up. If anyone has read any of these and hopefully someones read most of these, please let me know what you think.

1. George RR Martins A song of Fire and Ice. I got all the books out so far, but its not a complete series as yet, and Im hesitating. Despite the fact that a lot of people who like WOT like this series, I dont know about starting another series thats not complete.

2. The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King: I havent heard much about this series, and Ive always kept a little distance from Stephen King cause of the horror association, and Im realy not into horror.

3. The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb

Let me know what you think I should read next

Robin Hobb is lauded over a lot but personally I haven't been terribly impressed, also most of those who I see liking Hobb don't like WoT.

I have read the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire and liked it though I haven't gotten around to getting the rest of them

I haven't read any of the Dark Tower Series.

So my suggestion would be George R. R. Martin

You might consider some Tad Williams or Steven Erikson as well...

I haven't read any of the ones you have but nearly every person I ever speak to regarding epic fantasy is lyrical about George R.R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire.

I am busy with Williams' Shadowmarch trilogy (currently on Shadowmarch - 1st book) and I have read the first of Erikson's Malazan books entitled Gardens of the Moon.
Erikson is lauded as the big thing in Epic fantasy. (After Tolkien and Jordan obviously)

Alternatively, and I don't know if you read the genre, I just finished A canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller. Easily the best post-apocolyptic book I have read to date.

Seems like Song of Ice and Fire wins. I thought it would, cause a lot of people love these books, my only reason to hesitate is cause its a series of 7 with only 4 books out so far, and George RR Martins publishing schedule seems to make RJ look like Issac Asimov or something. 5 YEARS!?!? between the last 2 books.

I did want to get Steven Erikson, Ive heard really good things about his books, so hes on top of the list for my next buying spree. A Canticle for Leibowitz looks interesting. Its not a genre Im familiar with, but till recently I never read anything but Mystery/Crime stuff, so theres a lot Im not familiar with.

5 years is the reason why I haven't started Song of Ice and Fire yet.
One of my mates swears by Martin, but I'm hesitant to get into another waiting game. I have been reading Wheel of Time since I was 12 years old. 15 years and I'm still waiting for the bloody series to finish.

Erikson's Gardens of the Moon takes some getting into, but it is pretty good once you commit. Like his almost raw style of writing, especially after Jordan and Williams.

If you want to start looking at reading some good post apocalyptic lit check out: Post-apocalyptic Literature under Groups for some good recommendations.

Let us know what you thought of Ice and Fire as that'll probably be one of my next buys.

Message edited by its author, Jul 27, 2007, 8:11am.

Dark Tower! Dark Tower! Dark Tower!

Dark Tower is not a horror series. There are moments of horror, but it is so much more than that. It mixes Western with fantasy, with a little of every other genre thrown in. I think it's the strongest fantasy series of the latter 20th century. It also takes characters from our world (as in our universe, 1960's through 2001) and incorporates them into Mid-World, a fantastical alternate reality. Let me know if you want to know something more specific about the series.

I recently put Song of Ice and Fire on the back burner after learning that it wasn't complete. I really enjoyed A Game of Thrones, and I'm looking forward to a time when the series is complete.

I decided to go with The Dark Tower finally. Read The Gunslinger on Saturday, and about half of The Drawing of Three on Sunday. Got to say I was pretty impressed. Roland might just be the only character Ive read about who is as tough as Lan is.

Take that back!
No one is as tough as Lan!!!

*has too much time on his hands*

Yea..Its blasphemy I know

I've read one book by Hobb and didn't like it. I also read the first three books of the Dark Tower, but they weren't to my taste either.

However, GRRM and the Song of Ice and Fire are great. I have to warn you though, in my opinion he is going to do the same thing as Jordan did with WoT: develop the plot ever more slowly while introducing legions of new characters, trivia and endless descriptions.

Unless I'm mistaken, the last book in SoIaF had to be divided in two since it became too bloated to fit between a single pair of covers. As a result, the newest offering, (A Feast for Crows, I think), doesn't even touch some of the most interesting main characters or plot lines since their development is left to the next book. Imagine the frustration upon learning that you have to wait another three years...

I love the series, but really I'm not sure I can go through this again. Once with Jordan was more than enough, so maybe I'll return to SoIaF in 15 years and see whether all the books are out yet. However, if you want some quality fantasy and don't mind waiting for it, you'll probably like this.

Pompeia, that's exactly why I had to put Song of Ice and Fire aside. Jordan and King really screwed me over, putting me on hold for their series. At least King finally finished, but that was up in the air when he was hit by that car in the late 90s.

Why is it that all major epic fantasy authors feel the need to use a mayan calander to release books?
I suppose they have to make their money, but come on, I have bought (and re-bought) WoT for near 12 years now.

One of the reasons why I enjoy Pratchett so much. At least you get a book a year almost.

I'm on a discussion group on Facebook and someone made the comment that all epic fantasy needs a map. Without a map it's just not the same...
Any takers here on that theory?

It doesn't need a map, necissarily, but I find great comfort in being able to flip to the front (or back) of the book and reference where the characters are headed. I don't care too much for other reference material, but maps are my friends.

Heh, having a map is one of the signs I use to determine that a work *is* fantasy in the first place.

It's not a 1:1 match; there are certainly fantasy books with no maps and books with maps that aren't fantasy, but in general, it's a pretty good signifier.

Regarding the original topic - Has anyone read Janny Wurts? I recently read "To Ride Hell's Chasm" (touchstone lingering) and really enjoyed it. I'm pondering The curse of the Mistwraith.

Regarding maps - It's not just fantasy, I think most books benefit from maps to give us a large scale perspective; and they give us something tangible to refer to. Maps are bigger deal in fantasy books as they don't have a real world reference. In books located in the real world we can always find some kind of map online.

Message edited by its author, Aug 1, 2007, 10:15am.

15 > ya I'm almost done with To Ride Hell's Chasm so far so good. I haven't read The Curse of the Mistwraith though I think that was the next one of hers I was looking at reading, (when she comes up for her turn again.)

Most fantasy needs a map because there is usually a lot of travel involved and one (myself anyway) likes to have some idea of where things are going without having to draw diagrams for myself.

Heh, yeah.
I get lost quickly without a map. Especially if there are a lot of different characters and cities/locations.
Also dabbling in writing a bit, and I have redrawn the map (with my very limited - read no talent - artistic skills) more times than I have rewritten anything else.

I feel a map is vital though. As is a workable magic system and an ancient language.

Hi All,

I'm kinda new to LT & very new to this group, so I hope you dont mind me jumping into the convo...

I'm an exception to #2's "most people who like Hobb dont like WOT" but I know I'm rare... Hobb is my fave author, so I'd definately recommend her stuff, but her writing is VERY different to Jordan's, I can't really pinpoint why (i'm no good at reviewing & putting into words why i do or dont like stuff), but its alot faster paced I think, & maybe she focuses more on character development than the story (although she does both brilliantly IMHO) & maybe Jordan is more about bringing the story together...

I'm a big WOT fan, cant wait to find out how it all comes together in the last book, although I do get a bit frustrated with the wait between books, by the time each new WOT book has been released, all the other stories I've read make me lose where WOT is up to, so I've re-read the series 5 times now. The first time I LOVED how drawn out it is, it felt like I was journeying with the characters, but the 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th times it kinda dragged a bit, coz I knew what had happenned, just wanted to refresh before moving on to the new book...

Anyway, thats why I havnt read SoIaF yet even though nearly every1 who has read it recommends it, I dont wanna get stuck into a story & have to wait so long for the next installment that I need a refresher. I like to re-read for enjoyment, to try & focus on different parts of the story that I may have missed or glossed over the forst time round, not just to bring me up to speed...

LOL - just re-read & sorry for the marathon 1st post!

Message edited by its author, Aug 2, 2007, 2:31am.

Welcome to the group Seanie!
Feel free to post as long a post and as often as you like.

A good reference to get yourself up to speed again with WoT is the Encyclopaedia-wot.org. It summarises the books chapter by chapter and has links to all the characters, events, races etc etc. Really helpful.
Also feel free to read through the older posts and add your ideas.

*shamelessly plugs his Arb Thoughts threads*

We are pretty wordy around here, so dont worry about legnth. If you see some of the other topics, there are some really long posts in there.

Maps, I really like when they add stuff to the story. Some Maps are pretty pointless, like Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth Maps, those were pointless, might as well not have them. I gave up after 4-5 books, but a lot of the story from book 2 on happens in the old world there, and those arent even on the map at all. I never understood the map on Dune either. The WOT map is really useful, and I think distances are pretty important in WOT, so those maps help a lot to figure out who is where, and how far from someone else.

Janny Wurts looks really interesting, so along with Steven Erikson, thats next for me.

Don't get me started on Goodkind.
Reads like a poor man's WoT.

Erikson is pretty decent. Just got the second of the Malazan books and quite keen to get started on it.
Have to finish three other books first though.

Let me know what you think of Erikson. Quite keen to discuss his style as it reminds me a lot of Glen Cook (one of my fave authors, known for his Black Company books)

Richard Rahl Rules!!!! Zedd is the wisest wizard ever!!!! Is that enough to get you started on Goodkind? Seriously though, I like the first couple of books, just felt it got kind of stupid after that. What ticked you off the most about the series? Ive got to say for me it was Pillars of Creation where Richard and Co. dont show up till the last 20 pages. That was one BORING book. The book before that sucked up till the last 20-30 pages too.

About Goodkind. I hate his philosophy. I especially hate that in the later books it seems that is the only content those books have (in addition to new characters I don't really care about). When I first read the books I liked them and although I was somewhat surprised at the SM-themes they didn't really bother me.

However, after a break from the series I returned to it and although I still enjoyed the first few books the long ramblings about what's good for everybody and how the world should be organised - basically pacifism is wrong and the weak are there to be bossed around. BTW, somebody's put up a nice collection of the many annoying things at
http://sandstormreviews.blogspot.com/200...

Ok. You asked for it.

First off, no workable magic system.
There are quite a few instances where magic is used. The form of it is what annoys me.
The wizard waved his hand and a fire sprang up. Dislike that way of expressing magical use.

Then there are the similarities between WoT and SoT.
Sisters of Light, which for all intents and purposes are Aes Sedai.
The warrior people that have been trained to fight in a harsh land until their saviour (read Caracarn(sp)) leads them out.
The stigma surrounding male wizards being insane and should be controlled (read leashed) by powerful female magicians.
A city dedicated to the Sisters of Light. Read Tar Valon.

The massive amounts of graphic depictions of violence and rape. It actually made me physically ill reading some of it. Especially when the city fell that was ruled by Kahlan's sister. And her own imprisonment. Really got to me.

Other than that is the self righteous attitude of Richard Rahl. No mere shephearder this chappy. He is single handedly going to change perceptions of the people into a quasi socialist world.
And the whole "Padmae-Annakin, Richard-Kahlan we want to be together but it takes us bloody pages and pages to get some sort of finality only for it to fall apart again" issue bored me.

All in all, he has some good ideas. Some of what he writes makes sense and his characters are certainly too brave (or dim) to ever give up, but it's like the violence is there for shock value. The world, history, names, plots do not appear to be as well thought out as they could be.
Zedd is Rincewind meets Gandalf.

I myself am not sure why I am so critical of it, but damn it gets me worked up.

Thank you Pompeia.
Thank you very very much.
That site has made my day/week/month/year.

"She (Kahlan) is almost raped at least 9 times throughout the series, but always manages to escape/be rescued in the nick of time. On one occasion, she is attacked by a chicken that is not a chicken, but evil incarnate. It has an evil cackle."

"Despite being quite prim in real life, Kahlan has to act like a slut on several trumped-up occasions. It seems that Goodkind likes writing about sluts."

"Betty is a goat, who is noble (I'm not sure why). Betty is possessed by an evil spirit, but rescued by Richard."

"When infiltrating the enemy camp, she avoids recognition by taking her top off; the men are so distracted by her boobs that then never look at her face. She then wreaks bloody havoc and escapes. Shortly afterwards (?) she rips out someone's still-beating heart with her bare hands."

This is why I don't like goodkind.
The boy is on something not quite right.

>20 We are pretty wordy around here, so dont worry about legnth

Heh, we ARE WoT fans, after all...

Pompeia, that was an awesome link.

Still reading The Dark Tower and liking it a lot. About halfaway thru Book 4 now.

Hey all, new to the group and coming in late to the thread.LOL. But I'd recommend Martin and Hobbs. I like Martin, his style is different than Jordan's. A lot of character development. If you can't take the waiting game with Martin, go with Hobbs.=) Her Farseer and Tawny Man series are very good (a bit sad, but good!). I also really liked her Liveship Trader series. I haven't read her latest series, the synopsis of the first book didn't catch my interest so I never read it.

#21
Oh my gosh, I know exactly what you mean about Goodkind...definitely the poor man's WOT.LOL. His first 3 or 4 books were alright, but I couldn't help but compare his series to the WOT series, and it wasn't a good comparison either.

Oh and about the maps, I definitely like them. It helps me figure out where the heck everyone is going and where they're at. When I read, I will flip back to the map to see who is where and what is what, I'm a visual person and it helps a lot.

So I finished the 3 Series I mentioned at the top.

In terms of enjoyment

1. A song of Ice and Fire (Big Surprise)
ASoIaF was outstanding. I dont think Ive done weekend long marathon(12+hrs) sessions since I first read WOT. Really intricate story, really interesting characters, and George Martin can tell a story. I dont want to spoil for those who havent read, but it astounds me that how by the end of book 4 one of my favourite characters in the book, is someone who throws a 7 year old out of a tower window. Seriously how does a writer make you start liking a guy who would do that?

2. The Dark Tower
I think I get why people love Stephen King now. Really interesting characters, and a very strongly imagined world. Id reccomend these pretty strongly.

3. The Farseer Trilogy
I liked these too, but a definite third place compared to the other 2. Book 1 and 2 were really good, but I did not like the way 3 went. Especially the second half. Whlie the trilogy is wrapping up, its not a good feeling to be thinking, come on lets wrap it up, thsi is going on for too long.

of those three series, i've only heard of/read the Dark Tower. and i thought it was pretty good, even with the bits of freakiness that made me want to leave them behind, but since i'm a completest i finished them, and was glad i did becasue they were amazing.
out of all of the other books/authors mentioned, i've only heard of Goodkind. that's becaseu my friends read them and loved them and then wanted me to read them, but i never did. you've all made me glad about that, and reading something that is "the poor man's WoT" is not a good idea, i think. THANKS!!!

Just to make sure we are all up to pace again, and because it is a SLOW day at the office.

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson is a thoroughly enjoyable book. Elantris was pretty good too, especially for a first novel. Mistborn has an interesting world, a very workable magic system (especially if you watch Anime and then espeically if you liked Full Metal Alchemist).
The characters are interesting and the plot twists a bit.
And it has a map!
Looking forward to the next one.

Just finished Old man's war by John Scalzi: if you like your sci-fi hard, fast and heavy with little Science interfering in the plot then it is the book for you. Entertaining and surprisingly humerous.
Interesting basic plot, which I loved.
Reads a lot like Chris Bunch and Heinlein.
If you enjoyed Starship Troopers (the movie) you'll enjoy this book.

I still haven't started either Dark Tower or Song of Ice and Fire.
Reading a lot of stand alones at the moment, though I am also working my way through the Watch Trilogy (Night Watch, Day Watch and Twilight Watch) by Sergey Lukyanenko.
Surprisingly good and well translated (from what I understand).

In the last few months heres what Ive read in Fantasy:

Malazan books up till The Bonehunters(Cant find that anywhere here, and I never get amazon orders shipped to India, shipping is crazy expensive). I strongly strongly recommend these. Along with WOT, and ASOIAF one of the three best fantasy series Iv ever read.
Ratings
Gardens of the Moon 8/10
Deadhouse Gates 10/10
Memories of Ice 9/10
House of Chains 9.5/10
Midnight Tides 6/10

Midnight Tides was very ok. The rest of these books were greta, and Ive been promiosed that the books pick up again big time.

Belgariad Series by David Eddings
Lightweight fun 7.5/10 for the series

Mallorean Series by David Eddings
Light weight fun, not nearly as much fun as the first book. I also found it interesting, the way he explains the parrallels between the Belgariad and the Mallorean Series. Im not sure if he was making an excuse, or just having fun with the way a lot of fantasy stuff seems recycled.
6/10

Legend by David Gemmel
~eh.. it was ok. nothing great, nothing bad.
7/10

Also read some Sci Fi recently but thats another post.

Also is the Mistborn ebook DRM'd? If not could you email it to me? I tried signing up on the Tor site, but cant find a link.

Message edited by its author, Feb 27, 2008, 7:01am.

I used to love Eddings.
But then it got a bit repetitive. Belgariad was very good, as well as the Sparrohawk books.
Raymond E Feist was also good some time ago. Magician is still the best standalone fanntasy novel I have ever read.

Bonehunters and Reaper's Gale were good reads. Now waiting in anticipation for the next one.
He starts bringing all the char's together quite nicely.

David Gemmel I find hard going at times. Can read two at a go and then not read anything by him for years. I think because he writes dark fantasy. (imo)

Sure I can email it to you.
What is your addy?

The tor ebooks refresh every week. So a book will only be available for a week at a time.

Greg Keyes Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series is good. First book is The Briar King. There are 3 books out, with the 4th to be released next month. This book has the beginnings in "sci-fi", but I say that very loosely as the story is mostly fantasy. Keyes doesn't spell things out, you find this little piece out with certain things the characters are talking about.

Basically, humans have been abducted from Earth and brought to another world as slaves by the Skasloi, I assume an alien race with magic. The humans rebel, kill all the Skasloi and for the next couple centuries all is good. This is when the story takes place, when humans dominate the world.

Thanks... Ive been looking forward to it, its another one of those books you cant get here. Its amdoshi at gmail dot com

Message edited by its author, Feb 27, 2008, 11:38pm.

No worries.
I have emailed it to you. Let me know if you don't get it.

m32: have you read the companion novels to the Belgariad/Mallorean? Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress. they go into the history and are basically the stories of thier lives but Belgarath can get long.

I havent read those, and I dont think I will for a bit. Eddings was fun, but not really immersing. Im looking for something a little more intense right now, maybe Tad Williams.

One book that Im going to reccomend is The Simoquin Prophecies by Samit Basu. Its Book 1 of a 3 book series. Its one of the first modern Indian fanatasy books ive read, and I quite enjoyed the tone of the book, which is very humorous.

Not sure if this is the place or if anyone will share my opinions, but I felt like reviewing.

Tad Williams I really enjoy. Although truth be told not too much of him in one sitting. The War of the Flowers is probably one of the best stand alones, and urban fantasy, novels I have read.
I have also read Shadowmarch and enjoyed it.

I am currently reading through the ebooks that Tor have so kindly provided for free (even if they are all invariably part of a series).

I have been told on numerous ocassions that Mercedes Lackey is a good read and a leading fantasy author.
Thus I read The outstretched shadow with some anticipation.
The story centres around Kellen, a young man in the Mage City that has to learn a lot about himself, life and the world. It is a quest high fantasy novel and reads like a watererd down version of the Belgariad.
Don't get me wrong, the book reads very easily and has some interesting parts, especially about paying for your choices, responsibilites and consequences and the cover art isn't bad.
No maps though, and they were necessary.
The magic system is interesting, with a nice twist, though the actual workings are never explained.

I wouldn't recommend this book though. Raymond E Feist and David Eddings covered this ground ages ago, and much better.
It also had the worst (and not in a good way) villians I have ever read. They were everything but terrifying, which was a let down.
There is also a part of the book that grated me...relating to one of the characters learning the use of a sword. Lan would have had a anuerism.
If anone here has read the Valdemar series by Lackey, please let me know if it is good enough to read, as I nearly bought them. (before reading this book)

Just started, and put down Lord of the Isles by David Drake.
Just really didn't enjoy it. Most anticlimatic and understated method of writing I have read to date, even more so than Cook, Erikson or Gemmel.

I did however love Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. Very very nice sci fi novel that has a real close look at human behaviour and how we dea with a crisis. The scifi part is almost backseat and leaves you to focus on some very well thought out characters that you come to like and despise by the end of the novel. Well worth the read, even if you don't do a lot of scifi.

Currently battling through Crystal Rain by Tobias S Buckell but I never really liked steampunk fantasy so we'll see how it goes.

Any flaming will be welcomed as well as your thoughts and ideas on the above books. ;)

i finally read A Song of Ice and Fire, but the last one ticked me off by ignoring half of the characters. apparently theres been a long wait for the fifth one. anyway, the series itself was very satisifying, but a lot of people that i've talked to about it have said that it confused them a bit with the switching of the characters.

oh, and i finally got a hold of Elantris. sanderson is amazing, without a doubt. i'll be starting Mistborn soon.

Message edited by its author, May 2, 2008, 1:35pm.

As good as Elantris was, I think Mistborn and Well of Ascension beat it hands down.

I would recommend The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. If you read this book and you like it then you can also read Tigana by the same author :)

The Black Company by Glen Cook, so far i have read only the first 2 book out of 10. The books are set in 3 different series, and are a must read for all fantasy fans.

For those who like sword & sorcery fantasy i will recommend R.A. Salvatore's books that he wrote for Forgotten Realms, the ones following the his legendary character Drizzt Do'urden. Also try the first 2 trilogyes of the Dragonlance saga.

A Song Of Ice and Fire, The Wheel of Time, Malazan Book of the Fallen, you all already know abou them :P

I hope you try these book i mentioned and i really hope you all enjoy them :) While reading this topic, i also gathered some new book names that i will put down in my tbr book list :) My tbr list currently holds over 200 titles, so i have something to keep me busy for a while :)