New to the Fantasy genre...

Hi,

I'm new to this group and I'm new to the fantasy genre as well. I do love genre literature but I have never really dived into fantasy before. However, I would like to give it a try as I need to broaden my literary horizons a little.

My only problem is that I don't know where to start in this very big universe. I have read Tolkien when I was a teenager (some 25 years ago now). But apart from that I have no other real fantasy experience.

I would appreciate if one of you would be so kind to point me in the right direction and suggest a good representative novel or two for the fantasy genre as such.

Thank you

I would say start with Terry Brooks He has several different kinds of Fantasy and you can try out the different kinds with one author and see what you like.

#1 Locke - Brooks might be too 'young' for you. The books are well done, but may well fit better at an earlier stage of life.

I'd recommend that you look at Guy Gavriel Kay, C. J. Cherryh's Fortress in the Eye of Time, possibly Carol Berg, try George R. R. Martin or Steven Erikson if you like it rough, darker and more cynical. Or Patricia McKillip if you like the wondrously unearthly and beautiful.

There aren't many writers as deep and profound as Tolkein - only a lot of copycat stuff that, in my opinion, too often falls far short. I don't look on Tolkein as 'coming of age' fantasy -but in that branch, there is a whole bundle of that, some extremely well done, some not so much.

The above listed authors at least provide some of the levels and layers of maturity found in Lord of the Rings.

So, you say that you do love genre literature but have never delved into fantasy before...so what genre literature do you mean? Mystery? Sci-fi? Horror? Because if you give us a little more info on what you already know you like, we can certainly suggest books that, while fantasy, may have elements of the other genres to them.

#4: Oh, I'm sorry. Should have given some more information. I have primarily read horror and some dystopian/post apocalyptic novels before. I don't know why I haven't really got into fantasy yet...

Anyway, I was browsing around a few of the LT-suggestions based upon the suggestions from Janny (thank you!). It led me to »The First Law« trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. The first novel - The Blade Itself - in the series looks promising. Can anybody stand up for that one?

No worries on the not giving enough information front. ^-^ It happens. Fantasy is more of an umbrella term nowadays. There's no way to represent it accurately without talking subgenres and their reprensentatives.

Janny's already given you the authors/books I'd recommend in particular. Though for Kay, I'd recommend starting with Tigana or The Lions of Al-Rassan before the more Tolkienesque Fionavar Tapestry trilogy.

I'd actually like to recommend a subgenre on the whole: dark fantasy. I haven't read a lot in it, but from what I know of it it has a lot of overlap with horror. Since you're already interested in that genre...
The one author I've read is Caitlín R. Kiernan (just don't start with her Threshold. It may give you a headache. What I've read of her other works isn't as sing-songy.)
I think Angela Carter also falls under that category, but I've not read her works.

Haven't seen either author in your library, so I thought I'd throw the idea out there. ^-^

I would also add maybe picking up one of Neil Gaiman's short story collections, Smoke and Mirrors or Fragile Things because he does a lot of darkish fantasy and his short story collections tend to have a range of things in them.

Tanith Lee does some great dark fantasy. I'd suggest trying her Faces Under Water and the rest of the Secret Books of Venus series. Very lush language, very imaginative storytelling.

I think the suggestion of Neil Gaiman's short stories is a good one. In addition, you might enjoy his novel Neverwhere.

I think you might like the Gormenghast books by Mervyn Peake. They are Titus Groan, Gormenghast, and Titus Alone. The first two are the best. Very atmospheric, dark, and yet wildly funny in places.

@5, Joe Abercrombie is one of the newer names to the genre that is making positive waves. Along with Scott Lynch, Peter V. Brett and Patrick Rothfuss.

Janny is much too polite to recommend her own work but it's certainly worth a mention. As you indicate on your profile that you like horror then I'd also suggest a sub genre of Urban Fantasy for you to look into. Especially authors such as Sergei Lukyanenko and Jim Butcher.

#5 Locke - if you like burning cynicism (nihilism?) then yes, Joe Abercrombie is definitely for you.

Rothfuss is more rounded, that's a good pick, too.

There's a group called "1001 Fantasy" that is working on a list with summaries of 1001 fantasy books to read before you die. To get some idea of the list by number of votes, see:

http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/1001_Fantasy_by_Votes

Note that the list contains classics such as Beowulf and Alice in Wonderland that you may not have thought of as genre literature, but there are plenty of recommendations that fit the genre more narrowly, too. Clicking on a title will take you to the LT page for the book, where you may find reviews and other information.

Mercedes Lackey and Margaret Weis are both prolific fantasy authors with well-known series. (Valdemar and Dragonlance, respectively.) I find that their books range from excellent to awful, but my favorites are The Fire Rose by Lackey, a historical fantasy, and Forging the Darksword by Weis, a kind of dark epic fantasy. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder is a fantastic fantasy novel that's not quite as "standard fantasy" as the others, a little bit of a lighter read with darker content, if that makes sense. More modern.

I hate to recommend things I haven't read, but they've been recommended to me so many times that I'm pretty confident... The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, both on the epic side I believe, and anything by China Mieville, more on the dark fantasy side.

Like several people have mentioned, there are a lot of different kinds of fantasy. Try a lot of different kinds, you might hate one but love a different one.

Thank you all,

There's a lot of good recommendations already. I was a little surprised to find out that the fantasy genre spans over a very wide range of sub-genres. To begin with I was looking for stories about swords and sorcery, mythical kings and epic battles between good and evil but it turned out there's so much more to the fantasy genre.

I have already ordered The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and Heroes die by Matthew Woodring Stover. Hope I will like the burning cynicism then. If I like these maybe I'll go with The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch as well. I Also ordered A Game of Thrones by R. R. Martin.

Furthermore I will look into The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and The Darkness That Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker. I'm also interested in Gardens of The Moon by Steven Erikson and Legend by David Gemmell but it seems they are both part of a very long series.

I was quite interested in reading something by Guy Gavriel Kay. However, his books seems to be a little hard to find in Europe!

Maybe I missed it, but I figured it would be worth mentioning Ursula K. LeGuin's fantasy, starting (of course) with her Earthsea books. The first three (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, and The Farthest Shore) are the best. The remainder I would only read if you really liked those first ones and don't mind just about everything about the first three being turned upside down.

Ok, these are the books I've ordered so far.

After some digging for treasures in the LT database I have realized that I'm basically looking for novels that contains one or more of these elements: vast ice or grass covered landscapes, big forests and high mountains, barbarians lurking around cities, a fragile balance between piece and war that is somehow disturbed, mobilizing of troops, swords- and horsemen, heroes, assassins, thieves, politics, epic battles, treason, brotherhoods or maybe a clergy of priests that hold some/all political power, the occasional pack of wolves, some realism within the fantasy realm (elves and dwarves are OK, though).

I guess I'm not looking for stories about boys/girls in magician schools, talking animals, romantic fantasy or young adult literature...

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Hmm. How about Dragon Bones by Briggs?

Maybe try Tad Williams's "trilogy" (in hardcover it is, in paperback it's four books) Memory, Sorrow and Thorn which starts with The Dragonbone Chair. It's high fantasy with a strongly Arthurian influence; the Arthur-analogue is aged and dying at the beginning of the book, so it's more about the next generation after the fall of the Camelot-analogue.

It has a strong church based on the Catholic church, and most of the countries/peoples are drawn from real-world cultures: Vikings, Celts, plains nomads/horsemen, English, etc. Lots of battles and politics, and quite a few twists and turns despite the very traditional sources. There's vast forests, grasslands and icy mountain landscapes a-plenty, too. Only a couple dragons lurking about, and the "elf-type" race is also in decline (much like the Rome-Analogue) and a bit different from the usual elves.

It gets off to a slow start, though, so it's not for everyone, and each of the three/four books is quite hefty.

#18 -> Oh, I do love dragons as long as they are really dangerous and are breathing fire instead of talking. In fact I have already ordered The Adamantine Palace which I understand is full of dragons. Don't know if I will like it, though...

I have added The Dragonbone Chair to my wishlist as I have already ordered a small start-up fantasy library. Now I'm only waiting for the mail to arrive...

EDIT: Okay, I have ordered this as well. But only because of the promise of great scenery... :)

Okay, based on the descriptions in post #16...I'm going to suggest Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series, Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series, and possibly Robin Hobb's Farseer series.

And, though it's sci fi rather than fantasy, have you read Dune? Has many of the elements you mentioned--substitute vast deserts for other geography, though. But religion, politics, intrigue, armies, heroes, assassins, traitors . . .

Looking at message 16, I simply have to recommend Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, which contains all of those elements in one book or another! I would recommend starting with Guards! Guards! in the night watch subseries, and then branching out.

Also recommend The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Hello! Here is a book dear to my heart:

Thraxas and the Sorcerers by Martin Scott/Millar. Fantasy and investigations - Fantasy Noir!

You should definitely try Forging the Darksword and its sequels then, because as I remember it, it fills practically every qualification you have!

I'm also thinking the Darwath series by Barbara Hambly might work for you.

Its not often recommended since the last few books weren't so good but the Wheel of Time fits message 16. It is very very long though, not finished yet and I stopped liking it after the 5th book.

I think Robin Hobb fits too. Her Farseer series is good. :P

L. E. Modesitt's Recluce Saga books also fit quite a few of the requirements in message 16. This is a long series, but most of the books are stand alone and they are only sometimes connected with the previous one.

Others to consider:
1) Karen Miller
2) Twelve Houses series by Sharon Shinn
3) Darkborn by Alison Sinclair
4) Chronicles of the Necromancer series by Gail Martin;
5) Raymond E. Feist's Conclave of Shadows trilogy and the Empire books he wrote with Janny Wurts, but probably not Feist's Magician books since the boy is in training
6) R. A. Salvatore's Dark Elf and Crystal Shard series
7) David Eddings' Belgariad series.
8) The Belisarius series by Eric Flint and David Drake. Not quite fantasy, but its science fiction elements are questionable to say the least. Has the landscapes, the troops, the battles you were looking for. Treason, spies, assassins, trickery as well in the later books.
9) Patricia Bray's Chronicles of Josan trilogy and her Sword of Change.

Thank you all very much for the fine recommendations! I have added a lot of them to my wishlist and ordered quite a few titles as well...

In fact I did get my hands on A Game of Thrones today. Guess it will be the first fantasy novel I try in recent years... :)

#26 -> I remember now that I did in fact read Feist's Magician: Apprentice many years ago and liked it quite a bit at that time!

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I hope you enjoy Stover's Heroes Die; it's one of my favorites. And Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen is absolutely amazing, though it does take a huge time commitment. (On the plus side, the tenth and final book is tentatively slated for later this year.)

Don't worry about the fact that Gemmell's Legend is part of a series; the novel itself is completely standalone, and it's brilliant.

Other recommendations:

• Mordant's Need duology by Stephen R. Donaldson. Originally available in two volumes, but recently republished as a single book. (Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant are also good.)
  
• The Tower of Fear by Glen Cook, author of the excellent Black Company series.
  
• Gene Wolfe's Wizard Knight duology, and his amazing Book of the New Sun.

Also, if you're going to be dipping into authors like Lynch, Stover, Erikson, Martin, et al, (as well as others I've mentioned) then I would highly recommend steering clear of Eddings, Brooks, and Feist.

I'd second, and maybe put more positively, the recommendation for The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, which begins with Eye of the World. It's lengthy but frequently great, and Brandon Sanderson in co-authoring the latest, The Gathering Storm, has put the series back on firm footing.

27: Locke - that's great! lol than you might want to check out the sequel. I don't recall its title though.

First, I want to say those Locke Lamora books are a lot of fun.

Also, it sounds like you would enjoy REH. These all contain a strong touch of horror, action, and I enjoy re-reading them.
Here are a couple that would be good to start with:
the coming of Conan the Cimmerian
the savage tales of Solomon Kane

Another series I read through recently has the elements of dystopian future and horror, and I really loved every one of the novels. E.E.Knight "Vampire earth" series.
Way of the Wolf
Choice of the Cat

Good luck, you've got a lot to explore in works of fantasy.

> 30 The Locke sequel is Red Skies under Red Seas, and it's also delightful. Scott Lynch is definitely a new favorite for me.

Well, I guess the mailman are going to be a little tired walking the stairs to my apartment in the next few days... :)

I have started reading A Game of Thrones. I'm only a couple of chapters in but it's great so far! When I'm finished I might ask which of these books I should read next. But that's for another thread...

Thank you so much for all your recommendations! You have really helped me get acquainted with fantasyland...

#32: I have already ordered The Lies of Locke Lamora. If I like it I'll buy the sequel as well...

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