New series recommendation

[Meskell]

Just finished probably my 15th re-read of WOT and as always, leaves me feeling a bit bereft at the end. 
 

I normally look to run through a couple of new series straight after and I’m looking for any recommendations. 
 

Ones I can remember I’ve completed are

 

- all of the Mark Chadbourn books

- Mistborn

- assassins apprentice 

 

I like a series with a consistent in-world rule-set and with some jeopardy to the whole thing. 

 

Any recommendations would be appreciated. 

[bringbackthomsmoustache]

I suggest "the first law" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

 

[SilentRoamer]

First Law - Joe Abercrombie (Already recommended but I second it)
The Prince of Nothing - R. Scott Bakker

Shadows of the Apt - Adrian Tchaikovsky

Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny

Symphony of Ages - Elizabeth Haydon

Rigante Novels, Drenai Novels, Anything he wrote - David Gemmell

Word and the Void - Terry Brooks

 

You could even try some proper Sci Fi or even some Space Fantasy to keep things fresh and new.

 

[Elder_Haman]

The Dresden Files

The Lightbringer Saga

[Meskell]

The first law, that’s the other one I had read recently. Really enjoyed that so at least I can trust the recommendations!

 

thanks everyone, will have a look and make a start. 

[Kalessin]

Actually, try Stephen Baxter's Xeelee Sequence, for some mind-blowing SF. And some aliens - the Xeelee, the Spline, the Qax - that are not merely humans in funny suits, the most obvious criticism of Star Wars and Star Trek aliens. And some megastructures completely unlike any others you may have come across, such as a ring one light year in diameter, around a black hole, and spinning at near-lightspeed, where the ratio pi (how many times you can measure the diameter around the circumference)  is no longer 3.14. Closer to 5 000 000.

[JosephBurns]

Have you tried The Faded Sun trilogy?  Imagine the Aiel & Fremen meeting and blending cultures for a few hundred generations  - You'd get a close approximation of the Mri, the main protagonists of The Faded Sun trilogy.

 

As mentioned above, and something I've done after a WoT re-read, is go the space sci fi route.  Anything by Alastair Reynolds is good (specifically the books in the Revelation Space universe) or anything by Peter Hamilton in the Commonwealth Universe (Start with Pandora's Star).    

[Andra]

After a complete re-read, I know that some people feel burned out from the amount of effort needed to keep up with an actual series.  For them, then starting a new multi-volume saga can just add to the burnout.

If that's the case for you, you might rather get into something that has a well-developed world, and lots of stories, but wasn't written as a single series. 

 

One of my favorites in this category is the Darkover novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley.  She has a fairly well-developed magic system (it is frequently referred to as a technology in the books), her own version of Maidens of the Spear (the Renunciates), and she writes interpersonal relationships much better than Jordan.  And it wasn't written to be read in chronological order.  Though it has a well-developed (though not entirely consistent) timeline, so you could read it that way if you wanted.

You get a mix of sci-fi and fantasy, traditional feudalistic roles and characters struggling against those roles, and a lot of sex and romance, of whole range of varieties.  Even a race of gender-bending "Faerie folk" (the Chieri).

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by Andra

[DojoToad]

1 hour ago, Andra said:

After a complete re-read, I know that some people feel burned out from the amount of effort needed to keep up with an actual series.  For them, then starting a new multi-volume saga can just add to the burnout.

If that's the case for you, you might rather get into something that has a well-developed world, and lots of stories, but wasn't written as a single series. 

 

One of my favorites in this category is the Darkover novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley.  She has a fairly well-developed magic system (it is frequently referred to as a technology in the books), her own version of Maidens of the Spear (the Renunciates), and she writes interpersonal relationships much better than Jordan.  And it wasn't written to be read in chronological order.  Though it has a well-developed (though not entirely consistent) timeline, so you could read it that way if you wanted.

You get a mix of sci-fi and fantasy, traditional feudalistic roles and characters struggling against those roles, and a lot of sex and romance, of whole range of varieties.  Even a race of gender-bending "Faerie folk" (the Chieri).

 

Going to the way back machine - I like it!!

[Andra]

3 hours ago, DojoToad said:

Going to the way back machine - I like it!!

And there's even several new books, written by some of the people she's collaborated with over the years.  Novels by Deborah Ross, and anthologies from various "Friends of Darkover" writers.

[Kalessin]

And there's always the Manifold trilogy by Stephen Baxter as well ... Time, Space, and Origin. And likewise, the Faded Sun trilogy - if you're into military SF of a different calibre, I'd recommend the Dorsai! trilogy by Gordon R Dickson - I've seen reviews comparing him to Heinlein, but in my humble opinion, he's better. And to top it all off, there's always Prince Corum of the Silver Hand, Erekose, and Elric of Melnibone, Last Emperor of the Bright Empire and all that jazz, tangling with the Runestaff ...

Edited July 24, 2022 by Kalessin

[flinn]

 Not sure if you have read the other Abercrombie books after this First Law Trilogy.

 

 I think Best Serves Cold comes next. I liked it, but not as much as the trilogy.

 The Heroes comes after that and that is my favorite book of all of Abercrombie.

 Red Country is pretty good, I didnt like that there was some blatant Clint Eastwood ripoffs.

 Half a King series was OK. His newest series (forgot the name) is OK as well.

 

 Dresden Files is pretty good, the imagination is impressive. I am currently re-reading just for something to read and enjoying it.

 

 Anthony Ryan has some good books. The first two are really good, 3rd is ok.

 

Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy is good, but it traumatized me. It is like a very hardcore Mistborn.

His first few books in the Prism series are FANTASTIC, but the last two books kinda ruined it.

 

 I am a pretty big fan of Bernard Cornwell, historic fiction. If you have seen the show on Netflix "The Last Kingdom", it is based on one of his series the Saxon stories.

 

 Raymond Feist has been a large part of my fantasy reading. I will admit that I enjoyed it more when I was younger, but the books are fantastic and should be read by anyone who enjoys fantasy.

 

 

 as someone above mentioned "The Lightbringer" series. That is what I called the Prism series by Brent Weeks. The first 3 books are freaking incredible. They are so good that I dont regret reading the entire series even though I hated the ending.

Edited August 9, 2022 by flinn

[Kalessin]

You might like the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. There is after all, nothing like a luggage with legs and a homocidal mania for interrupting people threatening its master, a crazed tourist, Twoflower, from the other side of the disc, and a camera flash that scares the Eater of Souls ... let alone a dwarf whose height is generally on the large size (born to human parents, he was adopted by some caring dwarves when his parents died, so legally he's a dwarf), and his romance with a delightful female werewolf who's also serving the the City Watch ...

[Scarloc99]

On 10/4/2022 at 8:11 AM, Kalessin said:

You might like the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. There is after all, nothing like a luggage with legs and a homocidal mania for interrupting people threatening its master, a crazed tourist, Twoflower, from the other side of the disc, and a camera flash that scares the Eater of Souls ... let alone a dwarf whose height is generally on the large size (born to human parents, he was adopted by some caring dwarves when his parents died, so legally he's a dwarf), and his romance with a delightful female werewolf who's also serving the the City Watch ...

And of course the best character in all of fantasy fiction. DEATH :). 

[Scarloc99]

If you want something very different then I suggest looking at the black library. Especially there Sci Fi, 
 

If you want to start a series which, to date, is over 50 books long then the Horus heresy series is actually really good fun. Alternatively Eisenhorn or Gaunts Ghosts or just anything by Dan Abnet 

[ConorReads]

I am late to the party but some of my favourites are: 
The Night Angel trilogy 
Gentleman Bastards series (not complete 3 books published so far) 
Patrick Rothfuss' series The Name Of The Wind followed by The Wise Man's Fear (waiting on third and final book) 

[DojoToad]

18 minutes ago, ConorReads said:

Patrick Rothfuss' series The Name Of The Wind followed by The Wise Man's Fear (waiting on third and final book) 

Ha!  I hear that Patrick has almost as bad a reputation as GRRM regarding finishing a series...

[ForsakenPotato]

I haven't read the last in the trilogy yet but I enjoyed Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett a lot. The second one I liked less, but I feel like that's common in trilogies so I'm still excited to finish it. And the trilogy is complete, so no need to wait! The magic system is really fun and physics-based, has a lot of excellent characters, and the stakes are high. The overall tone is darker than WoT and significantly more violent.

 

For a more YA feel (WoT often falls somewhere between YA and adult, depending on the scene, in my opinion) I remember the Bartimaeus trilogy being excellent. It's appropriate for a younger audience but the characters are complex and well-developed, it grapples with complicated ideas, the magic system is creative and logical, and the books are pretty long. Also extremely funny. It's less epic fantasy and world building than WoT, more of a fantasy alternate history mostly set in London.

 

Also, not a series or even a particularly long book, and really not similar to WoT in any way...so not at all what you are asking for, but Piranesi is far and away my favorite recently published fantasy novel. Just chuck out all your expectations for what fantasy novels are like before you read it.

[Scarloc99]

Another series I haven't seen listed here the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the first 6 books are brilliantly written and have some really great moments in them. I have not read the last 4 books yet, partially out of a fear they would disappoint given how well the 2 original trilogies wrap everything up. There are also some very similar themes to WOT within them so if you like WOT you will probably enjoy these (although they are darker in tone). 

 

[Kalessin]

41 minutes ago, Sir_Charrid said:

Another series I haven't seen listed here the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the first 6 books are brilliantly written and have some really great moments in them. I have not read the last 4 books yet, partially out of a fear they would disappoint given how well the 2 original trilogies wrap everything up. There are also some very similar themes to WOT within them so if you like WOT you will probably enjoy these (although they are darker in tone). 

 

I love the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, though I find I am less than enthusiastic about some of the language - but then, Stephen Donaldson, like Mervyn Peake and Pearl Buck, is a missionary's child, and a lot of his language reflects his experiences growing up in a completely non-English language environment.

 

Apart from that, I recommend the final trilogy. I read it via the local library, and enjoyed it even more than the first two trilogies. In it, for example, we see the Waynhim and the Ur-Viles finally reconciled, we meet Berek Half-Hand beofre he loses half his hand, we also encountered the Viles when they encountered the Despiser's servants who corrupt them with the sense that they are worth only to be  despised, before they became incarnated as the Demonidim, and later, as the Ur-Viles and Waynhim. We see the Despiser in his last toss of the dice, almost shut down the world, only to realize that as he's been fooling around with incarnating himself for so long, he's not going to be released and face the Creator for the final showdown; he is going to destroy himself totally and utterly, and so begs Thomas Covenant for aid. I think you'll enjoy it.

[EasingTheBadger]

I really enjoyed the Malazan, Books of the Fallen series by Erik Stevenson.  Also support the The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series recommendation. 

 

For Sci Fi, the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons was a great read. 

[Asthereal]

The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson definitely needs to be in here.

 

I would recommend you read Warbreaker (standalone, but in-universe) before starting with Stormlight 1 (The Way of Kings), but it's not necessary. I just love Warbreaker, and you'll meet characters from that book in the Stormlight books, so it'll be extra fun when you recognize them. (Plus, Warbreaker happens before The Way of Kings, so this order makes sense.)

 

Mistborn of course also takes place in that same universe, and reading era 1 (Final Empire, Well of Ascension and Hero of Ages) also helps. I believe era 2 plays out after the first Stormlight books, but I may be wrong here. I'm not an expert yet on Sanderson's Cosmere.

 

These books are all very good, though, and definitely worth your time.

Edited December 15, 2022 by Asthereal

[DojoToad]

I really did not like the Mistborn series as much as others - with the exception of the first book "Final Empire" - that one was excellent.  For me, the rest of the trilogy got too small - too few characters, too much what they are thinking, minutiae of the magic system...

 

That is just me however - I think everything was excellently balanced in the first book.

[Scarloc99]

This might be controversial but, having tried several Brandon Sanderson books I really dislike him as an author of his own work. It just all feels a bit YA to me. 

[CaddySedai]

I suggest the Green Rider series by Kristin Britain.

 

Nice unique bit of high fantasy. Still being written but there are multiple books in play already.

 

Also the Pern books by Anne McAffrey. There's got to be infinity of those now so that series will take a hot minute.

Edited December 16, 2022 by CaddySedai