Looking for some books to read

[Auslander]

Don't know if this would be the right spot to post but here goes.

 

I am a very big WoT fan and i also am a big fan of another series called Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. So my question is do any of you know of some good/great books that have a similar style as WoT? I really love the series and i need some suggestions on some good fantasy books that are similar. Any Help would be most appreciated. Thankyou

[dlan4327]

 

i also am a big fan of another series called Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind.

 

 

Take my advice, around here them's fightin' words. ;) I give it about 2 - 3 hours before the Terry Goofkind basher's start showing up but don't worry I'm not one of them. As for your actual question I remember posting a list of a few authors I like a while back, I'll try and find it, it's buried somewhere on these boards... yeah, here it is:

 

Hmmm... Let me think of some good fantasy authors to add, seeing as I haven't been contributing to my own thread very much at all :-[

 

Terry Pratchett

Douglas Adams

Sara Douglass

Susan Cooper (Obviously)

Ursula K Le Guin

Kate Elliott

Ian Irvine

George R R Martin

Anne Rice

Wilbur Smith (Some of his works more so than others)

 

Also these guys aren't fantasy but there not half bad:

 

Michael Faber

Nick Hornby

Jodi Picoult

Keith Donohue

 

and if you're into more extreme, read quite disconcerting

& possibly scarring, literature of a graphic, gory, very dark satirical

nature then you might want to check out these two:

 

Bret Easton Ellis

Chuck Palahniuk

 

There's more floating around in my head somewhere but I can't recall them at the moment. Enjoy! ;D

 

[Thorum]

Start with a song of ice and fire by George RR Martin (first book: Game of Thrones) or Lyonesse by Jack Vance (first book: Suldrun's Garden) or Harry Potter

 

And for non-fantasy: anything by Clive Cussler

[YoungKing]

If you haven't yet, pick up The Hobbit. Then move on to LoTR. Go from there!!

 

YK.

[vinay87]

I am a very big WoT fan and i also am a big fan of another series called Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind.

SACRILEGE!!! THE LIGHT BURN YOU! (No offense, just kidding around.)

No really. I used to like Terry Goodkind. Till I reread the wheel of time again and again. Made me realise that Goodkind, was the bad kind of Fantasy author.

 

Back to your question.

Hmmn, I am not too sure about the WoT type. Its one of a kind.

 

Terry Pratchett is a parody type but his books go by a different formula than just "take fantasy book. Make it funny by slapping around usual rules such as Wizards can use a memorized spell only once and then they have to rememorize it" thing. Sure his first books started that way, but come on, who can deny that Granny Weatherwax makes Sheriam seem timid?

 

Hmmn, I stay by my verdict that GRR Martin sucks. Never liked A Game of Thrones, but just to prove it to myself, I'll reread it again.

 

David Eddings is far from the RJ type, but he is what you should look at. First book : Pawn of Prophecy

And Terry Brooks. Get past his first few books, and you'll love him. The third saga in his Shannara series was good. And so was the latest. First Book : Sword of Shannara Best Book : Anthrax

 

Ursula K Le Gain Its been a long time since I've read her books, but well, they are worth a few reads.

 

And please, No Potter. I was a great fan till the woman had to go and flaming ruin the story with the last book. Please let Potter rest in his coffin for now. (PS: Snape killed Dumbledore THE END)

 

If you haven't gone through his books, JRR Tolkien. The Father of all Fantasy. Even if not for the story, at least go through it to see the what is the pinnacle of creational (creational as in purely going by creativity and stuff) fantasy. RJ pwns, but still, Tolkien is what every fantasy author dreams of being compared to, in a good way atleast.

 

Others I haven't read:

Raymond E Feist

Anne Rice

 

 

I hope to try them out come 2008. Hope this helped you.

[Thunderbomb]

I would pick up Brandon Sanderson's mistbourne books... they are great reads and will give ya a good taist of his writing style

[mike2R]

If you're willing to look at sci-fi then Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn trilogy is truly excellent, and there are elements in it which are more common in the fantasy genre. They are what you might call spiritual, but still 100% materialistic; really can't clarify that without spoilers.

 

The main thing though is the world(s) he creates - they are truly well thought out in terms of the social and political consequences of the technology he invents; computers implanted in the brain, living sentient spaceships and space stations, telepathy created by genetic manipulation, faster than light travel etc. It all makes sense in the universe he creates. He then puts this advanced human society to its ultimate test and it's a fantastic series.

 

The blurb from the first book, The Reality Dysfunction is pretty good and representative of what you get from the series:

 

"In AD 2600, the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures. Huge fleets of sentient trader starships thrive on the wealth created by the industrialization of entire star systems. And throughout inhabited space the Confederation Navy keeps the peace. A true golden age is within our grasp.

 

"But now something has gone catastrophically wrong. On a primitive colony planet a renegade criminal's chance encounter with an utterly alien entity unleashes the most primal of all our fears. An extinct race, which inhabited the galaxy aeons ago called it "The Reality Dysfunction". It is the nightmare, which has prowled beside us since the beginning of history."

 

Edit: reading back through that blurb (which I took from Amazon), I'd just like to assure people that you can expect much better punctuation from the actual books ;)

[BKVMC]

Melanie rawns  series the ruins of ambrai is similiar to WOT  but she has been slow about  writing books for the series.

[Dragon21]

I like the Legends of the Guardian-king series...by Karen Hancock

[Mr Ares]

Here are links to a couple of recent threads on the subject:http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,19991.0.html

http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,23352.0.html

 

As for some actual suggestions, try the following authors:

Neil Gaiman

Terry Pratchett

Steven Erikson

Ian Cameron Esselmont

George R R Martin

J R R Tolkien

Gene Wolfe

Robert Rankin

China Mieville

Steph Swainston

Jennifer Fallon

 

That should be enough to get you started.

[Kura]

A bit more into dark fantasy, and his first couple books start off as more of a short story, but gets into traditional writing is William King's Gotrek and Felix. Wonderful books, also the 'Dune' series is also fantastic, and is pretty close to RJ. The Dark Sword series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are great reads.

 

If your not biast against books aimed at slightly younger readers, The Golden Compass and its sequels by Pullman is great, as is The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. There not childish, there just not aimed at adults.

 

Oh yeah, though it seems obvious Auslander. Sprichen Sie Deutsch? ;)

[Werthead]

The big epic fantasy authors around at the moment:

 

GEORGE RR MARTIN

Author of A Song of Ice and Fire (which starts with A Game of Thrones), a seven-book series set in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. The series describes a civil war that tears the Seven Kingdoms apart whilst a supernatural force arises in the far north and a claimant to the throne in exile in the far east gradually builds herself a new kingdom for the time when she returns home. This is easily the most critically-acclaimed epic fantasy series since Lord of the Rings (it was rated by Time Magazine a couple of years back), but it takes the author a while to produce the novels. The last book (the fourth) came out in 2005 and the next one may still be a year away. If you're patient and not too prudish (these books describe life in a medieval fantasy world as it would be in real life and doesn't whitewash it) you should love this series.

 

GRRM has also written a number of very fine single novels, probably the best of which is Fevre Dream, the greatest vampire novel of the last thirty ears.

 

STEVEN ERIKSON

Author of The Malazan Book of the Fallen (which starts with Gardens of the Moon), the series which has stolen Wheel of Time's mantle of being the biggest, most complex epic fantasy series out there with an even bigger cast of characters and a more vivid, explosive magic system. The series is planned to be ten books long. Seven are out already, the eighth is finished and due out next summer and Erikson is already a few chapters into the ninth volume. His friend and co-creator Ian Cameron Esslemont is also writing five books set in the same world (starting with Night of Knives), the second of which is due out next summer. Erikson doesn't take any prisoners and it isn't until halfway through the first novel that things settle down a bit and start making sense, but if you give this a serious try I think you'll enjoy it.

 

SCOTT BAKKER

Author of The Prince of Nothing Trilogy (starts with The Darkness That Comes Before), which is an even darker and more brooding series than ASOIAF, describing how a manipulative intellectual seizes control of a grand crusade against an infidel nation and steers it to his own design, whilst an ancient, terrifying force of evil reawakens. This series is very dark, very grim and more than slightly reminiscent of Dune, but it's also incredibly well-written. Perhaps one to leave for when you have a few more authors under your belt.

 

GUY GAVRIEL KAY

If huge series aren't appealing too much at the moment, you should check out GGK. His fantasy credentials are impressive - he co-edited The Silmarillion with Christopher Tolkien - and his single novels are absolutely sublime: Tigana, A Song for Arbonne, The Lions of Al-Rassan and The Last Light of the Sun. All are beautifully written with fantastic characters. He succeesfully makes the reader invest emotionally in his books and knows how to use that to create great moments of comedy, tragedy and romance.

 

JOE ABERCROMBIE

One of a trio of new epic fantasy authors (along with Scott Lynch and Patrick Rothfuss) who has emerged in the last couple of years with a fresh take on the genre. Abercrombie's series is called The First Law Trilogy (starting with The Blade Itself) and is complete, with Book 3 due out in March. He is easily the best of the new breed of epic fantasy authors and with the final book of his trilogy (which I got a preview of) he gives us the best ending to a fantasy series in many years. Frankly, the ending of this series is the standard I'll be holding Brandon Sanderson to (no pressure!) ;)

 

Other authors I would recommend would be Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, JV Jones, Paul Kearney, Gregory Keyes, Kate Elliott, Tad Williams, Jack Vance, China Mieville and Susanna Clarke for fantasy; and Peter F. Hamilton, Alastair Reynolds, David Brin, Frank Herbert, Stephen Donaldson, Richard Morgan and Iain M. Banks for SF.

[peacesells]

I would suggest Stephen R Donaldson's "Thomas Covenant - The unbeliever" series.  The Unbeliever series has a real interesting POV.  Not a typical type fantasy pov in my opinion.

After that his "Into the Gap" series is very interesting.

 

Another author I really enjoyed is Raymond Feist.  Two of his trilogies were really good.  The Riftwar saga and The Empire trilogy.

 

Good Luck

[trakand_01]

i would recommend;

 

Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. Magical books. Especially good for bringing children into the world of fantasy/fiction.

 

 

[peacesells]

i would recommend;

 

Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. Magical books. Especially good for bringing children into the world of fantasy/fiction.

 

 

 

That seris was good..but his "Otherland" series was a tough read...great premise but very slow moving.

[Cadsuane]

I recently read Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which was quite good. It's a single story, set in recent times, and is an interesting imagination of the role or lives of gods in modern life. Not at all the "classic" sort of fantasy written by RJ, Tolkein, and many other authors mentioned here.

 

I'm in the middle of Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts' trilogy that begins with Daughter of the Empire, and very much enjoying it. I haven't read any of the other Riftwar books, so occasionally there are references that I feel I'm missing, but it doesn't distract from the story in any way.

[Angel of Death]

Id have to throw in Raymon E Feist (I HAVE read his work).

Might want to give David Eddings a go as well.

[aevogt]

I own everything Terry Pratchett has published (including the early, non discworld stuff) and reread them as often as the WoT books. 

 

One that is often overlooked is Mike Resnik.  I really liked "Santiago, a myth of the far future".  It's not fantasy, SciFi, but still good

 

You can try Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle who collaborated on two books, "Footfall" and "Lucifer's Hammer" which started out as one gigantic book but were edited into two really good books.  It's Science fiction but it's based on real science.  These two guys practically worshipped Robert Heinlein.

 

On a non fantasy note, John Sanford's "Prey" novels are a good for the odd  airplane ride.  Kind of violent in a very real sense. 

 

Don't overlook Richard Adams "Watership Down"  He also wrote "Shardik"  but that's a little tougher to get through.

 

Wilbur Smith was mentioned and I actually wrote a paper in college on "When the Lion Feeds"  I've read some of his other stuff as well and it's pretty good, if not necessarily accurate.  Oh well, it's fiction.

 

 

[Caramoore]

My first foray into Fantasy type books was Terry Brooks - Sword of Shannara, and Roger Zelazny's Amber series. After them I was hooked. Of course I had read the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings. And I really loved C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. I think they are not just children books. R.A. Salvatore, Raymond Feist, and David Eddings are probably my three favorites after Jordan. That's my 2 cents worth anyway...

[TwoRiversWI]

Here are some good authors and series.

 

1. Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion there are several series that are tied to the one overall eternal champion. Elric series is my personal favorite. Although the Hawkmoon series is great also.

 

2. The John Carter of Mars series. very old and every chapter leaves you in suspense...I believe these were originally written for pulp magazines.

 

3. I am trying to read Jordan's Conan books.

 

 

TwoRivers Born

 

 

 

 

[rd2000]

RJ did Conan VERY well, those books are what led me into reading WOT many years ago.

 

Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar books are very good, I strongly suggest this series to anyone.

 

Roger Zelazny's Amber series is good, but his book "Lord of Light" stands out to me as his best.

[vbama]

Not really the typical Fantasy genre, but check out Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. They had a few series on the Sci-Fi channel, but they blew compared to the books.(Like always) It is a good series with many twists and humor thrown in. For a more serious yet still interesting read, check out James Rollin's...start with Map of Bones.

[Kodam]

I would recommend the "Dark Tower" series by Stephen King.  I enjoyed it very much.

[Morindin]

I have enjoyed Janny Wurts so far with her Wars of Light and Shadow series...

 

But I do find it very complicated and difficult to read sometimes...

 

Anyone has opinions about her??

[Werthead]

Really enjoyed The Master of Whitestorm by Wurts and The Empire Trilogy she co-wrote with Feist is excellent.

 

I've tried reading another 3-4 books of hers and they were poor.