other series as epic (or close ) as WoT

[Corlock]

This is a list I posted on another forum for someone looking for a good high fantasy series. Plus one, if any of these have been mentioned before consider this a second.

 

The Dark Tower by Steven King. This is really a great series. Seven books though, and book four is probably going to take a long time to read through. It took me forever to get through it.

 

The Coldfire Trilogy by C. S. Friedman. This only got one other mention, but it is by far one of my favorites. It's only three books so a bit easier to digest than WoT, and it has one of the best dark heroes you'll probably ever read.

 

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams, once again only one other person mentioned it, but it really is quite good. Three books again, so it's on the quick read through list.

 

The Lon Tobyn Chronicles by David B. Coe. I really enjoyed these three books, they're fun.

 

The Shanara Books by Terry Brooks are pretty good. You'll start off a little annoyed with Sword for being such a rip on LotR, but it actually is a good book and ends on something of an original note. The other books in the series are great though.

 

The Landover Series by Terry Brooks. A bit more comical than Shanara, but equally, if not more, enjoyable.

 

The Still by David Feintuch. Was an amazing book when I read it ages and ages ago. Would still recomend it to anyone. Never read the sequel though, so don't know about that one.

 

The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. Definately aimed towards younger readers. The movie The Seeker was based, very loosely, on the first book in the series. Haven't really ever watched the full movie, but the books are great. So don't judge them by the movie.

 

Discworld by Terry Pratchett. Love these books, a little humor is good for you every now and then.

 

The Lost Years of Merlin by T. A. Barron. Enjoyed these quite a lot. Unique take on Merlin, kinda interesting. Short books, and only five of them. Not the best I've ever read, but better than a lot that's out there. Still they're aimed more towards younger readers, which might be why they're not mind blowingly amazing.

 

Merlin Series by Mary Stewart. Very good series, very very unique take on Merlin, at least as far as I know. Well worth the read.

 

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Not exactly high fantasy, more historic fantasy. Still, very good.

 

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Read this book. Trust me.

 

The Wanderer's Tale by David Bilsborough. Never finished this book actually. It started out quite good though, and the author has an amazing vocabulary. Unfortunately, it started focusing exclusively on a character I didn't particularly care for, for a bit too long, so I haven't really been able to get myself to pick it up again and finish it. You might like it though. It was a good book until where I got stuck, and that stuff was still well written, just didn't really care at all about the character.

 

The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling. Didn't think I was going to like these, but I ended up loving them. Again, aimed towards younger readers, but not really, really kiddy. Quite good really, even the last book, though it still left me wanting more. But I suppose that's what a good author does, right?

 

Madeleine L'Engle. Pretty much anything by her is great. Not really in the fantasy genre, but still good reads.

 

The Black Company Books by Glen Cook. A sort of low fantasy series, rather gritty, but very good.

[Lynchgrinch]

Malazan Book of the Fallen by steven erikson, now that is an epic series of books!

A bit weird to get into, you just kinda get thrust in not knowing anything...and if you can handle completely differant POV's between books. i was soo annoyed when Deadhouse gates wasn't about wiskeyjack and co...but as you read on you realise that it's just as epic.

 

The Dark Tower by steven king...now that's the only other series besides WoT that i have been absorbed in for a year +. like total obsession...it's just so damn good...and i don't normaly like King either...

[sdelu]

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams, once again only one other person mentioned it, but it really is quite good. Three books again, so it's on the quick read through list.

 

Well, four books, really (the last was split into Part 1 and Part 2, but he still calls it a trilogy). I would not recommend this series. I have to post every time someone puts it on a list of good fantasy simply because I dislike it with a passion. It had its moments, but in the end turned out to be a waste of my time. YMMV, of course.

 

The Lon Tobyn Chronicles by David B. Coe. I really enjoyed these three books, they're fun.

 

I'd second this one.

 

I enjoyed the first book of the series, but I had a hard time getting into the second one, possibly because of the shift in the main POV character. Still, it's worth a shot for sure.

[Corlock]

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams, once again only one other person mentioned it, but it really is quite good. Three books again, so it's on the quick read through list.

 

Well, four books, really (the last was split into Part 1 and Part 2, but he still calls it a trilogy). I would not recommend this series. I have to post every time someone puts it on a list of good fantasy simply because I dislike it with a passion. It had its moments, but in the end turned out to be a waste of my time. YMMV, of course.

 

I believe in hard cover the last book was printed in one volume, but that when printed in paperback in needed to be split into two volumes due to binding issues. So, in the hardback versions it is a trilogy, I think. I could be wrong. As to your experience with it, well, to each their own.

[Ozzie_aiel]

The Vorkosigan Series the Lois McMaster Bujold. Its SciFi but it can be really funny.

 

If you like the idea of a massive death toll, go for the Horus Heresy, by various authors.

 

The Ancient Future, by Traci Harding, the 3rd books a hard read, but the first is among the best I've ever read.

[martianblues]

Wow there are a lot of good suggestions in here that I haven't read. My wife was telling me about the George RR Martin series, and it sounded like a little too much political intrigue and drama for me, but soooooo many of you seem to like it maybe I'll have to give it a try.

 

I can't believe only one person mentioned the Dune series. I know some people don't like how weird some of it got (I like it btw), but you've got to admit that whole universe and history is pretty damn epic.

 

I also was surprised to enjoy the Harry Potter series. I held off until they were all out, and I listened to a really entertaining audiobook version read by Jim Dale rather than reading the books. I thought it was hilarious and better then some of the movies, but maybe reading it wouldn't be as fun since it was a little kiddy, especially to first couple.

 

The Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson was pretty epic for a trilogy I thought. It's about the colonization of Mars, and the way the culture, technology, politics develop on a different planet, and the ever evolving relationship with Earth. Pretty neat if you are a space geek like me.

 

Contact by Carl Sagan, for the same geek factor. Just neat to have a scifi novel written by an actual scientist.

 

I was glad to see Xanth mentioned a few times. Not really my thing now, a little too zany and kiddy, but as a kid that series is what really got me into reading fantasy. Piers Anthony has a few other series that are pretty neat too: Apprentice Adept, Mode, Incarnations of Immortality.

 

Some of the Star Wars ones are pretty good. I know it's not real high class literature or anything, but it can be entertaining for a scifi fan. In particular, there is a trilogy set shortly after the timeline of Return of the Jedi, by Timothy Zahn, that is really good. It reads like watching one of the movies, real high paced action adventure kinda thing, but with pretty interesting ideas. After those, most of it got carried away and lost my interest.

 

I'm trying to think of more, but it seems like most of the really good stuff I've read has been mentioned already.

 

So let me just say, please please please nobody write anymore vampire novels for another 20 years or so, at least. There are enough people on that bandwagon already, it should be breaking down soon.

[mb]

Star Wars (the movies) I heard long ago was based on a set of books. The books I heard were 9. Movies; the middle 3 were done first, the first 3 done second, and the last 3 are yet to be made.

Do not know the actual names of the main books.

[Isabel]

A very good epic series is One Piece. It's not exactly a book series, but the manga is amazing and for a manga the world is really well thought out and very funny :)

 

One piece is like the manga's version of the Wheel of time :)

[martianblues]

Star Wars (the movies) I heard long ago was based on a set of books. The books I heard were 9. Movies; the middle 3 were done first, the first 3 done second, and the last 3 are yet to be made.

Do not know the actual names of the main books.

 

No, George Lucas had said at some point that the original story of Star Wars (the first movie made by itself) was loosely base on the plot of some old novel about rescuing a princess from a castle, some medieval setting, but as far as the whole Star Wars thing, that's all from Lucas. I remember reading a little while ago that he said he had imagined that the story would be told in 9 episodes, 3 trilogies, but currently no plan to make the last three sequels. The Star Wars books I was referring to are stuff other authors have expanded on in that fictional universe. Sorry, I'm a bit of geek for Star Wars, but I don't mean to sound condescending or anything like the comic book store guy in the Simpsons.

[thatbwoydc]

Some of my favorites

 

His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman - It's a young adult novel, so don't expect the overly detailed prose of RJ, but the subject matter is great, if dark, and I really found myself caring for the characters. I really like the concept of daemons also. If you are religious you may want to give these a miss though, I can see them offending deeply religious people. First book of the series is The Golden Compass.

 

Bas'Lag by China Mieville - Extremely dark. The world building is absolutely phenomenal, and China Mieville's prose is amazing, as well it should be as Mieville teaches creative writing. Perdido Street Station, his first Bas'Lag book, is an encapsulating fusion of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. Warning - you may want to keep a dictionary on hand, because this guy will use some words you've never seen before. While once you understand him, he paints a vivid picture of his world, he's a bit hard to comprehend at first.

 

Codex Alera by Jim Butcher - Not too deep, just a fun, easy read that's more enjoyable than it has any right to be. This goes for everything Jim Butcher has done though - the prose isn't all that great, many of the characters are rather stereotypical, and he has a tendency to overuse certain words (chitinous), but the plot is solid and the characters are charming, if not deep. Start out with Furies of Calderon. I'm a big fan of the magic system in this series as well.

 

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - I picked these up after finishing Codex Alera, and they are AWESOME. A professional wizard offers his services in Chicago, and is often hired by police as a consultant when traditional crime solving methods come up short. The first two or three books are flawed, yet quite entertaining, though I didn't particularly care for the second one. However, the third book, Grave Peril, really picks up, and once you hit Summer Knight, this series goes at 100mph the whole way. Especially Dead Beat. Easily one of the coolest climaxes of any book I've read.

 

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - The first one is like Ocean's Eleven with magic, and one of the coolest magic systems I've ever read about too. If you liked The Gathering Storm, you'll like this. The end of the series is jaw dropping, too.

 

Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss - I've really enjoyed this series so far, but warning, only one book is out so far and you will crave more. The main character is a bit too good at everything and comes off as wish fulfillment on part of the author, but I still really enjoyed the read, and something about the way he writes is riveting. Cool magic system in this one too, as well a new take on a familiar fantasy creature - dragons. The first book is called "The Name of the Wind", and the second book, "Wise Man's Fear" will be released in March according to all the sources I've read.

 

DragonCrown War Cycle by Michael Stackpole - A bit generic, but I have a soft spot for Stackpole. I'd start with the introduction book - The Dark Glory War. It takes place about 20 years before the main series. Dragons, crazy elfs, epic warfare, and cannons. Fun stuff.

 

I really dislike Terry Goodkind. His books read like bad Ayn Rand fanfiction, there's way too much rape, he preaches too much in the later ones (especially Faith of the Fallen, which is where I quit), and the overall message seems to be "It's ok if you do terrible things as long as you think it is right". I was sickened by the scene where Richard severs the tongue of an 8 year old by kicking her in the jaw, the evil chicken scene is ridiculous, the hundred page BDSM segment of the first book is just twisted, the magic system is entirely inconsistent throughout the series, and pretty much all the good parts were plagiarized from Robert Jordan anyways - Black Ajah/Sisters of the Dark, the entire collar thing... Also, Goodkind seems like a terrible person, he made light of RJ's heart condition shortly before Jordan's death which is offensive to me. On top of all that, I really don't care for his writing style either.

[redarm]

 

I really dislike Terry Goodkind. His books read like bad Ayn Rand fanfiction, there's way too much rape, he preaches too much in the later ones (especially Faith of the Fallen, which is where I quit), and the overall message seems to be "It's ok if you do terrible things as long as you think it is right". I was sickened by the scene where Richard severs the tongue of an 8 year old by kicking her in the jaw, the evil chicken scene is ridiculous, the hundred page BDSM segment of the first book is just twisted, the magic system is entirely inconsistent throughout the series, and pretty much all the good parts were plagiarized from Robert Jordan anyways - Black Ajah/Sisters of the Dark, the entire collar thing... Also, Goodkind seems like a terrible person, he made light of RJ's heart condition shortly before Jordan's death which is offensive to me. On top of all that, I really don't care for his writing style either.

 

 

It's ok, don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel.

[thatbwoydc]

 

It's ok, don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel.

 

What can I say, I guess I'm a hater

[mb]

Blizzard (a company that makes PC games) I noticed has fiction about some of their PC games; though I have not yet read any of those.

Ones I have been interested in getting::

Starcraft:

-Liberty's Crusade

-Shadow of the Xel'Naga

-Speed of Darkness

-Ghost/Nova

Warcraft:

-Day of the Dragon

-Lord of the Clans

-The Last Guardian

-Sunwell Trilogy

--Dragon Hunt

--Shadows of Ice

--Ghost Lands

[Rinkai]

I read the first 3 of Bakker's Prince of nothing after Mr. Ares suggestion. Wow. Just wow. You need to be in the right mind set for these books. They can get pretty difficult to read sometimes (tons of content), and are the most repulsive things I've ever read. That being said, I loved them. They break every single fantasy archetype there is. And they do it well. Highly recommended.

 

warning: there is much more rape and torture in any one of these books than all of Goodkind's novels put together. Be prepared. you have be warned.

[ravenfier]

The Lon Tobyn Chronicles by David B. Coe. I really enjoyed these three books, they're fun.

 

hehe, I just finished his Winds of the forelands series and started on the blood of the southlands trilogy he a good pick.

 

as some one mintions Lackey earlier i would have to repeat the sugestion but add anything dealing with Valdemar is a good pick but you might have to do some seatching for the first books in some of her series, seeing how they were first published in the 80's.

 

also I would sugest any book by McCaffery-except for the Accorna series, it kinda drags towards the end.

 

a good recomendation for historical fiction is the first americans/the people series by the Gears- it starts with People of the Wolf

 

and for a risky sugestion- the Dark series by Feehan. each book is a stand alone book but when read in order it inriches the world that she created, but the first few books are full of sex, as she progreed as a writer she stoped relying on sex to fuel the story and there is a whole lot more plot to the books now.

[horus17]

Corlock....Stay out of my brain!! hahaha. I was just going to put down The Dark Tower, and the Susan Cooper series and the Piers Anthony... well you get the picture.

 

I found Louise Cooper's Time Master series pretty good back in the day. Neil Gaimen is a good read.

 

And on a lighter note, I think Christopher Moore is hilarious, and his work also has a bit of the fantastic included.

[Owayn The Traveller]

Ive only read Lamb by him. Wasn't impressed by it. Are they rest of his stuff the same or slightly more good?

[horus17]

Thats one of the couple i havent read yet. i dont have them all in front of me, but Bloodsucking Fiends and A Dirty Job i really liked.

[Rinkai]

Good Omens was a riot.

[AnthonyJamesEnglish]

Seriously i'm surprised The Dark Tower by Steven king isn't getting more love, it's an amazing read and i would recommend everyone to read it.

 

Also there is a series called Abarat by Clive Barker, it's pretty damn good though incomplete atm.

 

Also i know this isn't a series but seriously Jostein Gaarder's - Sophie's World is an amazing read and will blow peoples minds apart.

[Rinkai]

I heard it was terrible and had no direction. My friend said that it's plot was complex for purpose of being complex and had a bad ending.

[Elend]

 

It's ok, don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel.

 

What can I say, I guess I'm a hater

 

Death-chooser!

 

A very good epic series is One Piece. It's not exactly a book series, but the manga is amazing and for a manga the world is really well thought out and very funny :)

 

One piece is like the manga's version of the Wheel of time :)

 

Consider this a seconding for One Piece. I'd not say its the Wheel of Time of manga, the stories and everything are quite different, but its a fun adventure and extremely long.

 

Another manga I'd suggest is Vinland Saga. Best I've read, bar none.

 

 

The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. Definately aimed towards younger readers. The movie The Seeker was based, very loosely, on the first book in the series. Haven't really ever watched the full movie, but the books are great. So don't judge them by the movie.

 

 

Nitpicky I guess, but the Seeker was based on the second book IIRC. I never watched it, but the Seeker in the series isn't introduced at all until then- the first book reads completely different from book one. The first book was Over Sea, Under Stone and the second simply The Dark is Rising

 

From what I recall of the books, they're pretty awesome, particularly for young readers. Lots of magic, really cool plot, tons of characters. In fact I'm thinking a reading of them might be necessary after going through the titles and brief synopsis on them. I mean, with books titled The Grey King and Silver on a Tree you just know its good. I last read them like a decade ago, in school.

[Corlock]

Well, I read The Dark Is Rising first, so I sort of consider that the first book, although you are right that Over Sea, Under Stone takes place first, or is meant to. But really, the two books can almost be read interchangably, as long as you've read them both before Greenwitch.

[AnthonyJamesEnglish]

I heard it was terrible and had no direction. My friend said that it's plot was complex for purpose of being complex and had a bad ending.

 

Was this to The Dark Tower?

 

If so, the first book is a little tricky to read especially the first few chapters but once you get started it's really great. The ending is definitely a mind destroyer! It's complex but not needlessly so i think no less complex then WoT or LotR

 

BTW Oy HAS to be one of the most lovable characters i have ever read.

[nophone]

Goodkind is terrible...absolutely terrible.  What's with his rape fetish issues?  Almost every female character in his books is repeatedly raped.  That guy has some major issues.  And all he does is regurgitate Ayn Rand when he's not plagiarizing RJ.

 

i know mr. GOOFCRAP sucks. I'm almost positive after reading his novels that his way out of writers block is to write 30 pages of rape or some other kind of sexual deviancy. I mean, some of the deviant behavior that happens could certainly reflect a character with no morals or whatever, but writing about it in great detail the way he managed to go on for...

 

his books are truly 80 percent aweful and deviant, and 20 percent campy.

 

the show was better because it filtered that crap out. the books lasted as long as they did because the readers were hanging on for the final volume, and the ending was stupid. like "this is what i was waiting for... genius"

 

the thing about his 30 pages of raping that he tends to fall into... aren't editors supposed to expunge that crap? imagine how many miles of that drivel had actually been removed it if that much was left in.