New Series Suggestions

[dexterryu]

Since finishing A Memory of Light earlier in the year, I've been looking for a new series. I haven't read much since then. I've dabbled into Sword of Truth (got to book 5 I think) but I lost interest after having the feeling that I was reading the same book over and over again. I've also started and put down A Song of Ice and Fire... I just couldn't get into the books in that there just wasn't a clear cut protagonist. I enjoy the HBO show, but I struggled getting through the books as I just had a hard time investing in the various shades of grey that made up most of the characters. I did like that GRRM isn't afraid to off his characters, but I just didn't find myself able to identify with any of them.

 

There is the obvious choice of Brandon's other novels and I have read those and enjoyed them.

 

If I had to put together a wish list I'd put them in this order:

 

Good characters

Great world building

Real danger for the characters (Author isn't afriad to kill someone).

Mature

Has some action

Has some romance

 

 

Thanks!

[Suttree]

Older thread with suggestions and my post in it...

 

http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/topic/82332-need-reading-suggestions/?p=2024233

[Verbal32]

I'd second the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erickson that Sutt mentioned in that linked post, along with one of the ones Kadere suggesting in the post immediately following:  Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams.

[dexterryu]

I'd second the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erickson that Sutt mentioned in that linked post, along with one of the ones Kadere suggesting in the post immediately following:  Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams.

 

How are those in terms of the wishlist I mentioned in my origional post?

[Suttree]

Info on my suggestions:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_nothing

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Law

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Lynch#The_Gentleman_Bastard_Sequence

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingkiller_Chronicle

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen

 

I would say they all fit the bill and are some of the best series in genre at the moment.

[GoldeneyesND]

Read the kingkiller chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. First 2 of a trilogy already released. The first one was so good I bought the second the day it came out and finished in 2 days (they are not short).

[Aidanna]

Also check out the Riftwar Saga - it's a big epic, by Ramond E Feist. The Saga is the first Trilogy in the Riftwar Cycle, and book one is called Magician. It's pretty good. 

[Verbal32]

Also check out the Riftwar Saga - it's a big epic, by Ramond E Feist. The Saga is the first Trilogy in the Riftwar Cycle, and book one is called Magician. It's pretty good. 

 

+1

[Werthead]

Riftwar is good for the first dozen or so books (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon, Prince of the Blood, The King's Buccaneer, Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire, Shadow of a Dark Queen, Rise of a Merchant Prince and Rage of a Demon King) and then the quality not so much 'diminishes' and 'plummets screaming off the side of a cliff'. The very next books (Krondor: The Betrayal and Shards of a Broken Crown) are unreadably terrible. Some of the later books improve slightly, but he never gets back to anything close to his earlier quality. In particular, he loses the ability to keep track of continuity, and some of the later books literally don't make sense because of it.

 

Malazan is very good, if very confusing. For a 'standard' fantasy series, I can second Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (but not Shadowmarch, which is too derivative). His Otherland series is probably his best work, and a nice mix of fantasy and SF ideas.

 

I'd strongly recommend Scott Lynch's series beginning with The Lies of Locke Lamora. Joe Abercrombie is also very good.

[Elynde]

The "Wars of Light and Shadow" series by Janny Wurts.  It is a more advanced read because of the phrasing, but every word used is there for a reason.  This series is rich, detailed, and meant to be re-read to catch all the little bits the author hides in plain sight.

[Selleck]

I definitely agree with the Tower, Way of Kings, Mistborn, Rothfuss, and Passage selections.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of these.  For another suggestion, particularly to Dexterryu, perhaps give RA Salvatore's Drizzt novels a try.  I love them for a fast, fun read and the battle sequences are always well-written.  I can't think of a stronger protagonist (and group of friends) than Drizzt and his Companions except maybe Rand and the gang

[Turin Turambar]

A few older series I really enjoyed

 

Dune

Deryni series by Kurtz

Tolkien(Silmarillion is actually my favourite)

Dragonriders of Pern by McCafferey

Recluse books by Modesitt

Sunrunners by Rawn

[damandred]

Some of my favorate fantasy series.

Theres probably more, but at the top of my head these stand out.

R. Feist- rift war and serpant war

david gemmel- chronicals of Druss the legend- waylander- sword in the storm- troy. In fact anything by Gemmel, always finish his novels in tears.

Dragonlance- weiss and hickman

forgotten realms- r.a. salvatore, elayne cummings.

memory, sorrow and thorn tad williams

Joe abercrombie, cant remember what the series is called but featuring the bloody nine.

Frank herbert Dune

LotR- obviously

and lots more, that if i wracked my brains im sure i could fill a page but there some of the ones that stick out.

[warlocke]

I just finished this series. Took me 3 months to read all 14 books. This series had me from the start. I need more suggestions of books/series like this.

 

I hope this is the right section as I want books similar to WOT, I know of the dragon lance books but not sure what books are in what order since there is SO many of them. Thanks for any advice and if it isnt the right section I appoligize and please move to correct section

[Barid Bel Medar]

It would be best in the General discussion section. No problems, I have moved it for you. 

 

As for the question, it is very hard to look at something that is similar to WoT, not many books have the scope or density. What are the things that you loved and want to see in other books/series? 

[dawnflower8]

You could try the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss or The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson.

[warlocke]

Well, I loved the Channeling aspect and weaves instead of the normal magic feel from other books/games.

 

But here is a list of stuff I have read and areas of intrest.

 

Read

Percy Jackson (young adult stuff but I love the mythology mixed with the modern world)

Dragon lance, though there are hundreds of them, I can never fully understand from one book to the next due to how many books there are and unsure where to start from one book to the next.

 

That is previous reads right off the top of my head.

Intest areas are sci-fi, mythology (greek and roman), Civil/Revoulitionary war, History-Fiction. This is just a small scope of intrest to me. Hopefully that can give some good suggestions. I will look at the two mentioned as well.

[Barid Bel Medar]

I would first up recommend Codex Alera by Jim Butcher, it is distinctly Roman with lots of magic and an epic storyline. 6 books. Highly underrated I think personally. From what you have said, this would be the first I'd start with. (In a fantasy world, not actually Roman) Potential Negatives: It is well rounded and there are no glaring faults. The first book starts quite ordinary, but by the end is great. I guess the only thing I would say personally is that the writing isn't outstanding, and it never makes it into the iconic status of someone like RJ, Tolkien or GRRM. However, at the same time, I personally think it is highly underrated. Perhaps others might have reasons why. 

 

Kingkiller Chronicles is good, but unfinished and it is not known when it will be. Similarly the Stormlight Archive is decent, but there have only been two books out of a total of 10 released, so I'd not recommend it if you are looking for something complete. Kingkiller may take years to finish and Stormlight will certainly be in the works for at least another 5 or so years. Nonetheless, they are entertaining, and Kingkiller is particularly unique. 

 

Talking Brandon Sanderson I personally suggest reading Mistborn before any of his other works. It's a nice trilogy with a distinct - almost scientific - magic system and an entertaining plot with great twists and fast-paced so you won't likely get bored. Potential negatives: The magic system is perhaps TOO well defined, leaving little mystery -although there is some there, to be sure. The same can be said of the plot in general - although this is by the end, the mystery and twists are all there - everything seems to feel...mechanical and contrived not naturally progressive and some things can be a bit jarring. 

 

I also recommend Robin Hobb, particularly the Farseer Trilogy which continues in the Tawny Man Trilogy. It has some decent magic with one of the best animal connection plot-lines, if you liked Perrin's Wolfbrother story. It's also among the most emotionally charged series I've read. When you get into it, you actually care. I highly rate Robin Hobb, for whatever that may be worth. A potential negative is that it is not action-packed. It certainly has it's share of action and enough plot to be interesting, but you won't get epic battles and huge armies like WoT. 

 

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series is a good one. Lots of different types of magic and a sprawling world and a massive plot with lots of different aspects and a big military theme. It's confusing as all hell to actually fit all the pieces together (in fact, I don't think you really can) and sometimes you get lost, but it is definitely a good read. Potential Negatives: You get totally lost and a lot of things simply don't make sense (a lot is expanded upon in later entries or other titles about the same world). There's a lot of seemingly pointless plot-lines as well, which kind of have nothing to do with the main plot. They are relevant to the WORLD, and are expanded upon in other titles, but they don't connect to the overall story like the WoT brings things together. Erikson also has a tendency to wax philosophic and get lost in a few pages of musing. Nonetheless it is very good and has some really excellent characters. (Anomander rake, Tehol and Bugg, Cotillion, Tavore - the list is endless really)

 

I'll leave it at that for now. There are others, but I don't want to be writing a year long post hah. 

[michellem]

Dragonlance recommended reading order

[dawnflower8]

I thought there were only supposed to be 3 Kingkiller books and the last one was coming out next year. I don't know. 

 

Another series I'd recommend is The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta. It's a YA series, but it's pretty mature for one. 

[Barid Bel Medar]

There are three books in 'that particular arc'. He has a second trilogy planned that is after Kvothe's recount, and presumably from the 'present' to continue the overall plot. 

 

I don't know about a publication date, if there has been a confirmation, I haven't seen, but he is like GRRM in this, you never know how long the next book is going to take, it could be a year or 5. 

[Suttree]

I would recommend Guy Gavriel Kay. Start with Tigana and then on to Song for Arbonne.

[warlocke]

I would first up recommend Codex Alera by Jim Butcher, it is distinctly Roman with lots of magic and an epic storyline. 6 books. Highly underrated I think personally. From what you have said, this would be the first I'd start with. (In a fantasy world, not actually Roman) Potential Negatives: It is well rounded and there are no glaring faults. The first book starts quite ordinary, but by the end is great. I guess the only thing I would say personally is that the writing isn't outstanding, and it never makes it into the iconic status of someone like RJ, Tolkien or GRRM. However, at the same time, I personally think it is highly underrated. Perhaps others might have reasons why. 

 

Kingkiller Chronicles is good, but unfinished and it is not known when it will be. Similarly the Stormlight Archive is decent, but there have only been two books out of a total of 10 released, so I'd not recommend it if you are looking for something complete. Kingkiller may take years to finish and Stormlight will certainly be in the works for at least another 5 or so years. Nonetheless, they are entertaining, and Kingkiller is particularly unique. 

 

Talking Brandon Sanderson I personally suggest reading Mistborn before any of his other works. It's a nice trilogy with a distinct - almost scientific - magic system and an entertaining plot with great twists and fast-paced so you won't likely get bored. Potential negatives: The magic system is perhaps TOO well defined, leaving little mystery -although there is some there, to be sure. The same can be said of the plot in general - although this is by the end, the mystery and twists are all there - everything seems to feel...mechanical and contrived not naturally progressive and some things can be a bit jarring. 

 

I also recommend Robin Hobb, particularly the Farseer Trilogy which continues in the Tawny Man Trilogy. It has some decent magic with one of the best animal connection plot-lines, if you liked Perrin's Wolfbrother story. It's also among the most emotionally charged series I've read. When you get into it, you actually care. I highly rate Robin Hobb, for whatever that may be worth. A potential negative is that it is not action-packed. It certainly has it's share of action and enough plot to be interesting, but you won't get epic battles and huge armies like WoT. 

 

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series is a good one. Lots of different types of magic and a sprawling world and a massive plot with lots of different aspects and a big military theme. It's confusing as all hell to actually fit all the pieces together (in fact, I don't think you really can) and sometimes you get lost, but it is definitely a good read. Potential Negatives: You get totally lost and a lot of things simply don't make sense (a lot is expanded upon in later entries or other titles about the same world). There's a lot of seemingly pointless plot-lines as well, which kind of have nothing to do with the main plot. They are relevant to the WORLD, and are expanded upon in other titles, but they don't connect to the overall story like the WoT brings things together. Erikson also has a tendency to wax philosophic and get lost in a few pages of musing. Nonetheless it is very good and has some really excellent characters. (Anomander rake, Tehol and Bugg, Cotillion, Tavore - the list is endless really)

 

I'll leave it at that for now. There are others, but I don't want to be writing a year long post hah. 

I started mistborn last night, im up to chapter 4, I dont know if I will like it or not but its still early in the book. Hope it goes into better detail about the alomancy. (i hope i spelt that right) as I am confused atm about it. I do like the way its written tho.

 

I think I may shelf that one for now and start the codex alera as I love roman stuff, Looked it up last night as well and it seemed very well written from the excerpts I read.

[Songstress]

Mistborn eases you into learning about the magic system as Vin does so it eventually goes into a lot more detail.

 

I have only read the first Codex Alera novel so far, but I really enjoy Jim Butcher's writing.

[warlocke]

Ok that makes sense then. thanks