Fantasy/Sci-fi Book recommendations revisited

Since the major guys (GRRM, Lynch, Rothfuss, Abercrombie, Weeks, Sanderson, Brett, Cook etc.) are already listed, here are some lesser known authors I've found enjoyable:

Michael Sullivan: The Riyria Revelations
Daniel Abraham: The Long Price Quartet
N.K. Jemisin: The Inheritance Trilogy
Glenda Larke: The Watergiver/Stormlord Trilogy
Trudi Canavan: The Black Magician Trilogy, Traitor Spy Trilogy
Garth Nix: Abhorsen/The Old Kingdom

Older stuff by well known authors that are worth reading by if you have not gotten around to them yet:
Tad Williams: Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (GRRM's inspiration to write aSoIaF)
George RR Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas (same universe as aSoIaF)
Robin Hobb: Farseer Trilogy, Tawny Man Trilogy
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere, Stardust, Good Omens, The Graveyard Book, American Gods (these are not series, but they are definitely on my must reads list)
Terry Pratchett: Discworld Series(newer stuff are much better imo), Nation
Raymond E. Feist: Riftwar series
 
Riftwar sucks. It is about as bland and generic as fantasy books get. Name a genre cliche and its probably in there.
 
That might be true, my memories are probably tainted by the fact I read them while I was in middle school. I used to think Eddings was cool back then too, can't stand his crap now.
 
I like the coming of age type stories like name of the wind... i read the first book of the riftwars series (magician: apprentice), it started really well then all of a sudden had way too much going on with too many characters... would have been better if it had just followed the main char
 
Rosencrantz said:
That might be true, my memories are probably tainted by the fact I read them while I was in middle school. I used to think Eddings was cool back then too, can't stand his crap now.
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yeah..for a little i wanted to try re reading that shit--i'm sure it would seem stupid now, esp the forgotten realms stuff
 
what does everyone see in the SoiF books? I've read the first four (not sure if there are newer ones yet) and I didn't think they were very good.
 
Window said:
I like the coming of age type stories like name of the wind... i read the first book of the riftwars series (magician: apprentice), it started really well then all of a sudden had way too much going on with too many characters... would have been better if it had just followed the main char
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Heh, well most of the books I listed fall into that genre, except for Sullivan, Pratchett's main Discworld sequence and some of the Gaiman books. Pratchett's Nation and his YA stuff (The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, Tiffany Aching series) are in the coming of age genre. Hobb's Farseer Trilogy is probably the closest to what you're looking for though.

You might also like Lynn Flewelling's Tamir Triad, which is mostly generic coming of age fantasy with a few fucked up twists. Tamora Pierce's stuff are all coming of age fantasy...sorta a YA fantasy version of Ender's Game with female characters (but not as good and gets kinda repetitive)
 
retribution said:
what does everyone see in the SoiF books? I've read the first four (not sure if there are newer ones yet) and I didn't think they were very good.
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its not the stereotypical "good vs evil", everyone is flawed in some way or another--its a degree of character depth that most fantasy books can't really get at

it's also incredible detailed, which is part of the reason why it takes so damn long to crank the books out, the other part being that the guy probably came down with writers block and/or just stopped caring
 
bane said:
You said Sci/Fi so I'll put one up for John Scalzi Books by John Scalzi « Whatever

His books are almost an homage to Robert A. Heinlein, but I like them because of the sometimes serious, often hilarious, always ridiculous shit that he thinks up. His characters have the feel of real people. Good stuff.
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Agreed.

Really funny dialogue and characters (not silly funny but just funny smart-ass characters).

Interesting technological/sociological set-up as well.
 
retribution said:
if you havn't read any gene wolfe, I would start with the book of the new sun - that's four very dense novels that will keep you busy for a while. They're extremely well written. They may not be exactly what you're looking for if you want a more traditional sword and sorcery book but I would keep them on the list.

for something more traditional, the raymond e feist 'riftwar' series is a classic, and if you like them he's written a few more.
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While book of the new sun series is technically well written it is one of the few novels that I have ever had trouble getting through due to both the pacing and the sheer density of the writing.

When I eventually read Free Live Free I became really pissed off because it is fast, easy and fun to read. I had just assumed that Wolfe couldn't really help himself in terms of the writing style but it turns out that he intentionally made the New Sun series that freaking dense which sort of makes him an asshole in my book.
 
MADness said:
While book of the new sun series is technically well written it is one of the few novels that I have ever had trouble getting through due to both the pacing and the sheer density of the writing.

When I eventually read Free Live Free I became really pissed off because it is fast, easy and fun to read. I had just assumed that Wolfe couldn't really help himself in terms of the writing style but it turns out that he intentionally made the New Sun series that freaking dense which sort of makes him an asshole in my book.
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I enjoyed the slow pacing and the academic sort of writing through most of the series. It did sap the drama and suspense from the action sequences but I liked it overall. The first person narrative got too spotty though - sometimes it was fun to guess at what had been left out, but there were sections where I felt like I didn't have enough information to piece together what had happened.

He also wrote a sword & sorcery story in two books, the wizard and the knight, but I'm hesitant to recommend it - I don't think its as good as his other work, but if you like gene wolfe you'll enjoy it.
 
Someone has already mentioned the Takeshi Kovacs series by Morgan, don't let them slip you by.

My recommendations would be Iain M. Banks, Cormac series by Asher, Commonwealth saga by Hamilton.
 
Gygax's Gord the Rogue books, though simple and geared toward teenagers are pretty decent. It was his take on DandD, while others with the intellectual rights made the Dragonlance series.

Leiber Fafard and the Gray Mouser stories, each very creative. A lot of Lovecraft themes and things are spun out differently.

Princes of Amber books by Roger Zelanzy.

Stormlord and Birthgrave series by Tanith Lee.

Don't really care for the rest of his writing that much, but the two Mordant's Needs books by Stephen R. Donaldson are very good. I would consider them now to be kind of proto-gothic urban horror. They bridge the gap between Tolkien and Tanith Lee in a way that has been emulated by Martin and some others, and which the Wheel of Time series may have failed at.

The Black Company books must be good. I read The Silver Spike and really liked it, and then later realized it was one of Glenn Cook's series.

There are books I like that people would find strange, and other books that people like that I may see as flawed or uninteresting. It's hard to get a good handle on what other people enjoy about fantasy.

Wheel of Stars by Andre Norton- A comprehensive, 300 page fantasy novel that explains the Wheel of Time series.
 
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Dresden said:
Also Hyperion is amazing. Read the books a long time ago and now I'm listening to the Audio books. Great production value with 3 different narrators.

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I just read Hyperion/Endymion last year, fantastic novels.

Look into Jack L. Chalker if you can find his books printed anywhere.

The Changewinds Series:
* When the Changewinds Blow
* Riders of the Winds
* War of the Maelstrom

The Soul Rider Series
* Spirits of Flux and Anchor
* Empires of Flux and Anchor
* Masters of Flux and Anchor
* The Birth of Flux and Anchor
* Children of Flux and Anchor

I also really enjoyed The Saga of the Well World (7 books)
 
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