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Thread: Best Fantasy Novels

  1. #1

    Default Best Fantasy Novels

    I must confess I am a huge fantasy novel buff. I've read many of the best series but I am always looking to share my knowledge and pick up any tips on other good novels.

    Here are my top fantasy series of all time, ranked in order of how much I liked them. Please note that I have not finished all of them. Some are not complete (such as Jordan's series) and some I simply haven't gotten to yet.

    1. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
    This series has everything. War, politics, intrigue, magic, mystery, romance, and plot twist after plot twist that you'll never expect. No character is sacred and you will cheer, scream or cry when your favorite character is killed off. Be advised, it is extremely graphic and gritty. The series is incomplete, with 4 of the planned 8 volumes released so far.

    2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein
    This pioneering work of fantasy is still as relevant and potent today as the day it was written. Its a masterpiece of literature that everyone should read.

    3. The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
    This is another great work of fiction that follows a group of young adventurers who each play a key role in saving their land from both the evil Dark One and foreign invaders, along with elements in their own country whose zealotry makes them dangerous. It is not as gripping or compelling as the two works above, but it is entertaining and exciting nonetheless. Jordan died before publishing his final novel, so it is being written from his notes by Brandon Sanderson.

    4. The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
    Goodkind borrows heavily from Jordan, Cooper and others but makes an interesting and compelling story just the same. He is the complete opposite in style and theme from Martin. Goodkind uses each story to teach a lesson, both to the characters and the reader and relies heavily on prose and monologue to get his points across. That said, his prose is wonderful and while the ending of many books may be predictable, the "how" usually remains a mystery until the very end. This series is complete.

    5. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
    Disclaimer: these are technically children's novels. However, this is still a fun and interesting series that I would quickly recommend to any adult fans of the fantasy genre. This series follows the battles of the Old Ones against the Great Lords and how the entanglements of mere humans could help tip the balance of the war either way. This is a clear-cut good vs. evil series, so if you're looking for emotional ambiguity or deep plots and betrayals, steer clear.

    How about you guys? What are your top fantasy series'?
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    I must admit, the only ones I read out of that list Dawn, are the Lord of the Rings. They were pretty good books, (prob should reread them since I was in 7th-8th grade when I read them).

    Anyways Dawn, have you read any of Tolkein's other books like the Hobbit? (Truth is, I've only read the Hobbit, and I can't think up the names of the other books he wrote)


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    R.A. Salvatore.

    If you have not read any off his books and you are a fantasy fan, you should. He is a descriptive, exciting author capable off creating worlds and action sequences that rival many a movies in my mind.

    Give him a try, you will like his style.
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    i'm in the middle of Wheel of time. The Hobbit is a great read but it cant hold a candle to LotR. the follow up series has 10x the depth and bredth as its predacesser.
    i'm always captivated by a reread of Melanie Rawns books. admitedly i've only read 3 of her series, but each has its own alure and i get lost in them even after the 100th read (not an exageration btw) Terry Brooks has sevral worlds that he has captivatinly mastered. i'm trying to save my tip money to buy more of his so i can dive into those worlds anew with more charictore to love.

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    Cool

    A HUGE Fantasy saga that still has additions being made to it by the original authors and some others is the Dragonlance Saga, originally by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Although Tracy Hickman died somewhat recently, the books are as good as ever.

    So what will you do when they call your name and you're not ready to go?
    Everyone will stare at you and tell you what you know
    That you're in too deep and you can't quite keep your secrets, one and all
    We might just make it after all, on our own

    Quote Originally Posted by rasterbee View Post
    That's a cleverly stupid response, trogdor.

  6. #6

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    I think the most read fantasy novel would have to be The Bible.

  7. #7

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    I've read virtually everything Tolkein wrote, including The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. Both are fantastic in their own rite, but overshadowed by LotR.

    On R.A. Salvatore - I've heard good things. I'll put him on my list. Should I start with Icewind Dale?

    On Terry Brooks - I read a few of the Sword of Shannara books and they were decent but not really in the same league as the greats. I might return to this author as he was very prolific and there are probably 15 books I haven't read.

    On Dragonlance - I read one or two of them back when they were written by Weiss alone. Zzzzz.

    Some other series that come to mind:

    The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I failed to mention this one in my original post but it is also a classic. The new movies actually seem to do it fair justice but nothing compares with reading the original work from a master like Lewis.

    The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. Female author and female protagonist, but the women's lib gobbledygook is kept to a minimum and its actually a pretty interesting, if bizarre, story. This was actually written as a prequel to The Blue Sword, but it is much better and knowledge of The Blue Sword is not a prerequisite.

    The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. This is another one aimed at younger audiences and I haven't read it since I was a kid, but this basically got me started on the fantasy genre. It is loosely based on Welsh folklore and follows the adventures of a pig-farmer who falls in love with a princess and tries to save the world. Pretty standard stuff.

    Legends of Ulm by Grace Chetwin. Chetwin is the best author never to appear on Wikipedia. This series is rather unique among its peers as the story begins by detailing the minutia of the life of one character, and begins to inconceivably broaden to a scope even Tolkein might be impressed by. The first book is Gom on Windy Mountain.

    Dragon by Laurence Yep. This is a 4-book series loosely based on Chinese mythology. An unique aspect of this series is that the main character is -- you guessed it -- a dragon. It is also thematically different from almost all other fantasy books and because of this, it avoids borrowing from them or using too many fantasy cliches. Its a good read. The first book is Dragon of the Lost Sea.
    Last edited by Dawnseeker; 09-03-2009 at 08:47 AM.
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    At the moment there's only one real series for me

    Malazen Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dawnseeker View Post
    I've read virtually everything Tolkein wrote, including The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. Both are fantastic in their own rite, but overshadowed by LotR.

    On R.A. Salvatore - I've heard good things. I'll put him on my list. Should I start with Icewind Dale?

    On Terry Brooks - I read a few of the Sword of Shannara books and they were decent but not really in the same league as the greats. I might return to this author as he was very prolific and there are probably 15 books I haven't read.

    On Dragonlance - I read one or two of them back when they were written by Weiss alone. Zzzzz.

    Some other series that come to mind:

    The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I failed to mention this one in my original post but it is also a classic. The new movies actually seem to do it fair justice but nothing compares with reading the original work from a master like Lewis.

    The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. Female author and female protagonist, but the women's lib gobbledygook is kept to a minimum and its actually a pretty interesting, if bizarre, story. This was actually written as a prequel to The Blue Sword, but it is much better and knowledge of The Blue Sword is not a prerequisite.

    The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. This is another one aimed at younger audiences and I haven't read it since I was a kid, but this basically got me started on the fantasy genre. It is loosely based on Welsh folklore and follows the adventures of a pig-farmer who falls in love with a princess and tries to save the world. Pretty standard stuff.

    Legends of Ulm by Grace Chetwin. Chetwin is the best author never to appear on Wikipedia. This series is rather unique among its peers as the story begins by detailing the minutia of the life of one character, and begins to inconceivably broaden to a scope even Tolkein might be impressed by. The first book is Gom on Windy Mountain.

    Dragon by Laurence Yep. This is a 4-book series loosely based on Chinese mythology. An unique aspect of this series is that the main character is -- you guessed it -- a dragon. It is also thematically different from almost all other fantasy books and because of this, it avoids borrowing from them or using too many fantasy cliches. Its a good read. The first book is Dragon of the Lost Sea.
    Terry Brooks, good choice.
    Dragon Lance, good choice.
    The Chronicles of Narnia, not bad, but it is actually a story of Christianity.
    I would add to your list, Dragon riders of pyrn and the Xanth series by Piers Anthony.

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  10. #10

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    anyone read Chris Bunch's Dragon Master trilogy?
    Thats good.

    Also, although a little childish maybe, Christopher Paolini's Inheritance series is good (eragon etc.)
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