My longtime favs (apart from LOTR by Tolkien) are:
- The Realm of the Elderlings series bei Robin Hobb
- Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams
- Ea Cycle by David Zindell
this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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Have you continued with Abercrombie's books? He does not miss.
Lots of good suggestions already. I might recommend Uprooted by Naomi Novik, The Story of Silence by Alex Myers, or The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark.
My fantasy go-to series is The Chronicles of Amber. Roger Zelazny was a poet, and it comes out in his prose. Dude evokes visions inside your mind.
The universe is a collection of infinite reflections between order (ie Amber) and the Courts of Chaos. Corwin is one of the nine princes of Amber, an immortal who can travel between the reflections.
I read the first five books of the series every few years. But word of warning, the first book reflects the casual chauvinism of the the time it was written. Worth powering through those bits though.
The last five books are okay, but nowhere as good as the first five.
I'm saving this thread for later because I'm interested in this genre, I am totally new to books, I haven't even read LOTR, The Hobbit, Game of Thrones or House of the Dragons books, I have only consumed that through the movies and TV Shows, but seems like there are some really neat suggestions here.
Rick Riordan's various series might catch your fancy - they're really young adult fiction, but they're still a good read. They cover Greek, Roman, Norse, and Egyptian mythology from the perspectives of the god's half human offspring, bringing the mythology into a modern context while retreading the old myths.
Fairy Tale by Stephen King is a refreshing take on classic fantasy themes!
I just finished Dragon Weather by Lawrence Watt-Evans. It's got the dragons, magic, adventure and intrigue while also getting the main plot going almost immediately, which I like because I feel the beginnings of books from this genre can drag on forever. It's also a trilogy, so there's more if you like it. Currently I'm reading Empire of the East by Fred Saberhagen, and it's interesting so far because it is fantasy, but there's a science fiction element to it which is fun.
Mistborn is great, less dragons and more alchemical science. Begins with a satisfying tale of overthrowing the government, and then tackles some of the “okay… now what” with tons more interesting stuff along the way
Also great if you are a fan of raising a single eyebrow
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David Eddings? I read him way back when I was a kid (~35 years ago). Think the series was called The Belgariad or Belgarion. The first 3-6 books were fun in a light yet captivating, magicy, fantasy way.
I second this! There are two series in the world: The Belgariad and The Mallorean. Both are really good, and there's two standalone books that are intended to be read after both series called Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress.
The books are pretty much classic high fantasy, and each one is a fairly quick read!
You say fantasy, but while technically sci fi, I'd like to suggest the galactic milieu series by Julian May. It starts out sci fi and I guess constantly has sci fi elements but leans pretty heavily into bridging the gap to fantasy (elves, dwarves, shapeshifting monsters, magic etc)
Irene Radford The Dragon Nimbus series. I read it ages ago and have fond memories.
You should get on goodreads and look up books you loved to see what else is recommended from people who also read that book. I find great ones that way!
Otherwise I absolutely could not put “Forth Wing” down by Rebecca Yarros! The second book (five are expected) comes out in a week or two. A friend recommended it and it was so good I fell into a slump afterwards trying to find something as exciting.
One for the Morning Glory by John Barnes
The King of Elfland's daughter, by Lord Dunsany
The Reyira Revelations Is great fun. Five Gods is an outstandingly well-written series.
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The Belgariad and The Malloreon by David Eddings. His books have classic D&D feel, light reading with bits of humor.
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Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb. A massive plotline (all books already written so no need to wait), very dark, superb characters.
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The Eragon series? It's not that heavy fantasy, but the world is pretty nicely built IMO.
Also, on the wizardy side, I can recommend the Bartimaeus books, too, if you liked Discworld. Again, nothing super serious, but they are fun reads. (Best to read from physical books, they are heavy on footnotes and I found it reading on e-readers kinda awkward)