I suggest Brent Weeks of the Night Angel trilogy. It's quite brutal and convoluted but he ties the story up quite nicely. I only wish he wrote more as the story was left open.

Reading Malazan Book of the Fallen now and must admit that I like it a lot. First book was convoluted but from the 2nd book onwards there's a kind of familiarity that pulls you into the story.

ASOIAF seems to have lost its momentum with ADWD. Story not going forward much and not as interesting as the first 3 books.

For stand alone fantasy books I like Guy Gavriel Kay. Tigana, Last Light of the Sun,

Also quite like Lynn Flewelling's Tamir series and Nightstalker series.

Dragonlance novels are a mixed bunch but always fun to read.

Joe Abercrombie's The First Law Trilogy was also quite good.

Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller chronicles also promises to be good, but I fear it will end up like ASOIAF. Fours years between book 1 and 2 already. I think there's still a book 3, but maybe it'll end up being extended like ASOIAF or WoT.

Haven't checked out Robin Hobb and a few others. Have a list of to read books somewhere I need to dig out.

George R.R. Martin ASoIF - hands down the best adult fantasy out there. May not be for someone who's looking for quick and fast action. But for someone like me who has grown tired of reading of tons and tons of LotR and similar works, this series is highly recommended. Its major strength is its characterization and dialogues. Never will you meet such a wide disparity of well-written characters and best of all, there is no clear-cut who's the good/bad guy; it just depends on the point of view.
Plot is intriguing enough, pace - depends on which book of the series. Fighting - brutal and realistic. FYI, I have first read this series in 1994 and have re-read it 3-4 times since. The re-read is a must because the author is a very sly guy; there are hints and foreshadowing throughtout the series, you'll never know what you are missing. Also, re-reading the dialogues are very rewarding too. The only negative thing about this series is the wait. Imagine yourself like me waiting for 5 years for the next book. But Padawan, patience is a virtue, so I shall keep my fingers crossed and hope that the author outlives the series.

Other fantasy series that I have read which is worth mentioning are: Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive, Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller chronicles, Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards and to a certain extent a few of Joe Abercombie's works which I enjoyed like BSC, Heroes, Red Country.

Also, other works by GRRM are quite refreshing too in the sense that these books do not fall into the normal cliche like the Fevre Dream, Dying of the Light,etc.

Will keep an eye out for those other authors mentioned above..once i am done with ASoIF..thanks mate!

I am a big fan of Wheel of Time. Currently reading book 10: Crossroads of Twilight.

Other fantasy books I've read includes: Lord of The Rings, The Hobbit, Narnia series, Bridge to Terabithia, random Charmed novels, random Angel novels, random Buffy: The Vampire Slayer novels, random Magic: The Gathering novels. I really loved the Kamigawa arc for Magic: The Gathering novel series.

Thanks for all the recommended books in this topic. I plan to check them out after I finish my to-read list. It's a long list and mostly science fiction.

Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series is fantastic.

Novels

Bloodstone (1975)
Dark Crusade (1976)
Darkness Weaves (1978) (editorially altered abridgement published in 1970 as "Darkness Weaves With Many Shades")

Story collections

Death Angel's Shadow (1973)
"Reflections for the Winter of My Soul" - Kane meets an enemy who knows him (sequel to Dark Crusade)
"Cold Light" - a knight's quest to kill Kane
"Mirage" - Kane discovers that death is not the answer to his problems
Night Winds (1978)
"Undertow" - Kane's mistress attempts to escape from him
"Two Suns Setting" - Kane witnesses the death of the last of an elder race
"The Dark Muse" - Kane's poet friend takes inspiration from a journey to chaos
"Raven's Eyrie" - a previous victim attempts revenge
"Lynortis Reprise" - the survivors of a siege meet a betrayer
"Sing a Last Song of Valdese" - a wizard's revenge
The Book of Kane (1985)
"Reflections for the Winter of My Soul", "Sing a Last Song of Valdese", "Raven's Eyrie" and:
"Misericorde" - a girl demands her lover prove himself
"The Other One" - the gods are sometimes merciful; Kane is less so

Thread resuscitation!!

Hi I read half of Magician and loved it. I'm planning to read the rest of the Riftwar Cycle series.


I'm planing to read David Eddings' and Salvatore's. Heard Salvatore is very excellent at writing fight scene.

Thanks, since more than one person think it's good, I'll check it out too.

I also plan to read ASoIaF. Heard that George put a lot of realistic humanity in his novels' characters which is why the series is popular.

Thanks for these perspectives.

__________

Thanks for the thread and recommendations, folks!

I have Riftwar Cycle, Belgariad, Mallorean, Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire but so far I've only read half of Riftwar Cycle's Magician, lol. I'm becoming a bookworm for one, I love fantasy sword-and-sorcery stories, two, I'm trying to learn from the authors how to write an epic fantasy since I'm trying to write my own fantasy sword-and-sorcery stories. So yeah, I have lotsa reading, writing and research to do.

And more recommendations, opinions and reviews from you guys is better. ^^

Cheers!

Try newer stuff like the Powder Mage trilogy, the Stormlight Archive, the Traitor Son cycle, Mark Lawrence's 'XXX of Thorns' books, The Thousand Names, etc. All really good stuff.

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll check them out.

This post has been edited by Zefreonnoerfez: Jul 16 2014, 02:06 PM

I'm gonna try Stormlight Archive. Read its info a bit, seems like it has nice storyline. Way of Kings, here I come!

This post has been edited by Zefreonnoerfez: Jul 17 2014, 11:39 PM

The Riyria Chronicles (and spin-offs) by Michael J. Sullivan.




-- Theft of Swords, Michael J. Sullivan



-- The Crown Tower, by Michael J. Sullivan


Someone mentioned The Lies of Locke Lamora of the Gentlemen Bastards Sequence. It's a good series. For something in the same vein but 'lighter':

-- "The Legend of Eli Monpress 1: The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron

This post has been edited by ray123: Jul 21 2014, 01:00 PM

I've been reading the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson this year. His books are really giant! I have not been reading any of the TOP A list fantasy guys such as Tolkien or R.Jordan but I'm opting to read them soon.

Sanderson's book, I tell you... sometimes they are jaw dropping good!! I'm currently 75% at "The Well of Ascension" and it is driving me nuts [in a good way]!

After this, I might wanna try Patrick Rothfuss "The Name of the Wind" (This Kingkiller Chronicles). I heard many good things about this. *woot woot*

I'm curious about this series as well but where did you get it?

Various sources, but the bookstore at Amcorp Mall (Book Xcess?) has quite a lot of copies for cheap. However, don't think they have the complete series there.

Cheap as in the mass paperback edition? I prefer the high quality paper ones cause it aches my heart when they turned yellow, I love my books a lot . But will check it out, thank you.

Yup.

I love my books too, but when you start to have a few hundred books with no shelf space, you appreciate the fact that they are probably meant to be shared before they turn yellow.

Or before they were being tear apart by your kids. My eldest daughter manage to tear the cover of one of my dragonlance books by stepping on it while trying to pillage my bookshelf.

Name of the Wind is good, but Wise Man's Fear is just plain terrible IMO

For those who have ran out of new fantasy series to read (or like me who has been patiently waiting for the book 6 of you-know-what series), check out this debut by Anthony Ryan - Blood Song. Extremely exciting, fast paced, easy to read - not burden by pages of unnecessary description. Definitely one of the top fantasy series released this past 2 years. Some resemblance to Rothfuss Name of the Wind series but definitely more fast paced.

Still on my 1st book for Wheel of Times. I read off Kindle during commute and flights, Amazon make it too easy to purchase new books, buying rate is faster than reading rate.