Judging by the other thread, polling our favorite genres, we have alot of fantasy buffs here. What better to do then to talk about our favorite series, author, hero etc? Discuss the books we've read, and introduce others to the books we like!

I'll start. Some of my favorite fantasy books include: George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt, and Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. The shortest of these is four books long, and the longest (not in terms of volumes, but sheer pages) is a whooping 11 books and counting - I'm speaking of the Wheel of Time.

Amongst my selection, I think ASOIAF and the Book of the New Sun may not be as well known. Both are very good series, but quite different from your standard sword and sorcery adventures. ASOIAF has a more medieval theme to it - knights, warring states, political intrigue. Its been compared to the war of the roses in fact. Magic does exist in the universe, but its a lost art and seldom factor into the story. Definitely something you should read if you're looking for fantasy beyond the norm.

The Book of the New Sun on the other hand, is as much fantasy as it is sci-fi. Instead of being set in the past, it explores a future where technology has regressed, and humanity once again exist in a dark ages settings. Remaining artifacts of technology are often treated like magic, but our hero, Severian, carries but a two handed sword called Terminus Est. Its important to mention that Severian is a hero unlike any other. He is an executioner and a torturer, not a noble knight or mage.

Well, these are my favorites and recommendation. What's everybody's?

Yeah, the book will indeed be written by one Brandon Sanderson, based on the notes prepared by Jordan. Wiki has an entry on this here.

Very nice to see a fan of the fantasy genre as well, especially one who has read George R.R. Martin and Gene Wolfe. Your comments on the Wheel of Time and ASOIAF rings true - WoT was honestly going nowhere plotwise for the last 3 or 4 books, and Mr. Martin really needs to pick up the pace of writing. I remember A Dance of Dragons was supposed to be half done at the time of A Feast for Crows publishing, and set to be completed within 6 months. 2 years have passed and still no sign of the book.

Discworld is a series of books I truly want to collect, but am intimidated by the sheer number of volumes already available. If I were to collect them all I would be a poor poor man. I resort to friends and libraries for this series, and have read whatever I could get my hands on. Deliciously funny stuff really.

There was a series of books I never mentioned in my first post: The Book of Swords, by Fred Saberhagen. Ever read those?

As for Malazan, I'll wiki it and see if I can pick it up.

They're showing an anime adaption of Guin Saga this season. Just so you know, assuming you don't.

I have Magician, Silverthorn and Sethanon, but not the rest of his books. I liked the Magician series a lot, but I never got down to getting the rest of the Riftwar saga, and nowadays, after reading Martin and Erikson, Feist just doesn't measure up anymore.

I doubt you'll find the Malazan books in rental stores. They aren't that famous methinks. I got mine (1-7) from Kinokuniya, cost me a total in the vicinity of 200 bucks or so. Strangely enough, the TOR versions are around 30 bucks, while the other version was 40. Guess which I got.

Mmm, yeah, A Dance with Dragons is available at kino. I got mine on the 12th itself. Saw someone reading the book in KLCC park. ASOIAF really has some fans over here.

Unfortunately the book is still sitting unread on my shelf. Need to finish the last 200 or so pages of The Way of Kings first.

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.

Did you try ordering from them? Kino's one of the better stocked bookstores, so if they don't have it, you're going to have a hard time finding it elsewhere. Kino will order for you if you ask them to, no extra charges. You just have to wait a bit.

In other news, here's what I've been reading this past 2 years:
The Shadow Campaigns (up till Book 3 now)
Gentleman Bastards (up till Book 3)
Raven's Shadow (only Book 1)
Everything Brandon Sanderson
The Powder Mage (completed)
The Fitz and the Fool (Book 2 of 3. So good to have Fitz back)
The Traitor Son (come on Book 3!)
Assorted Guy Gavriel Kay

Going to start Twelve Kings in Sharakhai soon, right after I finish Fool's Quest. Then on to Seveneves.

Things I can't/haven't finished:
Mark Lawrence's The Broken Empire/Liar's Key
Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle
the Djinni and the Golem
The Rainwilds books
The Kharkanas books

Series with endings that I don't think will ever see the light of day:
A Song of Ice and Fire (I'm looking at you, George)

This post has been edited by dishwasher: Sep 21 2015, 04:43 PM

If you like books where the main character grows up and ends up becoming a badass hero, then Bloodsong is pretty good. It's part of three books, but I haven't started Book 2 and 3 yet. To be completely honest tho, a lot of people seem let down by Book 2 and 3. Still, Bloodsong stands alone pretty well.