Kevin's Watch

Been a while since I read any Donaldson books, because well iv read them all. Going to wait for the final two books of TC to be released before I finish that series.

Basically just looking for a new series to get into... few rules, must be Fantasy and must be complete, having read a song of ice and fire and a sword of shadows im kinda fed up of unfinished storys

Just finished reading the Tawny man trilogy by robin hobb, that along with the farseer trilogy are hands down my fave books, I love the first person perspective and the characters are just amazing, so those of you who have read these series get an idea of what I like.

Heres what iv read so far..

LOTR
Harry Potter
His Dark Materials
History of the Runestaff
The Chronnicles of TC
The GAP Sequence
Mordants Need
A Sword of Shadows
Song of Ice and Fire
Elric
The River God
The Farseer Trilogy
The Liveship Trilogy
The Tawnyman Trilogy

Debating weather or not to read the Soldiers Son Trilogy following on with Hobb but its had alot of negitive reviews from what I can see. Anything else iv come across is incomplete..

So yeah, what would you recommend?

Cheers

The Malazan Book of the Fallen

Yah, if you can make it past that whole first book. I haven't yet... and have been trying for a long time.
: (

dw

Don't start your crap, dw.

Indeed, Malazan is extraordinary. The 10th, and final, book in the series is about to come out. Well, it seems in less than a year, anyway. There are some 10k pages to read until you would have to worry about waiting around for that, though. Author is Steven Erikson. First book is Gardens of the Moon.

Earthsea is another of my very favorites. Much shorter. Only six books, and none are half as long as the shortest Malazan book. Author is Ursula K Le Guin. First book is A Wizard of Earthsea.

(deja vu!)

Julian May's Saga of the Exiles (The Many-coloured Land, The Golden Torc, The Non-Born King, and The Adversary)

Feist and Wurtz's Empire Series (Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the.., and Mistress of the...) though you might want to read Feist's Riftwar saga first (Magician, Silverthorn, and Darkness at Sethanon). Try not to get sucked into Feist's books after those three though, you'll be disappointed!

I've made it to the 9th book of the Malazan series and I might well make it to the end, too.

I'd recommend it.

Ditto most of Stonemaybe's list.
I'll go further than Fist and say read anything Le Guin. [and say hurrah, Malazan will be done before my reading catches up to it, I'm only third, didn't want to wait].
A couple older ones that I haven't read in a long time, but originally liked:
Zelazney's "Amber" books [I think you can actually get the whole series in one book now...IIRC, "Nine Princes in Amber" is the first]
Silverberg..."Lord Valentine's Castle," "Valentine Pontifex" and one other in that trilogy [there may be more works in that series/world, but I only read the trilogy and liked it].

Here's a NO-gestion: At all costs, avoid Cook , anything related to the "Black Company."

Vraith wrote:I'll go further than Fist and say read anything Le Guin.

True enough. I had the impression he wanted multi, though.

Vraith wrote:Here's a NO-gestion: At all costs, avoid Cook , anything related to the "Black Company."

I'm sure there's a thread here where a couple people give it good recommendations. Between that and Erikson's intro to it in the edition I saw in the store the other day, I'll definitely give it a go.

DukkhaWaynhim wrote:Yah, if you can make it past that whole first book. I haven't yet... and have been trying for a long time.
: (

dw

Skip the first book if you can't get through it. Read the 2nd, 3rd and 4th, then go back and read book 1 again, and it'll mean a whole lot more.

--A

R. Scott Bakker's "Prince of Nothing" Trilogy. Starts with the book "The Darkness that Comes Before". Can't recommend it highly enough.

Sorry for the double post...

It's not a series but rather a stand-alone book. There is no better reading experience than Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire" about the Spartan defense of Thermopylae. If you have not read this book you have not lived. Trust me on this one (at least as much as you could trust some random stranger who you've never met who posts on an internet board).

heh i was wonderin where the bakker crew was!

My first post in this site, but wanted to share my latest discovery with you.

Fiona McIntosh has written four fantasy trilogies and each one is better than the last. I am currently reading the second book of the Valisar trilogy (her latest series), and the third book is due out in October I think.

But try the Quickening, or Percheron, for great traditional fantasy, characters you will love (or love to hate).

I haven't read a lot of fantasy (David Eddings, Tolkien, JK Rowling are my favourites) but Fiona has inspired me read and write again.

Happy reading!

Not a series (although a new volume seems to be in the work), but a long and extraordinary novel:

'Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell', Susanna Clarke.

One of the best if not THE best of the past decade.

I enjoyed it, but I didn't think it was great. Still, it's probably due a re-read.

--A

I'm actually in the process of reading it... along with several other things

Anyway, before I got all loopy there, I was going to say that I'm enjoying it thus far... reminds me of Tolstoy a little (I haven't read any Jane Austen, so can't say it reminds me of that).

After having enjoyed Hamilton's Night's Dawn "trilogy", I picked up some of his newer books. I finished the Commonwealth saga (two books) and started the Void series, set in the same universe. Really, really enjoyable space opera. Much, much better than his earlier work: he maintains his excellent plotting, gripping characters, awesome worldbuilding, epic sweep, and his wit and humor, but the scientific underpinnings are much stronger now, resulting in more plausibility and satisfaction. Certainly he is now on the same playingfield as, say, Iain Banks, Verner Vinge, and Dan Simmons. I recommend.

Orlion wrote:...reminds me of Tolstoy a little (I haven't read any Jane Austen, so can't say it reminds me of that).

Reminds me of Dickens.

Loved Nights Dawn, until I got to the ending. Damnit. The VoidHawks are awesome though.

--A

Avatar wrote:Loved Nights Dawn, until I got to the ending. Damnit. The VoidHawks are awesome though.

Exactly. This is not an issue in his new serieses. Very good, enjoyable, satisfying endings. That don't resort to ... well, let's call it the supernatural all-problem-encompassing ending.

And leave us not forget (major spoiler)

Spoiler

the ghost of Al Capone!!

Still, I'll check out the ones you mentioned if I come across them.

--A