Fantasy novels

[kurotoshiro]

Anyone got any recommendations? I like the idea of reading fantasy stories, but I often find them badly written and end up putting them down. (This is true of Steven Erikson's "Gardens of the Moon" and George R R Martin's "A Game of Thrones". I got about a third of the way through each and then got tired of the bad writing). I'm currently reading Brandon Sanderson's "Mistborn: The Final Empire" and again I find the writing pretty bad (but I'm near the end, so I might just be able to solider on and see it through).

So, can anyone recommend any superbly well written fantasy? Does it even exist???

(btw, I have not attempted to read The Wheel of Time. Mainly because it's such a frighteningly large series of books. But I could be convinced to give it a go, if the writing is good).

[pauline]

Sorry Kurotoshiro cannot help you I read about 3 books per week but Fantasy is just not my genre.

[Deleted]

Not read Game Of Thrones although it is queued up in my Kindle library. Eriksson is heavy going and confusing - couldn't finish the 3rd. Have you tried Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy? Jack Vance's Lyonesse novels are good. Not sure they are superbly well written though.

[Rybes]

im not into readin books but me girlfriend just finished one called the left hand of god by paul hoffman. musta been good cos she didnt stop goin on about it for ages after. ill ask her what she recomends cos she loves books like that. personally i prefer haynes manuals

[Deleted]

actually, pretty much anything by Neil Gaiman is always good

[vereybowring]

I enjoyed "The Stone and the Flute" by Hans Bemmann.

I think you'll find just about all fantasy writing is rather turgid and very purple prose heavy.

I've read loads of them and never found a stand out extra special book or series.
Enjoyment also comes down to how much cheese you can take in from a literary source.

[womble]

It depends what you like to read, alot of David Gemmell's books are absolutely brilliant.
Also Raymond Feist's books.

A Game of Thrones, I read about a 5th way through and threw it away, terrible.

[Deleted]

Does discworld come under the fantasy / fiction tag ?

I've read loads of Terry Pratchett and thoroughly enjoyed the majority of them

[Deleted]

Look up the following authors, personally I think they are excellent:
Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth series
David Eddings - The Belgariad, The Malloreon
Katherine Kerr - The Deverry Saga (Daggerspell, Darkspell etc)
Raymond E. Feist - The Riftwar Saga
Alan Dean Foster - The Spellsinger Series

I have more but these come to mind.

I have been reading fantasy books most of my life.

[womble]

There is also Naomi Novak's, Temeraire series, which for the 1st 3 books is really good, but goes downhill after that.

The Spellsinger series I liked when I was younger, not sure if it would do it for me now. I still have the books, I'll have to dig them out.

I'm more into historical fiction now tbh, but I still have several hundred fantasy books.

[Deleted]

+1 for David Eddings, not forgetting the Elenium and Tamuli, along with Belgariad and Malloreon are series of books and The Redemption of Athalus. Definitely an enjoyable, light, read with quite a bit of humour.

Pratchett sort of falls into the fantasy, with a lot of humour as well, IMHO they started to mature about Men at Arms and really progressively improved after that.

[OneDay]

Stephen Donaldson's "Thomas Covenant" trilogy is brilliant
Tad Williams "otherland" series is not traditional fantasy but is set in a series of virtual reality worlds created by a cadre of rich guys set to exploit ... etc etc. Four huge books and I loved it all

[skyjay]

Jan 11, 2013 20:51:10 GMT womble said:

It depends what you like to read, alot of David Gemmell's books are absolutely brilliant.
Also Raymond Feist's books.

A Game of Thrones, I read about a 5th way through and threw it away, terrible.

[/quote Best writer ever got all his.....Davis Eddings also good writer...have a look on fantastic fiction web site

[sarahthesinger]

Jan 11, 2013 20:39:09 GMT @ashmal said:

Have you tried Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy?

I'm reading one of those at the moment. Unfortunately it's the 3rd one! Got it in the bargain section of one of the cheapie bookstores in town, but I might look out for the other 2.

I can recommend Raymond E Feist's Magician series - I've read through the lot twice. There's also a follow-on series he co-wrote with Janny Wurtz that is just as good.

Have you read The Talisman by Steven King and Peter Straub? It's a big weighty thing, but I read it in 3 days. Then about 6 months later I read it again.

Also, anything that Terry Pratchett's ever written.

StS

[womble]

Whilst not exactly fantasy, the "Stainless Steel Rat" series, set in a far future where we have inhabited all the planets, is a cracking read, for anyone.
It's not standard sci-fi and has a brilliant master criminal with a conscience, as the main character.
Really great reading. Worth reading from the start as well.