Recommend me some epic fantasy

Here's some excellent recent fantasy recomendations:-

Chris Wooding's 'The Braided Path' trilogy

Joe Abercrombie's 'The First Law' series

Robert V. S. Redick's 'The Red Wolf Conspiracy'

Scott Lynch's 'The Gentleman Bastard' series

Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont's 'Malazan' saga has already quite rightly been praised to the skies and is probably the best of the lot.
 
Small Town Jesus said:
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Scott Lynch's 'The Gentleman Bastard' series

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I second that. Especially the first book "The Lies of Locke Lamora".

My main recommendation would be Magician by Raymond E Feist. My favourite book of all time - though I suspect opinion here will be sharply divided as to its relative merits.
 
Allow me also to recommend Joe Abercrombie's "The First Law" Trilogy:
The Blade Itself
Before They Are Hanged
Last Argument of Kings

"If you're fond of bloodless, turgid fantasy with characters as thin as newspaper and as boring as plaster saints, Joe Abercrombie is really going to ruin your day. A long career for this guy would be a gift to our genre."

Moral ambiguity? You got it. Inspector Glokta, the crippled torturer is one of the best characters ever written, IMHO.

Mr. Abercrombie also has a new standalone just out: Best Served Cold, which is getting rave reviews.

Also seconded Scott Lynch: "The Lies of Locke Lamora", which I bought on account of the title alone. Imagine Ocean's Eleven con games set in Medici-era Venice. Utterly superb.

The SciFi writer Richard Morgan has done a neat twist on fantasy with The Steel Remains. Might be a bit hardcore for some: "Bold, brutal, and making no compromises - Morgan doesn't so much twist the cliches of fantasy as take an axe to them. Then set them on fire. Then put them out by ****** on them."

If you like GRRM I assume it is the politics and world building that is of interest, rather than questing/magic etc, so an interesting jumping off point would be K J Parker, with his Engineer's Trilogy:
Devices and Desires
Evil for Evil
The Escapement

Also good is Alan Campbell's Deepgate Codex:
Scar Night
Iron Angel
God of Clocks

and of course China Meiville, not a trilogy as such:
Perdido Street Station
The Scar
Iron Council

There are just so many good new authors around at the moment, but I am sorry to say you would be hard pressed to find them in US bookshops, which in my experience tend to feature little but US authors or acres of Warhammer/Halo/Star Wars titles. Maybe it has changed now, I hope so. I havent been to the US there for 3 years now, and was somewhat spoiled when living in the UK as I worked literally next door to Forbidden Planet, probably the best sf/fantasy bookshop in the world.

Thankfully, t'internet will save us all...
 
Small Town Jesus said:
Here's some excellent recent fantasy recomendations:-

Chris Wooding's 'The Braided Path' trilogy

Joe Abercrombie's 'The First Law' series

Robert V. S. Redick's 'The Red Wolf Conspiracy'

Scott Lynch's 'The Gentleman Bastard' series

Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont's 'Malazan' saga has already quite rightly been praised to the skies and is probably the best of the lot.
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I haven't tried Wooding and Redick but since I loved the rest of your list I'll give them a try. Thanks.

I'm thoroughly enjoying Brent Weeks' Night Angel Trilogy. Orphaned street kid gets apprenticed to a "ninja-stye" assassin. Much better than summary makes it sound.
 
I believe Morrigan and I have had this conversation before, but if you want to try fantasy of a different order, Tad Williams' Otherworld series is pretty awesome. I think it owes a debt to an often overlooked series from the past - The Riverworld books by Philip Jose Farmer. Williams is able to use the internet, AI, and a very advance virtual universe where Farmer had to introduce fantasy/magical elements, but the upshot is the same - a nifty plot device to get you in and out of sticky situations.

Another oldie but goody - The Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny - another venerable name from the past. Very light compared to the 700/1000 page monstrosities being written today, but extremely enjoyable. But in lieu of tome length - it's a series of about ten books.

And while not a series if that's what you're specifically looking for, for great classic fantasy, it doesn't get any better than Williams' single volume War of the Flowers. I'd pay big bucks for that to have been a series, as the ending left me clamoring for more. (Not because it was dangling - it's a very well-contained novel - but because the characters and situation were so enjoyable.)
 
I enjoyed Titus Groan and the Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake very much. I might just re-read these books now.
 
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Ethan Thane Athen said:
I second that. Especially the first book "The Lies of Locke Lamora".

My main recommendation would be Magician by Raymond E Feist. My favourite book of all time - though I suspect opinion here will be sharply divided as to its relative merits.
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Seconded. The Empire series by Feist and Janny Wurtz (I think that' show it's spelled) is also very much worth a read.
 
I'd recommend Ash: A Secret History and Ilario: The Lion's Eye by Mary Gentle. They're both set in the same alternate history, though the stories don't overlap. Ash was published in one volume in the UK, but four separate ones in the US, according to wikipedia.
 
If you hate everything by Eddings and Feist, think that Jordan jumped the shark in his fourth book and find yourself completely unable to care about what happens to anyone or anything in the Malazan books, you might enjoy C.J. Cherryh's Rusalka series or her Morgaine series.
 
I add my voice for the Black Company by Glen Cook.

I was unable to stop once I started reading.

It is essentially a war told from the point of view of footmen rather than from the usual lords/marshalls/heirs to the throne...
 
Wit’ch Fire by James Clemens - the first book of the Banned and the Banished.

The Coldfire Trilogy by C.S. Friedman
 
Worm said:
Thomas Covenant?
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Seconded.
Great anti-hero story.

As for a quick read I really like R. A. Salvatore's stuff. Likeable characters, but wholly predictable story writing. 300 page stories that can be read in a few hours FWIW.
 
Morrigan said:
I started the Chronicles of the Black Company recently, and so far I'm a bit underwhelmed. True, it is dark and gritty and depressing (sometimes almost too much), but there isn't much going on in terms of plot or character development. I just hope it gets a bit more interesting... I have to say, it's probably even darker and grittier than A Song of Ice and Fire, but in terms of everything else, so far ASoIaF craps all over it. And yes, I'm also exceedingly impatient to read A Dance With Dragons. :(
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Try the Malazan book of the Fallen. At least as Dark and the black company but writen like ASoIaF and these books actualy come out!
 
I would also recommend Steven Brust's series that started with Jhereg, or his semi-parodies of Dumas that started with The Phoenix Guards.

Foolmewunz said:
Another oldie but goody - The Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny - another venerable name from the past. Very light compared to the 700/1000 page monstrosities being written today, but extremely enjoyable. But in lieu of tome length - it's a series of about ten books.
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I liked the first half of the series, but the second half was just sorta OK for me. Tomwaits, you don't have to read all 10, there is a definite break between the two halves.
 
Small Town Jesus said:
Here's some excellent recent fantasy recomendations:-

Chris Wooding's 'The Braided Path' trilogy

Joe Abercrombie's 'The First Law' series

Robert V. S. Redick's 'The Red Wolf Conspiracy'

Scott Lynch's 'The Gentleman Bastard' series

Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont's 'Malazan' saga has already quite rightly been praised to the skies and is probably the best of the lot.
Click to expand...

I don't think the Esslemont books are as good as the Erikson books.
 
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