Recommend me some epic fantasy

badnewsBH said:
If you've not read them, I'd recommend The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. The series is apparently based on Welsh legends, and while it was supposedly aimed at a younger audience, I never felt the books were "kiddie fiction". I also felt as though Alexander handled the notion of a prophecy better than David Eddings. In Alexander's works, I felt that the results as prophesied were more natural; Eddings' characters were beaten over the head with it.
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Seconded. I try to push the series to the Harry Potter fanatic friends of mine. If there was any justice in the world, Alexander would have been the first Rowling.
 
Dr Richard said:
Malazan Book of The Fallen

Best epic fantasy. Ever.

Does not get going till book 2, and only starts to become coherent in book 3, but...wow.

IMHO beats Song of Ice and Fire, just. Be warned, main characters die just as easily!
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Seconded. Though - I still put RR Martin at the top of the heap (even moreso as I am currently re-reading Martin after having gone through all Erickson books not so long ago).

I actually REALLY enjoyed the first Erickson but yes, Book 2 and 3 is where its at for me.

The good thing about Erickson is that he pumps them out at a good pace, usually one every year. The problem with that is the editing - and this becomes more glaring as the series goes on. Maybe its cause I read all 9 (I think its 9 that are out now? Maybe 8) one after the other, but Erickson does end up "meandering" a lot whereas Martin's prose maintains a tightness and consistency that is admirable.

Erickson and Martin I would put #1 and #2, both have that sense of LOOOOOONG history to their worlds (maybe even moreso for Erickson, an archeologist) and both have hard-edged worlds where bad things happen to good people and the outcome is not always gonna be counted on to be a "win" for the good guys.

So yes, if this fellow Martin fan wants something to tide him over - Erickson all the way.

Also - China Mieville - pick up Perdido Street Station and the rest of that series. very interesting blend of steam punk and fantasy.
 
Praktik said:
Seconded. Though - I still put RR Martin at the top of the heap (even moreso as I am currently re-reading Martin after having gone through all Erickson books not so long ago).

I actually REALLY enjoyed the first Erickson but yes, Book 2 and 3 is where its at for me.
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The first book was written about a decade before the others. His style evolved and he seems to have changed certain things about the setting.
The good thing about Erickson is that he pumps them out at a good pace, usually one every year. The problem with that is the editing - and this becomes more glaring as the series goes on. Maybe its cause I read all 9 (I think its 9 that are out now? Maybe 8) one after the other, but Erickson does end up "meandering" a lot whereas Martin's prose maintains a tightness and consistency that is admirable.
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I also pay more attention to story and narative than prose. It is just how I read.
 
Anyone read any David Keck?

I got a few sitting on my wishlist @ chapters but havent put through an order yet. Looking at starting with "In the Eye of Heaven"
 
It may not qualify as "epic", but what about Ursula Le Guin's Wizard of Earthsea series? I still go back and re-read that one every few years.
 
ponderingturtle said:
I also pay more attention to story and narative than prose. It is just how I read.
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Well it just seemed to me, especially in the two more recent books, that I was "fast-reading" a lot of sections that waxed a little too poetical for my tastes, so that I could actually get to some "story".

Just seemed a little self-indulgent at times and that a paring knife would have made them feel like less of a "slog".

One thing I will say though is that there's always a payoff in every book. So even the two most recent ones were satisfying, just felt like I was wading through more tall grass than was necessary - and I think that can only be a product of how quickly the books are written and released.

All that being said - a fantastic world and a fantastic series with lots of intertwining threads and interests, and in this he is closer to Martin in style than say, a David Farland (lol!). Martin's does have a more "realistic" sense to it given its grounding in history (War of the Roses) and Martin's magic is more "corner of your eye" whereas Erickson's is a little mroe overt.
 
Praktik said:
Well it just seemed to me, especially in the two more recent books, that I was "fast-reading" a lot of sections that waxed a little too poetical for my tastes, so that I could actually get to some "story".

Just seemed a little self-indulgent at times and that a paring knife would have made them feel like less of a "slog".

One thing I will say though is that there's always a payoff in every book. So even the two most recent ones were satisfying, just felt like I was wading through more tall grass than was necessary - and I think that can only be a product of how quickly the books are written and released.

All that being said - a fantastic world and a fantastic series with lots of intertwining threads and interests, and in this he is closer to Martin in style than say, a David Farland (lol!). Martin's does have a more "realistic" sense to it given its grounding in history (War of the Roses) and Martin's magic is more "corner of your eye" whereas Erickson's is a little mroe overt.
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I petered out about half way through the fourth one. It always seemed to me like he was just recounting some old D&D campaign where he DM'ed a bunch of 25th-level characters engaged in random encounters with creatures from Deities and Demigods.
 
Morrigan said:
I can recommend the 9-volume Realm of the Elderlings series by Robin Hobb. The first trilogy is The Farseer (book 1 is Assassin's Apprentice), the second trilogy is the Liveship Traders (book 1 is Ship of Magic), and the last trilogy is the Tawny Man (book 1 is Fool's Errand). They should be read in this order. Good stuff.
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I actually disagree. (with the required ordering)
I unwittingly read The Tawny Man series First, which gave a very interesting perspective. My lack of understanding of the back story didn't at all limit my enjoyment of the series. Indeed, the hints at a greater past made the reading of the other two series much more enjoyable.


I'd wonder if the same thing would occur if you did the Liveships first...
 
tomwaits said:
I need something else to read while I'm waiting for the next volume in A Song of Ice and Fire. My preference would be that kind of Fantasy/medieval fiction.
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Anything by Tolkien
Anything by Pratchett

bit of a purist me
:D
 
Dave Duncan's Chronicles of the King's Blades are a lot of fun. Not so much "epic", they're fast-paced, swashbuckling adventures with a cool take on magic. But with some darkness and realism that's often absent in swashbucklers.

The first 3 books are an interlocking story, in which any 2 of the 3 will seem to contradict each other, until the third is read. At least that's true if read in published order; the author claims they can be read in any order, though. Additional books in the series tell standalone stories with different characters in the same world.



Hokulele said:
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.
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It's really more like 2 series: the 5 Corwin books, then the 5 Merlin books. The Corwin books are definitely better. The 5th Merlin book took forever to come out, and then it seemed to race to conclude the series, while some part of the story seemed to be missing. I think that Zelazny was already in ill health by then and was just trying to wrap it up quickly.
 
Morrigan said:
You can always try Memory, Sorrow & Thorn by Tad Williams, too. The prose is some of the best in fantasy out there, and it actually inspired GRRM to write fantasy.
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His new series Shadow March is also very good. Sort of 14th century Europe vs Arab empires vs Elves. Though I wish he would hurry up and write the third book.
 
joobz said:
Indeed, the hints at a greater past made the reading of the other two series much more enjoyable.
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How do you know it's "much more" enjoyable, since you can't have unread it and then read it again in the right order? :P
 
Oh and its not quite as large in scope as Erikson or Martin but I really did enjoy Lynn Flewelling's The Tamir Triad.

Give "The Bone Doll's Twin" a try and see how you like it - a very mature and interesting world.
 
ZirconBlue said:
It's really more like 2 series: the 5 Corwin books, then the 5 Merlin books. The Corwin books are definitely better. The 5th Merlin book took forever to come out, and then it seemed to race to conclude the series, while some part of the story seemed to be missing. I think that Zelazny was already in ill health by then and was just trying to wrap it up quickly.
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Absolutely. I sometimes treat it as a single two-part series, mostly because I went out and bought the omnibus edition so I wouldn't have to remember which book went where out of all ten.
 
Praktik said:
Well it just seemed to me, especially in the two more recent books, that I was "fast-reading" a lot of sections that waxed a little too poetical for my tastes, so that I could actually get to some "story".

Just seemed a little self-indulgent at times and that a paring knife would have made them feel like less of a "slog".

One thing I will say though is that there's always a payoff in every book. So even the two most recent ones were satisfying, just felt like I was wading through more tall grass than was necessary - and I think that can only be a product of how quickly the books are written and released.

All that being said - a fantastic world and a fantastic series with lots of intertwining threads and interests, and in this he is closer to Martin in style than say, a David Farland (lol!). Martin's does have a more "realistic" sense to it given its grounding in history (War of the Roses) and Martin's magic is more "corner of your eye" whereas Erickson's is a little mroe overt.
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Maybe a little bit.

But hey, were else can an undead army bent on genocide not be portrayed as the villains?
 
Madalch said:
The Order of the Stick is truly great fantasy, but Erfworld is more epic. Takes a bit to get used to it, though....
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Really? I'd disagree. Wide-ranging quest to defeat the probable destruction or enslavement of all existence seems kinda epic. Plus the battle for Azure City.
 
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