Best Fantasy/Sci Fi series you have read, or are reading?

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Jun 13, 2009
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Terry Pratchett's Discworld and offshoots such as the Wee Free Men series, they're great fun and always worth a re-read.

I'm also just starting on the A Song of Ice and Fire series and, while I have yet to read much of it, I'm loving what I have read.
 

GoldenRaz

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Mar 21, 2009
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Tales of the Otori - Lian Hearn
Harry Potter - JK Rowling
Also reading "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams right now, seems like a good contender so far.
 

SomeLameStuff

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Apr 26, 2009
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The Pendragon series is quite good. Its so much better than the Harry Potter series because there's an actual final battle between the main protagonist and antagonist! None of that "Okay you die now!*bad guy falls over*" crap that JK Rowling was spewing by the end.
 

EscapeGoat_v1legacy

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Aug 20, 2008
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The Black Magican trilogy by Trudi Canavan.
The Discworld saga by Terry Pratchett.
The Shannara series by by Terry Brooks.

These are all good fantasy serieses stories written be people who have first names that begin with T.
 

Dentedgod

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Jan 17, 2009
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Khell_Sennet said:
I don't really rate my books as "Best" ever, each has its own appeal, but the series I'm reading currently is rather intriguing.

The Vampire Earth series by E.E. Knight
Book #1 - Way of the Wolf
Book #2 - Choice of the Cat
Book #3 - Tale of the Thunderbolt
(Currently Reading)
Book #4 - Valentine's Rising
Book #5 - Valentine's Exile
Book #6 - Valentine's Resolve
Book #7 - Fall with Honor
(Upcoming Release)
I have to back him up, these books were awesome.
 

Dentedgod

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Jan 17, 2009
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Now to add my own. I just recently read two Trilogies written by S. M. Stirling. Both of these two series were so good that I went several nights without enough sleep just so I could read "just one more page".

Both trilogies are known as "Novels of the change" but both are told from a different group of people experiencing the change in different ways.

The first trilogy is as follows:
Dies the Fire
A Meeting at Corvalis
The Protectors war

The plot is simple yet complex. One day in 1998, there is a flash that starts in Nantucket and some of the laws of physics stop working the way we know them. This comes to be known as "The Change". Gun powder and Electricity just stop working. These three Novels follow a few groups of survivors in Oregon, who have to revert to medieval farming, fighting and in some cases, Empire building to survive but they do have a lot of our knowledge to help them out. Imagine Castles being built with our current knowledge of construction.

The second Trilogy is as follows:
Island in the Sea of Time
Against the Tide of Years
On the Oceans of Eternity

One day in 1998 the island of Nantucket gets thrown back to about 1300 BC but this time everything is working as usual. The islanders have to revert back to making everything (food, fuel, housing, everything) themselves because there is no more USA and therefor no infrastructure. Imagine what would happen if you had our current technological knowhow and were sent back to the Bronze age and you have the basic plot of the trilogy.

I would highly recommend both Trilogies. If my descriptions seem a bit bare that is because I am specifically avoided giving any spoilers. Lets just say that, after reading both these trilogies, I am going to read everything that S. M. Stirling has ever written.
 

KSarty

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Aug 5, 2008
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Honor Harrington novels by David Weber, I'm still waiting for the next one. Interesting universe he has created, excellent technology and newtonian physics based combat. It all makes for an epic Sci-fi War-drama. My only gripe would be that Honor appears to be too superhuman at times.
 

EMFCRACKSHOT

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May 25, 2009
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Nice long list for you :p. In order of preference:
Shannara by Brooks
Riftwar by Feist
Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett
Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan
Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks
Godspeaker trilogy by Karen Miller (I think)
Word and the Void by Brooks
Space Wolf Omnibus by William King
The Horus Heresy books
Inheritence by Poulini (spelling?)

Okay, i thought the list would be longer but i have forgotten everything i knew this morning.
 

JimmieDean

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Jun 11, 2009
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The Wheel of Time series.

Maybe I'm just a fanboy (forgive me if I am) but I have read countless fantasy series(not so much sci-fi some reason I just cant get into it as much) and The Wheel of Time to me has so far and probably will for a long time stood head and shoulders above the rest. Robert Jordan has taken what the classic greats invented and perfected it. The characters are so involving I have literally jumped up and down at certain parts in the book when something great is accomplished. I have cried out loud at other parts.. laughed, got physically angry. You find yourself truely wrapped up and cheering for these characters. The world is so indepth. If Jordan had the ability to live forever he could have written a 100 books without having to stretch the world anymore. There are series that come close but in my opinion (and it is just my opinion not fact) The Wheel of Time is the greatest fantasy series ever hands down. Robert Jordan was a genius of his genre.
 

JimmieDean

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Jun 11, 2009
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Higurashi said:
Hawkmoon, no doubt. By Michael Moorcock. Awesome in depicting darker sides of us and the world.

Then 'The Wheel of Time' by Robert Jordan. A lot to process, yes, but it's worth it. So very magical.

After that, Conan the Destroyer, surprisingly. Yes, you may laugh. Also by Robert Jordan. I was surprised to find that this was a very enjoyable read.
Those Conan books actually started me on a lot of great writers.. that is how i first came across Jordan (my uncle collected all those conan books theres an insane amount of them) but yes I agree that was a good read. Suprisingly enough there are a bunch others in that mess that are good but I don't remember its been so long.
 

Omikron009

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May 22, 2009
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I'd have to say Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke. It was a very very good book. Everyone forever should read it.
 

Higurashi

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Jan 23, 2008
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JimmieDean said:
Those Conan books actually started me on a lot of great writers.. that is how i first came across Jordan (my uncle collected all those conan books theres an insane amount of them) but yes I agree that was a good read. Suprisingly enough there are a bunch others in that mess that are good but I don't remember its been so long.
Makes us two, my man. We should look 'em up and find them again. Not all are good, I remember, but Jordan never disappoints me.
 

JimmieDean

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Jun 11, 2009
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Higurashi said:
JimmieDean said:
Those Conan books actually started me on a lot of great writers.. that is how i first came across Jordan (my uncle collected all those conan books theres an insane amount of them) but yes I agree that was a good read. Suprisingly enough there are a bunch others in that mess that are good but I don't remember its been so long.
Makes us two, my man. We should look 'em up and find them again. Not all are good, I remember, but Jordan never disappoints me.
Totally agreed. He was a master at his craft. I still have all of them on a bookshelf at my parents house but I only see them once a year.
 

Nigh Invulnerable

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Jan 5, 2009
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PedroSteckecilo said:
I love The Deathgate Cycle, written by Dragon Lance veterans Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman and it's easily my favorite series of fantasy novels. Why? It's definately got some of the best overall plotting, characters and world building I've ever seen.

Secondary favorite is The Belgariad by David Eddings... I just REALLY love his writing, everytime I reread my tattered copies of his books it's like visiting an old friend.
I too am a fan of Weis and Hickman, but am more a fan of the original Dragonlance trilogies they wrote. Eddings' work came across as Tolkien lite, which means I didn't really find it that interesting, but kept plowing through all five books of the Belgariad. None of his characters were very unique or identifiable to me. Silk'd amusing, but his constant barrage of 'clever' remarks just blends in with all the other characters' similar comments. Everyone has the same sense of humor. Eddings is good at telling what a character is like, not at showing. His descriptions of the landscape and such were very neat though.
 

Zombie_Fish

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Mar 20, 2009
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Well, I'd have to go for the standard ones:
The Old Kingdom (Garth Nix)
Discworld (Terry Pratchett)
Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

Obvious but simple none the less.
 

Aleifr

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Jun 16, 2009
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C. S. Lewis' "The Cosmic Trilogy" or "The Ransome Trilogy", it goes by many names. I started reading the first one, "Out of The Silent Planet" but stopped when I resumed school from summer vacation. The next two are "Perelandra" and "The Hideous Strength".
 

Clashero

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Aug 15, 2008
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My favourite is definitely The Lord of The Rings and its accompanying books (The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, Unfinished Tales).

I also love Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, with Men At Arms being my favourite.

oh! oh! The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever. Those surprised me with their awesomeness.
 

wgreer25

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Jun 9, 2008
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N-Sef said:
Frank Herbert's Dune. The series of books that followed the original are great, they expand the mythology of the Dune universe and it's just plain awesome to read. I've been a fan ever since I was in High School.
This, exactly this. Huge fan of the books. Was impressed with the SciFi miniseries that covered the first three books.