Difficult call... So many to choose from. Lets say toss-up between Matthew Reilly's Scarecrow series, and Derek Landy's Skulduggery Pleasant series.
Favorite book series
- Thread starter Elfgore
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O_O It's out?! Imma break into your house and steal it!jawakiller said:
Kidding aside, the Wheel of Time edges out Eragon for me, if only because I'm going to be able to brag about having read the whole thing (for those who don't know, the completed series is going to be 15 books, and each one so far is 600-800 pages). Eragon's magic system is by far the best in any fantasy story EVER, though.
Wait until I finish it, gosh. Got like, 30 pages to go.Aiedail256 said:
SPOILER ALERT: Ah, just kidding.
Yes. Best recent fantasy series out there, hands down.
Also, not quite as good, but still very entertaining are Joe Abercrombie's novels. Starts with a trilogy and currently has two other books taking place afterwards.
Also, not quite as good, but still very entertaining are Joe Abercrombie's novels. Starts with a trilogy and currently has two other books taking place afterwards.
Oh My David Bowie, I didn't know the last book was out yet! I have to go pick that up immediatly! I loved the series and picked up the third book the day it came out. Forgot about it because every one of my friends was telling me to "Chill" when I was waiting for the last one.jawakiller said:
Yes. I heartily agree, sir.General Grind said:
Also I enjoyed Joe Abercrombie's novels. They are also dark fantasy with complex and mature themes, but it doesn't reach the depth of the Malazan books.
It all begins by the source of your magic. Some get help by potions, some can conjure spirits, some are sorcery, and Riders (Like Eragon) gain the ability to use magic when they form thier bond with the dragon.Axolotl said:
Then the use of magic is based on your knowledge of the ancient language (The elven tongue where everything has a "True Name") So the more knowledge you have of the language, the better capability you will have to use it.
There are some exceptions to this as it is possible to cast magic without knowing the "True Name" of an object, but it is incredibly difficult and must have perfect concentration of the task at hand.
The laws of magic are then that ANYTHING that you do with magic, will take the equal amount of energy needed if you perfromed the tast physical and/or mentally. Do a task you are too weak to perform or an impossible task (Like riasing the dead for instance) and you die.
I can't remember all the details, it's been a year since I read it, but it is one of the most interesting ways of performing magic I have ever read.
I feel I earned my 'strange old guy' pass by saying Dragonlance (Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman), I honestly thought I'd see at least 2 or 3 other mentions, but it's all good. I also had a thing for the old Goosebumps, but thats nostalgia for you. If I had more time I had checked out a compilation book of Sherlock Holmes, but life has prevented me from reading it in as much of a calm manner as I wanted.
the Foundation and Robot series from Isaac Asimov. Nothing I have ever read has been that good. What an epic story, the scale of it is just baffling!
Brotip: many fans already know this, but if you start reading the Foundation and Robot series, start by reading the books in the order of apearance, and when you're done, re-read them in chronological order and suddenly you have a very different story. It's hard to explain... so to the sci fi store!
Brotip: many fans already know this, but if you start reading the Foundation and Robot series, start by reading the books in the order of apearance, and when you're done, re-read them in chronological order and suddenly you have a very different story. It's hard to explain... so to the sci fi store!
Well, I'm only about 180 or so pages into the second book, so except for Daenarys, those other two haven't gotten much mention, besides Jaime just being a total dick.Stekepanne5 said:
Dragonlance is the best. I can't even remember how many times I've read them.BishopofAges said:
Otherweis the Belgariad is good (Eddings)
along with The Discworld (TP)
Gentleman Bastards series(Scott Lynch)
and The Hitchhkers Guide To The Galaxy (Douglas Adams... duh)
Axolotl said:
Xenmas is kind of missing the point in that explanation, IMO. For me, the most awesome thing about this system is a result of the method of performing magic. You cast spells by describing the desired effect in a language far more robust than our own (presumably your unconscious mind is doing the translating between words and actual world manipulation), and the only limitations on what you can do come from the limitations of your vocabulary and, as Xenmas said, the fact that magic is powered by physical stamina and costs the same amount as it would have to perform the same task without magic. You can perform with magic literally anything you can think of, as long as it would have been theoretically possible to do it without magic and using only your body's store of energy.TheSuperiorXemnas said:
How do you kill a man with magic? You could levitate a pebble and put it on a collision course with his temple. You could force his heart to stop beating, or create a short-circuit in his brain. You could break a bunch of his bones, set him on fire or hold his nose and mouth closed until he suffocates. Or, if you knew a lot about human physiology you could just pinch off an artery sending blood to the brain, which presumably takes no more energy than "lifting an ink-laden pen", to quote one of the books (I think the first). But remember, lifting that pen with magic would actually tire you less than doing so without magic, because the normal way requires you to support the pen with your arm, which you then also need to lift. And your arm weighs a lot more than a pen.
This system is awesome because it's completely open-ended, and it upends the standard "science and magic don't mix" cliche seemingly effortlessly. Scientific knowledge is an invaluable asset to a magic user in this world, because magic is just using this new force to manipulate the world around you within the laws of physics.