Try reading a Xanth novel. And for free insanity try the Star Wars/Xanth fanfic Centaur of Attention and its sequel Catacombs. If you want a link to the fanfictions I can PM them.
Good fantasy (or sci-fi) books?
- Thread starter Arkhangelsk
- Start date
Lord of the Rings is well worth the read. That's all I'm saying.
The Ciaphas Cain novels are remarkably good for franchise books. They're set in the Warhammer 40k universe and manage to be quite funny while telling some rather interesting stories at the same time. The guy just spends a little too much time underground.
Mortal Engines is an absolutely brilliant steampunk sci-fi about cities that eat each other. They roll around on giant tracks and eat each other. It's got a bit of a downer ending, but you'll be hard pressed to find a more imaginative story.
As for fantasy, just about anything by Garth Nix is quite good.
The Ciaphas Cain novels are remarkably good for franchise books. They're set in the Warhammer 40k universe and manage to be quite funny while telling some rather interesting stories at the same time. The guy just spends a little too much time underground.
Mortal Engines is an absolutely brilliant steampunk sci-fi about cities that eat each other. They roll around on giant tracks and eat each other. It's got a bit of a downer ending, but you'll be hard pressed to find a more imaginative story.
As for fantasy, just about anything by Garth Nix is quite good.
The Artemis Fowl books are sci-fi-ish. They are very good though.
You could also try reading some of Terry Pratchet's works, aswell.
You could also try reading some of Terry Pratchet's works, aswell.
If you're just a casual reader, and you apparently don't like LotR, I'd go with the Dark Tower like many people are suggesting. I downright can't stand it. It's god awful as far as fantasy goes, but I hold all fantasy to Tolkien's extremely high standards. So if you don't like LotR, you'll probably like the Dark Tower stuff.
Personally, and I haven't finished it yet myself, I like the Dragon Prince and Dragon Star series by Melanie Rawn. It's two series of three books each. It has mages, dragons, desert kingdoms, good times, a splash of romance (not much though). I enjoy it a lot.
Personally, and I haven't finished it yet myself, I like the Dragon Prince and Dragon Star series by Melanie Rawn. It's two series of three books each. It has mages, dragons, desert kingdoms, good times, a splash of romance (not much though). I enjoy it a lot.
I'm one of those weirdos who disliked Y: The Last Man. I loved the premise but I just didn't find it very well done. I highly recommend Preacher, Sandman, A History of Violence, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (all graphic novels).
However, the man who I think has a very strong argument for Best Writer in the History of Everything is Jack Vance. His work directly influenced a lot of the D&D mythos and spells, which is already awesome. The fact that he writes sci-fi and fantasy is double-awesome. His Demon Princes series is amazing stuff, AMAZING with a capital AMAZING.
The only problem? Practically everything he's written has gone out of print.
It's annoying as all hell, because he was such a prolific writer. Read as much of his stuff as you can get your hands on; you won't be disappointed.
Also, read H.P. Lovecraft's horror-fantasy stuff. Call of Cthulhu, anyone? He only really did short stories and novellas, but he had the amazing gift of getting across a sense of eeriness in just a few pages if he needed to. Excellent stuff.
EDIT: I hated LOTR; it was like reading Shakespeare as written by a drunk fantasy author who kept forgetting what the point was and having his characters do a bunch of random crap.
EXTRA BONUS ROUND: Read stuff by Kurt Vonnegut, read stuff by Heinlein, read Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson, avoid Neuromancer (by Gibson) like the plague.
However, the man who I think has a very strong argument for Best Writer in the History of Everything is Jack Vance. His work directly influenced a lot of the D&D mythos and spells, which is already awesome. The fact that he writes sci-fi and fantasy is double-awesome. His Demon Princes series is amazing stuff, AMAZING with a capital AMAZING.
The only problem? Practically everything he's written has gone out of print.
It's annoying as all hell, because he was such a prolific writer. Read as much of his stuff as you can get your hands on; you won't be disappointed.
Also, read H.P. Lovecraft's horror-fantasy stuff. Call of Cthulhu, anyone? He only really did short stories and novellas, but he had the amazing gift of getting across a sense of eeriness in just a few pages if he needed to. Excellent stuff.
EDIT: I hated LOTR; it was like reading Shakespeare as written by a drunk fantasy author who kept forgetting what the point was and having his characters do a bunch of random crap.
EXTRA BONUS ROUND: Read stuff by Kurt Vonnegut, read stuff by Heinlein, read Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson, avoid Neuromancer (by Gibson) like the plague.
THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA!
God, I love that book so much. Imagine Ocean's Eleven meeting The Lord of the Rings.
Also:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (it won't take too long to read)
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (a fast paced book compared to other classics)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip Dick (I actually had to read this one for school. I liked it, though everyone immersed in popular culture hated it)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I never read the rest of the series, but I've heard they were just awful.
Dune by Frank Herbert, I guess, though I didn't like it too much. Everyone else seems to.
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt, although that's tentative. I'm still reading it, but it's not bad.
Anything by Kurt Vonnegut. I've only read a couple of his books, but I hear Slaughterhouse-5, Cat's Cradle, and The Sirens of Titan (I think that's it) were excellent.
God, I love that book so much. Imagine Ocean's Eleven meeting The Lord of the Rings.
Also:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (it won't take too long to read)
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (a fast paced book compared to other classics)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip Dick (I actually had to read this one for school. I liked it, though everyone immersed in popular culture hated it)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I never read the rest of the series, but I've heard they were just awful.
Dune by Frank Herbert, I guess, though I didn't like it too much. Everyone else seems to.
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt, although that's tentative. I'm still reading it, but it's not bad.
Anything by Kurt Vonnegut. I've only read a couple of his books, but I hear Slaughterhouse-5, Cat's Cradle, and The Sirens of Titan (I think that's it) were excellent.
Please, do yourself a favor and read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Normally, I can point out quite a few problems with a book's writing, especially when I really like it, but Rothfuss's writing is nearly flawless. I can not recommend this book enough.
Also, I would recommend The Sword of Truth series. It's quite the enjoyable series, given that you are capable of dealing with an uncomfortable level of preachiness now and again. Other than that, and Goodkind's obsession with pointing out his clever twists to the story to the point where you might begin to tell yourself it's not clever just to spite him, the series is fantastic. Richard is my second-favorite fantasy character of anything I've read.
Seriously, pick up The Name of the Wind.
Also, I would recommend The Sword of Truth series. It's quite the enjoyable series, given that you are capable of dealing with an uncomfortable level of preachiness now and again. Other than that, and Goodkind's obsession with pointing out his clever twists to the story to the point where you might begin to tell yourself it's not clever just to spite him, the series is fantastic. Richard is my second-favorite fantasy character of anything I've read.
Seriously, pick up The Name of the Wind.
Definitely would recommend the Game of Thrones, however, after the first two books it does seem to slow down and slightly annoy me. Not to say there isn't good parts, I just found a few poor chapters on reflection.
Could not recommend the Iain Banks Culture books highly enough. The Player of Games was a great book with a lot of hard questions thrown in for the reader to think on.
Could not recommend the Iain Banks Culture books highly enough. The Player of Games was a great book with a lot of hard questions thrown in for the reader to think on.
For the Sci-fi fan, some great books are The Star Wars: Republic Commando Series By Karen Traviss, or Gears of War: ASPHO FIELDS By Karen Traviss
Anyone notice a theme here
Anyone notice a theme here
Be sure if you do, to include Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.oliveira8 said:
Fucking awesome sci-fi series.
Discworld is great, as is pretty much anything by Neil Gaiman. American Gods is one of my favorite fantasy books, and he has a few books of short stories which are amazing.
One of my personal favorite fantasy authors is Guy Gavriel Kay. You should read Tigana and the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy.
Also, the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman.
One of my personal favorite fantasy authors is Guy Gavriel Kay. You should read Tigana and the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy.
Also, the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman.
Michael Swanwick. As of now, I've only read The Iron Dragons Daughter, which is really good. Easily one of my favourite books, and I've read a lot of books.
The title makes it sound very cheesy, but it avoids all the annoying cliche's of fantasy, though it still has it's tropes. Main character's very well done, very real. What I liked most about her is that she makes realistic, often incorrect decisions.
Oh whatever, great book, read it people!
The title makes it sound very cheesy, but it avoids all the annoying cliche's of fantasy, though it still has it's tropes. Main character's very well done, very real. What I liked most about her is that she makes realistic, often incorrect decisions.
Oh whatever, great book, read it people!
For Sci-FiIxionIndustries said:
DUNE/Emperor of Dune/Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion/Endymion/Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons
War of the Worlds/Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Neuromancer by William Gibson
A Stranger in a Strange Land/Starship Troopers by Robert A. Henlein
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?/ The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
I am legend by Richard Matheson
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Slaughterhouse 5 by...forgot who...dang!
The Foundation Trilogy/Robot series/Galactic Empire series by Issac Isamov
HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea/From the Earth to the Moon by Julio Verne(what? Its Sci-Fi!)
Frankenstein by...forgot who..dang!
The Time Traveller's wife by...also forgot...
Jurassic Park/Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
War with the Newt/.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Capek(not sure if thats the right name...)
1984 by Orson Wells
Necronomicon by H.P. Lovecraft(or any of the other loose books.)
A Clockwork Orange by..urg forgot who.
Uff....want more Sci-Fi?
Mary Shelley and Audrey Niffenegger. Both good books.oliveira8 said:
I'm going to plug for a little-known trilogy called 'The Great Game', by Dave Duncan. How obscure is this trilogy? I picked all three of them up for 50 cents (AUS) and it was at a bookshop, not even a sale. They're heavily religious (it's actually the main theme. Not very subtle), but I really enjoy them anyway.
You could try some David Eddings stuff. Not my favourite, but there's a lot to choose from.
Robin Hobb isn't bad either. I've read her 'Liveship Traders' series and thorougly enjoyed it.
Neil Gaiman is amazing - try some of his. If you want to get really freaked out, try his Sandman graphic novels, but his regular novels are good too. Much less freaky.
About Dune, I'd recommend maybe the first three? After that they get a little ... weird. Weirder than usual. It kinda turned me off the series.
Also, for sci-fi, I'm currently reading through 'The Reality Dysfunction', the first novel in Peter F. Hamilton's 'Night's Dawn' trilogy, and absolutely loving it. I would highly recommend it. I've heard 'Perdido Street Station' by China Mieville is also very good, if a little unusual. (if you're googling that, there's an accent over the first 'e')
Oh, and if you haven't read them already (in which case SHAME ON YOU) then you should read 1984 and Animal Farm, both by George Orwell.
I have to second The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny and the Bas Lag novels of China Mieville. Don't read the second if you have delicate sensibilities, though - and you will know fairly early on if you do.
I also recommend Lord of Light, by Roger Zelazny again. You said you wanted good fantasy/sci-fi books. Well this is perfect for that. I won't explain why: you have to read it.
I also recommend Lord of Light, by Roger Zelazny again. You said you wanted good fantasy/sci-fi books. Well this is perfect for that. I won't explain why: you have to read it.
A good fantasy book would be Legend by David Gemmell.Great book... check out others by that author too.