Good fantasy (or sci-fi) books?

[Arkhangelsk]

I've been looking for some good fantasy or sci-fi books to read. I'm going to read Hitchhiker's Guide, and I gave up reading the Foundation trilogy, so I'm wondering what I should read. (Oh, and I've read Harry Potter, I don't want to read Lord of The Rings, I'm already reading a little Eragon, so no need to mention them). One book I'm curious about is "A Game of Thrones" from the "A Song of Ice And Fire" series (heard the name and wondered what it was, looked it up, and thought; hey, this might be interesting). Take note of this: I'm not a hardcore fan of these kind of things, I don't know everything about everything when it comes to fiction books, or any books at all for that matter, I just merely like it as an eventual hobby.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Try the Orcs books by Stan Nicholls. I enjoyed them very much.
Although most Warhammer books are utter crap, the first book in the Genevieve series is rather enjoyable.

These two, as far as I know, come only in multi-books. So there's about 4 in 1.

 

[alwaysrockon]

yes a song of ice and fire is perhaps on eof the greatest fantasy books i have ever read. but dont read it if your looking for magic and stupid crap like that. its more like polotics in a fantasy world than just a story in a fantasy world.

but also look up the redwall series(semi childish but really good),

 

[szs0061]

i personally love the wheel of time series by james oliver rigney(robert jordan) that will keep you occupied for a long time and if you like them then brent weeks sure did rip off most of his night angel trilogy also i am a fan of robert a heinlein

 

[Arkhangelsk]

yes a song of ice and fire is perhaps on eof the greatest fantasy books i have ever read. but dont read it if your looking for magic and stupid crap like that. its more like polotics in a fantasy world than just a story in a fantasy world.

but also look up the redwall series(semi childish but really good),

What kind of politics? Today politics in a way, or feudal Japan, as in the Tales of Otori series?

 

[Lopunny]

I finished the Foundation series and i thought it was worth it

Anne McCaffrey is always worth it, the "Dragonriders of Pern series", they sorta straddle Sci-Fi and fantasy. Another author who does that is Maggie Furey and "The Shadowleague" series, which i greatly enjoyed.

My personal favourite fantasy novelist at the moment in a canadian women called Tanya Huff, specifically her Quarters Series, i'd VERY highly recommend those...

god, theres so many, id recommend Robert Jordans "The Wheel of Time" series, but theres currently 11 books in it, so i dont think its for the casual reader

One book I'm curious about is "A Game of Thrones" from the "A Song of Ice And Fire" series

They're generally held in pretty high regard, go for them

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

The Song of Ice and Fire series is interesting... it doesn't FEEL like Fantasy at first but fantasy elements gradually start to creep into the story as you go along. However, keep in mind that it's VERY dark and VERY depressing.

On the lighter side of fantasy, David Eddings's "The Belgariad" and it's sequel series "The Mallorean" are great series's with really likeable characters that pretty much provide plenty of great moments from beginning to end.

If you like weird fantasy check out China Meiville's "Bas'Lag" books, Perdido Street Station, The Scar and The Iron Council. Strange Steampunkish Urban Fantasy that really jumps genre lines.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

i personally love the wheel of time series by james oliver rigney(robert jordan) that will keep you occupied for a long time and if you like them then brent weeks sure did rip off most of his night angel trilogy also i am a fan of robert a heinlein

I actually tried to read them, but after half the first book, it got so terribly frustrating that I couldn't take any more. Not to say it's a bad book, just that my tiny rain can't handle that kind of complex, yet genius writing. When my English vocabulary and my patience gets better, I may start again, but for now, I'll put it on the shelf (no pun intended). It's sad though that the last book won't be written by him.

 

[Mewick_Alex]

Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series is damn good, couldn't put them down, or anything by Terry Pratchett.

Oh, and the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny - alternate reality/multiple universe storytelling at its very best.

 

[Avatar Roku]

The Honor Harrington series (first book is On Basilisk Station) by David Weber is pretty good. Plus, if you like it, it's 11 books, with more coming and not counting spin offs, so it can keep you entertained for some time.

 

[Anachronism]

(Oh, and I've read Harry Potter, I don't want to read Lord of The Rings, I'm already reading a little Eragon, so no need to mention them)

Eragon isn't good. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

That being said, there's a lot of good SF that I can recommend. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? is good, albeit a little odd. I'd also recommend any of Iain M. Banks's SF novels; you can't go too far wrong with him.

 

[Calobi]

I liked Everworld. Teen reading, really, but since there's 12 of them they can be finished in about a day if you just sit there and read. Other than that, most of the books others have said are good in my opinion.

Edit: The Sword of Truth is good in my opinion, but gets preachy really fast. The first in the series is stand-alone and my favorite, so you could read that and then pretend there are no more, or continue if you have some time on your hands. Not really Sci-Fi or Fantasy, but there's always Battle Royale.

Just out of curiosity, why the apparent dislike for Lord of the Rings?

 

[Pseudonym2]

Discworld. If you like Hitchhiker's Guide, than read Discworld.

Sandman and American Gods come in a close second.

 

[AlphaOmega]

The Dark Tower series is pretty damn awsome and I can also recommend the Sword of the truth series

I liked Eragon tbh, but I generally seem to like both arthouse and the most sucky movies

 

[Mr_spamamam]

Terry Pratchett. Discworld books are amazing, but he's also done some other good books like Johnny and the Bomb, or Good Omens

 

[dnnydllr]

There's another thread done on this subject already up with something like a few hundred posts. I'd say check that out. And I'd say LOTR, but apparently you already have something against it...unfortunate.

 

[Sindre1]

The "Dirk Gently" books.
Written by Douglas Adams, the writer of all "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" books.

Also; The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Even more also; all "Harry Potter" books and "The Hobbit".

 

[Zombie_Fish]

A Scanner Darkly by Phillip K Dick. I love that book and the psychological change that goes through the main character's mind. Any book by Philip K Dick actually, and Terry Pratchett as well.

 

[Podunk]

Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon novel is an interesting take on the genre and a futuristic detective novel of sorts. With faster than light travel being imposible people have resorted to storing themselves on chips and e-mailed (esentially) to the far-flung reaches of space. The main character Takeshi Kovacs is an ex-marine specifically trained to do well with this kind of travel rather than coming out disoriented and ill at the end of it like most folk. He gets hired by this eccentric billionare who believes that he was murdered. Being so rich he can afford to have banks of clones and his data backed up with a quicksave every 5 minutes. Obviously with such an elaborate resurection strategy he's a little unwilling to believe as the cops are saying that his death was by suicide. It's a refereshing sci-fi plot with a lot of twists and turns and thanks to the rest of the series it's turned Morgan into my all-time favorite author.