Poll: Which should I read?

[ReservoirAngel]

Hi. I'm the less-than-proud owner of a ridiculously indecisive brain, and this week in "crap any sane person should be able to decide for themselves" I've got the urge to do some long-term reading. As in, reading a long-arse series of novels.

But, which? I have a few options, but am welcome to any recommendations for anything that said options might lead people to believe would be up my alley.

EDIT: I feel I should clarify a touch.

By 'long-arse' I don't have a specific definition, I just am in the market for a series that'll keep me reading it for the foreseeable future.

Also in the name of clarification I should mention that I have read bits of all these named series before. I got a couple of books into Wheel of Time (and loved it) before I stopped for reasons unremembered and for long enough that I forgot a lot of it. Likewise I've previously read half of the 1st New Jedi Order book, I've read the first Dresden book but my memory of it is almost entirely gone, and I've read a couple of the Ice & Fire books but got overtaken by just watching the show instead and now all memory of the books has been overwritten by the show's version of events.

So I know that I at least like all these series, it's just a case of deciding which to commit a substantial chunk of my time to.

 

[Risingblade]

Wheel of time for sure.

 

[Zontar]

What do you consider long ass? Because I'd personally recommend the Expanse series. It's as close to a sci-fi blockbuster in book form you'll ever find, though there are only 4 in the series so far, though with those planned there will be at least 9 by the end of it.

 

[TakerFoxx]

I notice that the Dresden Files are on your list.

I also notice that there are options that are not Dresden Files on your list.

I don't get it.

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

I'd recommend actually the Honorverse books by David Weber. The main series are the Honor Harrington volumes, there are 14 as of current and it's a continuing series. They are: On Basilisk Station, Honor of the Queen, The Short Victorious War, Field of Dishonor, Flag in Exile, Honor Among Enemies, In Enemy Hands, Echoes of Honor, Ashes of Victory, War of Honor, At All Costs, Mission of Honor, A Rising Thunder, and Shadow of Freedom. Then there are the spin offs. Crown of Slaves: Crown of Slaves, Torch of Freedom, and Cauldron of Ghosts. Students of Honor: Shadow of Saganami and Storm from the Shadows. Star Kingdom: A Beautiful Friendship, Fire Season, and Treecat Wars Last of the spin offs is Manticore Ascendant which only has one book so far: A Call to Duty Along with that are Anthologies that go with the rest they are: Worlds of Honor, More than Honor, Changer of Worlds, The Service of the Sword, In Fire Forged, and Beginnings

They're all really good, at least according to me, and should keep you busy for a very long while.

 

[Fox12]

Berserk. Go read Berserk.

You can thank me later, but there's no time to thank me now.

 

[chromatic fairytale]

Terry Pratchett's Discworld books! A lot of them are kinda standalone, but they share settings and characters in common and all that.

Not part of a series, but he and Neil Gaiman also wrote Good Omens, which is my favorite book ever. Highly recommended, for serious!

 

[megaflash]

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. The movie based off the first book "Eragon" was bollocks, but it never had a chance to truly capture the series feeling.

 

[Auberon]

It's still shit either way, if you do read Eragon quartet then drop any expectations.

Out of the named ones on the list, I have experience with Dresden Files and ASOIAF - former are relatively quick reads, latter has huge doorstoppers but with the pace George writes... start now and odds are Winds of Winter is still unreleased by the time ADWD's done.

 

[RedDeadFred]

I would suggest the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I'm only one book 3 of 10 (I think...) and they have been fantastic so far. It involves political maneuvering that's close to ASoIaF, detailed battles that show you a soldier's point of view as well as a tactician's, powerful gods who like to meddle in the afairs of mortals, and some truly awesome characters. The series also has one of the best magic systems I've ever read about. It's descriptive enough for you to know the general workings of it, but still leaves a lot of mystery to make it seem suitably... magical...

There's a guy with an entire world inside of his sword where anyone he kills ends up stuck there, chained to a giant wagon to drag it on for the rest of eternity.

It does have some deus ex machina in it, but it kind of makes sense given that gods are major players in shaping the stories.

I like ASoIaF a lot, but I honestly don't think it'll be finished before Martin dies. Book of the Fallen is more interesting IMO, and it's already completed.

I read the first five books of Wheel of Time before putting them down. I found them to be a bit too boring. Granted, I was much younger so it's quite possible that I simply wasn't mature enough to get into them.

Can't say anything about your other two options.

Edit: also, since you like long arse series, Book of the Fallen as I already mentioned is 10 books long. They have all been very meaty books so far too. Around 900 pages.

 

[rednose1]

The Foundation series by Issac Asimov. When the Hugo awards had a special "Best all time series" award, it was assumed to be created specially for J.R.R. Tolkiens, "Lord of the Rings". Nope, Foundation won. Only series to have that award to this date.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Oof, you have both Wheel of Time and Dresden Files on one list? That's a bit of a tough choice, from my perspective. I absolutely loved WoT, and since I'd started reading at the time Winter's Heart (book 9) came out, I've even had time to read all but the last one a few times each. They're the thing to go for if you're into something long and intricate...and if you don't mind hyper-extensive world-building and characters who need to develop out of frustrating communication problems (I certainly didn't; in fact, Nynaeve became my favorite character by the end).

On the other hand, I started reading the Dresden Files books fairly recently (well, okay, I actually started last year, but I had to take a very extended break after Grave Peril...people who've read it can guess why), and it immediately took its place on a very short list of "series with books I literally had to finish as soon as possible" (specifically, I started reading Summer Knight one morning, and finished it around 11:00 at night). Only The Wheel of Time and Harry Potter have managed that before. They're just very gripping and fast-flowing books, and have been for the five books of it I've read so far.

I guess between them, I'd ultimately recommend based on just how "long-term" you want (WoT are major doorstoppers, while DF feel much shorter than their 400+ page counts indicate), and whether you'd like stories that are punchier (DF) or more extended (WoT). There's also the fact that The Wheel of Time has actually ended, whereas Dresden Files to my knowledge is still ongoing. And only one of them has <url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_ts8cPScXM>two <url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WXeHT661xM>kickass Blind Guardian songs about it (yes, I know ASoIaF does, too, but shut up).

If you're in the mood for other fantasy, I could also throw in The Belgariad (along with its sequel series The Malloreon, and its prequels Belgarath The Sorcerer and Polgara The Sorceress, which might be my two favorite fantasy books ever) and The Elenium by David and Leigh Eddings. The former is what you get if you deliberately mix a bunch of fantasy tropes into a story, make it heavily character- and dialogue-focused, and liberally spice it with snark (without being an actual parody), and the latter is just pretty damn good.

 

[Kaymish]

I second David Webber's Honorverse series its my favorite of all the series I've read and i cant wait for the next main line book to come out and it will certainly keep you going for at least a month and a half
i also liked the Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton its only 2 books so not quite what you are looking for but they are pretty butty operas running to over a thousand pages each
ive just gotten into Christopher Nuttall's imperial marines books but i got sorta bored of the socioeconomic and political preaching in them but there are a fair number of them if you are able to block out the authors proselytizing

 

[Willinium]

I would like to put foward a series by Glen Cook known as "The Black Company". A fanastic fanasy story that chronicles the story of the eponymous Black Company and in particular a their field medic and amateur historian Croaker.

I have never read another story quite like this and I highly recommend it.

 

[FalloutJack]

Read Discworld. Do the late Sir Terry a good turn.

 

[ecoho]

wheel of time because its 14 books of awesome! well 13 and 1 meh.

 

[L. Declis]

Wheel of Time is a great series. I'd pick that. Just be aware that Robert Jordan subscribes to the J.R.R. Tolkien model of writing, in that it is description heavy.

 

[Weresquirrel]

The Watergiver Trilogy by Glenda Larke

It's a fantasy that's got a really interesting setting, specifically set in a desert country. Got all the good stuff in it, large scale battles, political intrigue, interesting cast, it's own set of slang and colloquialisms that doesn't feel forced...

The first book's called 'The Last Stormlord'.

 

[Auron225]

I have never read any of those, aside from Ice and Fire which I'm currently reading (only a chapter away from finishing A Feast For Crows before moving onto A Dance With Dragons). I'm very much enjoying it as a series, so it's the only one on your list that I could recommend. I don't know anything about the events of the TV series so I'm not sure how exactly it differs (only that it does) but most people say the books are better.

I've heard only good things about Dresden Files though.

 

[scbunchy]

I'm 9 books into the Wheel of Time and proceeding out of sheer bloody-mindedness. I'd recommend just reading Dune instead.