Recommend me a fantasy book

[Sightless Wisdom]

Start the Legend of Drizzt by R.A Salvatore. There are a lot of books in the series at this point so you'll have lots to read for awhile. Alternatively or as well, read the Elminster series by Ed Greenwood. Or The Haunted lands by Richard Lee Byers... I really like the Forgotten realms universe.

For reference:
Forgotten Realms [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Realms]
Legend of Drizzt [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._A._Salvatore#Forgotten_Realms](pay attention to the order they actually happen in, not the publishing order.)
Elminster [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elminster]
The Haunted Lands [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Forgotten_Realms_novels#The_Haunted_Lands]

 

[moose_man]

The Legend of Drizzt, the Death Gate Cycle. These are my two favs, and then there is of course LOTR.

 

[CarlsonAndPeeters]

I got really into the Shannara series for a while, by Terry Brooks.

There are several trilogies/cycles set in the same universe. The original trilogy is good, but the second one, starting with the Scions of Shannara, is amazing. Looking back on them, the books are pretty derivative of LotR and the writing is average at best, but I really enjoyed them and there are plenty of them to read.

 

[Alumit]

If you've had some interest with Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings", you may take some interest in "Muddle Earth" by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. It's about this kid who's having trouble writing a paper for school and takes his dog for a walk. His dog pulls him down this hole in the ground and the kid falls into Muddle Earth and goes on a looaaad of adventures. It's a somewhat more childish oriented novel, but it's still really interesting and decently funny in some parts.

Just my two cents.

 

[Mouse One]

No one's mentioned Neil Gaiman yet? Terrific "modern" fantasy. Loved Neverwhere, but really any of his books are a good read. Don't skip Coraline just because it's Young Adult. You'll never look at buttons the same way again.

Oh, and just to second Terry Pratchett. Personal opinion: Discworld got better as he went along. I found The Color of Magic simply okay, but the stuff with Sam Vimes is fantastic.

And it goes without saying that their collaboration, Good Omens, rocks.

 

[8bitlove2a03]

If it says "Terry Pratchett" on the cover, you've found a good one.

 

[PrototypeC]

Has anyone heard of a book called Abarat? I know it had its intended sequel and everything, but I can never seem to obtain information on it.

It's one of the best fantasy books I've ever read... maybe even if we considered sci-fi as fantasy too. That's a lot of books. What makes it so, "best"? A simple, tumble-into-wonderland story that begins simply and draws you into the strange world of its title? The strange, almost Shakespearean villain? The carefully constructed mythos of a clear madman? I dunno.

Oh, and it's written by Clive Barker. Yeah. THAT Clive Barker.

 

[BarbaricGoose]

A fantasy book, you say? Here you go. *Hands fantasy book*

Sorry, I honestly don't have anything to contribute. I just wanted to make that joke.

 

[Soushi]

The Transal Saga

The best book by Gary Paulson by far and a damn good read. It is personally by favorite book of all time.

 

[Jader7777]

Watership Down

 

[The_Vigilant]

For the love of god, please do not read video game inspired novels or Eragon (per the suggestions of others) until you have read "Heroes Die" by Matthew Woodring Stover. It will change your life. Trust me.

 

[Zakarath]

I just read The Enduring Flame trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, it was quite good. Very interesting characters, including a fairly believable villian, which is rare these days.

I also just went through Naomi Novik's Temeraire series; its The Napoleonic Wars + Dragons and it is very good.

Anything by Jim Butcher is guaranteed to be awesome.

 

[Zed_Arthen]

Comparative to some of the suggestions above, my recommendation will probably be a bit sub-par. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the "Heirs of Ash" trilogy by Rich Wulf.

Defiantly look into Tolkien's works though. They are fantastic.

 

[TheRookie8]

Someone already mentioned Jim Butcher, and they should! I might reccomend H.P. Lovecraft, seeing as how he has several stories that I'm fond of.

But for this post I'll mention The First Law trilogy, and the spin-off stories "Best Served Cold" and "Heroes". This is a dark fantasy series, and for good reason. It might sound crazy, but there are very few characters in this series I like, and that's why I like them all. Everybody has a fatal flaw, and the series has a very dark sense of humor.

 

[Yopaz]

The Wheel of Time series is a long epic series. It is well written, but the progress might sometimes be so slow that you may lose interest if you're not dedicated to it, but if you are up for the challenge it's a good read.
It contains a whole lot of foretelling which will make you realize how well planned all of it was.

 

[UnendingLight]

Dragonrealm series!

I love it

 

[Balvale]

I love me some fantasy.

Great books:

The Warded Man:

A world where people embrace the sun and fear the night. For good reason. Creatures emerge from the earth as mist when the sun sets. They are gnarled and hideous, sharp and bloodthirsty. Only an ancient collection of symbols(wards) keeps them from crashing into peoples homes and devouring them. The story follows the hardships and triumphs of three people in this world.


The Lies of Locke Lamora:

Don't you just love how smoothly that title passes your lips? The book itself is just as smooth. If you enjoy stories of charming thieves and complex underworlds, this one will be to your taste. This book is about greed, glory, and revenge. Especially the latter. The world is carefully spiced with some fantasy elements, but never to the point where I found it to be a turn off.


What else...

Someone has already recommended Name of the Wind. That is a superb book. As good or better than the two listed above.

The Blade Itself was a fun trilogy to get into.

Anything by Terry Prachett. I'm a big fan of Guards! Guards! and all the other stories about the watch. This is comedy fantasy.

The Darkness That Comes Before was hard to get into. I worked my way through the trilogy and on to the second set of books he's doing. Another trilogy that follows the same story. I know how silly that sounds. There are solid ideas in that book, but the writing style was a turn off. Incredibly descriptive at times. Still, I read through them because the concepts were interesting. One moment in the fourth book was absolutely brilliant. I've never been unsettled reading anything before, but that scene sent a chill down my spine. I'll get the fifth book simply because of that scene. (This series is VERY brutal. Much more so than A Song of Fire and Ice)

Aaaand that leaves Steven Erikson and Gardens of the Moon. This was HARD to get into. I found the writing style to be jarring and the characters to be underwhelming at times. I struggled through the whole book and did not want to purchase the second. It has interesting magic concepts, but I really would not recommend it. Some people swear by it though.

Hope that helps.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

the half orcs by david dalgish was pretty good. you could never really be sure if a character was going to survive or not. And I got pretty attached to them too.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

For the love of god, please do not read video game inspired novels or Eragon (per the suggestions of others) until you have read "Heroes Die" by Matthew Woodring Stover. It will change your life. Trust me.

Stover is an amazing writer. Have you read the novelization of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith?

It's better than the movie, and is one of the best EU works ever.


OT. Discworld. Get it now, and enjoy losing the rest of your summer. I recommend you start with the book "Guards! Guards!" Hilarious.

Also, read the Belgariad. It shows that if you are aware of how generic and cookie cutter your story is, you might as well have fun with it.

 

[Gesepp]

Read the Kingkiller books by Patrick Rothfuss. They're the closest things to perfection I have read in the entirety of my life.

While they are still fantastic reads and well worth recommending, I would not go that far. The first is almost an anthology; neither the romantic nor the main motivational plotlines are any closer to consummation by the end of tNOtW. It's worth reading just for the writing and the University, but if you're more of a plot person than a character one, it's far from perfection.
The Wise Man's Fear, on the other hand, lets Kvothe actually have a relationship, a purpose, and an awesome sword.