Recommended Reading
- Thread starter Archon
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Glad David Gemmell got a mention as he's often overlooked where fantasy inspiration lists are concerned yet has been a major inspiration for many of my greatest rpg campaigns and some of my more memorable charactors over the years, its just a shame he died before we ever got to see what he had planned once he finished the Troy trilogy 
Soooo....your advice is to basically "read everything"? I could have figured as much myself, thank you.somonels said:
I'd also recommend The Black Company. I really like those books, though at times it gets a bit hard to move forward with the story. Sorry Murgen, but old Croaker is still the better Annalist to me.
I have read Harry Potter, and while it wasn't really my cup of tea, it at least was fresh and interesting. The books in the Eragon series are derivative and near plagiarism. I realize it's a matter of taste, but after having read literally hundreds of fantasy novels, as I have, something as trite and hackneyed as Eragon doesn't even get a look in.tg851 said:
Fritz Leiber: the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories are some of the best sword & sorcery ever. Every fantasy city owes a debt to Lankhmar, and Leiber probably invented the fantasy Thieves' Guild.
Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books rarely end up on lists like this. I love the early books, they're like hard-boiled noirish crime dramas set in a D&D world. Brust even explores how things like commonly-available enchanted weapons, teleportation and resurrection magic would impact such a setting.
Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books rarely end up on lists like this. I love the early books, they're like hard-boiled noirish crime dramas set in a D&D world. Brust even explores how things like commonly-available enchanted weapons, teleportation and resurrection magic would impact such a setting.
Zelazny should be there. He is one of the Great Old Ones.
Fritz Leiber should be there. Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser are simply too good for any aspiring GM to pass. His books are a joy to read.
Finally, despite what many think, Pratchett's Discworld is so jarringly creative, offering so much food for thought, that it should be mandatory for any serious fantasy fan. If someone dismisses it as simple comedy, I'll go to our house and shove 10 cans of Spam down your ear. Just read the prologue in The Colour of Magic... It is so many things at the same time.
Fritz Leiber should be there. Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser are simply too good for any aspiring GM to pass. His books are a joy to read.
Finally, despite what many think, Pratchett's Discworld is so jarringly creative, offering so much food for thought, that it should be mandatory for any serious fantasy fan. If someone dismisses it as simple comedy, I'll go to our house and shove 10 cans of Spam down your ear. Just read the prologue in The Colour of Magic... It is so many things at the same time.
I would also recommend Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear. Probably also the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks.
Good list - very pleased with the addition of GRRM.
I've been meaning to read some Conan and Bakker stuff.
I'm intrigued by the descriptions of Guy Gavriel Kay's work and Paksenarion.
I tried reading the first Malazan book - eh... couldn't get into it.
And I want to read the Earthsea stuff to just be able to say to Harry Potter fans "this came out way earlier!"
I've been meaning to read some Conan and Bakker stuff.
I'm intrigued by the descriptions of Guy Gavriel Kay's work and Paksenarion.
I tried reading the first Malazan book - eh... couldn't get into it.
And I want to read the Earthsea stuff to just be able to say to Harry Potter fans "this came out way earlier!"
I was getting ready to raise a real ruckus if Vance wasn't on this list, but he is.
I am appeased.
I am appeased.
Definitely worth checking out, Patrick Rothfuss' books are the sorts of books you wear out in a month from repeated reading. Brent Weeks' stuff less so, but still good.Archon said:
Great article and excellent recommendations posted in this thread! I'm going to add a few which I don't think have been mentioned:
Joe Abercrombie - The First Law trilogy: epic, gritty fantasy with lots of dark humour.
Paul Kearney - The Monarchies of God series: has everything from epic battles, religious strife, and political intrigue to month-long sea voyages, long-forgotten civilizations and shapeshifters!
Joe Abercrombie - The First Law trilogy: epic, gritty fantasy with lots of dark humour.
Paul Kearney - The Monarchies of God series: has everything from epic battles, religious strife, and political intrigue to month-long sea voyages, long-forgotten civilizations and shapeshifters!
Eragon needs to die under a heaping pile of plagarism lawsuits. Go read some real books: David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, and the whole host of other good writers that the brat kid of an "author" blatantly "borrowed" from (and FYI, beating out Harry Potter in the quality department is no great accomplishment).tg851 said:
I was surprised to see Gemmell on there. I've read practically everything the man ever wrote. I was deeply saddened by his passsing. No more Druss, no more Skilgannon, no more Jon Shannow, no more Waylander, no more Gwalchmai.
I've been putting off reading Fall of Kings, because it's the last book of his I'll read and I don't want it all to end.
For a good time, I'd hazard to put up Robert Jordan's (now deceased) Wheel of Time series and Terry Brook's Shannara series. Both of which read like books that draw heavily from other fantasy novels and media yet soon become something pretty entertaining in their own right.
Also, no Terry Pratchett?! Sure, Discworld is by and large a hammy send up of fantasy and well, many different genres in general, but it's a fun and funny series, and I would think a deep well from which to draw humour from for a GM's sessions.
I've been putting off reading Fall of Kings, because it's the last book of his I'll read and I don't want it all to end.
For a good time, I'd hazard to put up Robert Jordan's (now deceased) Wheel of Time series and Terry Brook's Shannara series. Both of which read like books that draw heavily from other fantasy novels and media yet soon become something pretty entertaining in their own right.
Also, no Terry Pratchett?! Sure, Discworld is by and large a hammy send up of fantasy and well, many different genres in general, but it's a fun and funny series, and I would think a deep well from which to draw humour from for a GM's sessions.