Fantasy Novels (Likes, Dislikes, Suggestions, etc)

So as not to hijack the Game Of Thrones thread entirely, I'm starting this post. My idea is maybe for everyone that replies to mention what got them into the fantasy genre, and list series that they enjoy. In addition, if each person could mention books or series they've tried that they didn't like and why. Feel free to question what others have posted if you see a novel or series you haven't tried that catches your fancy.

I got into fantasy by reading The Book Of Three by Lloyd Alexander when I was around 10 or 11. Looking back on it, the book was actually the first in a series (I didn't know that at the time), though I never read any of the others. I was immediately hooked. From there I moved on to books by David Eddings, L.E. Modesitt Jr., Tanya Huff, etc.

Series I've read and enjoyed are:

The Riftwar Saga, The Serpent War Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
The Saga Of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Belgariad, The Malloreon, The Elenium, The Tamuli by David Eddings
The Black Company by Glen Cook
The Lord Of The Isles by David Drake
The Wayfarer Redemption by Sara Douglass
The Sword Of Truth by Terry Goodkind
The Coldfire Trilogy by C.S. Friedman
The Sovereign Stone Trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
The Mage Wars by Mercedes Lackey
A Crown Of Stars by Kate Elliot
The Oath Of Empire by Thomas Harlan
The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks
The Broken Well Trilogy by Sam Bowring
Shannara, The Heritage Of Shannara, The Voyage Of The Jerle Shannara, High Druid Of Shannara by Terry Brooks
The Runelords by David Farland
The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCffrey
Xanth by Piers Anthony
The Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan
The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
The Book Of Swords Trilogy by Fred Saberhagen
The Quarters Novels by Tanya Huff
The Celtic Crusades by Stephen R. Lawhead
Khaavren Romances by Steven Brust

There are a few series I've started, but haven't yet completed, or have later books in the series and haven't gotten the earlier novels. Some of them are:

A Song Of Ice And Fire by George R.R. Martin (I've only started this a few days ago)
Husk by Russel Kirkpatrick (haven't yet seen Book 2 in the shops)
The Lon Tobyn Chronicle by David B. Coe (haven't seen this series in any book shops in Australia thus far...)
The Faerie Wars Chronicle by Herbie Brennan (haven't gotten Books 1 and 2 in the series yet)
Saga Of The First King by R.A. Salvatore (got the last book, not 1-3....)
The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb (haven't gotten the next books in the series as of yet)
The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson (still waiting for him to finish Book 2.....)

There are a few series I've made note of that I want to start, but haven't yet found the books, gotten around to buying them, etc. They are:

Sword Of Shadows by J.V. Jones
Malazan Book Of The Fallen by Steven Erikson
The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams
Shadows Of The Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky

As for ones I've read that I didn't enjoy, the only book that immediately comes to mind is:

The Curse Of The Mistwraith by Janny Wurts
This was Book 1 of her Wars Of Light And Shadow series. I couldn't make it past 100 pages. I'll be honest, I tried this one when I was around 15. At the time my tastes tended to books with more action, so things had to happen early or I'd lose interest. Well, this one didn't have much happening early on so I gave it the flick. Who knows if I'd like it now...

So please share what your favorite series are, books you despised, comment on what I've posted, etc.

I started out with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when I was about 11 or 12. Then it was either The Belgariad or the Pern books (which technically aren't fantasy, but you couldn't tell that from the early books).

I'll probably come to this thread once I've had a chance to think a bit more, but the only author who comes to mind that's not on your list is Melanie Rawn. Her Dragon Prince and Dragon Star series are great, but I wouldn't recommend the Exiles trilogy, mainly because she has yet to write the third book - 16 years after the second one was published.

And as I hit send, I remembered another one - Guy Gavriel Kay. The Fionavar Tapestry is definitely one of my favourite series.

Terry Brooks is the best fantasy author I've ever read. Love everything he's done, particularly from the Shannara series. I can't wait til the current series reaches it's last book so I can read them (I will not read a series that doesn't have a stopping place-I absolutely hate cliffhangers). Best part is his series never lasts more than three or four books. Too many fantasy authors have series that go for seven or more books. If any one can suggest good fantasy authors who know how to end a story, let me know.

Citanul wrote:

...the only author who comes to mind that's not on your list is Melanie Rawn. Her Dragon Prince and Dragon Star series are great

Man, I COMPLETELY forgot about The Dragon Prince Trilogy by Melanie Rawn! That was another one that should have gone into my "Started by haven't finished" category. I read Book 1, Dragon Prince, probably about 15 years ago. At the used book shop I used to haunt, I kept looking for Books 2 and 3, but they never turned up and eventually it slipped my mind entirely. I will have to hunt those down and finish that series.

DallasBlack wrote:

Terry Brooks is the best fantasy author I've ever read. Love everything he's done, particularly from the Shannara series. I can't wait til the current series reaches it's last book so I can read them (I will not read a series that doesn't have a stopping place-I absolutely hate cliffhangers). Best part is his series never lasts more than three or four books. Too many fantasy authors have series that go for seven or more books. If any one can suggest good fantasy authors who know how to end a story, let me know.

I've long been a fan of Terry Brooks. The first book I ever read of his was The Talismans Of Shannara. My dad took me to a bookstore the weekend after I finished and got me every Shannara book he'd written up to that point. I haven't read any of his more recent books, though I'll work my way around to them for sure.

As for a suggestion for you, I STRONGLY recommend you try The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. In my opinion, it is one of the best fantasy series to come along in recent years. The 3 books that make it up are: The Way Of Shadows, Shadow's Edge, and Beyond The Shadows. It takes a bit for the action to take off in the first book, but when it does..... WOW!

One series I love is the Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R Lawhead. Ive only read 4 of the 5 books but from my understanding the last book doesnt even have King Arthur or Merlin in it. I think the first 2 books are the best!

Talesin
Merlin
Arthur
Pendragon
Grail

Addy wrote:

One series I love is the Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R Lawhead. Ive only read 4 of the 5 books but from my understanding the last book doesnt even have King Arthur or Merlin in it. I think the first 2 books are the best!

The only thing I've ever read by Stephen R. Lawhead was his Celtic Crusades Trilogy. I found those books to be quite enjoyable. Outside of him and Thomas Harlan, there aren't too many authors that delve into historical-based fantasy that I find appealing. I may have to look into his Pendragon Cycle.

Michael Moorcock!

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

Addy wrote:

One series I love is the Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R Lawhead. Ive only read 4 of the 5 books but from my understanding the last book doesnt even have King Arthur or Merlin in it. I think the first 2 books are the best!

The only thing I've ever read by Stephen R. Lawhead was his Celtic Crusades Trilogy. I found those books to be quite enjoyable. Outside of him and Thomas Harlan, there aren't too many authors that delve into historical-based fantasy that I find appealing. I may have to look into his Pendragon Cycle.

I also read another book by Lawhead called Avalon it was a standalone story of a reincarnated King Arthur it was quite good.

I love The Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan! I'm on book 5 now (and for about a year now....I'm slow)

The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien......Ofcourse.

I started reading The Sword Of Truth by Terry Goodkind. I liked what I read, and want to pick it up when I get off this wheel of time kick.

The Shannara books by Terry Brooks haven't kept my attention yet, but I always pop in from time to time to see if something sparks.

I go on fantasy kicks once in awhile. I rotate with serial killers and horror! I've read Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. I've also read several of Terry Brooks Shannara series and worked my way through the entire Belgariad. Recently, I have been reading Song of Ice and Fire. I would recommend any of these.

The prequels to the original Dune novels are done well and flow nicely into the plots, characters, and story line of the original books by Frank Herbert. The first three novels are set about 40 years before the orignal Dune. Then the stories go back to when the machines enslaved humanity and then the story of how the humans killed off the machines and set premises that carry on thousands of years untill the Dune story line takes place. The entire series uses parts of actual histories and ideologies of various actual human cultures/religions. Lots of imagination and not too much over the top stuff.

bgsully wrote:

I love The Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan! I'm on book 5 now (and for about a year now....I'm slow)

The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien......Ofcourse.

I started reading The Sword Of Truth by Terry Goodkind. I liked what I read, and want to pick it up when I get off this wheel of time kick.

The Shannara books by Terry Brooks haven't kept my attention yet, but I always pop in from time to time to see if something sparks.

The Wheel of Time was a good series. The first 6 books were all quite good. The next few were a bit uneven, though enjoyable. The last 3 that Brandon Sanderson wrote were as good as the first 6, and much better than the ones between.

The Sword of Truth was a good series, as well. It was, to me at least, a bit predictable, though. Still, I liked the series quite a bit. It was an uneven series, though. Some books were action-packed, some were a bit more political, but some seemed to me to just.....be there.

The Shannara books I have always enjoyed. The first 3, The Sword Of Shannara, The Elfstones of Shannara, and The Wishsong of Shannara, in my opinion, are essential fantasy reading.

After I've gotten to through the lastest book in A Song Of Ice And Fire by George R. R. Martin, I'm probably going to move on to The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett.

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

The Sword of Truth was a good series, as well. It was, to me at least, a bit predictable, though. Still, I liked the series quite a bit. It was an uneven series, though. Some books were action-packed, some were a bit more political, but some seemed to me to just.....be there.

One of the things that bugged me about The Sword of Truth was that Richard and Kahlan ended up getting separated in pretty much every book. I realise that splitting up protagonists is a valid storytelling technique, but I felt that it was overdone in the series.

Citanul wrote:

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

The Sword of Truth was a good series, as well. It was, to me at least, a bit predictable, though. Still, I liked the series quite a bit. It was an uneven series, though. Some books were action-packed, some were a bit more political, but some seemed to me to just.....be there.

One of the things that bugged me about The Sword of Truth was that Richard and Kahlan ended up getting separated in pretty much every book. I realise that splitting up protagonists is a valid storytelling technique, but I felt that it was overdone in the series.

My problem with Sword Of Truth was the fact that the books kept coming. I enjoyed the first three and made it through the fourth before I grew tired of it. I prefer my series to wrap stuff up after 3-4 books. Just discovered that this one has now gone to twelve books. No thanks!

James B. wrote:

The prequels to the original Dune novels are done well and flow nicely into the plots, characters, and story line of the original books by Frank Herbert. The first three novels are set about 40 years before the orignal Dune. Then the stories go back to when the machines enslaved humanity and then the story of how the humans killed off the machines and set premises that carry on thousands of years untill the Dune story line takes place. The entire series uses parts of actual histories and ideologies of various actual human cultures/religions. Lots of imagination and not too much over the top stuff.

I read the original Dune books, but never picked up anything after them. I REALLY liked the first, Dune and Dune Messiah, and enjoyed the next two, Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune, but thought they were easily lesser works when compared to those first 2. Though they were mostly Sci-Fi, there was a dose of fantasy to his writing in my opinion.

Citanul wrote:

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

The Sword of Truth was a good series, as well. It was, to me at least, a bit predictable, though. Still, I liked the series quite a bit. It was an uneven series, though. Some books were action-packed, some were a bit more political, but some seemed to me to just.....be there.

One of the things that bugged me about The Sword of Truth was that Richard and Kahlan ended up getting separated in pretty much every book. I realise that splitting up protagonists is a valid storytelling technique, but I felt that it was overdone in the series.

That was also one of my biggest nitpicks. That's partially what I meant by predictable. You KNEW it was coming, and you KNEW they were both gonna land in the deep doo-doo. You also knew Richard, at some point, was gonna go uber-charismatic and convince folks to follow him or do what he was asking them to. My more sadistic side kept wanting them to say "piss off".