What other fantasy books do YOU read?

[Alassë Estel]

Some of my very favorites are "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C. S. Lewis.
Others that I would reccomend are:
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
The Riddle-Master Trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip (I can't believe it is not more popular. I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed these books)
The Rover Series by Mel Odom

[Snowdog]

I may or may not have posted in one of the 25 pages of this thread, but if so, tough, I'm posting now...

Like I saw mentioned by someone in a random page in the depths, Tolkien basically took my ability to get into other fantasy authors with a few exceptions.
So I'll list the ones I've read or started to read...

• Dune by Frank Herbert (first five books)
• The Black Company by Glen Cook (all ten books)
• Malazan Book of the Fallen by Scott Erikson (still sort of working my way through the series)
• The Gentleman Bastard by Scott Lynch (1st book 'Lies of Loch Lamora' was all right. Read the 2nd book 'Red Seas Under Red Skies' and the best thing about it was finally reading the last word on the last page. I understand there are a couple more out. Maybe one day.
• Song of Ice and Fire (Started Game of Thrones a few times, managing to get seven chapters in once. Gave up. Was kind of glad a TV series came out of it.
• Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. (Actually saw the movie at a drive-in in the 70's and sought out the book at my local used book store. A collection of short stories wrapped in a story.
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (This was from a list of books I had to write an essay on in high school)
• 2001 A Space Odyssey (found this book in 1970 in Jr High after seeing the movie a couple years before)

Thats all I can think of for now.

[Mithadan]

I am glad that this thread has been revived. It's a good source of recommendations for fantasy and science fiction books and series.

I started out as a science fiction fan and, looking for something different, I decided to try fantasy. So I chose what I had heard was the best as an introduction, Tolkien. Like Snowdog, this ruined the genre for me in many ways. I disliked anything that resembled Tolkien. This included Shanarra and similar works. I was also indifferent to so-called sword and sorcery books. However, I did enjoy fantasy that was thematically different from Middle Earth, i.e. less in the line of epic mythology.

Among those I have enjoyed greatly are:

The Earthsea books, by Ursula LeGuin
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clark
Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere, Gaiman
Harry Potter

Fire and Ice was entertaining, but frustrating, particularly when I finished the parts that were written and nothing else was forthcoming. If Martin were to ever publish the last 2 books, I would probably not read them because that would require a reread of 1-5 and I didn't like them enough. I was never able to get into Wheel of Time, for reasons that I cannot define. Alasse mentions The Riddle-Master Trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip. I loved the first book but thought it went downhill thereafter. The Circle of Light series by Niel Hancock was a favorite of mine when I was young, but I tried to reread it recently and disliked it.

[Urwen]

Has anyone heard of the Arrow Trilogy? I am in love with that trilogy.

[obloquy]

Originally Posted by Snowdog

• Dune by Frank Herbert (first five books)
• The Black Company by Glen Cook (all ten books)
• Malazan Book of the Fallen by Scott Erikson (still sort of working my way through the series)

Seconded. Malazan is great, but unfortunately (Steven) Erikson shares the Malazan world with Ian Esslemont, who hasn't half the talent of Erikson.

I would add Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Alassë Estel

Riddle-Master Trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip (I can't believe it is not more popular. I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed these books)

McKillip had the magic quill (or, well, keyboard I guess), her writing was pure gold.

I quite enjoy Fritz Leibers short stories featuring Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser once in a while (expert prose and a tongue-in-cheek humour at the expense of his heroes). Also read Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion / Phoenix in Obsidian / The Dragon and the Sword a while ago, admiring his colourful imagination and concise writing which allows him to complete a whole trilogy in less pages than the first volume of ASoIaF. I also like how he ties this story back to our real world, and the insight his protagonist finds in the end:

Indeed, to be a hero, forever at war, is to be in some ways always a child. The true challenge comes in making sense of one's life [...] I still dream frequently of the great battle-blades, the chargers, the massive fighting barges, the weird creatures and the magical cities, the bright banners and the wonder of perfect love [...] But I have discovered an equal intensity of experience in this world, too. We have merely, I think, to teach ourselves how to recognise and to relish it.

QFT.

[Bêthberry]

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials

I greatly enjoyed reading Kenneth Oppel's Silverwing series to my children as well as Brian Jacque's Redwall series. And of course Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. No, I did not read the Narnia books to them; I can't stomach Lewis. (I'm with Tolkien on that one.)

For earlier fantasy that influenced Tolkien I've read William Morris' fantasies and George MacDonald's as well.

[Mithadan]

This is a good thread to re-awaken. There are some very good recommendations made here.

I have read or am reading the following. This list is not limited to fantasy.

Currently reading:

A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine. Very good so far. Smart science fiction focusing upon politics, interstellar culture and imperial court relationships and manipulation. Could be compared to Foundation or Dune in that regard.

Other suggestions or reviews

Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series has now expanded to seven books (actually six novellas and one full size novel). The first in the series is All Systems Red. Written in the first person from the perspective of a rogue ai security robot, this series is smart and insightful science fiction, combining action, tech, intrigue and political commentary. Highly recommended.

Theodora Goss' series has gained a nickname, apparently: The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club. The first is The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. The basic premise is that the spate of monster stories (among others) from (primarily) the nineteenth century are true, and there is a secret society that conducts genetic experiments. The principal characters are what could be described as cast-offs or lost or escaped experiments of the society, mostly women, who are both searching for answers and seeking to protect one another and those with similar backgrounds. Set in the late 1800s, the author mimics the style of writers of that era and clearly did some research. Very enjoyable reading, but on the light side.

Leigh Bardugo, who was apparently gaining a reputation for young adult fantasy, ventured into adult fantasy with two books: The Ninth House and its sequel Hell Bent. While these could be described as Harry Potter for grown-ups (the shortest version of a summary would be that the secret societies at Yale University are founded upon magic), this description does not do them justice. They are adult books -- they are dark, violent and gory -- and they are magic-themed, but the comparison ends there. Unlike HP, magic is very serious, not cute or funny. It is dark and is used for money and power. Issues like addiction and abuse are addressed frankly. These books are very well-written and compelling. Also very highly recommended.

Connie Willis' "Oxford Time Travel" series is outstanding. Funny, poignant and well-researched historically (as a time travel book should be). Begin with Doomsday Book, though I started with To Say Nothing of the Dog. The writing is light in style and is well-researched and includes some dark events in history but draws the reader in (as award winners should).

Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy (begins with Ancillary Justice) is also excellent. It melds artificial (and/or shared) intelligence with political intrigue with a subtext (if that is the right word) of "gender blindness" (meaning that the reader never learns the gender/sex of any character and it is written as unimportant).