| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Pluddon |
Posted - 18 Oct 2015 : 21:54:38
Hello again all,
It seems I have exhausted my novel collection once again, and need some new material to read. Slogging through Salvatore's recent works hasn't been nearly as enjoyable as his earlier works, and I think I am caught up in regard to the Erevis Cale novels(not my favorite). Any recommendations from the scribes here? Thanks in advance. |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Barastir |
Posted - 21 Oct 2015 : 12:43:38
For the Realms, I'd suggest Elaine Cunningham's books. I haven't read the Liriel and Spelljammer books, but the Song and Sword series, first presented in the Harper books, is awesome! IMHO, the best Realms novels I've read. |
| Seravin |
Posted - 19 Oct 2015 : 16:23:22
Since we're on a Realms page; I'll go with The Finder's Stone trilogy and the Harper series. |
| Abeir |
Posted - 19 Oct 2015 : 14:36:19
The Edge of Reason, Edge of Ruin, and Edge of Dawn by Melinda Snodgrass were an interesting break from the usual fantasy format for me. |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 19 Oct 2015 : 10:44:55
I'll second the "anything by Jim Butcher." Just be aware that his Dresden Files gets off to a slow start. The first three books aren't bad, but reading them you'll have a hard time understanding why people wax so poetic about the series. Once you hit Book 4, though, it really takes off and never looks back. His Codex Alera is both shorter and gets really good faster. Both are worth it.
Another good urban fantasy series is the October Daye set by Seanan McGuire (like Dresden Files, it's still on-going). I'll read anything by Jim C Hines, but I think his Princess series is probably his best.
And finally we have Mercedes Lackey, an author whose prolificness is on Ed's level. Her biggest series (Valdemar) is high fantasy. It's good, but I prefer her two series based on fairy tales. One is very tongue in cheek (Five Hundred Kingdoms, where all the characters know they're in a fairy tale, and try to use it to their advantage), the other plays it mostly straight (Elemental Masters, set mostly in Edwardian England).
Also, while it goes without saying, obviously all of these depend on your own tastes. I've read a lot of the books that have been suggested, and for me personally, some were misses. I detest Song of Ice and Fire, for instance, and thought Lies of Lock Lamora was too crude (which is a real shame since the plotting and writing was excellent). Your mileage will obviously vary. |
| Caladan Brood |
Posted - 19 Oct 2015 : 09:45:02
Some of my favorite fantasy novels are the obvious ("A Song of Ice and Fire", "The Lord of the Rings", "The Name of the Wind"), the not-so-obvious-but-amazing "The Thousand Names", "Throne of the Crescent Moon", everything by Joe Abercrombie, everything by Mark Lawrence) and above all, Steven Erikson's immense The Malazan Book of the Fallen (from which I've taken my username) :) |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 19 Oct 2015 : 03:22:05
Here are some books from outside of the Realms that I loved:
FANTASY
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
The Jackal of Nar by John Marco
All 4 of these are the first book of a series.
HISTORICAL FICTION (but I think a fantasy fan would enjoy)
The Skystone by Jack Whyte
Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden
Bloodeye by Giles Kristian |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 19 Oct 2015 : 03:09:56
For Realms novels, you could always look at the Experienced help for recommending FR Novels thread.
I've said for years that with Realms novels, you can't beat Elaine Cunningham and the duo of Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak (and when I mentioned this to Jeff Grubb at GenCon, he proceeded to wax poetical about how good Elaine's stuff was!).
As for outside the Realms, we'd need to know more about what you like and dislike... I'm a huge fan of Raymond E Feist's stuff, anything by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, anything by Jim Butcher (especially the Dresden Files), and there's an author named Peter Clines who is close to making my "will ready anything by this author" list. |
| Delwa |
Posted - 19 Oct 2015 : 01:19:20
Outside the Realms, I'll always recommend Stephen R. Lawhead. His Song of Albion series is really good, and his Pendragon Cycle is my favorite. In the Realms, if you haven't read anything by Elaine Cunningham yet (your OP only lists Salvatore and the Cale novels, so I'm guessing) then you should. Any of them are good, imo, but my favorite is either the Counselors and Kings series, or her Song and Swords series. I also loved Jeff Grubb's Finder's Stone series. |
| Pluddon |
Posted - 19 Oct 2015 : 00:45:43
No. Any thing that stands out as worth a read is welcome regardless of setting. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 19 Oct 2015 : 00:00:27
Are you only looking for Forgotten Realms novel recs? |
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