Who here likes to read fantasy novels? (Tolkien and the like...no science fiction, sorry!)

The best fantasy novel I’ve read lately was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. (At least I think it’d be considered fantasy)

@KatetheGreat I loved that book-have you read the rest of the series yet? If so, were they as good? I have all three books, but haven’t read the other two yet…

I absolutely love to read historical romance novals, need to be taken away from the here and now when I read…… Some of my favorite authors are Judith McNaught, Julia Quinn, Catherine Coulter, Karen Hawkins and Stephanie Laurens…. If you like a little more on the risky side of things go with Stephanie Laurens

Not so much for the romance novels…but I should further explain…If the book is about something else (so your historical romance novels should be okay), and romance is part of the underlying even, then it’s not so bad in my eyes. If the book is one of these ones with Fabio (or whoever) on the front with some scantily clad woman in his arms, I pass them by…

I have so many fantasy authors I like…Tolkien is the epitome, but I like C.S.Lewis, Dennis L. McKiernan (even though he practically ripped off Tolkien), Anne McCaffrey, and Terry Goodkind, to name a few…

@yankeetooter All of those Authors I mentioned have something else going on with romance happening in between…. usually a mystery to solve or something and the authors usually write in series

I don’t do the strictly romance, I need something to picture and imagine and try to solve.

@creative1 That’s how I feel about mysteries as well. With the exception of Agatha Christie, I only really like mysteries that have themes…my favorite being a series that my manager got me reading years ago, where the main character was a utility baseball player; each book he was traded to another team, there would be a murder, and he would solve it by the end of the book. It was interesting because the books talked a lot about old-time baseball, so you weren’t just reading a mystery…

Michael Moorcock, James P. Blaylock, C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Terry Pratchett are in my stable.

Piers Anthony used to be in there until I realized that all his books are like giant puzzle books. And there will always be a little money grubbing soft spot for Robert Asprin and his “Myth” series (first three books, anyway).

I haven’t tried Moorcock, Blaylock or Pratchett, although I’ve heard of them… @mrentropy. I’ll have to look them up…

“The Eyes of the Overworld”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eyes_of_the_Overworld by Jack Vance is very good.

“Idle Days on the Yann”: http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a3042.pdf is worth checking out. It is by Lord Dunsany my all time favourite writer of fantasy.

“The Night Land”: http://www.grendelhall.com/Books/Hodgson-NightLand.pdf by William Hope Hodgson is really superb, though the writing style is odd and the excruciating first chapter can be swiftly passed by. Read more carefully from Chapter 2 “The Last Redoubt”

See, I’m enjoying this…I’ve read a lot of good stuff, but haven’t heard of some of these authors/books. I will have some new stuff to check out…thanks @flutherother !

Tolkien!
Ursula K. LeGuin’s “EarthSea”

I have to second Terry Pratchett. He’s traditional fantasy with tongue planted firmly in cheek, and that wonderful dry British humour that I love.

The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin is also unbelievably awesome. It’s not really traditional in that there’s no magic or different races (i.e. dwarves, elves etc.) but there’s a touch of the supernatural in there and I honestly can’t get enough of the series.

Another series I’ve been enjoying is the Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey. This is much more a female-oriented series as there’s quite a bit of romance, and it’s definitely an adult series as there’s quite a bit of romance.

Yes, I love LeGuin, @mazingerz88 ! I remember reading the Eathsea trilogy when I was a teenager and being entranced…

@Seelix I love the Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin (his name always reminds me of J.R.R. Tolkien, lol!) but it killed me how quickly he killed off some vital characters…Oops! Should have said “Spoiler Alert”...I’ve just started diving into Carey’s books but am really liking them so far…I like your use of italics…:)

It’s supposed to be a YA series, but I think The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper is one of the best fantasy series ever.

@janbb What’s a YA series?

I’m reading Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn right now…I guess I’ve finally forgiven her for never finishing her Exiles trilogy…I was so into that series, but she never wrote the third book, so everything was left unresolved…

@yankeetooter if you heard about the great Japanese animator hayao Miyazaki, his son adapted earthsea for an animated movie. It’s not good but it’s not so bad either that it’s worth checking out without any expectations.

Okay-I’ll look for it @mazingerz88 . I know the SciFi channel did an Earthsea trilogy movie sometime back; it was okay, but of course could not touch the book. That seems to be the case 90% of the time whenever they try to make a movie/series out of a book-they change way too many things and miss capturing the essence of the book(s). I expect some changes in a movie, and it’s fun to sit there and nitpick on the differences, but often they take things way too far…

@yankeetooter – Have you heard about the Game of Thrones series starting next week on HBO? Mr. Fiance and I are subscribing to HBO just for that.

I just got The Silmarillion by Tolkein (finished by his son after his death). I can’t wait to read it since I loved the Hobbit and of course LoTR.

The Simarillion is awesome, @Paradox1. It is a lot deeper than The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, but it’s well worth the read. When you finish with The Simarillion, I recommend Unfinished Tales, also by Tolkien. That one was really good as well.

@Seelix I was at the bookstore today and they had a display with Martin’s books which advertised this series…I am going to have to DVR this…

I love the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey.

I really enjoyed the Darover novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Oh, and Glen Cook. The Garret P.I. books, especially. And Gene Wolfe.

I once read “Redwall” in a day.

Ah, @marinelife Mercedes Lackey! I’ve loved all of her stuff…Have you read The Obsidian Trilogy?
The Outstretched Shadow
To Light a Candle
When Darkness Falls
(cowritten with James Mallory)

These books were amazing…there’s now a prequel trilogy as well, but I haven’t had time to read them yet…

Who wrote Redwall, @Michael_Huntington ?

Brian Jacques. He passed away last February.

Okay-I have heard of him…will have to check out his stuff…

You might also like to try His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.

Yes, I read the first one @flutherother…the others are still on my shelf (not because I didn’t like the first one…) My problem is I get so busy with school, that I often don’t finish a series until later when I go back and read them…

His Dark Materials is fun, though the first book is certainly the best. One series I liked was by Martha Wells. It starts with The Wizard Hunters.

It’s set in a fantasy world, somewhat like our own was during the 20s-30s, except not all “worlds” have been discovered yet. In one world magicians are very common and known for doing good, and in another they are feared and hunted. Also, the heroine’s world is under attack by the elusive Gardier, who travel from an unknown place in airships.

It was a pretty fun series.

You could also give Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series a shot, which features an almost alchemical magic system. The main character is Vin, a street urchin who gets picked off the streets and is discovered to have some latent magic abilities.

Those are some of my favorites.

When I was younger, yes. Now I’m more focused on reality.

Thanks @Introverted_Leo !

@lloydbird I know, but some of us enjoy fantasy novels as an ocsasional escape from reality, lol!

@yankeetooter “YA” is young adult is publishing/library parlance.

If you haven’t read the Gormenghast(series) by Mervyn Peake then you have a treat in store.

Ah, thank you @janbb . If a book is good, I don’t care if it’s YA…That sounds interesing, @flutherother.

A reworking of a post from an earlier thread :

David Edding’s Belgariad is very readable, very funny. My favourite series of his, though, is The Elenium (beginning with “The Diamond Throne”). I find the banter between the characters really funny.

Dragonlance – go right to the beginning and start with “Dragons of the Autumn Twilight.” Great characters there. Also anything in general by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman – The Death Gate Cycle series spring to mind.

Raymond E. Fiest’s Riftwar series is pretty accessible. My personal favourite is “Shadow of a Dark Queen.

@KatetheGreat, @yankeetooter The Hunger Games were ok. First book fresh, second book a bit slower, but it picks up again on the third one.

I’m more of a horror reader, but I do like fantasy stories too. One I loved a lot was The Belgariad, a series of ten books by David Eddings. There’s other books he wrote that tie in to that universe too but I haven’t read all of them. (Belgarath was awesome though. Now if they could give Mendorallen his own story lol.)

The Book of Swords series by Fred Saberhagen is really special too. It’s a bit on the dark side, and features some dude feeding his toe to a baby dragon…

Dragonlance books I found to be pretty cool, although there’s a lot and I’ve only read a few. Darkness and Light by Paul B Thompson was my favourite outta what I read.

Also this might not be your thing, but Stephen King wrote a ’‘fantasy’’ novel called The Eye of the Dragon. I actually didn’t like it much, but it does have its notable moments.

I’m wanting to name stuff by Tanith Lee, but that’s maybe too far off from traditional fantasy…

I like Dragonlance okay @lifeflame. I have to be in a certain mood. Have Eddings’ stuff, but have yet to read it…I guess I need to take some time off and read more, lol!

No, anything is fair game, @Symbeline…go ahead. Anybody ever read any Jo Clayton?

My favorite fantasy series of all time has to be The Prydain Chronicles. It is the most criminally underrated and overlooked fantasy series of all time.

Do you know who that’s by @Joker94 ? It sounds familiar…

@yankeetooter His name is Lloyd Alexander. The Disney movie “The Black Cauldron” is based off the first two books albeit very loosely which might be why it sounds familiar, haha.

Oh, okay-yeah, I read the books when I was a kid…they were good!

Oh, yeah. Lloyd Alexander. I haven’t read any of the Prydian books since I was in high school. And I couldn’t watch The Black Cauldron; I thought it was pretty bad.

Also liked a few books by Neil Hancock.

Neil Hancock? A bear, an otter and a dwarf, @mrentropy ? I think I’ve read them. He also liked to use alliteration in his names, much as J.K.Rowling does…

@yankeetooter Yep, that sounds familiar to me. The Circle of Light series and… another series along the same lines.

Does Stephen King count? I greatly enjoyed the Dark Tower series and J.K. Rowling is still a favourite with me.

Can anyone touch Tolkien? When I was reading LOTR trilogy, I felt like I was living in the shire. His writing is captivating.

And the Thomas Covenant series by Stephen R. Donaldson, even though they’re pretty depressing. And I like the Dresden series by Jim Butcher, although I liked the TV series more than the books (go figure).

Peter S. Beagle, can’t forget him.

Fletcher Pratt & L. Sprague de Camp’s ‘Compleat Enchanter’ series…

Alan Dean Foster’s fantasy stuff.

John Myers Myers “Silverlock” should be required reading.

Robert E. Howard is one of the pillars of heroic fantasy.

Yo dude! Dunno if anyone else has pointed it out, but science fiction is fantasy.

@mrentropy I purchased a collection of horror short stories by Robert E Howard. Fantastic stuff.

No, @wundayatta , science fiction involves technology, future science developments or alternate future possibilities…fantasy is more magic or magical creatures-oriented…

@mrrich724 Tolkien is the epitome of fantasy novels…

I greatly enjoy the Wheel of Time series, by Robert Jordan, read it dozens of times. Tolkien of course is great. J.K Rowling does a pretty ok job. And I like what I’ve read of Ursula Le Guin. I would like to read some more Terry Pratchett, but I haven’t really gotten around to it yet.
I’ve read many other fantasy books, but none I can really mention without embarrassment. Judging by that, they’re no good.

I love the Wheel of Time series as well. It’s my favorite fantasy series of all time. Truthfully I’ve never read a better fantasy series (I’ll admit I haven’t read Tolkien’s books yet though). I haven’t read the new books by Robert Sanderson either but they’re next on my to-read list and I have heard good things about them. The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind is pretty good too.

Can’t believe no one made a jab at the bible yet

Oh hot damn, this is my jam…

I read almost exclusively fantasy books. My favorite book of all time is Sabriel by Garth Nix. It’s very much a high fantasy novel but it is also a wonderful and complex coming-of-age story. It is the first in a series of books called The Old Kingdom trilogy and the next two books are just as wonderful, but Sabriel has a special place in my heart.

If you like urban fantasy, I gobble up the Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs. From the covers, they seem like fantasy smut which is why I originally picked up the first book but Mercy is a wonderful, multi-dimensional character who saves the day but is ultimately a real person. There are currently six books in the series plus a series of graphic novels, but I haven’t read those and in each one, Mercy grows even further. If these books had been around when I was a kid, I would have wanted to be just like Mercy.

If you like short stories, one of my favorite fantasy anthologies is The Faery Reel. It has a number of really well-written stories about faeries from a number of popular fantasy authors. In fact, just look for anything edited by Ellen Datlow. She’s kind of the Steven Spielberg of fantasy anthologies.

I’m also a huge fan of the Hunger Games trilogy. I wouldn’t call it fantasy I would call it dystopian science fiction but I have noticed that many, many people who read mainly fantasy are fans of the series. If you like dystopian young adult novels, I suggest the book Unwind by Neal Shusterman. This is an interesting commentary on the debate between pro-lifers and pro-choicers. It’s eerie and terrifying but a very good and thought-provoking read.

Oh dear, @yankeetooter. Where do you put works by Michael Swanwyck such as The Iron Dragon’s Daughter or Walter Jon WIlliams _ Metropolitan or City on Fire or China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station?

No, the definition of SF is not so simple as you might make it. Science Fiction has to be fantasy because we are always assuming some fantastic element that doesn’t exist. It only differs in the number of fantastic elements, perhaps, but I think you’d have a hard time arguing even that.

By the way, all of the books I mentioned are excellent. Fun fantasy, but of course, since they have technology in them, you wouldn’t be interested. Oh wait. Tolkien had technology, too. Swords and cross-bows and whatnot. And magical creatures? My goodness. I can’t count the number of science fiction novels that have magical creatures in them.

Are you opposed to mainstream fiction, too? Or historical? I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand how you can define what you are looking for in any sensible way. I also think you’re missing out on a lot by defining yourself how you do. Stuff you would probably enjoy immensely.

@wundayatta: In the realm of books, fantasy and science fiction have very distinct meanings. The genre of fantasy is different than the genre of science fiction. Yes, all fiction has fantastic elements to one degree or another after all, no one wants to read about the Average Joe who has a good job, a happy enough marriage and a simple life but Fantasy with a capital “F” has some distinct fantastic elements that are different than the fantastic elements in science fiction. From the question, I got that @yankeetooter is just looking for specifically fantasy novels right now, not that he doesn’t read anything else. I think he specified “no science fiction” because many, many people don’t understand or don’t care to understand the difference.

@wundayatta I guess I do like some of what I consider science fiction. I used to read Star Trek novels (mainly original ones, some TNG). I like Piers Anthony’s Out of Phaze novels and think their storyline is really clever…I just much prefer fantasy (as I define it, at least)...

I am not opposed to mainstream fiction, but prefer older literature to what is on the market nowadays. Thomas Hardy and W. Somerset Maughm are some of my favorites. I also like historical fiction…I never said that I did not like these genres, but fantasy is one of my favorite.

Thanks, @KatawaGrey , but it’s she…:)

I very much enjoy Robin Hobb’s books. He/she has written 3 trilogies I have and I look forward to more. George R R Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire is amazing! I pre-purchased the final book, Dance of Dragons, I think. I keep getting notices it will be spring instead of fall, and now it is summer.

@yankeetooter: Sorry! If it makes you feel any better, up until recently, a user who has been here for a long time but arrives after I did thought I was a child despite a large amount of evidence to the contrary. :)

@KatawaGrey I’ve had that happen to me on another forum…Someone there kept insisting I must be very young (I’m 40) and wouldn’t believe me when I said otherwise…No worries, lol!

You might want to check out Tanith Lee’s The Book of the Mad A lot of it is erotica…albeit really twisted erotica…and not traditional fantasy no, but it certainly is out there. It’s a damn good book.

Also, perhaps Watership Down by Richard Adams. It’s about rabbits, but is also very similar to the fantasy genre in how it’s played out.

Oh and I can’t believe I forgot. The Book of Shadows by James Reece is a Gothic story about an apprentice witch. Erotica in this too…but it’s really good, dealing with an epic quest, magic, demons and all sortsa shit. Definitely check that if you can.

@Symbeline If you’ve read Watership Down, try The Plague Dogs…It too is very good, but much sadder, so be warned…

A few years worth (depending upon your reading speed) of high quality fantasy not mentioned yet:

Steven Erickson- The Malazan Book of the Fallen. A long series of 10 books that, if you can keep up with the plotlines, are amazingly rewarding.

Stephen R. Donaldson- The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. My favorite antihero.

Terry Brooks- The Shannara Series. If you possess the patience to read through the horribly unimaginative first book in the series, Shannarra becomes fairly rewarding later on. Warning though, it will jump the shark quite badly in last few volumes.

C.S. Friedman- The Coldfire trilogy. More awesome antihero stuff.

By all means check out The Wheel Of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire. Probably the two Series that for me come closest to approaching Tolkien-like quality and mystique.

So there you are, probably 25–30k pages of high fantasy to read. Judging by your comments above, I can almost guarantee that nothing I have named will disappoint.