Any of the books having to do with Pern or the Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. I believe Dragonflight is the first. I also LOVED the White Dragon.
I loved the Dragonlance series as well.
I know it’s not medieval, but if you’ve never read The Count of Monte Cristo…READ IT.
[quote]cap’nsalty wrote:
Ursula Leguin’s (sp?) Earthsea trilogy is quite good.[/quote]
Fuckin awesome actually
[quote]dennis3k wrote:
anyone know if the Neal Stephenson books are any good???
was just curious[/quote]
Awesome. I read Quicksilver fully, its one of my favorte reads.
[quote]dogwitch wrote:
I highly recommend Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series.
I’m currently reading all the Warhammer 40000 books I can find and have been pleasantly surprised with their quality. [/quote]
Robert Jordan. holy crap… After reading the Wheel of Time series, everything else seems a bland and watered down version of ‘good vs evil’ deal. the books aren’t all amazing… i recall distinctly burning a few chapters when i got too bored and knew i cud’ve done without; but nonetheless, the series has picked up pace since the last book… hopefully he ends it soon.
David Gemmell; if u suffer the short attention span or don’t like bulky novels, absolutely. ‘Echoes of the great song’ is a must read, u’ll thank me later.
there are many others, but i’m about to pass out, so later…
ps; dogwitch, how’d u rank the warhammer series?
definitely the Wheel of Time, but you also might want to try some Orson Scott Card. Ender’s Game is great.
I second Glen Cook’s Black Company series.
Also, Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber series is a great read (and re-read and re-re-reread). His follow up series isn’t as good.
I’m surprised so many like Jordan’s Wheel of Time. It’s pretty lightweight and after the first few books nothing happens for several books. It’s as if he’s dragging it out as long as sales are good, and he’ll only end it when sales drop off. There are much better suggestions here for reading.
All of George RR Martin’s Ice&Fire series books are great, and will take quite a while to get through.
The Darkwood Saga by Simon R. Green.
Chronological order:
Blue Moon Rising
Blood and Honor
Down Among the Dead Men
Swords of Haven
Guards of Haven
Beyond the Blue Moon
They’ve started reprinting it and it’s one of my favorite series. Though I’m probably a bit biased since I first read it when I was twelve and wanted to be Julia (the heroine of several of the books). Also the ‘of Haven’ books are actually six short stories three in each.
On top of any of Robin Hobb’s books, Neal Gaiman’s American Gods is awesome, and so is Anansi Boys. Can’t wait to pick up his others books.
Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time is a must read, even though it is boring at times.
The Red Death trilogy in the white wolf world wasn’t too shabby either. If you like gothic horror at its best.
[quote]dennis3k wrote:
anyone know if the Neal Stephenson books are any good???
was just curious[/quote]
Haha, took you six months to get an answer!
I really liked Quicksilver and Cyryptonomicon.
He really likes his science and math though, so if you don’t like some sections with hard math in them you might get bogged down.
It’s not as if you need a BS degree to read and understand Cryptonomicon, but you’ll miss some of the depth of the book if you don’t understand some math and computer science.
I read the first few books by Robert Jordon and loved them. I also endorse Mary Stewart’s Merlin trilogy as well.
Here are a few suggestions that may or may not be the genre you’re looking for, but nonetheless very good science fiction/fantasy. (sometimes the line blurs)
My all time favorites: Dune by Frank Herbert and all his sequels, (Frank died in 1986) and the prequels by his son, Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. I’ve read them all several times. (12 books total)
Another series I found intensely interesting is the ‘Riverworld’ series by Philip Jose Farmer. It starts with To Your Scattered Bodies Go. If you like that one, try the rest. (5 books total)
The series by John Varley (3 books total): Titan, Wizard and Demon are a good read. He’s stepped away from his usual science fiction to delve into a bit more fantasy in this trilogy.
Good thread! I’ll be checking out some of the books others have suggested.
Micki
dune, although more sci-fi fantasy, is IMO the best book ever written, except maybe LOTR. unfortunatly the sequals didn’t really live up, and i don’t think they are worth reading.
Dragonlance is good (only the ones written by weis and hickman), as is the deathgate cycle, and darksword trilogy, by the same authors.
Robert Jordan starts strong, and eventually his books degenerate into a rambling fantasy soap opera repleate with teenage daydreams. Although the last book was good again (knife of dreams).
Orson scott card is awesome, although pure sci-fi pretty much.
RA salvatore is really fun to read, although drizzt’s musings become tiring after awhile. The action is awesome. His sellsword series is cool so far.
i forget the name, but the one that starts with dragon bone chair, is worth reading.
LE modiset is a good writer, but his books lack action and intregue (from what i’ve read).
Fritz Leiber is the father of the modern sword and sorcery fantasy novel. You might try him.
To add, to the Fritz Leiber recommendation, his Lankhmar series about Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser.
A good blend of the fantasy and sci-fi genres are the “Incarnations Of Immortality” by Piers Anthony.
ALSO if you can still get your hands on them the "Vampire: The Dark Ages: clan novels, particularly the Cappadocian and Assamite novels, are good fast reads.
Has no one read Anne McCaffrey, but me??? I’m quite surprised considering the plethora of authors suggested and the knowledge of this genre the other T-nationers posess.
I ask you, has any of you read the any of Anne McCaffrey’s books based on Pern and its Dragonriders???
I love pretty much all sci-fi and fantasy, but one of my most favorite are by Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel’s Dart, Kushiel’s Chosen and Kushiel’s Avatar. Just checked her website and it looks like the next installment (Kushiel’s Scion) is due out any day.
I also love Orson Scott Card’s Seventh Son and all 6 books in that series.
Forgot to mention Katherine Kurtz’s Deiriny series. Many books set in the same world at different moments in time, with the same line. Overall, very good.
So is David Eddings early work, the Belgariade and the Malloreans especially. Never quite got hooked by the Jewel trilogy, but still a good read.
[quote]TheSicilian wrote:
Has no one read Anne McCaffrey, but me??? I’m quite surprised considering the plethora of authors suggested and the knowledge of this genre the other T-nationers posess.
I ask you, has any of you read the any of Anne McCaffrey’s books based on Pern and its Dragonriders???[/quote]
Sicilian,
I’ve seen her books, and I’m interested, but wouldn’t know where to start. Could I start with the series you suggested, or do I need to start at the beginning?
Micki
Another suggestion, thought not strict fantasy, is Vellum: The Book of All Hours by Hal Duncan.
It’s a debut book by Duncan, published in 2005, and a very unique writing style. It’s very non-linear, almost like an entire book made up of stream of consciousness style.
The second and last book of the duology is Ink: The Book of All Hours, which was just released on 2-27-07. I haven’t read it yet.
I really enjoyed Vellum; I thought it was easily the most creative book I’ve read in a while. But be warned that it’s possible that the writing style might drive you nuts.
Count me in for another vote for Ursula LeGuin and the Earthsea Trilogy. “A Wizard of Earthsea” won many awards when it came out, and is still one of my favorite books.
“The Once & Future King” by TH White is jaw dropping, and considered a modern classic.
Can’t believe no one has mentioned Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series? First book is amazing, Roland the Gunslinger is a complete badass. Nice mix of fantasy, sci-fi, fantasy and horror.
Lord of the Rings is still the greatest book(s) ever written, IMHO.