Book Recommendation for Sanderson Fan

[Dubisx]

Hello,

I'm looking for good book recommendations from other Sanderson fans. I tried searching these forums a bit, but haven't found any posts or lists of recommendations. If I missed something, please post the link.

I have read all of the Mistborn books (all 6 + secret history). Both SA  books, Elantris, and Warbreaker (honestly wasn't a big fan of Warbreaker). As many of you, I love Sanderson's stories and writing style, and I'm looking for more good books to read, so I thought this would be a good place to ask as we very well could have similar tastes in books. I like both epic and stand alone book fantasy.

Lately the (non-Sanderson) books I have read and enjoyed are as follows (the order does not reflect how well I liked them):

1. The Magicians Trilogy by Lev Grossman

2. Dying Lands Chronicles (#0 and #1) by Jacob Cooper

3. The Trysmoon Saga by Brian K Fuller

4.  The Cycle of Arawn Trilogy by Edward Roberson

5. King Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss

6. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

7. Dawn of Wonder (Currently Reading) by Jonathan Renshaw

 

Books I started and quit because I found them too painful to read:

1. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - Too much abruptly jumping around from one time to the next, and way too overboard with world building.

2. Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

3. Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson - Far too complicated, too many characters, too much jumping around. I didn't want to literally have to take notes to read it.

4. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - I did like the flow of the story, but was too mushy romance for me.

 

So, any good recommendations not listed above?

[Stick.]

you might find some here  

[Tsidqiyah]

Try Raymond E Fiest's "Riftwar Saga" at al. It is one of my favorites and until Sanderson came along he was my favorite author. The first one is older which worries some people but if you can get past the classic feel you should enjoy them. BTW he is still writing in his world but i haven't gotten to anything newer yet.

Stephen Donaldson's "Thomas Covenant" chronicles are not bad but a little more difficult slow to start but a very unique magic system.

In general I enjoy older fantasy, those published before the days when authors had to worry about the fans reactions to classic tropes. I have never enjoyed books that avoid tropes just so they are not cliche. 

[Zathoth]

Brent Weeks Lightbringer series and Dresden Files.

[eltari]

The War of Light and Shadow series by Janny Wurts, first book being Curse of the Mistwraith.  Very good epic fantasy, she's just finished the second to last book of the series (I believe it's that close). 

About the world of Pararvia, where humans are living on the continent Athera, as refugees after humanity destroyed it's space-faring civilization.  500 years before hand townsman instituted a revolt to overthrow Clan rulers, who were magically augmented to survive contact with the native Paravian races, unicorns, Sunchilden, and centaurs, by seven men, the Fellowship of Seven, to uphold the Compact that governs humanity's stay in Athera.  With the uprising, the Paravians withdrew from the world such that the Fellowship doesn't even know where they are.  The Fo7's hope for their return are two exiled half brothers Lysear and Arithon, who have the elemental ability to harness light and shadow to battle the Mistwrath, a creature that covers the world in Mist. 

[Rasarr]

I'd add to the list the Traitor Son Cycle by Miles Cameron and Bradley Bealieu's Twelve Kings in Sharakhai. 

The former is, at a first glance, your standard medieval fantasy, and isn't all that imaginative in terms of worldbuilding, but the fantastic creatures - the Wild - are very varied, creative and fascinating, and the setting in alternative North America-esque land, complete with Native tribes (which aren't treated as "magical Indians") makes it somewhat intersting. Also, there are dragons, and they're awesome. The plot is quite intriguing and the multitude of characters are fun. The story is about a mercenary band that gets hired to protect a convent from the Wild and finds itself way over its head, and I can't tell you more without spoiling it, but things escalate pretty quickly. 

The latter is more Thousand Nights inspired, about a city ruled by twelve immortal kings, and a woman who decides to take them down as a revenge - but it's also about a guy who joins a resistance that isn't as heroic as it seems, about a man who tries to extract his revenge on the resistance and stopping his sister-in-law from losing her humanity, and about multitude of gods and monsters playing a bigger game. It's a pretty slow burn, but certainly worth it. It has stuff like sand-sailing ships, flowers that turn you into superhumans, and a whole army of badass women who are tough without straying into the cringeworthy "strong independent woman" trap.

 

[Dubisx]

Hi All - Thanks for all the suggestions!

I finished Dawn of Wonder, and I've now started on Lightbringer by Brent Weeks per recommendations found in this thread.

I also added Riftwar Saga, War of Light and Shadows, and Traitor Son Cycle (as well as other books from the link) to my books to read shelf.

[Radiant Returned]

The only author I enjoy as much as Sanderson is Rothfuss, so glad you've read him. Based on that, here are my favorite fantasy series and some good recommendations I think based off that. 

A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin - Seems obvious so you've probably already read it, but while it's not really similar to Sanderson's writing, it's one of the pillars of modern fantasy so I always recommend it (and I personally love it).

Gentlemen Bastards - Scott Lynch - I know you just said you read part of Lies of Locke Lamora and couldn't finish it. I'd be interested to know how far you got, like a lot of fantasy the beginning is a bit rough and confusing, but I promise you this whole series (er, well, the first three, idk if he's ever gonna finish this supposed to be 7 books series) has some of the best characters and overall stories out there. I agree with you on Hobb and Erikson though, didn't like those. 

The Lightbringer Series - Brent Weeks - One of the closer to Sanderson works in fantasy, its definitely a "hard magic" system under Sanderson's definition, and the world is interesting. The writing isn't on Sanderson's level, and it took me all the way from 1 chapter to 3 books to finally start enjoying certain characters. However, book 4 just came out and I'm currently reading it and enjoying it. It's definitely a good series. 

The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher - I recently finished book 5 of what I think are 14 (they're all less than 150K words though, most around 110K). Not my usual type of fantasy (Urban fantasy and shorter structure), but he's Rothfuss' favorite author so I gave him a shot and while some things about the story bother me, it has progressively improved a lot every book and it's become pretty good. Eases you into the world with good writing and gradually builds on itself through individual adventures of the protagonist Harry Dresden. Could say more, but I'll move on.

The First Law Trilogy - Joe Abercrombie - Pretty far from Sanderson in basically every way, it's very gory, filled with bad language and very grey characters, and magic is involved but it's vague and not used by the main characters. Still, it is an excellent series, as are the 3 stand alone novels set after the trilogy, and he's working on a sequel trilogy now. 10/10 recommend. 

Fantasy series that I do NOT recommend, because they deceived me into buying them

Anthony Ryan - First book was supposed to be Rothfuss/Abercrombie combined, just turned out being bad writing around a good story idea. Didn't buy the rest of them because Book 1 was apparently the best. 

Powder Mages Trilogy - it's actually not terrible, I will probably buy the sequels at some point, I just read book 1. I read it fresh off discovering Sanderson though and was massively disappointed. Combines magic and traditional fantasy with gunpowder muskets. 

The Faithful and Fallen - Books look really cool on your shelf. But besides that...

[Assassin in Burgundy]

Game of Thrones. Probably only 14-16+, but it depends on how gritty the stuff you read is. It's a great series though. 

[manukos]

well i realy enjoyed derek Landy's Skuldaggery Pleasant series he has the quip part on par with sanderson even ifthe preimise is a little dull magicians living under our noses who have a goverment of their own and stuff it actualy has some thought and worldbilding behind it .it is a realy good read and very funny 

the Cirque du freak saga ,again kind of a dull premise , vampires . but it is what got me into fantasy soooo ... yes . i would mostly recomend it to younger readers only couse i am not sure if it holds up now (younger meaning 18-) also Daren Shan's writing doesnt resembe BS's quite that mutch 

let's see... Rothfuss is a no brainer i loved Kvoth and the name of the wind  realy is the best non sanderson piece of fantasy literature that i had the pleasure of reading 

for now... that's all folks

[iceblade44]

On 11/12/2016 at 8:19 PM, Radiant Returned said:

. 

Powder Mages Trilogy - it's actually not terrible, I will probably buy the sequels at some point, I just read book 1. I read it fresh off discovering Sanderson though and was massively disappointed. Combines magic and traditional fantasy with gunpowder muskets. 

 I read the first book, i like it though it did confuse the heck out of me in a couple of places. According to the reveiws i read the first book is the weakest in the Trilogy and he seems to get better with each book. Have to wait until i read it all to give my final opinion. Fun fact you might find interesting is that the Author was actually a student of Sanderson's.

Edited November 16, 2016 by iceblade44

[WayneSpren]

A Song of Ice and Fire, if you're not too put off by its graphic themes. It's really the only series I've found to rival Sanderson's works.

[DSC01]

Come on, guys! THE WHEEL OF TIME!!! Okay, to be fair, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I can't think of any popular fantasy series out there that doesn't have a whole contingent of naysayers just waiting for it to come up so they can to jump in and say how much they hated it. I've read it 4 times. It's worth it!

A lot of people don't know about The Moontide Quartet by David Hair, but I enjoyed it. Reading it, you can't help but feel that it's a bit derivative, but I really can't point the finger at any one series and say that it's a ripoff of that  one. I think the author just managed to combine a lot of familiar elements in a new enough way, and that made it an entertaining read.

[Bromo_Sapien]

Has anyone read The Shadow of What Was Lost yet? It was just published by Orbit about 3 weeks ago but was apparently self-published before that and had enough of a following to garner a reddit thread in r/fantasy and comparisons to Sanderson and Jordan. I read a sample chapter on the author's (James Islington) website and it seemed pretty good.

[Rasarr]

I've posted here already, but I've found a really good duology: Leigh Badurgo's Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. It's basically a fantasy heist story, set in a world that already has rifles, airships and tanks, but doesn't yet have stuff like trains or steam ships, with a fairly interesting magic system (though the locals don't consider it to be magic), and absolutely awesome characters and character development. The premise goes like this: a drug is invented that can vastly enhance powers of local magic users and the only man who knows the secret to making it is imprisoned by a country of witchhunters. Everybody scrambles to get to the man so that they could boost their Grisha (mages) before he's executed, and the main characters are six very different people who get hired to break in and grab the guy (the leader of the group will give you Kelsier flashbacks). Of course, things quickly get complicated.

Oh, and you might learn that the duology is a follow up to the author's previous trilogy, but having read it, I assure you that (1), there's basically no connection between the two and (2), the Grisha Trilogy is not very good, especialy compared to this.

[DSC01]

On 11/28/2016 at 11:13 PM, Bromo_Sapien said:

Has anyone read The Shadow of What Was Lost yet? It was just published by Orbit about 3 weeks ago but was apparently self-published before that and had enough of a following to garner a reddit thread in r/fantasy and comparisons to Sanderson and Jordan. I read a sample chapter on the author's (James Islington) website and it seemed pretty good.

No, but I keep seeing ads for it. Orbit really wants me to buy that book. Do I really want to get snookered into getting myself caught up in yet another unfinished series? ...Probably. I bet I'll get an Amazon gift card or two for Christmas, so...

[Rasarr]

@Bromo_Sapien - I've just finished reading The Shadow of What Was Lost, so I can give you a review 

Overall, it's really good. I'm definitely interested in reading the rest of the series, as there's a lot of mysteries that are very intriguing. The action is really good, the humour is good, the world is interesting, the magic is smart, and the characters are well-written and fun. There are some plot twists that you'll see from miles away, but there're also quite a few very interesting ones - especially at the very end - that surprised me without me calling bull*** on the plot development. The book deals heavily with prophecies and people who can see the future, but said prophecies manage to be precise without sucking all the life out of the tension - and the book asks some interesting questions about morality and free will without turning into a philosophical discourse, all while staying very entertaining. 

So, all things considered, if you liked the sample chapter, you'll like the whole thing.

[Ironeyes]

On 11/28/2016 at 9:49 PM, DSC01 said:

Come on, guys! THE WHEEL OF TIME!!! Okay, to be fair, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I can't think of any popular fantasy series out there that doesn't have a whole contingent of naysayers just waiting for it to come up so they can to jump in and say how much they hated it. I've read it 4 times. It's worth it!

Willing to second this. I've read the whole thing and my only complaint is that I lost track of some of the characters due to the incredible complexity of the series. Oh, and book 9 drags. I didn't like it until the end. 

These may be a bit light compared to Cosmere books, but the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud is highly entertaining. It's an engaging story with an overly generous helping of humor. I'd read it just for the hilarious subtext notes. 

[Demandred]

Others have made some excellent suggestions!

Personally I would recommend Lightbringer. It's a very interesting world with some very cool things happening. The first book on Weeks Night Angel trilogy is also good. though I thought the 2nd and 3rd went downhill.

Dresden Files get better and better with each one. and they are short and easy. Fun stuff!

Wheel of Time is fantastic, though I don't blame anyone who finds it tough to get into.

If you have somehow managed not to read it, you must check out Lord of the Rings. It is THE original modern fantasy novel.

[bschnebs]

I've been reading a lot of Wen Spencer lately.  Her books aren't nearly as complex as some of the epic fantasies, but they're good quick reads and very enjoyable.

[Erunion]

@Dubisx
You've read Tolkien, right? Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings? 
If you haven't, go do that. The prose is older, but its beautiful. I've also still never seen a world as solidly built as Middle Earth was (although Sanderson's are rad, Sanderson hasn't created multiple complete languages...). 
So yeah. Go read it. Now. Then come back to me (and say my land is best). 

After that, I recommend the Wheel of Time. It's a 15 book epic journey (if you include the prequel) but, well, I've read the first 12 books... a lot of times, the 13th book... 5 times I think? Maybe 6? The 14th book 3-4 times, and the last one twice. 
I've only read the last one twice because ending that series is physically painful for me (it's a great ending, but as I was one of those who theorized and lived this series for half of my life, it hurts to see something I've loved so much come to an end.)
The last three books are all written by Brandon Sanderson too, so it'll be familiar territory!

I also recommend ASOIAF, but only if you're ok with adult themes and content. 

Lightbringer series is enjoyable and well written (which reminds me, I need to read the 4th book which just came out), although it's not to the level of excellence of the three series above, it is fast paced and easier to read. 
Hunger Games is a solid story. I really enjoyed the portrayal of the horrors of war, complexity of society, and effects of PTSD that were given in the third book - felt those serious topics were unusually well done for a series aimed at teens. 

Obviously, you should have read Harry Potter by now. If not, go do that (but after the Lord of the Rings). Books are much deeper than the movies too (surprise surprise!) 

Also, don't neglect classic Science Fiction! Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert - these (and others) are excellent authors who've done some brilliant, thought provoking work. Some of it is more dated (especially stuff written before the 60s by Asimov/Bradbury), but it's still well worth reading!

[DSC01]

On 12/13/2016 at 1:24 AM, Demandred said:

 The first book on Weeks Night Angel trilogy is also good. though I thought the 2nd and 3rd went downhill.

 

I agree with you on Night Angel. It always seems so odd to me that it tends to be more popular than Lightbringer (that's based on my unscientific observation of fan reactions; I may be totally wrong).

I don't know that book 2 is necessarily downhill from 1 as much as 3 is the letdown. Middle books in trilogies often have the transitional curse and are their retrospective quality is determined by the third book.

The problem was that the third Night Angel book could have easily been three books all on its own. Every last bit of the behind-the-scenes mythological stuff is revealed in the third book. There are character arcs that begin and end in that single volume, when they should have had room to breathe over the course of at least two books. It's been a while since I've read it, so I don't remember enough for this to even need to be spoilered out, but there's some plot point where a character briefly joins up with a group of people (maybe is imprisoned by them? I really don't remember), then gets away/leaves, and ends up back with them (and/or captured by them, but I think that was all part of the plan or something). Mainly, what I remember is that the departure and return seemed pointless, but if the initial encounter had happened in one book and the second in another, it would have seemed clever, like, "Ah ha! I remember those guys! Brilliant plan!" 

Expanding Lightbringer to 5 books probably saved Weeks's second series from the same fate.

[A Budgie]

A lot has already been suggested that I agree with, but one that hasn't yet been mentioned yet is Terry Pratchett. His books aren't really epic fantasy, no Tolkien-eque journeys or anything like that, but they are amazing. The books muck around with and destroy a budgie of a lot of fantasy tropes (and others as well), so they're definitely not your average fantasy. Although they may not have an incredibly complex magic system, the magic used in the book is quite interesting, and used in a different style. They also go into the reprocussions of using magic as well. They are also incredibly funny, but they also have a lot of meaning. I'm just going to stop there, because they're amazing, but I don't want to spend half an hour talking about how they are amazing, so I'll finish with this quote: give a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll warm for the rest of his life.
Six of Crows was mentioned earlier: they're also good.

[DarkJester]

I don't know, maybe I should have posted this on the writing excuses board, but this seemed close enough to what I wanted to know. I was listening to an episode of writing excuses a while back and I think it was Brandon that said he was working on this book. Again, it's been a while so I could be wrong. It was set in the future where they were using video games like a drug. I guess they hacked the game or something and it was causing them get high or something. Can't remember, for sure but I think people were dying or something. Don't remember much about it. Does anyone else know what this story was called or who, if not Brandon was working on it. I really didn't do it any justice in my description, but any info would be appreciated...

[Sunbird]

14 hours ago, DarkJester said:

I don't know, maybe I should have posted this on the writing excuses board, but this seemed close enough to what I wanted to know. I was listening to an episode of writing excuses a while back and I think it was Brandon that said he was working on this book. Again, it's been a while so I could be wrong. It was set in the future where they were using video games like a drug. I guess they hacked the game or something and it was causing them get high or something. Can't remember, for sure but I think people were dying or something. Don't remember much about it. Does anyone else know what this story was called or who, if not Brandon was working on it. I really didn't do it any justice in my description, but any info would be appreciated...

That sounds like you might be thinking of a book that Dan Wells released within the last year called Bluescreen. Here's a link to its GoodReads page: Bluescreen on GoodReads