Your top 5 fantasy books/series

[Who Sharded?]

I forgot, I probably should have included this in my top 5:

 

Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

How many authors can get to book 15 in a series and STILL keep things fresh and interesting?  Simply remarkable.  Butcher's long term planning appears to be every bit as good as Sanderson's.  Although I can't say any single book is among the best I've ever read, this is really a "whole is greater than sum of parts" thing.

[Bort he/him]

In no particular order...

 

Raymond E. Feist's Midkemia series. Magician is still one of the best fantasy novels I've ever read, but it goes majorly downhill towards the end.

 

Robin Hobb's Farseer books. When I say Farseer books, I mean all series set in the Six Duchies setting (including the Liveship Traders and Rain Wild Chronicles) as they each have their own story, but also tell a larger tale.

 

The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan. It has a dip in the middle of the series where the quality of books goes down in the eyes of many, but it is a necessary dip and both starts and finishes incredibly well.

 

The Stormlight Archive. I know, everyone and their dogs love Brandon's stories too, but that doesn't change that he very quickly became my favourite author. I love everything about the Stormlight Archive books so far - Roshar is so different to our reality, yet Brandon really makes it shine, almost like I am actually there when reading it. Awesome characters, and yet another different magic system ('Different' as in not your typical fireball throwing guy in a large pointy hat kind of magic).

 

Trudi Canavan's Black Magician series. This actually covers a total of 7 books, even though the Black Magician series was a trilogy. After the first trilogy was launched, a standalone prequel was released, as was a new trilogy set about 20 years after the first. Like Brandon, Trudi did something different with the magic system, and that is what made it stand out for me.

[Dunkum he/him]

In no particular order...

 

Raymond E. Feist's Midkemia series. Magician is still one of the best fantasy novels I've ever read, but it goes majorly downhill towards the end.

I reread some of those last year, and I had the opposite reaction.  the later books, the ones that focus a bit more on the politics of the kingdom, are the ones that seemed stronger to me.  It doesn't help that, by the end of like the second or third book, your good guys include 3 of the most powerful beings in the universe.  With that kind of power, it gets to be a bit hard to believe that they are struggling with anything.

[Briar King]

I'd say Malazan is easily an R.

In regards to Caine I call it Phantasy.

Edited January 27, 2015 by Briar King

[Bort he/him]

I reread some of those last year, and I had the opposite reaction.  the later books, the ones that focus a bit more on the politics of the kingdom, are the ones that seemed stronger to me.  It doesn't help that, by the end of like the second or third book, your good guys include 3 of the most powerful beings in the universe.  With that kind of power, it gets to be a bit hard to believe that they are struggling with anything.

 

Yet they always found something, and that something led to power creep. The reason I went off some of the later books isn't because they were bad stories, but rather because they were badly written.

 

For example... Spoilers

 

In one of the books, Kelewan is destroyed. In the run up to that happening, Pug ended up talking to the Tsurani Emperor, who in turn gives powers to the Minwanabi family. The Minwanabi family was obliterated at the order of Kelewan's Assembly of Magicians, an order who is above the law, and whose word is law. If this family was wiped out, how come there were people with that name available to retake the Warlord's throne?

 

It was simply sloppy writing, and this has been more or less confirmed by Feist himself. In an interview about one of the books, he was asked about continuity holes like the one I just described. His response was along the lines of "Give me a break, I write a lot of books. I can't keep track of them all." On one hand, I can understand his viewpoint. On the other hand though, silly mistakes costs him readers and revenue.

 

This wasn't the only mistake he made. Over the course of the last half dozen books he wrote, there were numerous errors appeared, all of which could have been avoided with a proof reader, or an editor who knew the background.

 

Also, I couldn't get over his apparent need to introduce yet another brand of elf. One that had almost nothing to do with the main plot, and was all but forgotten in the final book, Magician's End.

[Dunkum he/him]

Yet they always found something, and that something led to power creep. The reason I went off some of the later books isn't because they were bad stories, but rather because they were badly written.

 

For example... Spoilers

 

In one of the books, Kelewan is destroyed. In the run up to that happening, Pug ended up talking to the Tsurani Emperor, who in turn gives powers to the Minwanabi family. The Minwanabi family was obliterated at the order of Kelewan's Assembly of Magicians, an order who is above the law, and whose word is law. If this family was wiped out, how come there were people with that name available to retake the Warlord's throne?

 

It was simply sloppy writing, and this has been more or less confirmed by Feist himself. In an interview about one of the books, he was asked about continuity holes like the one I just described. His response was along the lines of "Give me a break, I write a lot of books. I can't keep track of them all." On one hand, I can understand his viewpoint. On the other hand though, silly mistakes costs him readers and revenue.

 

This wasn't the only mistake he made. Over the course of the last half dozen books he wrote, there were numerous errors appeared, all of which could have been avoided with a proof reader, or an editor who knew the background.

 

Also, I couldn't get over his apparent need to introduce yet another brand of elf. One that had almost nothing to do with the main plot, and was all but forgotten in the final book, Magician's End.

I don't remember any of that, so it is very likely I didn't get that far in.  only about through the original riftwar saga, and maybe a couple of the later books.

[Bort he/him]

I don't remember any of that, so it is very likely I didn't get that far in.  only about through the original riftwar saga, and maybe a couple of the later books.

 

Well, he started off with the Riftwar saga, which had three books. Then there were a couple of standlone novels, then the Serpentwar saga, which was four. After that, the various series he released just kinda all merged into one, but there were the Conclave of Shadows books, the Darkwar books, the Demonwar books, plus a few others set during the Riftwar, just about other characters, and the Empire trilogy, set on Kelewan.

 

30 books in all, and I own all but one of them. They started going downhill after the Serpentwar books, and the Demonwar and Darkwar gave the impression that he was running out of ideas. Magician's End did resolve it all nicely though, if you could overlook the continuity problems.

[Dunkum he/him]

Well, he started off with the Riftwar saga, which had three books. Then there were a couple of standlone novels, then the Serpentwar saga, which was four. After that, the various series he released just kinda all merged into one, but there were the Conclave of Shadows books, the Darkwar books, the Demonwar books, plus a few others set during the Riftwar, just about other characters, and the Empire trilogy, set on Kelewan.

 

30 books in all, and I own all but one of them. They started going downhill after the Serpentwar books, and the Demonwar and Darkwar gave the impression that he was running out of ideas. Magician's End did resolve it all nicely though, if you could overlook the continuity problems.

Think I made it through Riftwar, and the immediately following sequels about the royal family, and that pretty much exhausted what was available in the library at the time.

[neuxue]

 

2 - The Riddle-Master of Hed; Heir of Sea and Fire; Harpist in the Wind - by Patricia A. McKillip. Seriously one of the most brilliant series I have ever read. Rakes your emotions over the coals (in a good way) and then makes you feel good at the end.

 

 

Top of my list, and possibly the most underrated/underread book I've ever read. It's incredible but so few people know of it. (The fact that it's been mentioned here fills me with joy). Beautifully written, wonderful story, intriguing (soft) magic system, great characters, some unusual twists. 

 

So my list would probably look something like

1) the Riddle Master trilogy, as mentioned above

2) His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman. 

it gets surprisingly difficult to fill the last 3 slots, because there are so many I've read and loved for such different reasons...

3) I'm tempted to put Stormlight here, but as it's unfinished I'm not sure. Mistborn can sit in as a placeholder. 

4) the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor. A different fantasy sub-genre, but very good. I particularly enjoy the price of magic in these, because nothing is more fun than watching characters suffer

5) The Young Wizards series (Diane Duane), if only because it's such a wonderfully different take on magic, and one that greatly appeals to a science geek like me. Loved these when I was younger, and was pleasantly surprised on recently re-reading.

[Ynax he/him]

1. The Book of the New Sun (It's a little peculiar fantasy published in the 80's, might not fit all but I loved it)

Mistborn (The feel I got from it beats almost anything else, but SA might well beat it when it's done)

The Lord of the Rings (Pretty much says it all)

A Song of Ice and Fire (It's a great series but was such a long time ago since I finished it and haven't reread it, hence it's not up higher)

Stormlight Archive (When it's done I'll probably put it up top, but so far 2 books in it's a beginning of something amazing)

[oddchelonian]

Oh, this is gonna be difficult:

1. Harry Potter
2. Stormlight Archive
3. Mistborn
4. His Dark Materials
5. Gentlemen Bastard (that's the Locke Lamora series by Scott Lynch)
6. Kingkiller Chronicles
7. The Silmarillion/LotR

I am listing these by how much I've enjoyed them, rather than how good I think they are. some are not finished yet, so rankings are sure to change over time. I'm unsure of whether the whole Cosmere stuff should be counted as one, so I thre in a sixth.

 

EDIT: forgot His Dark Materials, and I did not have the heart to remove any of the others, so ... the list is now 7. Oh well.

Edited March 3, 2015 by oddchelonian

[AerionBFII he/him]

How long have you got??

1.Stormlight Archive

2.Night Angel

3.WOT

4.The Licanius Trilogy

5.Kingkiller

6.Game of Thrones

7.Lightbringer

8.Ravens Shadow

9.Red Queens War

10.Mistborn

11.Unhewn Throne

12.Mither Mages

[sanderfuss he/him]

Great to see the Harry potter books show up so many times

[LouiseSparrow she/her]

Top 5 but not in a specific order

• Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
• Discworld by Terry Pratchett
• Belgariad by David Eddings
• Pern by Ann McCaffrey
• Narnia by C.S. Lewis

[aeromancer he/him]

Complete Series:

1.LotR

2.Foundation

3.Inheritance

4.Sword of Shannara - original only!

5. His Dark Materials

[el_warko he/him]

Complete:

 

Incarnations of Imortality

Harry Potter

The Belgriad

Watchmen

The Deverry Cycle

 

Incomplete:

 

Kingkiller Chronicles

A Song of Ice and Fire

Stormlight Archive

Edited April 13, 2015 by el_warko

[Kruppe he/him]

Old friends that have aged a bit. Feist, Riftwar (the first 4-6 books, the quality detoriated later) Eddings' Elenium and Tamul trilogies.

I disagree Feists later books are definitely his best. ie magicians end.

[Bort he/him]

I disagree Feists later books are definitely his best. ie magicians end.

 

Magician's End was pretty good, but the ten books or so that came before it were decidedly lacking in quality and continuity. From Talon of the Silver Hawk, up to but not including Magician's End have so many pointless occurrences, continuity errors, and mistakes, it is ludicrous.

 

Even to the point of continuity errors on the same page.

 

Talon of the Silver Hawk, one of the early chapters, 1 or 2, when Talon returns to his village, he picks up a sword and shield from a fallen soldier. Literally two paragraphs later, that same soldier pulls out his sword and attacks Talon.

 

My main problem isn't that Feist's stories got bad. Some of them are pretty good, but rather that he seemed to stop caring if he made mistakes, and there were a lot of them.

[Haradion Drogon]

What's the overall consensus on Kingkilller?

[Kairos]

1. Queen's Thief 

2. Lord of the Rings

3. Mistborn

4. Tales of Damar

5. Half-Magic

 

A bit uncommon choices, I see. 

[Windrunner he/him]

Hmm, this is a toughie. I want to note that I do love Harry Potter, but it's kind of its own thing in my mind, so even though it's not on this list, I do love it dearly.

• Cosmere (I do consider it all to be one series, but if I can't, I say Stormlight Archive)
• The Kingkiller Chronicle
• A Song of Ice and Fire
• Gentlemen Bastards
• The Dresden Files

[skaa he/him]

• Cosmere (thanks for the idea, Windy!) - Awesome magic systems and worldbuilding. Sanderson avalanche. Interesting characters. Great banter.

   

• Discworld - Hilarious and deeply insightful at the same time. Satirical in nature, but also offers great fantasy ideas.

   

• Chronicles of Chaos - Intensely intellectual at times, and at times a bit crude. Perfect for lovers of spell magic, science fiction, math, Ancient myth, geek humor, dirty jokes, and pretty girls.

   

• Harry Potter - Very imaginative. Lots of cool settings. Books 2, 3, and 6 were amazing.

   

• Middle Earth (the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion) - A must-read if you're a fan of high fantasy, even if you only read the books once. Having seen the movies is not an excuse. Many of your favorite fantasy authors dreamed of reaching Tolkien's level of craftsmanship when they were starting off, and I'm pretty sure none of them have reached that goal yet.

Edited April 23, 2015 by skaa

[Tyson]

What's the overall consensus on Kingkilller?

 

Better written than Cosmere work, in my oppinion. More subtle than Brandon. Though Rothfuss seems to have gone a long, winding tangent in Book 2, which didn't really advance the story from the end of Name of the Wind. So i'm extremely skeptical that he will be able to tie up all the strings in book 3. Unless ofcourse this is the frist trilogy of a larger series, as some people speculate.

 

The series seems destined to hit lofty heights or crash and burn, dependant on the quality of the next book. I can't see a middle ground. If Book 3 is bad, I will feel as if Rothfuss has kept me dangling from a line for almost ten years of procrastination and charity fundraisers. If it's good, I will hail him as a genius. Seems to be the general consensus from other review sites as well.

 

I don't mind slow writing, if it's worth it. GRRM is a genius. A reader can appreciate the amount of time it takes to write one of his books.

__

 

As for my top 5.

 

1. ASOIAF

2. Stormlight (currently, though I think it has more potential of descending than reaching number 1)

3. KingKiller (same as above)

4. Broken Empire

5. Lord of the Rings

 

Tried and failed at reading Malazan and got to book 3 of WoT before characters annoyed me too much.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Tyson

[Briar King]

How far did you get on Malazan? It's not for everyone but it can be down right epic if you stick to it.

[Tyson]

Half way through book 2. I've been told you really have to stick with it for the first few books and then it becomes an epic, so i will give it another try.

 

I've tried twice with Wheel of Time and can't learn to like it. I just have so many gripes with the series it is unreal.

 

I'm suprised at how many people have placed the Cosmere so high. I liked the first Mistborn, I struggled with the other 2. I think Brandons newest releases are briliant though. His style has developed so much. Alloy of Law was fantastic, so i'm guessing his new series will creep into the top 5.