Disappointed in other books

[treblkickd]

If we weren't on the Brandon Sanderson fan forum I'd probably think this post is just trolling.

 

Sanderson does some thing exceptionally well. He has tons of ideas, and I feel like his true calling in life is to be the worlds greatest GM/DM. That said, Sanderson's prose has been a weakness in the past, though he's improved by leaps and bounds as he's written. For me, this actually has the effect of making it difficult for me to read/enjoy Mistborn and Elantriss relative to the more recent stuff (Warbreaker, Stormlight Archive). My one great wish is that he would improve with characterization; there's a huge overuse of internal monologue. I'd much rather learn what kind of person Kaladin is by watching the choices he makes (not just the big ones, but the little ones as well), rather than have to read pages upon pages of Kaladin talking to himself about why he's doing what he's doing.

 

In terms of action and entertainment, several folks have mentioned the Dresden Files (I haven't read Codex Alera so I can't comment). Jim Butcher has his own strengths/weaknesses, but for the most part I think the Dresden Files are really fun, and they definitely build on one another so that book 10 has so much more going on (on many levels) than books ~1-3 or so. Harry Dresden has some of the same excessive internal monologue tendencies that you see in Sanderson PoV characters, though in that case the entire series is always shown from Dresden's perspective, so I guess it's more of a conscious mis en scene thing w/ the Dresden Files.

 

If writing matters to you, then you should read Rothfuss. There are so many clever things he does with language, including combining some principles of poetry into parts of his prose. He's pretty clearly a perfectionist type. It's also somewhat popular to hear complaints about his main character, Kvothe, but my feeling is that Rothfuss isn't holding Kvothe up as a paragon of virtue - he's just as critical of Kvothe's flaws as we as readers are. And that's not complete speculation: I had the pleasure of playing a 6 hour table top RP session DMed by Pat Rothfuss set at the University, and it became very clear that Rothfuss considers Kvothe to be very much a tragically flawed individual.

 

If writing *really* matters to you, then you should read everything that Ursula K le Guin has ever written. She's my favorite author in the world, and I find a kind of wisdom and insight in her stories that is just above and beyond. Stories by le Guin aren't generally based around high paced action at all, so if you're just reading to be entertained then you'll be disappointed. Margaret Atwood is also quite good (she's much like le Guin, but a half step below, to my mind).

[taliefer]

Sanderson is currently my favorite author and its not really close. but he isnt perfect. some of his dialogue is near lucas level cringe worthy, and.."tempest". get over that word man! it jars me a little everytime i see it in his books now. 

 

if your looking for something a little different, Terry Brooks "Running with the Demon" is really good, as a standalone or the trilogy. i know alot of people dont like his shannara books, but shrug. 

 

Terry Goodkind is alright..the books start off excellent, but get more and more preachy the farther into the series you go. if you can handle that, they are worth a read.

 

barb and J.C hendee are alright, if you dont mind a little vampire-ish stuff. i dont usually go for the vamp stuff, but they do a good job with the setting and characters to make it feel natural.

[Moogle]

I enjoy Sanderson's books immensely, but I can't really say that he ruins other books for me. Sanderon's got some amazing strengths: he's a master at plotting everything to come together in an amazing climax, he writes action excellently, his magic systems are internally consistent and characters actively exploit things (the powergamer in me sings when I learn about The Lord Ruler's clever tricks), and that sort of thing. I suspect I'd love Brandon as a DM for D&D.

 

But... he's average in most areas. His characters are (somewhat) flat, some of his twists are questionable (sudden pirate in Elantris), his writing is not terribly beautiful, his philosophical musings are fairly superficial (he doesn't devote enough pages to it, so I'd prefer he left most of it out), his witty characters fail to do much for me, that sort of thing.

 

What's fascinating is that he's improving. Dramatically. I actually spent half of WoR laughing, which is the first Brandon book to do that to me. His characters are getting better. I'm very eager to see what his books look like in a decade.

 

Still, even if he matures into the best writer ever (which he might)... I think his style of writing leaves a lot to be desired. Stormlight will never be as in depth as Erikson's Malazan, because Brandon keeps things fairly simple for his readers. His prose won't ever match China Mieville's. His characters will never be as interesting as ASOIAF to me. Brandon writes 'heroic' fiction, and mostly avoids shades of gray. There's too many different ways to write that I doubt Brandon could ever ruin other books for me.

[shinintendo]

Not books but if you're into Japanese, Korean and Chinese stuff (or can tolerate them) you should read these novels, you won't be dissapointed:

"The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor" - around 16 novels out of 40 are translated. a must read for mmorpg lovers. the best VR book around.

 "Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria" - good thriller, sci-fi and psychological novel. like the Liar game manga to whoever know it.

"Baccano" - Cannot explain it really, thriller+sci-fi with a pinch of immortality

all of them can be found free online.

 

There are more but they are more perverted for the most part so I won't recommend them to everyone. enjoy.

[Shardbearer]

So I've read lot's of books, and only a few are worth rereading, so I guess you could categorize my favorite books by whether they're worth a reread or not.

 

Books I've Reread:

Brandon's Books: I've read most of Brandon's books twice now, WoK 3 times. I'll probably keep rereading them as we learn more about the Cosmere.

Dresden Files: Just reread these before the release of the latest one to catch up.

Codex Alera: After getting through the Dresden Files there was still some time left before WoR, so I reread Butcher's other series.

WoT: I'm still in a reread of this, though I've stalled at Winter's Heart because the plot is kinda sluggish. Trying to finish the series for the first time once I get caught up.

 

So that's it, all the books I've ever reread. I could also see myself rereading Narnia and the Hobbit/LotR in the near future.

[Eejit]

I'd definitely agree with rating Sanderson's stuff above Abercrombie's dreary and gratuitously grim-dark depressionfest. Just when you start to think one single character is not an cremhole he suddenly beats a female relative for no good reason.

 

Malazan didn't do much for me either, characters are killed off even more quickly than in GRRM but it's never permanent - everyone returns from the dead, sometimes repeatedly. Very tabletop-RPG derived.

 

Oh and just avoid Sword of Truth like the plague. Ayn Rand with dragons. And evil chickens. Just no.

 

 

I'm loving the Kingkiller series though, and Jim Butcher's work. I'd also recommend you all check out The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham, an excellent character-driven series in a really unique fantasy setting.

[metatr0n]

BS is easy to read and his magic systems are top notch, he lacks in other aspects already mentioned by Moogle. I personally blew thru all his books without much of a staying impression, only SA got me hooked and i came here to lurk and I foundd out about cosmere, that made me appreciate him more...

 

Joe Abercrombie: just three words OVER THE TOP (but i love him for that)

 

Malazan book of the Fallen: While impressive in its scope and epicness, vocabulary used in there is just wow (english is not my first language, but that books was probably the first that i at a total loss to understand)

 

Jim Butcher: Dresden Files are really entertaining and fun to read getting better by the book. Codex Alera is just too linear and predictable for my taste.

 

Terry Goodkind: Just lol. Got hooked on his first rule "People are stupid" with which i strongly agree (i dont exclude myself from that rule), so read till book 3 then dropped it never looked back.

 

WoT: Its sad to say, but BS was the best thing that happened to that series I would really like it to be rewritten by BS from book 1.

 

Brent Weeks: Story totally driven by protagonist not sharing vital information and being bipolar, very frustrating. Action in enjoyable.

 

Larry Correia: Enjoyed his works especially The Grimnoir Chronicles. While he projects himself on his main character (buff guy looks stupid but isnt, loves guns) didnt really find that annoying.

 

GRRM: totally lost his series doubt it will ever be finished.

 

Havent seen anyone mention Mark Hodder he is fantastic. Mark Lawrence awesome plots on his Emperor of Thorns series. Scott Lynch hands down best characters ever, humor is awesome (sad he had depression for a long time). Brian McClellan and his Powder Mage trilogy (ongoing) while there are some passing and plot holes still enjoyable read. Tom Lloyd's The Twilight Reign a fresh breath of air in fantasy genre. Chris Woodings Katty Jey series were really awesome until the last book (he wanted to finish the series and so everything suffers from plot to character development, best if you just dont read the last book and think how great it could have been). Ian Tregillis while technically not fantasy (sci-fi) its more alternative history book + magic. And so many more...

 

P.S Now that i think about it i read too much :/

Edited March 31, 2014 by metatr0n

[Galavantes]

I don't do audio-books.  I can't.  After listening to someone talk for ~10-15 minutes, then my brain tunes them out as white noise that's not something actually real going on.  So, if you have to do audio books, I have no idea what quality they come in, and I'm sorry.  Also, my taste in books isn't the same as everyone else, so I'll also mention books that I dislike so that you can compare likes and dislikes.  Obviously, we at least somewhat agree, because Sanderson is freaking amazing.

 

GRRM last two Song of Ice and Fire books were terrible, each one worse than the one before it. The first three are really, really good.

Abercrombie has terribly written characters in boring worlds (with an INCREDIBLY notable exception of Best Served Cold, which you should read).  Drastically different style than Sanderson; incredibly good.  Avoid the rest of his books like the plague.

I never could get into Erikson's Malazan series, but will be giving it another go soon.  Too many people whose opinion I trust and taste in books is similar to mine keep saying it's good for me to give up after only two tries.  I love Mass Effect, and it took me 5 tries to get into the game at all, so /shrug.

Terry Goodkind's books are, with one notable exception, awful.  Wizard's First Rule, the first of the Sword of Truth series is jaw-droppingly good.  The next two are not nearly as good, but I still made it through.  Halfway through book 4 I dropped it, stopped, and never looked back.  At the time, this was the first time that I had made it more than three chapters into a book and stopped reading it.

 

Non-Sanderson great books that people have mentioned that I will repeat for added emphasis, as well as a few new ones:

 

Scott Lynch -- Remember Kelsier and Crew from Mistborn?  Think that, but they have no magic.  And written incredibly well.

Patrick Rothfuss -- Beautiful prose.  I love the books.  A common complaint is that they're somewhat boring (definitely not non-stop action-packed, so if that's what you want stay away.)

Brent Weeks -- Over-the-top ridiculously awesome, take everything up to 11, and then maybe 12 or even 13.  God I love this guy.  If you want realism, stay away.  If you want a fantastically good time, then dive in.

Peter Brett -- Darker and more gritty than Weeks, just as well written.  I like 'em, some of my friends hate them.  I bought Book 1 because the cover art on Book 2 was so amazing that I was willing to pay $7 for the paperback just to have it.  I now own the three that are out, and consider it the best impulse book-buy I've ever made.

Jim Butcher -- His Dresden Files (Urban Fantasy) series starts out somewhat rough, but gets better; as I recall, after book 4 each one is substantially better than the one before it--and none of them are bad.  Codex Aleria (Epic/High Fantasy) is really, really good.  He uses some of the same basic principles of Sanderson (Heroes should be Heroic), and uses them well.  The magic system used, and the way that it affected the development of the world is one of the most clear-sighted, well-thought out and natural presentations I've ever seen.

Michael Sullivan -- The Riyiria books are definitely worth a read.  While solid, they read very much like First Published Novels.  I'm not really sure how to explain it, except to compare Elantris to Mistborn.  No disrespect intended at all, just that he obviously gets better as the series goes on, and there comes a point where pretty much everything that happens is what, why, and how you would expect (or at least I did.  But I was tipsy at the time, which occasionally induces prescience in me.  Or at least the feeling that I'm prescient.  Which really isn't the same thing at all.)

Michelle Sagara/Michelle West -- Same author, writes under both names.  Has a different series for each one, with rather substantial different 'feel.'  I love her books, and she has written plenty of them.  As Michelle West, she writes high fantasy, with a wide cast of characters and points of view that mesh together very well.  Incredibly believable characters, that are also all distinct and unique individuals.  Lots of politics and intrigue, mixed with some great fights and just good fun.  Her prose is good, but relies more on suggestion and painting a picture of what's happening than Rothfuss.  If Sanderson is my favorite author, she's my second favorite; both have rather different styles, but one thing they both do so well is create believable, relatable characters--and then we get to see how they react in situations that range from dire and deadly to fun and fabulous.  She also has another series, which is Cast in <Insert-Noun-Here>.  They're more--hrm.  High fantasy police procedural?  Yes--that's probably the best description.  Much shorter than her other novels (which are ~700-800 pages long), they read faster, but still have the same trait of great characters.  A substantially smaller cast, as there is just one POV character, too.

Mira Grant -- I originally forgot to include her.  Read Feed, take whatever time you need to recover, then the rest of the trilogy of Deadline and Blackout.  All three were nominated for Hugo award for best novel.  Drastically different style, genre, everything from Sanderson--but some of the best books I've ever read in my entire life.  There are no books I recommend more often or with more praise, I just forgot about them because they're post-zombie apocalypse.  Don't let that turn you off, though; I was looking for a nice hour of reading before bed, and something light that I could not care about or focus on.  80 hour work-weeks tend to drag me down, and fluff-reading is a nice catharsis.  I, er, ended up not sleeping that week--well, I got like 5 hours of sleep.  Spread over the course of 5 days.  If you are having troubles finding something to read, then read Feed.

 

I can't even describe how much  I agree with everything said here. These comments are exactly how I feel about all of those books.

[Cracknut]

I can see why so many people here share dislike for less heroic fantasy authors as most of us are Sanderson's hardcore fans and he is best(I mean it) at epic/heroic fantasy genre. His worlds and magic systems are above anything I've read, scope is as epic as it gets and even Malazan got nothing on it if you consider whole Cosmere but he got some serious flaws. Everyone got them and there are no perfect authors. Why would anyone compare First Law to Stormlight Archieve is beyond me. Yes for me BS is best high/epic/heroic fantasy author out there but guess what, Joe Abercrombie is best too, except at low fantasy. You dislike low fantasy? Then of course he's not for you. You dislike heroic fantasy? Then you'll never enjoy Brandon's books. I love both because they are so different and I get bored if I keep reading same stuff over and over again. I prefer Abercrombies characters over Sanderson's(Not all of them though) because they are more real and interesting to me but again if you can't handle anti-heroic main characters and have a need of a hero in a shining armor saving world in every book you read then of course you'll prefer Sanderson's characters. This post most likely will end up getting lots of hate if anyone reads it but I can't take Abercrombie/GRRM fans who hate Sanderson for his heroic characters/stories and same goes for Sandersons fans hating on Abercrombie/GRRM for anti-heroic characters/stories.

Edited March 31, 2014 by Cracknut

[Eejit]

GRRM's work is excellent (apart from the "erotic" scenes) as are his anti-heroes like Tyrion or Arya.

 

It's just Abercrombie's writing that is gratuitously dark and unrealistic. How do his characters deal with a hard knock life? They become sociopaths. Yawn. People say that this is realistic, but if you want to read about someone suffering from PTS-like issues in high fantasy look at Rand al'Thor - that's real, it was based on RJ's own experience of 'Nam.

[shinintendo]

Say what you will about Abercrombie he knows how to make memorable characters.

("Say one thing for Logen Ninefingers, say he's a survivor." reference ;P)

 

Logen Ninefingers, Dogman, Harding Grim, Sand dan Glokta were very good, I didn't experience raw feeling of epicness like those since Gemmell's Legend back in the day.

[Eejit]

Different strokes. I'd forgotten all of their names until I read your post.

[Cracknut]

Say what you will about Abercrombie he knows how to make memorable characters.

("Say one thing for Logen Ninefingers, say he's a survivor." reference ;P)

 

Logen Ninefingers, Dogman, Harding Grim, Sand dan Glokta were very good, I didn't experience raw feeling of epicness like those since Gemmell's Legend back in the day.

 

Nicomo Cosca as well... till Red Country. Bremer dan Gorst one of my favorites as well(one with huge swords and funny voice), he's like my extreme version in a way And Cracknut Whirrun of course

[Chrono]

If anyone's interested in a good read, I'd suggest A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula LeGuinn (I think that's how you spell her name). I've never read the book, but don't shoot me down yet! My friend, who is much more of a realistic/historical fiction reader, loves it. And she usually doesn't care for fantasy. In her words, it's like sitting around a campfire and listening to an old man telling a great story. The prose is fantastic and it's definitely a good book.

[EvilNuff]

Check out David Gemmell, a british author who is actually my favorite author.  (Brandon is my favorite living author. )  His Drenai series, starting with Legend, I just love.

 

I tried the first Malazan book 3 or 4 times and cannot force my way through it.  It starts off with far too many characters and it is too wide spread I just cannot get into it.

[Aminar]

Everyone on this site knows sanderson is a shard of adolnasium when it comes to writing fantasy. It is hard for me to get into other book series. I have been spoiled by jordan, jim butcher (codex of alera is amazing), grrm, and of course the cosmere. If anyone can suggest a series that holds a candle to these giants, i have 5 audible credits burning a hole.

The gentleman Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch, and the Kingkiller Chronicles by Pat Rothfuss. And everything by Larry Correia. And Jim Hines. And Wes Chu. And Steven Erickson. And Glen Cook. And Dan Wells. Shall I continue.

Oh, And Brent Weeks.

Edited March 31, 2014 by Aminar

[lordofsoup]

Sanderson has ruined some fantasy for me, but I still enjoy Rothfuss.  GRRM not so much as before.  Abercrombie didnt really ever like.  Only series that I have really enjoyed besides Sanderson from the last 5 years is the Witcher.

[Serack]

I'm a pretty big contributor on the Jim Butcher forums, and I'll quote his recommendations below.  First leme say that his biggest recommendations in this order are:

 

Lois McMaster Bujold (sci fi)

Patrick Rothfuss

Sanderson (duh)

Glen Cook's Black Company novels

 

Ok now for the quotes of recommendations Jim has made at signings and interviews:

 

Robert B. Parker is one of my favorite authors.  I really love Glen Cook's writing.  Lois Bujold.  I still go back to the classics...I read Tolkien and David Edding's 'The Belgariad'.  I go back and read 'The Chronicles of Narnia' and Lloyd Alexander's 'Prydain' books.  I still go back to those.  I loved a lot of the military-esque efforts out these days, John Ringo, David Weber, E.E. Knight.  I've had a good time reading all those authors and I keep up with new authors as well, it's always great to find somebody.  The Naomi Novik's 'Temeraire' series, for example, is totally wonderful, I've really enjoyed those.

---

Tolkien and David Eddings, Lloyd Alexander's "Prydain" novels which were actually young adult novels but are still very good books.  "The Chronicles of Narnia" of course, by CS Lewis, and then kinda the bigger books that are out like, um, Elfstones, the Shannara books.  Robert Jordan's books, which I read for a while - until it became to much of a history lesson to catch up on the last book, you know, the last 5 books when he released the new one, it had been 5 years since I've looked at them.  But those were the authors I was looking at when I was getting started.

---

Lois Bujold does that for me a lot.  I, uh, professionally speaking, I wanna have Lois's babies.  And then, I think to pick up new authors, Naomi Novik, I've really enjoyed lately.  Robert B Parker of the Spenser novels, I have to reread those at least once a year...those are probably the 3 big ones lately. 

---

Laurel Hamilton's "Anita Blake" series.  The first couple of books were out when I started writing and I really enjoyed the heck out of them.

---

Glen Cook's Black Company novels are some of the starkest, most atmospheric fantasy novels I've read, very strong soldier-based fantasy (written by an actual soldier). He's big on writing the clever underdog against the overwhelming enemy. Think "Lord of the Rings" if it had been modeled on VietNam instead of WWII. Elizabeth's Moon's trilogy, "The Deed of Paksennarion" is probably one of the better military-fantasy novels and /the/ best paladin novel I've read. Also give Naomi Novik's series a shot, starting with "Her Majesty's Dragon." Fantastic alternate-history Napoleonic-era Europe, where dragons serve as the air forces of the various nations.

Moving out of the more traditional fantasy, give EE Knight's "Vampire Earth" series a shot. I know, I know, the premise of "space vampire post-apocalypse frontiersman's war" sounds goofy as hell, but Knight builds a brilliant world. I get his books the minute I see them out.

---

Patrick Rothfuss. I can't stand this guy. His FIRST NOVEL, "The Name of the Wind" is superb. His writing style veers from this gorgeously lyrical, almost poetic narrative to hardboiled lean-and-mean language with incredible effect between one paragraph and the next. He's got a genuine talent.

John Scalzi is similarly disgusting. "Old Man's War" is probably my favorite of his books. Several have said that it's a good retelling of Heinlein's seminal "Starship Troopers," but I couldn't disagree more. It's like calling an F-22 Raptor a good reiteration of the Wright Brothers' first bird. But you make the call. I think Scalzi is writing /the/ best science fiction in the English-speaking world right now.

---

I also recommend Robert B. Parker's books--any of them, but especially the Spenser novels.

---

And *anything* by Lois McMaster Bujold. Good lord, I want to have the woman's babies, professionally speaking. (he says this a lot  )

---

I really like the Jill Kismet books by Lili, yeah, because they're good. 

---

There's a new author, Harry Connolly, who is -- I went and read his book and went, 'I've got to up my game,' which is, I think, is part of what made Changes come out as well as it did.

 

 

[IllNsickly]

Surprised i havent seen it yet, but Stephen King, almost entire collected library of work. Not so much Fantasy as Suspense with a dash of horror and psychological. But, the overarching tale of The Dark Tower put him at the top of my list.

[dnavre]

Surprised i havent seen it yet, but Stephen King, almost entire collected library of work. Not so much Fantasy as Suspense with a dash of horror and psychological. But, the overarching tale of The Dark Tower put him at the top of my list.

Was going to say the same thing. King is spectacular and it's totally impossible to spoil King or Steven Erikson for somebody by reading Sanderson

 

Glenn Cook and Rotfuss are also really good.

 

BTW sorry guys but sword of truth is one of the worst books I've ever read... well... maybe except the first book. The first one is kind of OK

Edited April 3, 2014 by dnavre

[Asperity]

Kind of. All I've ever wanted was a meta-series and I finally have it so nothing can compare.

 

Although I do still love certain other series because they're darker and more realistic.

[treblkickd]

If anyone's interested in a good read, I'd suggest A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula LeGuinn (I think that's how you spell her name). I've never read the book, but don't shoot me down yet! My friend, who is much more of a realistic/historical fiction reader, loves it. And she usually doesn't care for fantasy. In her words, it's like sitting around a campfire and listening to an old man telling a great story. The prose is fantastic and it's definitely a good book.

 

Infinite upvotes for Ursula K le Guin mentions!

 

le Guin is one of the greatest writers/authors alive, period. Her novels/stories set in the Hainish universe are my favorites - The Left Hand of Darkness is an extraordinary piece of literature, and Four Ways to Forgiveness is basically a treatise on human empathy and how to be a good person.

 

Her young adult fantasy is also excellent - e.g., the Earthsea books, and her more recent Annals of the Western Shore (a trilogy: Gifts, Voices, and Powers).

[Vasteel]

Hello 17th Shard, I have been reading these forums for a couple months now and just decided I'm going to start adding into these conversations!

 

I actually tried to go back to Goodkind after several years of being done with his work and it was sadly disappointing. Sword of truth was the series that peaked my interest in "epic" fantasy originally and I loved it, however, while I was going through the first book recently, I had to put it down and just say wowwwwwwww. Let's read WoR again instead...  I find everything else feels so flat or 2 dimensional in comparison to Sanderson or Roth, I mean watching for easter eggs is probably half the fun for me while rereading Sanderson's work.

[Gamma Fiend]

I dunno. I absolutely love me some Brandon Sanderson. But his Cosmere doesn't spoil anything else for me or anything like that. He has a completely different style than all of the other big name authors out there right now.

I love me some GRRM, Rothfuss, Scott Lynch, Joe Abercrombie, Brent Weeks, Robert Jordan, etc. Not a single one of these series take anything else away from me enjoying the others. Each author has their own unique prose and style and it's not really right to compare them.

I mean, sure. You can just not enjoy GRRM or Rothfuss just because you happen to not like their books, but I don't think Sanderson's success should be the determining factor on whether you like them or not. Or they shouldn't be the only reference point you have when deciding to read or enjoy something.

[Dru]

The main reason I read Sanderson is his world building, I haven't read anyone who does it better. But there are meny authors out there who writes very good stories. Some have been mentioned before here in the thread and some I haven't seen. I also try to read a lot of self published books some are a hit others a miss but I like to support the self published crowd.

 

Just to name a few good books that I can recommend. 

-Blood Song by Anthony Ryan is a really good read that I enjoyed very much.

-Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan is also a very good read and long was my favourite series. Her other books Age of five is almost on par (but a similar story) and the rest is not as good.

-The Restorations series by Christopher Williams are an entraining read, and his space opera Long Shot is good too

-Mageborn by Michael Manning, 4 first books are good the 5th(last) does not really keep it up to the same level

-The Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Really good

-The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman also good

 

There are many other books that is worth the read out there and if fantasy bore you read something else, i try to read some space opera to not only read about magic and swords.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Dru