Book Recommendations?

[Rushu42 she/her]

So, I recently had a friend ask me for other books similar to Brandon Sanderson's (I had recommended him to her earlier). Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of ideas, and I've actually been asking the same question myself. Does anyone here have any books or authors that you think a Sanderfan would like?

[I lost my flute]

Throne of Glass. It is a very good fantasy series better than anything but Sanderson. It is by Sarah J Maas. I think it is a six book series and the finale just came out this year.

[+Doomstick he/him]

WoT

Lightbringer

if you want something very random, try the thirteenth and a half lives of captain bluebear 

The Bartamaeus trilogy

The broken earth trilogy 

His dark materials and the companion series

[nofrodelius]

The Lies of Locke Lamora isn't on the same epic fantasy scale as Sanderson's works, and magic is used minimally in the book, but the world-building and character development is absolutely fantastic! A great read.

[mariapapadia she/her]

I've been on a Witcher marathon for the last few weeks. The books are not that new, they came out a couple of years ago. Even though they feel like more classic fantasy (with elves, monsters, the chosen one etc), I really enjoy them. The writing is not as fast paced as Brandon's and so far I haven't felt that build up towards an explosive ending, the magic system is more in the background (not so detailed) and you're not that much into the characters' head. Despite that, there are some nice twists on popular tropes, the dialogue & humor are sarcastic and cynical (which is right up my alley) and I love the pairing of the characters in them. There are some duos that remind me of Kelsier & Vin or Jasnah & Shallan. 

Edited August 7, 2019 by mariapapadia

[Karger he/him]

1 hour ago, I lost my flute said:

Throne of Glass. It is a very good fantasy series better than anything but Sanderson. It is by Sarah J Maas. I think it is a six book series and the finale just came out this year.

I personally have some problems with this series and I realy don't see how it is similar.  Sanderson's trademarks are hard magic systems and deep understanding of character motivation but neither is realy apparent in any of Throne of Glass(magic tends to be fairly emotional in nature and individuals who are not the main character kind of move around and do things for less then explicable reasons).  I also find that Maas struggles to write convincing male characters something that at first made me laugh but eventually got kind of annoying(same as with female characters).

1 hour ago, DoomStick said:

The Bartamaeus trilogy

Excellent choice.  Role reversal, deep character understanding, an interesting magic system, and a lot of heart.

For my own picks

The Goblin Emperor(It is a bit like Gawx's situation actually). 

The Name of the Wind(If you are willing to wait for the 3rd one to come out.  Excellent writing).

Switch things up and try some sci-fi.  David Brin's uplift series is great.  Same goes for the three greats Clark, Heinlein, and Asimov.  Be prepared for some dated representation of women.  That is equally annoying if somewhat more understandable(Some of this stuff is over 50 years old).

Alternatively ask the owner of a local bookstore or a librarian for some recommendations.  These are surprisingly knowledgeable and too often undervalued mini gods of literature that should realy be considered.

[Just a Lifetime he/him]

2 hours ago, DoomStick said:

WoT

Yeah, The Wheel of Time is definitely worth checking out if the size isn't off-putting, especially since it influenced Brandon so much.  Another influence that may be worth considering is Discworld, though the genre is a bit different.

Speaking of different genre, I know a Sanderfan who liked Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London urban fantasy series after I suggested it to her.  This person also happens to be a librarian who has given me some good suggestions on her blog.  A sci-fi recommendation of hers that I enjoyed last year was the Keiko trilogy by Mike Brooks.

PS.  I just checked Brooks's Web site to see if he has any plans for more Keiko books, and saw that instead he is writing an epic fantasy trilogy, with the first book's release planned for next summer.

[+Doomstick he/him]

2 hours ago, Karger said:

Alternatively ask the owner of a local bookstore or a librarian for some recommendations.  These are surprisingly knowledgeable and too often undervalued mini gods of literature that should realy be considered.

My local bookstore owner is great at this, you just tell him a few things that you have liked and he comes out with an amazing book!

i also just read Shadow of the conqueror and that was extremely good considering that it’s his first book

Edited August 7, 2019 by DoomStick

[+Invocation]

Could try the Traveler's Gate trilogy. Or the Cradle series. Both by Will Wight, and the Cradle series is currently 6 books long, with a seventh releasing this year (before Halloween, reputedly). They're not the most similar to Sandman's writing, but they're pretty cool and worth the read.