The Next Best Book Club discussion

I'm a bit nervous about posting my first thread (aside from my post in the Newbies Corner). I realize there's already a thread for listing our favorite sci-fi and fantasy books, but I thought it'd be nice to have one devoted simply to fantasy books and series. If that's alright, that is. Don't hesitate to berate me, I'm still a bit clueless :)

Anyway, mine would probably be
1. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
2. The Redwall series by Brian Jacques
3. East by Edith Pattou
4. The Pellinor series by Alison Croggon
5. The Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini (yeah, yeah, say what you will. I love them.)

Those were the ones I found looking through my "read" shelf, and as you can see I haven't ventured far from my safe, warm, "young-adult-fantasy" corner. But for some reason I feel like something's missing. I'm sure someone else will point it out on their list and remind me.

Hi Melissa,
Don't be scared!
While this is not really my genre of choice, i was wondering about Mary Janice Davidson. I ran across her books while searching for a book for the Spring Challenge astrological sign challenge. I'm going to try out Sleeping with the Fishes. Would like to know what her other books are like, they look intriguing. Has anyone read any?

Well, I think it's a fine first thread! These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head:

FANTASY
1. The Symphony of Ages series by Elizabeth Haydon
2. The Newford books by Charles deLint
3. Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey
4. Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
5. Black Jewels series by Anne Bishop


SCI-FI
1. Dune books by Frank Herbert
2. Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold
3. The Sholan Alliance series by Lisanne Norman
4. The Stardoc series by S.L. Viehl
5. The Ender Wiggins books by Orson Scott Card

YA FANTASY/SCIFI
1. Abhorsen series by Garth Nix
2. Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L'Engle
3. The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper
4. Inkheart books by Cornelia Funke
5. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Okay, I realize I just completely cheated and posted 15 series instead of 5...I like to read series because if I like the characters, I want to spend a lot of time with them!

Here is my list

1. The Riyria Revelations by Michael Sullivan (I'm the only one to read all 6 and trust me it deserves to be here and when they are all released I think others will list it too
2. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - Brought be back to fantasy and YA after a long time away
3. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein - What got me started in Fantasy was the best for so long - but sorry the newer stuff finally dethrowned you
4. The Chronicales of Narnia - I LOVED reading these to my kids every summer at the beach - fond memories
5. A Series of Unfortunate Events - A very entertaining and unusual series

For a long time, I was reading only fantasy. I've moved to other things, but still come back for a few each year.

My favorite series:
Fire and Ice - George RR Martin
Fionavar Tapestry - Guy Gavriel Kay
Dragon Prince and Dragon Star - Melanie Rawn
Harry Potter...of course
Chronicles of the Cheysuli - Jennifer Robison

So many goodies already!

Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede--More YA for you!

The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier is really good.

Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde--he's hard to classify, but I put him in fantasy

The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper--it's been a very, very long time since I read these, but I loved them when I was probably about 12.

Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey--very, very good, but not for the squeamish. She's a spy who's also an s&m courtesan. Not terrible, but s&m sex is definitely in there.

Patrick Rothfuss is off to a good start with The Name of the Wind. The second one comes out in a few months.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud is also very good YA.

I agree with those who recommended Charles deLint, George R.R. Martin, and Guy Gavriel Kay. Those guys would probably have been some of my top choices.

First, let me register my surprise at the glaring hole that is the absence of the Lord of the Rings trilogy on this thread! I will add it now: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

There. I feel better. ;) That done, I think this is a great idea for a thread Melissa. And you need not be ashamed at loving the Inheritance Cycle, because I do too. (There, now we're officially a club!)

The next hole that needs to be filled, and coming in at number 2 on my list is the "Dark Tower" series by Stephen King. I love, love, love these books.

Number 3, of course, would be the "Harry Potter" series. They're falling apart on me from so many re-reads!

Number 4, Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series, featuring the ever-charming Sookie Stackhouse. (Ok, so these are paranormal romance, but vampires are fantasy -or ARE they?- and I love them, so I'm including them!)

Number 5, The Inheritance Cycle by Paolini. The club has spoken. :)

I'd also add the Percy Jackson series on here, even though I haven't read them yet, because I just know they'll be good!

Am currently reading the Earthsea cycle by Ursula Le Guin, and it's already in my list of top fantasy favorites!

When I was in high school, I adored the Death Gate Cycle series!!!

Becky wrote: "First, let me register my surprise at the glaring hole that is the absence of the Lord of the Rings trilogy on this thread! I will add it now: [b:The Lord of the Rings|33|The Lord of the Rings (tri..."

I know! I could hardly believe that. I'm the biggest Tolkien nerd ever, and I admit to owning way more of his books than is absolutely necessary. My favorites, then, are:

1. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
2. Tolkien, Histories of Middle-Earth (if you could call that a series)
3. Pullman, His Dark Materials
4. Forrest, Daughters series
5. LeGuin, Earthsea cycle

Becky, I've only read the first Percy Jackson, but I did love it. My 10-year-old cousin (who is developing excellent taste in books already) loves it too. She's the one who recommended it to me.

I have to add
The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)
Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentleman Bastard, #2)
The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3)
by Scott Lynch

My top five fantasy series, though it is really hard to only list five. :)

Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey
The Gormenghast Novels by Mearvyn Peake
The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier
Merlin Series by Mary Stewart
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

The Sevenwaters Trilogy is awesome too. See, this is how to get around only voting for five. Just chime in with someone else! :-)

My top five fantasy series:

1. Dark Tower by Stephen King
2. Redwall by Brian Jacques <3
3. Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier
4. Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
5. any of the Avalon books by Marion Zimmer Bradley

oh and sidenote, I just got the Black Jewels trilogy in the mail today, yay!

I really enjoyed The Black Jewels trilogy April, hope you do too. :)

Liz wrote: "Hi Melissa,
Don't be scared!
While this is not really my genre of choice, i was wondering about [a:Mary Janice Davidson|1998120|Mary Janice Davidson|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nopho......"

I found Davidson's books to be entertaining quick-reads -- but I've been into the paranormal genre lately. Since you mentioned fantasy isn't your genre of choice, I just wanted to mention that Davidson's books tend to be very different from most other books in the fantasy genre. It reads more like a romance that happens to involve the paranormal, rather than a fantasy which happens to have a romance. In fact, I think most booksellers shelve it under romance.

Hmm, only five...only five? I don't know if this is possible.

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
3. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
4. The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
5. The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix

Ooh this got busy while I've been thinking of my 5th ;-) I posted my list above (Message 4)

What a good question. My top five:

1. The Lord of the Rings (with The Hobbit)
2. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
3. Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea series
4. The Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny
5. The Once and Future King by T.H. White

Glenn wrote: "What a good question. My top five:

1. The Lord of the Rings (with The Hobbit)
2. [b:The Last Unicorn|29127|The Last Unicorn|Peter S. Beagle|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167...|..."


I just bought The Once and Future King yesterday because it's so dear to me. Is it sad that I wanted to steal the library copy precisely because it's sentimental? Ah well... nice choices, Glenn.

Thank you April.

Not sad. Touching perhaps. Of course if you had actually stolen it, that would have been somewhere between sad and weird, and would have made an interesting story. Still, buying it is probably for the best.

Come to think of it, where's my copy?

Fantasy is my favorite genre! (Harry Potter is totally a given so I'm going to cheat by just saying that I completely agree here and not add it to my list! heh)

1. The Sevenwaters Series by Juliet Marillier ~ I know I'm just echoing a couple people (which makes me very happy!!) but Daughter of the Forest is probably my favorite book of all time. This series is so good

2. The Black Jewels series by Anne Bishop ~ Read these very recently and got completely enraptured with the world she created.

3. Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey ~ I guess you're right JG it isn't for the squeamish but what makes it amazing is the fact that you absolutely fall in love with the heroine, S&M and all haha

4. Exiles series by Melanie Rawn ~ There's only two books so far, the third one has been a long time in coming and I'm beginning to despair of it ever being published. But the first two are fantastic books.

5. The Study series (Poison Study, Magic Study, Fire Study) by Maria V. Snyder ~ This is a great fantasy series. She created a very original world without getting too bogged down with the details. I HIGHLY recommend the first book Poison Study

Katie wrote: "Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey ~ I guess you're right JG it isn't for the squeamish but what makes it amazing is the fact that you absolutely fall in love with the heroine, S&M and all haha"

And the two men in her life. Yummy! :-)

The Study series (Poison Study, Magic Study, Fire Study) by Maria V. Snyder ~ This is a great fantasy series. She created a very original world without getting too bogged down with the details. I HIGHLY recommend the first book Poison Study

I'm glad to see you liked this one. It's on my list. Maybe I'll get to it someday!

JG - Oh, I totally agree! Joscelin really is yummy hee. I love his character. Have you ever seen Firefly or Serenity? I always thought the actress who plays Inara, Morena Baccarin, would make the perfect Phedre for a movie.

Definitely move it up in the pile! I loved Poison Study so much. I think you'd really enjoy them.

I've never heard of Firefly or Serenity. What are they about?

I just googled the actress though, and I think you've picked out a perfect Phedre!

Firefly was a TV series that was made by Joss Whedon(he was behind Buffy and Angel). It kind of gave a western spin to a science fiction show. Sounds corny but it's SO GOOD! It only got 14 episodes before Fox pulled it(because Fox is stupid). But Joss was so persistent about wanting to continue the story that he was finally able to get a movie deal which became Serenity. If you ever have time rent the TV series because it really is awesome. I've gotten so many people hooked on it haha.

Oh I also wanted to add to my list :)

The Witches of Eileanan series by Kate Forsyth ~ A very well done, and not too heavy fantasy series

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip ~ One of my favorite fantasy books when I was a kid.

I'll do some nods of agreement here too.

Kushiel -- totally!
Amber -- Oh, yes! I accidentally read this series entirely backwards when I was a kid. Makes much more sense when read in order!
Sookie -- love them (with the exception of the latest, which just seemed like a wrap-up book to me)
His Dark Materials -- good reads
Thursday Next -- right up my alley! I'd classify them as speculative fiction (it's where you dump books that aren't quite scifi or fantasy).

Many of the others are in my TBR pile!

I have to add a few of my favorites, although I have read many of those already listed.

The Enchanted Forest chronicles - Patricia Wrede
The Young Wizards series - Diane Duane
Harry Dresden series - Jim Butcher
all the series by Tamora Pierce (Immortals, Alanna Circle of Magic, etc.)
Vampire series by Michelle Bardsley
Gatekeepers series by Anthony Horowitz
Midnighters series by Scott Westerfeld
Jennifer Scales series by MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi (anything by MaryJanice Davidson is readable and fun!)
Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
Witch/Prince series by Linda Winstead Jones
Witch World series by Andre Norton ( also Moon of Three rings sries, forerunner series, and Solar Queen series)
Outlander series - Diana Galbadon
Pern series by Anne McCaffrey
Vatta series by Elizabeth moon

My 5 Favorites are:
1. Harry Potter Series by J. K Rowling
2. Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
3. Sookie Stackhouse series by Charleen Harris
4. Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
5. Tairen Soul series by C. L. Wilson
I also love the Outlander series by Diana Galbadon but i think of it more as a historic novel except for the time traveling aspect.

Mine are (in no particular order)

1. HP
2. The Hobbit
3. The Dragonlance CHRONICLES
4. The Dragonlance LEGENDS
5. The Book Thief

Perpendicularandi wrote: "Mine are (in no particular order)

1. HP
2. The Hobbit
3. The Dragonlance CHRONICLES
4. The Dragonlance LEGENDS
5. The Book Thief"


Love The Hobbit, Bilbo is so fantastic.
I'm not sure I would categorize The Book Thief as fantasy, as the only fantasy element was it was narrated by Death, but oh my gosh talk about a great book! :-)

1. The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
2. The Ethshar series by Lawrence Watt-Evans
3. Harry Potter
4. Belgariad and Malloreon by David Eddings
5. and at the moment Thieves World, edited by Robert Asprin, which is really ancient and only found at used book stores

...and Chronicles of Amber, and Lord of the Rings, and Neil Gaimans Sandman, and the Kigh series by Tanya Huff and ...ooh, the Study series looks interesting...

Yellowbird wrote: "1. The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
2. The Ethshar series by Lawrence Watt-Evans
3. Harry Potter
4. Belgariad and Malloreon by David Eddings
5. and at the moment Thieves World, edited by Rob..."


I've been wanting to read Discoworld and Belgariad? Are Pratchett and Eddings easy to get into??

Yay for fantasy! :D It's still my favourite genre even though my literary interests/tastes have expanded :) Anyways, here's my list:

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy by Tad Williams
3. Kingdom of Thorn and Bone by Greg Keyes (still have to read the last installment but it's already up there are one of my favourites :))
4. Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett
5. The Axis trilogy by Sara Douglass

Although they're only at the start of their trilogies, Patrick Rothfuss and Brian Ruckley are both promising authors; I look forward to their next installments.

I like fantasy, but I haven't read a whole lot of it. Here are my faves:

1. The Once and Future King by T.H. White
2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkein
3. Harry Potter Series-J.K. Rowling
4. The Chronicles of Narnia-C.S. Lewis
5. The Belgariad/Mallorean-David Eddings

Katie, I'm also totally with you on the awesomeness of Firefly/Serenity

Does anyone have any recommendations for good stand a lone fantasy novels? One of the reasons I haven't read much of the genre is that I don't have the time/patience to get through a long 10 or 12 (or even 5 or 6) book series.

I have to agree the Dragonlance books are some of my all time favorites.

Rachel wrote: "I like fantasy, but I haven't read a whole lot of it. Here are my faves:

1. The Once and Future King by T.H. White
2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkein
3. Harry Potter Series-J.K. Rowlin..."

Anything by Juliette Mariller is guarenteed to be a win. She wrote the Seven Waters trilogy, which in my opinion each of the books stand alone just fine.
Since you like LOTR, The Hobbittis fairly good. Robin McKinley's books stand alone quite well. Oh and how could I forget the holy grail of standalones, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is awesome. If you want to feel empowered about being a woman while reading fantastic fantasy, definately get some Marion Zimmer Bradley.

April, you asked about Discworld and the Belgariad.

Discworld is very funny and you don't have to start at the beginning (thankfully, as there are 30+ books so far). Each book is a stand-alone, although the characters reappear.

The Belgariad is more sequential, but it's a pretty standard boy grows up-saves world-gets girl story, kind of like The Wheel of Time.

I think if you liked The Hitchhiker's Guide, you'll love Discworld.

Yellowbird wrote: "April, you asked about Discworld and the Belgariad.

Discworld is very funny and you don't have to start at the beginning (thankfully, as there are 30+ books so far). Each book is a stand-alone, al..."

Cool, thanks! I will definately have to check those out, next year haha because my to-read list is epicly long.

Thanks April-I looked up Mists of Avalon and it looks really cool, I'll definately add that to my to-read list.

Rachel wrote: "Does anyone have any recommendations for good stand alone fantasy novels?"

I have to recommend Guy Gavriel Kay. Most of his books stand alone and I really like him.

Charles deLint is my favorite fantasy author. He uses a lot of the same characters, but there are only two that should be read in order. I recommend his Newford books, but I would say to stay away from his YA books unless you're really a young adult. They're too young for me, and I do still read YA.

for me:
1. LOTR (and The Hobbit)
2. Harry Potter Series
3. Bartimaeus Trilogy
4. Inheritance Cycle (yes...it's one of my faves, and I'm proud to say that!! :p )
5. Artemis Fowl Series

wow, this is a good thread to dig more and more fantasy books...
thx for the recommendations!

Does anyone have any recommendations for good stand a lone fantasy novels? One of the reasons I haven't read much of the genre is that I don't have the time/patience to get through a long 10 or 12 (or even 5 or 6) book series.

I totally know what you mean re: the long series; you want to read it but the length can be rather daunting xD

I would recommend Drew Bowling's The Tower of Shadows; it's supposed to be the start of a trilogy but the book is excellent as a standalone :) I also heard that David Anthony Durham's Acacia is a good standalone (even though it's also the start of a trilogy as well); I personally haven't read it yet, it's still sitting on my shelf in the waiting line, lol. :)

I didn't know that the Discworld books are stand alone books! UGH! I was always daunted by the sheer size of the "series", or so I thought, so I put off reading them!

Man, I am so mad now! Well, not really, but... You know what I mean!

darn. i haven't heard of any of these books? (lets disregard harry 'n Tolkien)... i feel like dying, i soo don't have these option accessible. i have to search HARD when i visit the book store!
worst of all, if you do find a series... a few books are missing.. how fantabulous

Thanks for all the recommendations...this is why I love this book club :)

Any random order
1.twilight series or Stephenie Meyer
2.a child called it series
3.harry potter series
4.john Grisham
5.iris johansen

Oh - I forgot - the Chicks In Chainmail series by Esther Friesner! Anthologies of short fantasy stories where the main characters are "fighting" women of strong character. Many popular fantasy authors have short stories about characters/settings from their books in these!

Sheri wrote: "Any random order
1.twilight series or Stephenie Meyer
2.a child called it series
3.harry potter series
4.john Grisham
5.iris johansen"

I hardly consider the "It" series a fantasy ones. I thought it was a true story or something. And John Grisham's??

Any thoughts for Inkheart? I just read it, and I LOVE IT!