What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Hey guys, I'm looking for a new series in just about any genre. I usually read fantasy -all subgenres- and romance, but I don't really mind anything except horror which really isn't my cup of tea.

What I'm looking for is a quality read, a well-written book, preferably a series, because I'm really tired of looking through tens of books to find the one that's worth it. With well-written I mean basic grammar, fluid plot, believable characters and a decent character development, though I still prefer an easy language so I don't have to struggle to keep reading.

I like Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Diana Wynne Jones, Tamora Pierce, Neil Gaiman and Nora Roberts.

I don't want books like Laurell K Hamilton or Sunny's books, although I enjoy them very much. They have too many inconsistencies between books, weird grammar mistakes and action scenes interrupted by unnecessary and reoccurring descriptions or discussions. (Really, I can criticize because I love them. They're some of my favorite books, just not what I'm looking for.)

I want easy flow, fascinating story line and intriguing characters.

Think you can help?

I really like Jack McDevitt's "Alex Benedict" series (beginning with The Engines of God.)
They are basically mystery stories.

I know I always mention this one, but The Thief series is fantastic. They are very well written with lots of meaning and good characterization, especially as the series goes on. hey start on the younger side of YA, but they get a little more mature, especially in tone. It's probably my favorite series ever (though saying something like that sets up unrealistic expectations). It's a very smart but fascinating series, and very internally consistent.

Since you like Neil Gaiman have you tried Terry Pratchett?

Also, the Rivers of London series is also very good. Midnight Riot is the first book. They are mysteries with some PN elements. Our MC is a London Bobby who, as a result of a weird murder, finds himself seconded to a "special" branch of the Department that deals with magic. As a result, he finds himself as a sorcerer's apprentice.

A mix of sci-fi and fantasy is Andre Norton's Witch World series. This is a long series (30+ books, in a variety of sub-series). Other than reading the first 5 books in order, after that, it's pretty much up to you what order to read them in. The order to read the first 5 is: Witch World then Web of the Witch World next Three Against the Witch World followed by Warlock of the Witch World and then finally Sorceress of the Witch World. After that, it gets a little confusing as to what should be read next, since, except for the location (and even that changes--sometimes in the lands of Estcarp and her enemies, sometimes in Arvon, sometimes in the Dales).

However, she did have a definite "closure" for the series, so you would want to read those 3 books last. The correct order for them is: The Key of the Keplian followed by The Magestone and finally The Warding of Witch World

With this series, you also need to keep in mind that Norton wrote it over the span of about 30 years--and she sometimes had other authors co-write a book, or sub-series of books, with her. However, since most of these sub-series are independent of all the others, at least with characters and/or locations, that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

And, after having suggested 2 series of over 30+ books to you--I will wait until you've had a week or two to read them all, then I'll suggest some more. :oP

Elizabeth Peters has a great mystery series set in turn of the century Egypt about a woman who becomes an archeologist after falling in love - both with Egypt and her man. Very fun and 10+ books. Crocodile on the Sandbank is the first.

Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series is consistently pretty good also. It's mostly trilogies set in the same world. Starts with Arrows of the Queen.

Katharine Kerr has a good series, starts with Daggerspell. Celtic fantasy about a curse/promise that leads to a couple being reincarnated over and over, trying for a happy ending.

An excellent science fiction series which also incorporates romance and sometimes mystery is the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold, starting with Shards of Honor.

I also recommend Charlotte Macleod's mystery novels, especially the Peter Shandy series (starting with Rest You Merry) and the Sarah Kelling series (starting with The Family Vault.)

My tastes are pretty varied, though lean slightly toward fantasy. And I am a lover of series, so get ready for a giant list of suggestions! lol

These will range from high fantasy to modern mysteries (comedic and otherwise) - also ranging from simpler reads and more YA to more advanced reads that are decidedly adult.

I'm currently reading the The Kiesha'ra series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes and I can't say enough good things about it.

for the click - the first book in the series:
Hawksong


Others past series that I have fallen in love with (links below for the first book of each series):

Garden Spells - not a typical series, but all of Sarah Addison Allens books are in the same world, have some slight tie-ins between various characters, and are all light, whimsical, wonderfulness

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent - fantasy, romance, historical fiction

Sebastian - dark fantasy

Kushiel's Dart *caution: these are full of lots of sex, it's part of the religion of this series universe. I found it amazingly well done, not trashy, but it's not for everybody.

Banewreaker - high fantasy, interesting take on the good v. evil standard

Graceling - YA fantasy

City of Bones - YA fantasy

Clockwork Angel - YA historical fantasy

anything by Charles de Lint - again, not series in the traditional sense, he writes mostly short stories, but they are nearly all set in the same world (Newford) and usually have ties between the various characters

Mistress of the Art of Death - historical fiction, mysteries

Rhapsody: Child of Blood - high fantasy, pretty epic

The Native Star - steampunk-ish fantasy

Daughter of the Forest - seriously, words cannot even express my love for this series

The Dark Mirror - Celtic romance, fantasy

Acorna: The Unicorn Girl - I found this series got a bit repetitive as it went on, but they're a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine :) sci-fi/fantasy

Archangel - sort of historical fantasy, set far into the future on another planet, but technology and all has been taken back to basically medieval-ish times ... another series I completely adore

Mystic and Rider - really, anything by Sharon Shinn is amazing; these are fantasy/romance

Troubled Waters - fantasy

Poison Study - fantasy-ish (the magic in this series isn't as pronounced until the second/third books of the series)

Shiver - like Twilight only actually readable (and with just werewolves)

The Dragonbone Chair - epic fantasy, this series is a bit reminiscent of Tolkien, only actually readable (in my opinion)

The Boy in the Suitcase - modern mystery, Scandinavian

Cinder - amazing sci-fi retellings of all your favorite fairy tales woven into a seamless whole; I couldn't put these books down!

Daughter of Smoke & Bone - modern fantasy, stunning and unique universe creation

Beautiful Creatures - modern fantasy

Size 12 Is Not Fat - modern mysteries, very humorous ... loved these books; quick, fun reads

Eversea - modern romance, small town girl with celebrity boy; bit of a guilty pleasure

Shadowfell - fantasy

The Homecoming Masquerade - modern fantasy, interesting take on vampires

The Selection - YA dystopian

A Discovery of Witches - modern fantasy

Grave Mercy - historical fiction, a splash of fantasy

Dark Currents - modern fantasy, bits of humor

Bellfield Hall - historical fiction, mysteries

Written in Red - alternate history, fantasy, modern

A Spy in the House - historical fiction, mysteries

Secondhand Spirits - modern fantasy, mysteries

Phew - quite a list. Hope you find something good to read in all this; I love suggesting books! :)

There are lots of good series - ones with great action or sympathetic characters or fabulous world building. But you are specifically looking for good writing so I am going to suggest NK Jemisin's Inheritance series, starting with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. It isn't my favorite series, or the best series ever, but it is QUALITY - if that makes sense.

I really recommend:
Lesley Livingston's series: Wondrous Strange & the spin-off series Starling.
Also The Moorehawk Trilogy starting with The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan

I second Krystal's suggestions of The Dragonbone Chair and Kushiel's Dart. Here are a few more of my favorites:

Sharon Shinn's Samaria series, starting with Archangel

Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar series, starting with The Summer Tree.

Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, starting with The Eyre Affair.

The Lymond Chronicles, starting with The Game of Kings.

The Pern series, starting with Dragonflight.

Patricia McKillip's Riddle-Master series, starting with The Riddle-Master of Hed.

Sylvia Engdahl's Children of the Star series, starting with This Star Shall Abide.

Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, starting with Foundation.

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Comte St. Germain books, starting with Hotel Transylvania (though my favorite is Blood Games).

Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter books are wonderful; I'd start withStrong Poison, though chronologically I think the first one is Murder Must Advertise.

Laurie R. King's Holmes/Russell books are fabulous, starting with The Beekeeper's Apprentice: or, On the Segregation of the Queen

Hey everyone
Thank you so much, this is totally awesome. I recognize a lot of your suggestions and that makes me want to check out the rest.

I don't think anyone has mentioned the October Daye books by Seanan McGuire yet.

I partly read The Uglies (series) by Scott Westerfeld. He is actually a pretty good writer.
Thief eyes is also a good book that i read a long time ago.
Right now, I am reading this book called "Fated" and it is pretty good too.

I don't know if these have been mentioned already but the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon are fantastic books. It is about time travel. 28 year old Claire, the heroine, is sent from the year 1948 back two hundred years to 1743. She had been visiting Inverness, Scotland with her husband after WWII, where she had been an army nurse and ends up at Castle Leoch in the Scottish Highlands. There she meets a young man by the name of Jamie Fraser. She is made to marry him and they end up falling in love. I believe there are a total of 7 or 8 books so far. If I'm not mistaken there will be more books to this series.

A relatively new series by Sara Gran; Claire Dewitt and the City of the dead and Claire Dewitt and the Bohemian Highway. Awesome new chick detective. Its not a series but Alice Hoffman is awesome. I have read all of her books! There are at least twenty two ! The best are The Probable Future, White horses, Here on Earth and Property Of.Each book has a fantasy or magical element while being based in reality.

I'll second the Outlander series too.

Teresa Grant has written a series of historical romances featuring a husband and wife who are spies during the Napoléonic era. I won't be a spoiler, but one of them is a deep cover spy for the other side! Some of the titles are "Vienna Waltz", "Imperial Scandal", "His Spanish Bride", "The Paris Affair". These are not fantasy at all, but a good blend of historical fiction and romance.

Here's few of my favourite series

The Code of the Woosters humour
Death Note, Vol. 1: Boredom manga, fantasy
Dissolution historical mystery
The Lord of the Rings fantasy
Widdershins m/m paranormal
My Family and Other Animals non fic, humour

Two authors I think everyone needs to try out.

Scarlett Thomas would be my biggest recommendation for you. Her writing is intelligent and her story lines are undeniably unique. For their weirdness, I particularly enjoyed Bright Young Things and Going Out. They can be a little slow moving but I think her fantastic literary style means you get halfway through the book before you realise not much has actually happened yet.

Another strong recommendation would be Mark Hodder and his Burton and Swinburne Series. Based in a parallel world, yet Hodder creates fantastic links between that world and ours, using real historical figures and injecting a whole load of fantasy into their stories. Great wit, intelligence and plot twists.

Hope this has helped!

I'm with the others who have suggested The Outlander series. You definitely won't go wrong there.

Naomi wrote: "Two authors I think everyone needs to try out.

Scarlett Thomas would be my biggest recommendation for you. Her writing is intelligent and her story lines are undeniably unique. For ..."

Thomas really is unique. I read her Our Tragic Universe and was intrigued.

I would recommend any of the Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey. I would also recommend The Belgariad Boxed Set by David Eddiings and Black Jewels triology by Anne Bishop.

The Books of Bayern series by Shannon Hale is one of my favorite book series of all time! Anything by Shannon Hale (that I've read), except maybe Dangerous, is a five star read for me. :)

The Bronze Horseman and its sequels.

try....the giver by lois lowry.....great book fascinating read

Cannot overstate the deliciousness of The Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. I have reread the entire series 3 times.

You may have already read it, but Sabriel by Garth Nix is great.

The Caller series by Juliet Marillier

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead I'm slightly embarassed to suggest that one, but it's actually well written and the main characters are not self-centered.

You mentioned being a fan of Fantasy. my favorite fantasy author is Raymond E. Feist
His rift war saga starts with Magician: Apprentice and spans about 50 years over a dozen (give or take) books.
He is an excellent author that really paints a picture with his words.

Nalini Singh, Slave to Sensation and Archangel's Blood (can't get a link to that one today).
Tammy Falkner, Reed Brother series
C.M. Owens, The Daughter series, the Stirling Shore series
Erica Stevens

Historical Mystery..one of my favorite series of all times is by Steven Saylor. It starts with Roman Blood and, as of now, has about 14 books in the series concentrating on Gordianus the Finder. I was not a history buff at all before reading this series but it was cool, interesting and I learned stuff about ancient rome at the same time. Plenty of action too.

My two bits, if you look into the Pern series, you may not like any written by Anne's son Todd. I only liked maybe two of them, most were repetitive, confusing and changed some of Anne's major story features, practically sacrilege to Anne's diehard fans. Basically, Todd's writing style for this series is not as easy to read as Anne's style. Just a thought, as you asked for well written series.

Tower series - Telepath and Teleport (T&T) specialists, originally started with short stories that were reworked into The Rowan and Damia but Anne McCaffrey later wrote books about T&T organisation in different timelines to the Rowan, earlier and later with Damia's children

Sten series - follows life and career of Sten, from orphan son of Migs (migrant unskilled workers) to elite spy and admiral of space fleet, starts with Sten by Chris Bunch

Clone series - follows Wayson Harris, a clone from a different batch who goes from grunt to leader of clones fighting humans and aliens, starts with The Clone Republic by Steven L Kent

Jig the Goblin series - how he deals with issues with adventurers, pixies and being an emissary of a god, starts with Goblin Quest by Jim C Hines

Dresden Files - follows Harry Dresden, a modern wizard/private detective, starts with Storm Front by Jim Butcher

I will recommend the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane, starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard, to anyone, any day. Wonderfully well-written, engaging plot, magic and science that are the same thing in prose that's beautifully descriptive... It's got something for everyone.
Also of interest is the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix, starting with Mister Monday and progressing through the days of the week. A vivid and imaginative fantasy universe that never leaves me bored.

I recommend the books in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian
https://www.goodreads.com/series/4033...

They are awesome, my favorites.

It is historical fiction, naval adventures during the Napoleonic Wars

They fit all your requests (good writing, great characters, ...) BUT I have to tell you: especially at the beginning, it may not be very "easy language", because there is an extensive use of specific language for sailing. It takes some time to get used to it. I don't always understand everything, but in my case it does not prevent me from loving the story.

Give it a try, if you want