Nightmares and Dreamscapes discussion

What are your favorite fantasy books that you think we all would love to read? What impressed you about the books? What made you add the book/books to your favorites?

I will start us off with one of my favorite series and books is this one:

Malice by John Gwynne - This series rocks and has tons of action within the series. The impression I had with the series is that I could not come up for air with any of the books. World building is awesome, characters have tons of depth and the pace of the storyline keeps you grounded in that world through all four books.

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay was a solid fantasy read. That the destruction of the memory of an entire people and their culture was on the line made it a very poignant conflict.

Marie wrote: "I will start us off with one of my favorite series and books is this one:

Malice by John Gwynne - This series rocks and has tons of acti..."

I am going to love this one, everyone says so!

S.K. wrote: "Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay was a solid fantasy read. That the destruction of the memory of an entire people and their culture was on the line made it a very poignant conflict."

Just looked this one up, it looks amazing. The cover is stunning, I love a good cover! Added to the TBR! Thanks S.K.

GG Kay has a solid foundation in our world history, and his Fantasy worlds are heavy influenced by that. He is pretty awesome!

Choko wrote: "GG Kay has a solid foundation in our world history, and his Fantasy worlds are heavy influenced by that. He is pretty awesome!"

Agreed. After reading Under Heaven, I went down the rabbit-hole of research for all the history that acted as backdrop to the story.

Marie wrote: "I will start us off with one of my favorite series and books is this one:

Malice by John Gwynne - This series rocks and has tons of acti..."

I still need to get my hands on this one.

My favorites in this category is the Belgariad series by David Eddings. Read those like three times as a kid and once as an adult. Still loved it. Great stuff.

Oh, and the Dragonlance books. The first six that were put out. I've gotten through a few of the others, but starting in college there were SOO MANY of them I lost the ability to keep up.

Wheel of Time, Malazan, and anything Brandon Sanderson...

Let's see....

The Others & World of the Others - Anne Bishop, first book is Written in Red; has a shifter element and many people are eaten so may also count as horror

Belgariad & Malloreon - David Eddings, starting with Pawn of Prophecy

Threadare - Andrew Seiple, first book is Stuff and Nonsense and quite possibly the most adorable trilogy ever; highly recommend the audio narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds

The Last Unicorn - Peter S Beagle, a classic

Discworld - Terry Pratchett, starting point varies; I started with Equal Rites though might recommend a different one depending on the reader's taste

Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia C Wrede, Dealing with Dragons

Anything by Brandon Sanderson

Anything by Ilona Andrews

Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix, best on audio with Tim Curry's narration

Heartstrikers by Rachel Aaron, Julian is the nicest dragon ever
Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb, most especially the Fitz books

I'm also reading Wil Wight's Cradle series for the first time. It's my first time exploring progression fantasy and I'm liking it a lot. Can't go wrong with magical martial arts.

Choko wrote: "Wheel of Time, Malazan, and anything Brandon Sanderson..."

Yes!I love the Wheel of Time books!

Narilka wrote: "Let's see....

The Others & World of the Others - Anne Bishop, first book is Written in Red; has a shifter element and many people are eaten so may also count as horror

Belgariad &..."

Wow! Thanks for all these Narilka! I will have to check them out. I have heard of Sanderson - need to get to him eventually. Everyone else I know nothing about so will have to go on a fantasy hunt! :)

Marie, if you ever decide to delve into the Cosmere Universe by Sanderson, there is a method to that endeavor, so ask me or other of his readers where to start:)))

Choko wrote: "Marie, if you ever decide to delve into the Cosmere Universe by Sanderson, there is a method to that endeavor, so ask me or other of his readers where to start:)))"

Yes I have heard there is some type of method to reading his works! lol :) Thank you Choko! :)

S.K. wrote: "Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay was a solid fantasy read. That the destruction of the memory of an entire people and their culture was on the line made it a very poignant conflict."

Guy Gavriel Kay is soooo good. His writing is like honey.

Jeffrey wrote: "My favorites in this category is the Belgariad series by David Eddings. Read those like three times as a kid and once as an adult. Still loved it. Great stuff."

I've heard great things about this series.

Jeffrey wrote: "Oh, and the Dragonlance books. The first six that were put out. I've gotten through a few of the others, but starting in college there were SOO MANY of them I lost the ability to keep up."

Dragonlance was how I cut my teeth on fantasy. I loved the original trilogy and the one about the Twins when they went back in time. I'm afraid to read them again because I read them when I was in high school and I've re-read a few things I loved back then and it's not very good. I don't want my memories dashed!

I'm a Brandon Sanderson junkie. I just finished the first book in the Stormlight Archive series. Waiting for the second one at the library. He lives in Utah so we see him at the FanX (local comic con) every year. He's so nice.

Narilka - the Abhorsen books are the shiz! (can we swear in this club? If so, respectfully change that z to a t when you read it)

Felina wrote: "S.K. wrote: "Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay was a solid fantasy read. That the destruction of the memory of an entire people and their culture was on the line made it a very poignant conflict."

Guy Gav..."

Yes! If you are looking for poetic prose that doesn't bog the story down, look no further than GGK

Of course I love Tolkien & Harry Potter. I've read all of the Elderlings Saga by Robin Hobb & A Song of Ice & Fire. But the fantasy series that I love the most is the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. The way he writes Qvoth (the protagonist of the novels) has such a poetic feel. You really believe you're being told a story by a character that has a gift for storytelling & songwriting. There's also a short story in Rogues & the novella The Slow Regard of Silent Things from other characters' point of view & the voice is completely different & fits the characters. It's been a GRRM long wait for the 3rd novel, but I'm sure it'll be worth it. There is a magic school (college) in it, but it's nothing like Hogwarts, Breakbills, Scholomance or anything I've read or seen. Start here if interested: The Name of the Wind.

Felina wrote: "I'm a Brandon Sanderson junkie. I just finished the first book in the Stormlight Archive series. Waiting for the second one at the library. He lives in Utah so we see him at the FanX (local comic c..."

Ok, cancelling our concert plans, coming to comic con with you instead! I've never been to one and I think I would go nuts! And I'm ok if you swear a bit, I definitely do sometimes, just not like Samuel L. Jackson, lol. So, I gotta get to Utah for the con huh?

Ian (RebelGeek) wrote: "Of course I love Tolkien & Harry Potter. I've read all of the Elderlings Saga by Robin Hobb & A Song of Ice & Fire. But the fantasy series that I love the most is the Kingkiller Chronicles by [auth..."

Dang Ian, this is great! And same with Tolkien and Harry Potter. I also have a Harry Potter tattoo and Tolkien's initials in Elvish tattoo. I get my favorite things inked to remember how much joy they brought me!

Jeffrey wrote: "My favorites in this category is the Belgariad series by David Eddings. Read those like three times as a kid and once as an adult. Still loved it. Great stuff."

Me too. Plus all Edding's other works like the Elenium, and Tamuli series, etc. I stopped reading after the Belgarath the sorcerer and the Polgara book as he was redoing old ground form other perspectives and I'd kinda been there and got the T-shirt the first time around.

My favorite epic fantasy series are Raymond E Fiests books, Tolkien (of course), Malazan by Erikson (part way through this one). I also enjoyed the first two books of Sanderson's Mistborn series but haven't gone any further.

My other faves outside the epics are

All things Conan,
Moorcock's Elric books,
Lukyanenko's 'Watch,' series although I kinda petered out on the 4th book, the first three are excellent. (although this is probably under dark fantasy...)
Farnsworth's President's vampire series.
Harry Potter (of course).
Zelazny's Amber series (huge fave), especially the first five books, but they could also be classed as sci-fi but they read like fantasy.
Honourable mentions for early books in the Xanth series, Disc world, etc, plus some others I haven't remembered.

I read the first of Rothfuss and it was really good. But he’s slow so I’m waiting until the last ones comes out then I’ll re-read the first and finish them. Unless the author spits them out quickly I don’t like reading anything in a series until they are all out.

And I can’t believe I forgot about Harry Potter. Probably my favorite books of all time. My son just turned 6 so I’m planning to get him a set for Christmas then we’ll start going through them. I’m so excited!

I really like the Hobbit but LotR was torture. Great story but boring as hell. I think it’s important to read especially if you like fantasy. You know the whole launched a thousand ships thing but the movies work for me going forward.

Graeme wrote: "Jeffrey wrote: "My favorites in this category is the Belgariad series by David Eddings. Read those like three times as a kid and once as an adult. Still loved it. Great stuff."

Me too. Plus all Ed..."

Wow Graeme, I would love the technology to upload all of your knowledge into my brain. This doesn't exist yet (or if it does they're not telling us) so, I should just start taking notes.

Sally wrote: "Wow Graeme, I would love the technology to upload all of your knowledge into my brain. This doesn't exist yet (or if it does they're not telling us) so, I should just start taking notes...."

(Blushes) 😊

My all time favorite fantasy book is Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance. This is actually that famous book I would take on a deserted island with me :)

@Graeme, I'm also a great Moorcock fan, especially the Elric and Eternal Champion books!
From more modern authors I enjoy reading N.K. Jemisin and Naomi Novik.

I am going to have to look into this list more as I have not read a lot of fantasy, but I do enjoy it a lot. So far one of the best fantasy novels I have read has been The Blacktongue Thief. (side note - this is probably the greatest audiobook I have ever purchased) Not sure what to say other than it was amazing! The characters, the world-building, the story itself - all were superb.
I also have read and loved the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books and will do a re-read one of these days.

I've read a horror book by Beuhlman that was fantastic and I love audiobooks. I'll have to check that one out.

Felina wrote: "I've read a horror book by Beuhlman that was fantastic and I love audiobooks. I'll have to check that one out."

I highly recommend it - it is self-narrated by Buehlman and he is great at that as well!

Other fantasy books I have enjoyed reading are:

LOTR (I read all three) - though I need to read The Hobbit at some point.

I am also working my way through Harry Potter - I am up to book #4.

Harry Potter as a first time read?

Marie wrote: "Other fantasy books I have enjoyed reading are:

LOTR (I read all three) - though I need to read The Hobbit at some point.

I am also working my way through Harry Potter - I am up to book #4."

The Harry Potter series is on my TBR list. I am a really big fan of HP but I have never read any of the books.
At some point, I will probably have to dedicate a good portion of time to focusing solely on all of these Fantasy books I want to read.

Felina wrote: "Harry Potter as a first time read?"

Yes - first time reading them. But I have watched the movies over and over. I own all the dvd movies but have never stepped into the books till about a year ago. :)

Denis (deez_bookish_adventures) wrote: "Marie wrote: "Other fantasy books I have enjoyed reading are:

LOTR (I read all three) - though I need to read The Hobbit at some point.

I am also working my way through Harry Potter - I am up to ..."

It had taken me forever to step into the HP books and I would promise myself every year that I would start reading them, but I never seemed to get around to doing it. So I made myself lay down my horror books (do you know how difficult that was - lol) to start my HP journey. I am so happy that I did as I have been enjoying reading them. :)

I can’t believe I forgot to mention The Dresden Files. It’s Urban Fantasy of course.

For those reading or re-reading Harry Potter, I suggest the animated illustrated edition on Kindle (I’m pretty sure it was Kindle). A magical reading experience. I think the Apple Books version was like interactive footnotes or something. Not magical.

I would like to ask the fantasy lovers on here something. Have any of you read this series: Prince of Fools?

I have been seeing this series of books come across my feeds and would like to know more about how the author is and what would you compare the books in regards to other fantasy books?

Marie wrote: "So I made myself lay down my horror books (do you know how difficult that was - lol) to start my HP journey. I am so happy that I did as I have been enjoying reading them. :)"

Yes, that is what I am going to have to do for the fantasy genre in general. I manage to slip in sci-fi and even some cosmic horror, but fantasy just seems to get neglected and I have a huge pile to get to. If I don't make some time in 2022 for it then I am going to dedicate 2023 (or at least the first half) to Fantasy. We will see how it goes.

I’m so excited for you! Reading Harry Potter for the first time is amazing. It’s something I wish I could do.

I haven’t read Prince of Fools but it looks really good.

let me know when you're on the 6th HP book Marie and I'll do a buddy read with you. 6 & 7 are the only two I haven't read yet.

Felina wrote: "I’m so excited for you! Reading Harry Potter for the first time is amazing. It’s something I wish I could do."

Thank you, Felina! Looking forward to reading them all! :)

Felina wrote: "I haven’t read Prince of Fools but it looks really good."

It does look good - I keep hearing about the author Mark Lawrence as I see him come across my feeds a lot on here from friends of friends so I was just curious who he was and how good the books were. :)

CalebCW wrote: "let me know when you're on the 6th HP book Marie and I'll do a buddy read with you. 6 & 7 are the only two I haven't read yet."

Will do Caleb. :) That will be fun! :)

Alex Pheby's Mordew folks. Most amazing fantasy I've read, can't stress it enough.

CalebCW wrote: "Alex Pheby's Mordew folks. Most amazing fantasy I've read, can't stress it enough."

Looking this up now Caleb, thank you!

You're welcome Sally! Happy to help