Fantasy Aficionados discussion

As I mentioned in a thread somewhere around here, I love getting recommendations. I'm always looking for the next book that will knock my socks off and blow my mind at the same time.

So, list your suggestions here.

I suggest reading Joe Abercrombie, author of The Blade Itself, book one of the First Law series.

This series is surprisingly not that well known yet, but it is also fairly new. If you have not checked this author out, I suggest you do so, especially if you're a fan of Martin's ASoIaF series. It has realistic characters and battle scenes, the latter of which are just brutal!

I can't recommend Old Man's War enough. I loved the first book, each of the follow ups, the chapbooks... Anything by Scalzi is sure to please.

I read Old Man's War. I loved it! I haven't yet gotten to the others in that series, though.

I'm really glad you started this group. I'm getting some good feedback on books I want to read and possible suggestions!

Thanks Lady Danielle! I'm really glad you said yes to moderating!

You're so welcome!

Does anyone have any recommendations for adult horror/fantasy books that revolve around werewolves? I have been forced to watch the Twilight movies and the second one had werewolves which has got me interested (yes, I thought they were kind of cool). But, I don't want teen romance like Twilight, or another book my girlfriend has called Shiver, I want werewolves for "grown-ups", lol. Any help with that?

You could try the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. The first book is Moon Called

There's also a series by Kelly Armstrong. I'm not sure of the name of the series, but the first book is called Bitten.

If you like reading short horror stories, there's also The Mammoth Book of Wolf Men.

I have a werewolf shelf. Feel free to browse:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

No prob!

There's also a book or two by Nancy A Collins (she also wrote some great vamp books) starting with Wild Blood that might work for you.

Has anyone read The Wizard's Ward or The Destined Queen by Deborah Hale????

Nope. Do you recommend those?

I bought The Destined Queen in TSpb. but Haven't read it yet. LOL I wanted to see if anyone could recommend it. :)

Oh, I get it. Sorry.

Branden wrote: "Does anyone have any recommendations for adult horror/fantasy books that revolve around werewolves? I have been forced to watch the Twilight movies and the second one had werewolves which has got ..."

Mercy Thompson is awesome, one of my favorite series! You should start there for sure. Also I've been reading The Riley Janson Guardian series by Keri Arthur. The first book in this series is Full Moon Rising I'm really enjoying this series so far.

I have The King Raven trilogy by Stephen R. Lawhead in audio in my to read. I'm itching to start on it. I loved his Pendragon Cycle series. Would The King Raven trilogy fall under epic fantasy?

Has anyone mentioned Robin Hobb's books? She writes great epic fantasy.

There's also a great series by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts, I think it starts with Daughter of the Empire. Or maybe it starts with Magician: Apprentice, I'm not sure.

I've noticed that Janny Wurts is a member of our group, actually! :) she has yet to say anything though.

Jason wrote: "I've noticed that Janny Wurts is a member of our group, actually! :) she has yet to say anything though."

Her WLOS series is being discussed in the Beyond Reality group and in the Fantasy Book Club Series group, or I would've mentioned it here. I LOVE that series!

I'd like to read those, Sandra. Thanks for the recs!

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "I'd like to read those, Sandra. Thanks for the recs!"

You should!

What does WLOS stand for? I'm curious about these books!

Wars of Light and Shadow! And if you haven't read them, you should! Starts with Curse of the Mistwraith. We're discussing them at Beyond Reality, Fantasy Book Club, and Fantasy Book Club series. Come join the groups and have fun.

They are epic fantasy, complex, well written, full of action, intrigue, fabulous characters, even a love story. The best books I've read in years, maybe ever.

Sounds awesome! I'm going to have to check them out!

Good! You won't regret it. Except that you'll get addicted and won't be able to put them down. :)

I love books that are like that. The ones you can't put down.

Haven't read it in years and it may be difficult to find but whenever someone mentions high fantasy I think of the Lyonese series by Jack Vance.

Jack Vance is one of those authors that keep popping up on me. I haven't read him yet, but very much looking forward to.

Jason wrote: "I've noticed that Janny Wurts is a member of our group, actually! :) she has yet to say anything though."

(Jason!!! You've ratted me out. I am lurking to see if I like this place as a reader; decision to participate when life makes room for more reading time. Then I'd come in the front door, Introduction thread.)

Thanks for posting, Janny! Sorry about ratting you out...lol. But you're more than welcome to participate when you've got the time. :)

I'd like to read Tales of the Dying Earth by Vance. That's not a suggestion, just thought I'd mention it.

Sandra AKA Sleo wrote: "Has anyone mentioned Robin Hobb's books? She writes great epic fantasy.

There's also a great series by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts, I think it starts with Daughter of the Empire. ..."

The series they cowrote starts with Daughter of the Empire. The other series is just Feist.

My favorite epic fantasy series is The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's an "alternate universe interescting ours" series with a heavy leaning towards Celtic mythology. It's one of the best crafted series of books I've ever read, and the bar to which I compare all other epic fantasy.

Did I mention that I really liked it?

The Summer Tree
The Wandering Fire
The Darkest Road

Arshad wrote: "My favorite epic fantasy series is The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's an "alternate universe interescting ours" series with a heavy leaning towards Celtic mythology. It's one of the b..."

:-) I need to read some Kay, I've just never got around to it.

And here I've been harassing encouraging you to read Dresden! No no no - Kay. Absolutely Kay. Kay is amazing. Kay is necessary. I have a spare paperback of Tigana and a spare hardcover of A Song for Arbonne for just such occasions - would you like one or both? (There are certain books I can't walk past at library sales; Kay is most of them, not that he shows up often.)

*waves* Hi, y'all. Such great recs in here! My to-read list is going to drain my bank account this summer, I can tell. :)

Absolutely, Kay! God, that scene In The Summer Tree on the tree... I get chills every time I read it. And Lions of Al Rassan made me bawl my eyes out at the end.

I also really love Jacquiline Carey's Kushiel series, Patricia McKillip's Riddlemaster trilogy, and CJ Cherryh's Fortress series.

/babbling

Tracey wrote: "

And here I've been harassing encouraging you to read Dresden! No no no - Kay. Absolutely Kay. Kay is amazing. Kay is necessary. I have a spare paperback of Tigana and a spare..."

LOL! Is it that good?

Gwynna wrote: "*waves* Hi, y'all. Such great recs in here! My to-read list is going to drain my bank account this summer, I can tell. :)

Absolutely, Kay! God, that scene In The Summer Tree on the tree... I get ..."

LOVE the Riddlemaster series!

MrsJoseph wrote: "LOL! Is it that good?"

Yes. Yes, it is.

Kay is indeed a necessity.

MrsJoseph wrote: LOVE the Riddlemaster series!

Isn't it amazing? I'm always bewildered when I read the intro to the omnibus edition, because she seems so apologetic about it, when it's hands-down my favorite of all her books.

(well, okay, the Cygnet books are a very close second, but still.)


Other recs... I <3 Robin McKinley's Deerskin. And Clive Barker's Imagica is definitely on the mindblowing end of the scale.

I think that you'll love The Summer Tree, MrsJoseph!

The summer tree?

The Summer Tree

Laurel wrote: "The Summer Tree"

The Summer Tree sounds great. I used to be a big reader of Kay, but I forgot. Now I'm ready for more.

Maybe I need to read more Kay. The only thing I read was The Lions of al-Rassan and I didn't really care for it that much...to me it was about a guy who justified killing his friend and somehow became a hero....I didnt even find the romance beleivable. I don't know...

The Fionavar Tapestry is different from Kay's later works, in that it employs a great deal of mythology, magic, and the supernatural. His successive books tended to move away from the supernatural, becoming more conventional fantasy in nature, but still epic in the sense that they concerned far-reaching storylines which swept up a multitude of characters in their wake from all walks of life. The Lions of al-Rassan was a prime example: epic storyline, but no magic that I remember off-hand. I happen to prefer his earlier books, for the sense of wonder and awe they engendered.

Ok, I've tried to read The Fairy Godmother, the first in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series by Mercedes Lackey. I got about 20 pages in, only to realize that it wasn't grabbing my attention at all. The issue here is that I LOVE re-tellings of fairy tales/fables, like the Fables series of graphic novels by Bill Willingham. So, should I keep going with these books, those of you who have read them, or is this about as good as it gets?

I mentioned that I don't read a lot of epic fantasy, and I don't, but there is one sword & sorcery series which I'm really enjoying which doesn't seem to get much buzz - The Chronicles of the Necromancer by Gail Z. Martin, starting with The Summoner.

I do feel that I have to add the caveat that it's sort of a walking cliche, especially in the beginning, but I really like the characters and just the way she tells the story.