The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
Lord of the Rings (the Hobbit is actually my favorite) by Tolkien
Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Poalini
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Not sure if I'm gonna get razzed on the last one.
Has no one read The Lost years of Merlin(By T.A. Barron)series?
That series rocks! Oh yeah, and Enders Game.
Oh, what the heck is razzed?
Raspberry. Pursed lips with contempt blown through them.
Razzie awards. The anti oscars, where only one hollywood celeb has ever come to claim the prize. Halle Berry accepted her worst actress razzie for Catwoman.
No, I am not making this up.
Raspberry. Pursed lips with contempt blown through them.
Razzie awards. The anti oscars, where only one hollywood celeb has ever come to claim the prize. Halle Berry accepted her worst actress razzie for Catwoman.
No, I am not making this up.
I love the Razzie awards!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Master of the Five Magics, Secret of the Sixth Magic, Riddle of the Seven Realms by Lyndon Hardy
MotFM was great; I read that one like 3 times. Sixth Magic was pretty good. By 7th Realm I was starting to get underwhelmed, though.
Resident evil
First off I'm going to cheat and assume that LOTR will be on all lists already (like the Bible and Shakespeare on Desert island disks).
Memory Sorrow and Thorn - Tad Williams - Cant Believe more people haven't put this down
The Belgariad - David Eddings - Not the Mallorean (I read it but its not going on the list for being the same story as the Belgariad)
Dragonlance Chronicals and Legends - Wies and Hickman - Sentimentality and the D&D link.
The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher - Acres better than the TV series, though that was perfectly watchable.
Thats my vote anyway,
Elcian
|
MotFM was great; I read that one like 3 times. Sixth Magic was pretty good. By 7th Realm I was starting to get underwhelmed, though.
Five Magics was far and away the best of the bunch, it is one of my favorite books. Sixth Magic was pretty good, but notably less good than Five Magics. I think that lowered my expectations for Seven Realms, making me less disappointed with the book.
All in all, Five Magics makes the "series" one of my favorites.
I must confess, I never really understood why Moorcock offed him like that at the end of the second series. Which is part of the reason why I prefer the first series. But the second is most definately darker in tone.Corum (Spear/Oak/Sword) - M. Moorcock - Tragic
* Spoiler Alert *
Moorcock offed him because Corum is one of the eternal champions and it was his fate (I can't remember the ancient Gaelic term for it). He kills all of them off (well, almost).
* End of Spoiler Alert *
Some of the series/assorted books I have liked include:
1. Everything by Moorcock, but particular the Corum and Hawkmoon series.
2. Robin Hobb - Fartraders and Farseers series, though the 1st person narrative is beginning to grate on me with the latest series.
3. G. R. Martin - Song of Fire and Ice (nasty but good fantasy fiction)
4. Fritz Lieber's stuff - Though it can get a little bit weird at times.
5. Pier Anthony's stuff - Books can get a little weird (as in crazy) but he is great nonetheless (and he had a boy wizard before Harry Potter).
6. Tolkien - I actually think his lesser known books are better than LoTR. The storyline is a little overrated (read boring), but the mythology is what defines its greatness.
7. Raymond Fiest - His early series. I haven't read most of his stuff after 1995 since I got a little bored with his writing style.
There are other's but I'm running out of time. Trouble is I'm not big on long series which turns me off the likes of Donaldson and others. I also hate everything by David Eddings except the Belgariad. I don't like superhero characters who never get hurt and can blow up mountains with a flick of their wrists (there are writers on the above list that also have characters like this, but at least their characters are entertaining).
Barry Hughart's: Bridge of Birds, Story of the Stone, & Eight Skilled Gentlemen. Read 'em people!
George Martin's Song Of Ice and Fire
Robert E Howard's Conan
Dragonlance Trilogy by Weis and Hickman
Moorcock's Elric series
Howard's Conan
Leiber's Swords
Salvatore's Dark Elf trilogy
G.M. Fraser's Flashman books (not really fantasy/scifi but they rule anyway. The events are real, the hero isn't.)
Most of the series I hold in high regard are the old ones, namely:
1. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast
2. Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber
3. Jack Vance's Dying Earth
4. Fritz Leiber's Swords...
Dune, Sprawl, Narnia, Conan, Elric and The Black Company are also great.
Barry Hughart's: Bridge of Birds, Story of the Stone, & Eight Skilled Gentlemen. Read 'em people!
Just finished 8SG last week, coincidentally. Great stuff, but the formula gets a little old after the third book. Bridge of Birds is amazing though, and deserves more praise than it's gotten.
The first series of Amber books by Roger Zelazny
The Iron Tower trilogy by Dennis McKiernan
Well of Souls series by Jack Chalker
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen Donaldson
The Lensman series by E. E. "Doc" Smith
Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder
|
Geez, I like sooooo many....
First, Frank Herbert's DUNE series is my all time favorite. A class by itself.
More recent series that I can't seem to get enough of:
David Weber's HONOR HARRINGTON series
Lois McMaster Bujold's MILES VORKOSIGAN series
Mercedes Lackey's VALDEMAR series
Jim Butcher's THE DRESDEN FILES and the CODEX ALERA series
I'd have to say Pern ranks pretty high, as does Song of Fire and Ice, LOTR, Harry Potter, and ANYTHING by John Ringo.
The Bartimeus Trilogy
Codex Alera AND Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
The Dexter Series by Jeff Lindsay
Night Watch Trilogy by Sergei Lukyanenko
I must be one of the only D&D players that thinks Tolkien is not very enjoyable -I think the movies were better. :O
Then again I like Anne Rice so thats quite bad to some lol! :D
|
The Drenai series by David Gemmell
The Rigante series by David Gemmell
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
The Elric Saga by Micheal Moorcock
The Eternal Champion Cycle (Hawkmoon/Corum/etc) by Micheal Moorcock
The Conan Stories of Robert E. Howard
The L.A. Quartet by James Elroy
The Army of the Potomac by Bruce Catton
The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote
|
|
Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkein
Riftwar/Serpentwar Sagas, by Raymond Feist
REH's Conan
The Dragonlance Chronicles by Weis and Hickman
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
The Shannara series by Brooks
The Drenai stuff by David Gemmell
The 1st few books of Goodkind
Series I did not like:
Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. Tad Williams
Anything by Eddings
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
|
|
The Magic: the Gathering novels were very good (particularly "The Brothers' War"), but began to decline with the Kamigawa cycle.
Stephen Kenson's Shadowrun books are also surprisingly good.
Others:
- Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Aloysius Pendergast books
- The first three Anne Rice books
And for some reason, I can't stop reading the Drizzt books even though I can't stand them...
A Song of Ice and Fire--by far one of the best written fantasy series I've ever read, in fact one of the best series of books period I've ever read.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant--first three only.
The Dan Lenson books of David Poyer (stories of an American naval officer from the time of the Vietnam War to the early 90s so far)
Robert Silverberg's Majipoor books.
I can only add:
DragonLance Legends Vol 1-3
And thanks... I was looking for new books to read!
Peter David's Sir Apropos of Nothing Trilogy
Steven Erikson's Malazon Series
George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire Series
China Mieville's Bas Lag Trilogy
Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series
|
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
|
OK here are my Faves:
Empyrion - Stphen Lawhead. Originally 2 Books The Search for Fierra & The Siege of Dome you can only get it now as an Omnibus Edition (much to my extreme dissapointment when I let someone borrow my copies and they moved away with them). I bought these books 15+ years ago with a Sunday School voucher to the Church Bookshop. I had to beg my mother to buy me the second as the voucher only covered the first. Best begging result EVER! =) Empyrion
The Commonwealth Saga - Peter F. Hamilton. 2 books Pandora's Star & Judas Unchained (although there are other books set in this setting. These books are a complex mesh of different characters plots that make you wonder how their storylines will ever connect in the end.
Commonwealth Saga
Looks like I don't learn from my mistakes. I once again let someone (my boss) borrow both Empyrion and this time both books of the Commonwealth Saga. He promptly had a breakdown where noone could contact him for 2 months and was fired, taking my beloved books with him. **sobs uncontrollably into a pillow**
1.LotR:)
2.Memory sorrow Thorn . Tad wiliams
3.The blade itself, Before they are hanged, The last argument of Kings;
by Joe Abercrombie- Pett and Logue style fantasy...
4. Dread empires fall - Walter Jon Williams.
China Mieville's Bas Lag Trilogy
Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series
Oh yeah!
I haven't seen these listed so I'll add:
1)the Chalion books by Lois McMaster Bujold
2)the Dance of Gods series by Mayer Alan Brenner
3)'Pyromancy' and sequels by Dan Callander
4) the Coramunde books by Brian Daley
1) the Floyt and Fitzhugh books by Brian Daley
2)the Ukiah Oregon books by Wen Spencer
3) the Legion of Videssos books by Harry Turtledove
4) the Starship Troupers series by Christopher Stasheff
In kind of shock that more people havent read Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series.
Im not one for high magic settings but this one pulls it off nicely. Epic would be an understatement for the series.
Other series im also into...
A Song of Ice and Fire - George RR Martin
The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone - Greg Keyes
The Obsidian Trilogy - Mercedes lackey and James Mallory. While not my usual read and the beginning of book 1 was a tad slow, the series grabbed hold of me soon enough. The authors do Elves better than anyone Ive ever read.
The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone - Greg Keyes
I loved the Waterborn and the Black God. How are these? I'm thinking of picking them up.
It would be hard for me to lump sci-fi/fantasy together and stick to four so I will cheat and do four of each...
Science fiction
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Dune - Frank Herbert
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Fantasy
Song of Ice and Fire - George RR Martin
Lord of the Rings - J R R Tolkien
Swords - Fritz Leiber
First Law - Joe Abercrombie
Also very good sci-fi series: Iain Banks Culture series, Neal Asher's Polity, Richard Morgan's Takashi Kovacs, Arthur C Clarke's 2001 series.
Fantasy: Steven Erikson Malazan series, Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards, and Roger Zelazny's Amber.
Everyone in my family reads voraciously, so I have trouble limiting to just four. In no particular order:
The Elenium by David Eddings (Diamond Throne, Ruby Knight, Sapphire Rose). Sparhawk is my favorite depiction of a paladin.
The Black Company by Glenn Cook (another favorite by Glenn Cook - "Garrett, PI" ) Cook's time in the Navy gave him some excellent insights in to the military mindset.
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Can't wait for the RPG to come out!)
Gaunt's Ghosts by Dan Abnett
Hellboy (created by Mike Mignola, several authors contribute to the novel/graphic novels series) Mignola painstakingly researches and includes real-world mythology into his stories. It's excellent!
Not really a 'novel' series but an excellent read regardless: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Alan Moore is a brilliant storyteller, and the literary 'easter eggs' he works into his graphic novels is amazing.
Honorable mention: Both the 'Merry Gentry' and 'Anita Blake' series by Laurell K. Hamilton. My wife discovered them first, and convinced me to read them.
First of all, thank you ericthecleric, both for creating the thread and for resurrecting it at a time when I could post to it.
That said, I'm going to violate ericthecleric's rule of "this thread is not intended as a discussion of the merits (or not) of particular authors or their books" by discussing them. Sorry! If you hate discussion so much, just skip over my commentary.
When I started reading this thread, I saw it as an excuse to promote my two favorite books of all time, Master of the Five Magics and Secret of the Sixth Magic by Lyndon Hardy. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw that Ungoded and Kirth Gersen already mentioned them!
My list:
1) Master of the Five Magics / Secret of the Sixth Magic / Riddle of the Seven Realms by Lyndon Hardy. Not only do these books have the coolest magic system I've ever seen, by far, but Lyndon Hardy can squeeze more plot and action into one "part" of a book (each of his books being divided into 4-6 parts) than most authors can manage in an entire novel. And his use of language was perfect for fantasy! And "Secret" has the coolest alien world in fantasy - move over, Planescape! I agree that "Riddle" was inferior, though.
2) The classic Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. The use of psychohistory shows how science fiction can be more than just any old story with laser guns and spaceships thrown in. Plus, Asimov skillfully uses simple dialogue to paint a picture of what's going on all over the galaxy! And the frequent skipping from one era to another one decades later provides a distinctive storyline.
3) The Oz books by L. Frank Baum. Don't laugh! Sure, it's a children's series, and Baum's world-building may seem amateurish compared to that of later authors like Howard and Tolkein. But Baum did it first! Remember, the most notable fantasy stories before Baum included those of Anderson, with no plot, and those of the Grimm brothers, with many massive plot holes. But Baum gave us a fantasy world which we could BELIEVE in (at least until we put the book down) and which inspired many other authors. And Baum just had that je-ne-sais-quoi, that certain storytelling CHARM that keeps you reading. I'm sure I'm one of many who first got hooked onto fantasy because of Baum's Oz books.
4) Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. Okay, this one's been discussed to death, so I'll refrain this time.
Others mentioned already, but I'll add this one:
The Gentleman Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch. So far, that's The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas under Red Skies. Excellent books, IMHO. I can't wait for the next, Republic of Thieves!
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
The Elenium/Tamuli trilogies by David Eddings
The Belgariad/Mallorean series by David Eddings
The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien
Hm. Gonna need two lists so I can cheat.
"Adult" Series:
Jim Butcher's Dresden Files (honorable mention to the Codex Alera series by the same author)
Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy
Robert Jordan's (with Sandrson's help after his untimely death) Wheel of Time (still haven't picked up the last one though)
Brent Weeks' Night angel Trilogy (honorable mention to the barely-begun Lightbringer series)
"Children's" Series:
Jonathan Stroud's Bartamaeus Trilogy
Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series
J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series
Garth Nix' Keys to the Kingdom series
Well, necromanced!
I shall be back later...