My wife is looking for a fantasy series to read - she liked Mistborn but didn't like Elantris, and she loved Martin but can't stand Jordan. Any suggestions?
If so, I would suggest any of Thomas Ligotti's collections to her. Or perhaps the more "New Weird" style stuff by China Miéville (The Scar being my personal favorite of his) or Jeff VanderMeer (Finch or City of Saints and Madmen being the top two of his that I'd suggest). Angela Carter's works are great.
But if you're just wanting epic fantasy suggestions, most of what I've read is flawed in some way. R. Scott Bakker's The Prince of Nothing trilogy was a very good read for me, but several find his writing to be ponderous and perhaps a too misogynistic setting for several. Steven Erikson's works are scattershot and require some understanding of epic fantasy motifs in order for the deconstructions to be detected. Joe Abercrombie's The First Law series is often praised on other sites, but it can feel a bit overdone in the "bleakness" category.
Could try Patricia McKillip's The Riddle-Master trilogy if she hasn't read that one yet. Complete and somewhat poetic in its prose. Enjoyed that.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie
Je suis méchant.
Je suis méchant.
Recommendations for a fantasy series
- 22/01/2010 03:27:38 AM
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Has she read Erikson/would war-based fantasy put her off?
- 22/01/2010 03:30:36 AM
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What she liked about Martin was the political intrigue and realism.
- 24/01/2010 03:07:34 AM
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The trilogy of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams.
- 22/01/2010 04:07:26 AM
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What is the basic idea of the trilogy, if you don't mind my asking?
- 24/01/2010 03:08:12 AM
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It's a mix of quest fantasy and political intrigue.
- 24/01/2010 04:28:03 AM
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If she doesn't like all the fantasy races and all much, though...
- 24/01/2010 11:58:45 AM
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Otherland is also good, but it meanders a lot more than MS&T. Also, it's more sci-fi than fantasy. *NM*
- 24/01/2010 05:11:16 PM
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thats one of the most beautifully written fantasies I've ever read
- 24/01/2010 09:49:40 PM
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Scott Lynch, though the series is no wheres near complete, the Lies of Locke Lamora is damn good. *NM*
- 22/01/2010 05:13:14 AM
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^ This.
- 23/01/2010 04:16:53 PM
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If the series isn't done she won't read it.
- 24/01/2010 03:09:02 AM
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It's not so much a series as a "oh, people liked my book, I'll start writing sequels".
- 24/01/2010 11:55:47 AM
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i've been digging the hell out of the incarnations of immortality series by piers anthony
- 22/01/2010 05:26:07 AM
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thats one of Anthony's series I actually think is good
- 24/01/2010 09:54:55 PM
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I think you're right about a new Incarnations book; I seem to recall seeing something in passing.
- 25/01/2010 10:55:36 AM
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The Empire series by Feist and Wurtz?
- 22/01/2010 12:47:50 PM
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This is getting to be information overload
- 24/01/2010 03:11:18 AM
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- 24/01/2010 03:11:18 AM
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well, in this section of the thread, I'd say Empire series, but for the other sections:
- 24/01/2010 09:59:42 PM
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Abercrombie or maybe Guy Gavriel Kay. *NM*
- 22/01/2010 03:14:03 PM
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Seconded
- 22/01/2010 09:07:44 PM
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I'd suggest Stephen King's Dark Tower series. *NM*
- 22/01/2010 03:21:12 PM
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She wouldn't like it. I'm sure of that. *NM*
- 24/01/2010 03:12:43 AM
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Well that sucks. It's a great series. Even The Gun Slinger has its good parts. *NM*
- 24/01/2010 03:50:20 AM
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Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince and Dragon Star Trilogies
- 22/01/2010 04:29:43 PM
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The heavy emphasis on the word "Dragon" in both series makes me wary
- 24/01/2010 03:15:52 AM
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Series are hard.
- 22/01/2010 08:10:30 PM
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Sapkowski is translated into Russian (Polish to Russian almost doesn't require thought)
- 24/01/2010 03:18:37 AM
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Latro in the Mist or the two omnibi that comprise The Book of the New Sun
- 24/01/2010 03:33:39 AM
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Yes, what he said. Avoid the Wizard/Knight books if faeries are off limits, though. *NM*
- 24/01/2010 06:09:02 PM
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Does she like Lovecraft any?
- 23/01/2010 12:06:48 AM
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Carol Berg's Transformation, C.S. Friedman's Feast of Souls
- 23/01/2010 01:27:53 AM
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Dark Fantasy may be good.
- 24/01/2010 03:23:31 AM
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I don't remember thinking of Transformation as dark fantasy...I am not sure that everybody is
- 24/01/2010 04:26:31 AM
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Jennifer Fallon - Second Sons
- 23/01/2010 12:59:10 PM
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I haven't read that one but the Demon Child series sure was a fun ride. *NM*
- 24/01/2010 04:29:37 AM
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What else has she enjoyed and how long has she been reading fantasy? *NM*
- 24/01/2010 04:30:21 AM
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