Top 10 favorite fantasy/Sci-Fi series

[Waylander]

A bit obvious by my name but any of the late David Gemmell's books, and the Sword of Truth series from Terry Goodkind.

[Teto Frum]

LOL well im to lazy to think hard enough to come up with a whole top ten list.
But a few my favorite reads are The Cronicles of Thomas Covenant , the first trilogy is my favorite read for sure, enjoyed Sword of Truth books, Dune first book only and the Foundation series.

Glad to see a list like this up ty for starting thread nice to get book ideas from like minded people.

[Creme]

Wow, first person to have posted that has read Anne Bishop

As for Laurell K. Hamilton, I loved her series up until book 8 or 9 and then it kinda went in a different direction. I think she's starting to get more into action, which is good. I have to say I highly respect her, in that she practically launched the "urban fantasy" genre or at least made it popular.

The Stackie books are cute, I just won't pay hardback prices for them

And as for David Gemmell....I can't believe I left him off my list and I am saddened that he passed away this past summer. If anyone can find (and they should be able to--because they started publishing his books in the US quite a few years back) a book called "Legend". It's a worthwhile read.

p.s. Having to "trash" or "treasure" books is a horrible task. My sympathies .

p.p.s. I can't believe I forgot Steven Erikson - Malazan empire. Anyone into epic fantasy that has a lot of time on their hands, dig in

[Sigi]

Gopher thanks for your nice list with short descriptions. I'll definately try some of them

[Velea]

I rarely, rarely buy hardcover. Lackey I have in hardcover because I've read them at least 4 times myself, my husband even more, so the paperbacks just fell apart. Otherwise, I buy paperback. Course that is also what has allowed me to have literally thousands of books in my collection. We've brought our children up around books everywhere in the home, so many of the ones we let go over were "early readers"... but yes, this summer was difficult. Parting really was sweet sorrow.

[Kadiya]

Hm, this looks fun.

There are a few already listed that I just love (C.S. Lewis and Anne Bishop coming to mind first), but I do have a few up my scales that haven't been yet.

1. Trillium series - this one isn't quite a series, but it is at the same time. The first book (Black Trillium) is by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Julian May, and Andre Norton. The next books are by each author individual. Some people find this hard to get into, but I enjoyed it a lot.

2. The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan. Very typical fantasy, but very enjoyable at the same time.

2.5 Age of the Five also by Trudi Canavan (thus the 2.5). I haven't read this one yet (the first book is sitting-in-wait on my bookshelf), it looks like it could be a good read.

3. The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini - great read! great adventure! and dragons! (need I say more?)

4. Earthsea Cycle by Ursala K. Le Guin - just starting reading it after watching the miniseries and so far I'm enjoying it.

Honorable Mention: The Age of Fire series by E. E. Knight. I haven't started it yet (book one just arrived in the mail today), but it does sound like an excellant journey. (And it's from a dragon's PoV! )

[Kephren]

My faves (in no particular order):
- Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind
- Homecomming Saga by Orson Scott Card
- Red/Green/Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
- Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
- The Compleat Dying Earth by Jack Vance (yes its spelled that way)
- Confluence by Paul J McAuley

[Arzel Rashemi]

This is a really good thread. Need ideas for new reading material. Especially since I'm waiting for most of the authors I like to release their next books. Although there are quite a few already mentioned I like, there are a few older or lesser known books I personally take a shine to.

In no particular order :

1. The Redemption of Althalus - David Eddings

2. Anything with the Jhereg Series of books - Steven Brust

3. Wheel of Time Series - Robert Jordan

4. The Tarot Sequence - Piers Anthony (Although I never got to finish this one! )

5. The Elenium - David Eddings

6. The Dragon's Blood Trilogy - Jane Yolen

7. The Second Sons Trilogy - Jennifer Fallon

8. Necromancer (Chronicles of the Summoner) - Gail Z. Martin

9. The Song of Ice and Fire - George R R Martin

10. Any of the Riftwar series and The legends of the Riftwar - Raymond E. Fiest.

11. The Greyknight Series - Ben Counter

[gopher65]

10. Any of the Riftwar series and The legends of the Riftwar - Raymond E. Fiest.

*Any*? Are we forgetting the Riftwar Legacy series?

Krondor: The Betrayal
Krondor: The Assassins
Krondor: Tear of the Gods

I thought K:TotG was passable, but the other two were pretty bad IMO. Unfortunately I'm going to have to re-read them because the person they deal with is a major bad guy in the current serieseseses. I seem to remember that Feist was doing something else while he was writing those 3 books, so they didn't get the attention they deserved. Ah well, too bad.

[Frith-Rae]

I've read nothing BUT fantasy series and Stephen King for the past 14 years- but rather than try and remember the top 10 out of all of those - your lists reminded me of some of the best of those - which I"ll reiterate here.

The Black Jewels Series (more than three) - ANne Bishop!! I AM SO GLAD others of you have found this series!! SO GOOD!! SOO FRICKIN ORIGINAL!!

The Deverry Series - Katherine Kerr - another GREAT ORIGINAL! I am continually amazed by this series and the author's ability to represent a celtic knot in literature .

Rhapsody - Series - (that's a book in the series, I dont know what the series name overall is) - crap forgot author - well that's not helpful is it!! But in any case - EXCELLENT new fantasy writer - ORIGINAL stuff!!

Dragonlance - well but...duh! - Weiss/Hickman

Song of Ice and Fire Series - Martin - If you've not read these - do it!!

Lord of the Rings - well, this shoudlnt even need to be mentioned

Sunrunner's Fire(?) Series - by Melanie Rawn - not sure this is the name of hte series but its a book in teh series - GREAT dragon series!! like..9 books in all - three trilogies I think

And one noone's mentioned - but it certianly DOES Fall under Fantasy -

THE DARK TOWER SERIES - by Stephen King - all 10 of'em! Its not horror, its not hack, its fantasy the likes of which professors hold classes on and people do their dissertations about.

So if you haven't read it- go...read it. Its one of those "you should read this before you die" series IMO. Top pieces of literature of the century. Though THe first book, The Gunslinger can be very hard to get through - stick with it - you won't regret it.

[gopher65]

As a quick note before I run off and take a shower, I have very different tastes than Frith-Rae. I like books that are light and comedic, with preachiness (if any) slipped in sideways through parody.

As an example, I don't like G.R.R. Martin at all. Just an example of how people differ in their likes and dislikes. Reading him I can see how others would like him; he's a good author with good writing ability. But I don't like the style and I don't like the world he created.

[Sigi]

I really liked
Tad Williams - Otherworld
too

[Khetienn]

My absolute favorite author, hands-down, is the (in my opinion) wonderful Janny Wurts. She writes an absolutely believable world, with characters that are fully fleshed-out, including the minor player that you may see only once (or have show up at random in a short-story collection somewhere...) and an incredible grasp of language. I adore reading her books over and over again, because every time I do, I catch a new definition of a word or phrase that makes me realize that there was this whole level of meaning that I'd missed, somehow, and that makes the whole a very enjoyable re-read. As a bonus, she also creates her own artwork for all of the cover art, the inserts, the maps, and the occasional stand-alone painting. Nice to know that what's on the cover is what the author intended the characters to look like!

She has written in collaboration with Raymond Feist for the Daughters of the Empire series, though I haven't yet read those, as well as her own series that starts with 'Curse of the Mistwraith' and continues with the 'Wars of Light and Shadow' arc. She has plans for another 2-3 arcs, and I cannot wait to read them!

For those that simply want a taste of how she writes, she has a single stand-alone book out titled 'To Ride Hell's Chasm', which is a mind-blowing read. She also has a series of snippets from the various books she's written for view on her website, paravia.com/JannyWurts.



I (finally..) convinced my boyfriend to read 'To Ride Hell's Chasm', and he informed me that "This is an addictive book! I can almost see the plot twist that is sitting right there, begging to be used...and she ignores it, does something I never thought could be done, then comes back and uses that plot twist anyway, though now it has a completely different meaning!" ...He then proceeded to finish the book in under a week (which was shocking, usually he'll take 2-3 weeks), read it again just to make sure he hadn't missed too much, realized there was a whole level of detail that he just couldn't see the first time through, finished it again, and told me I was to hand over the 'Curse of the Mistwraith' immediately . Think I created a bit of a fan, there...

Anyway...I hadn't meant to ramble on quite so much, but I adore reading, and have read a good chunk of both the authors and books listed here. I just felt it was time to toss in my own 2 copper.

[Creme]

Hmnn, another author I enjoy (although he can be off and on) is Simon R. Green.

His darkstalker series was very good (sci-fi, but not hard science fiction, i'd say more like futuristic fantasy) and I also like his Nightside series.

[Frith-Rae]

Oh yes, Janny Wurts is fabo (though I'm feeling the WoL&S needs to run its course lol).

And I forgot to offer up support for another one someone mentioned - "Deeds of Paksinarion" - amazing little series. I read that one twice .

And yes that's true gopher everyone has different tastes - I normally don't enjoy reading books of satire and humor . I prefer drama. But no I don't prefer preachy period....

[Kala]

Rhapsody - Series - (that's a book in the series, I dont know what the series name overall is) - crap forgot author - well that's not helpful is it!! But in any case - EXCELLENT new fantasy writer - ORIGINAL stuff!!

I believe the series is called Symphony of the Ages by Elizabeth Haydon. And it is quite good.

I'll probably post on this one when I get home and can grab book/series/author names instead of just posting "Ooh, I liked the series where that guy did this thing and saved the world!"

[Teto Frum]

Little off topic , but since books been listed , was reading today Sam Raimmi has signed on to make Terry Goodkinds, Sword of Truth into a movie.

[Frith-Rae]

ooh Sam?? I always thought the first few books in the series were the best - before he started preachin' and ramblin' and repeating plots...

So yea...I trust the Rammi....

[velveeta]

i am with you, frith...
the first 2 books were okay, with intriguing ideas, but then goodkind got moral and it all went downhill from there

[WICKED_ZOEYGIRL]

My faves (in no particular order):
- Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind
- Homecomming Saga by Orson Scott Card
- Red/Green/Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
- Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
- The Compleat Dying Earth by Jack Vance (yes its spelled that way)
- Confluence by Paul J McAuley

Kephren - Red, Green, & Blue Mars! Oh goodie! I haven't ever heard of anyone else that read that series! I started it when I was 16 and put it down after Boone was killed (He'd turned into one of my favorite characters) then I picked it back up again at 23 and finished them all within a few months and really enjoyed it!

Even my beloved McCaffrey & Lackey are beginning to feel stagnant (I haven't gotten a new book in over a year though) so maybe I'll check out your list, anything you'd reccomend I start with?