Top 10 favorite fantasy/Sci-Fi series

[Creme]

In no particular order:

Ender's Game/Shadow series - Orson Scott Card

Black Jewels Trilogy - Anne Bishop

Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (Series 1, 2 and 3 in progress) - Stephen R. Donaldson

The Quickening - Fiona McIntosh

Chronicles of the Raven - James Barclay

Everything by Sara Douglass

Everything by Elizabeth Haydon

Crown of Stars - Kate Elliot

ColdFire Trilogy - CS Friedman (and Madness Season is a standalone Sci-Fi)

FarSeer Trilogy - Robin Hobb

GodSlayer Chronicles - James Clemens (aka James Rollins)

Kushiel - Jacqueline Carey

Codex Alera - Jim Butcher


Sword of Shadows - J. V. Jones (although this author is very disappointing lately as her book publication schedule has been pushed out to more than 2 years between books)


bah...too many to fit into 10

[Sigi]

1. the discworld novels by Terry Pratchett

the Dune saga Frank Herbert

the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy Douglas Adams

most of Jack Vance

for now.

[Kerech]

Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (1, 2 and 3) by Stephen R. Donaldson

Memory Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams

The Gap Cycle by Stephen R. Donaldson

The Prince of Nothing Series by Scott Bakker

Can't think of another 6, but there are lots I like

[WICKED_ZOEYGIRL]

Anything by Anne McCaffrey

Anything by Mercedes Lackey

CS Lewis - Chronicles of Narnia

Roger Zelazny - Chronicles of Amber (sadly never finished, may he RIP)

Phillip Pullman - His Dark Materials trilogy

Piers Anthony - Incarnations of Immortality (You might know him from his Xanth saga, but I enjoyed those 7 books more)

Brian Jaques - Redwall series

Anything by Isaac Asimov

Anything by Dean Koontz

K. A. Applegate - Animorphs series

(Yes, my reading tastes tend to run a bit on the young side in parts, but these books were a large part of my childhood that I enjoy revisiting from time to time)

[gopher65]

Some of these are separate series, but if they are by the same author so I stuck them together

1) Discworld by Terry Pratchett
2) Thursday Next series and A Nursery Crime (heh) series by Jasper Fforde
3) Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
4) The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
5) Empire Trilogy by Janny Wurts
6) Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
7) Foundation series by Isaac Asimov
8) Darkwar Saga and Conclave of Shadows and the Magician series by Raymond E. Feist
9) Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card
_____________________________________

1) Discworld by Terry Pratchett
Bestest series ever. Actually it is several interwebbed series all stuck together. Discworld is a zany, wacky parody of our world with wizards and witches (some good, some bad), a magical computer (that is constantly in need of more Ram's Heads and Mice, but the wizards have no idea why the computer demands such things to run), a sympathetic Grim Reaper, small gods and stories, huge stinking cities, watchman, criminals, bankers, postman, writers, dwarves, trolls, and worst of all, politicians.

Most of all it is a world of humour that mirrors our own in thought provoking ways. There is so much depth to each book, and so many hidden references, that it is *shocking* to go to a webpage and see all the clever, hidden, external references in a single chapter of a single book. I don't get even a 10th of the references Pratchett puts in. Culture (classical, modern, and the pop of the time), Science, Politics, Literature, and Music. Oh so many awesome references.

2) Thursday Next series and A Nursery Crime series by Jasper Fforde
I only recently discovered these two (well, three now) series after one of those "amazon recommends based on your purchase history" emails. Huh, consumer profiling really does work! Fforde is now one of my favourite authors. In my opinion he is like a cross between Pratchett and Adams, and even though he isn't all that well known, I think he will eventually become known as one of the great parody fantasy writers just like the two previously mentioned authors. Well, scifi in the case of Adams I suppose. Wacky, wacky books. The home cloning kits are what had me laughing. And the fact that they are a society without cell phones or any real computers, but they have time travel and fusion power plants heh. Definitely an alternate universe.

3) Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Not everyone likes this author's style, just like my previous two choices, but if you like the weird humour of these books, you will love it. Pure unadulterated hilarious science fantasy. Very British.

4) The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
A hard nosed Chicago detective... who just so happens to be a wizard. His name is Harry Dresden, and while these books are decidedly adult in nature () the writing style has something of the page turning quality of another wizard named Harry. Don't bother reading the other series by this author though, it is garbage. But The Dresden Files are golden mass-produced paperback dimestore fantasy adventure novels. 2 words: Zombie Tyrannosaurus. Oh yes. It sounds cheesier than it is, but that doesn't mean there isn't cheese here, cause there is. These are a great read if you are in the right frame of mind.

5) Empire Trilogy by Janny Wurts
The story of a young noble girl as she and her house struggle to survive against ruthless enemies. And she's kinda ruthless herself. A lot of people (including my sister) didn't like dry 'political' style that these books are written in, but I loved it. That doesn't mean you will though. I'd recommend renting the first one from the Library before buying it. Oh and skim over the first few pages of Daughter of the Empire. This author never developed a sense of the word "hook". *yawns* The ending of the last book in the trilogy is slightly deus ex machina, but I didn't mind it. Still, this series isn't everyone's cup of tea (as no book is I suppose).

6) Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
I have complaints about his characters, especially the woman, and his writing style is occasionally repetitive and overly wordy. But if it weren't for that this would be my favourite series of all time. It isn't quite done yet, and the author is dead. Fortunately someone else is finishing up the series based on the already completed sections and the extensive notes that were left by the author (he had a terminal illness and knew he wasn't going to have time to finish the book). This series has some remarkable and powerful individual scenes that are breathtaking to read, and the world is kinda cool too.

7) Foundation series by Isaac Asimov
Two of my favourite books are The Positronic Man and Forward the Foundation. This series was written over almost 5 decades, so the writer's style changes a lot from book to book. Forward the Foundation was one of the last books completed by Asimov before he died, and chronologically it comes just before the first book that he wrote in this series, Foundation (early 50's I believe), so the two are quite different. The first books that he wrote tend to be dry, and the later books tend to be deep, with a lifetime of Asimov's experiences poured into them. The Positronic Man was turned into a movie which I haven't yet seen, but I can't imagine any movie could do justice to that book. It is the struggle of an android to be declared a person in a society that is becoming increasingly fearful of its AIs. The book takes place over several human generations and is wonderful in its scope.

The most interesting thing about Asimov's books is that almost all of them take place in the same universe (and there are a lot of books). His books cover about 30000 years of human history, from the 1950's (different than our 1950 to 2050 of course) to far in the future as the second galactic empire is forming. Really cool.

8) Darkwar Saga and Conclave of Shadows and the Magician series by Raymond E. Feist
These books take place in the same universe as The Empire Trilogy, which is neat. I like collaboration between authors. Feist's writing sometimes leaves something to be desired, but every now and again one of his books is... how can I say this... sometimes he "spins a yarn" (in a good way). His books are really hit and miss, but the good ones are captivating. Especially his first book, Magician (now split into two books cause it was so big. Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master).

Magician has one of my favourite scenes out of any book. I am always glad that wizards and the like don't exist in real life. What if Harry Potter had a temper tantrum? Would he blow up London in a fit of rage? That is a lot of completely unchecked power for one person to have, yet this is rarely addressed with anything but a cursory statement in fantasy books ("now don't misuse your power" pffffft). Even the best of us gets angry and loses control sometimes. Well, in Magician a powerful magic user has a temper tantrum in a Colosseum full of people and ends up killing thousands of them as a result, as well as overthrowing the leader of the Empire. Oops. It happens near the end so the consequences aren't really addressed in this book, but in later books that character (who is extremely long lived, all but one of the other original main characters are dead by that time (including my two favourite characters *sob* Jimmy the Hand */sob*) expresses shame and remorse over his youthful fit of rage.

These books don't have the depth that some other books do, but every now and again a character has some interesting commentary on "how things are".

9) Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card
I think most people have read Ender's Game, and there is a movie coming out soon (I hope it is good), so I won't say much about it. It is as close to "hard science fiction" as you will ever find (no FTL, well, not until the series jumps the shark anywho). The series really goes downhill after the first book, but fortunately there is no need to read beyond the first book; it is wholly self-contained. Simply put Ender's Game is one of the finest science fiction books ever written, and it should be read by everyone.

[gopher65]

I see that Creme has The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher on her list of favourite books, so I guess I shouldn't call them garbage since someone likes them. She's the first person I've seen who's given them a good review if you can believe that 0_0. I guess everyone has their likes and dislikes.

Also, I like some of Elizabeth Haydon's work too. Especially her first book, Rhapsody. I find that style of fantasy a bit tiring, so I have to take my time between each book or else I burn myself out. Which I did, cause I read the first 3 book in rapidfire mode :S. I have some of her other books, but I haven't been able to get into them yet.

I was never able to get into Redwall. Maybe you have to read those books when you are young or you will never get them.

While I read and somewhat enjoyed Narnia when I was younger, the extreme religious slant of the books turned me off. There is only so much preaching I can take in one sitting, and a few of those books overfill my preachiness tank unfortunately. Still, not horrible books. There are some interesting ideas there.

I'll also mention that the first few pages of The Hobbit are awesome. I consider those pages among the best writing I have ever read. Unfortunately I don't have the same opinion about the *rest* of the books Tolkien wrote, or even about the rest of The Hobbit (though it's certainly a passable read).

Many of the other authors on your lists I've never heard of, or have never read.

[LOVWYRM]

-ALL books of C.J.Cherryh (in particilar:fading suns/ Chanur cycle)

-McKillip: Riddlemaster of hed (part1-3)

-Shadowrun: Books of Robert N. Charette (Never deal with a dragon^^1-4)

- Jenniver Roberson: Cheysuly cycle

- Jane Gaskell:Atlantis cycle

-M.Zimmer Bradley: Darkover cycle

-Jacqueline Lichtenberg: House of Zeor- cycle

-Weis/Hickman: Dragonlance

-A.D. Foster: Flinx cycle

and sure: Orsen Scott Card, Anne Mac Caffrey and Steven R Donaldson

[tramsan]

Since many have already been mentioned, I'll just add a few more here.

The Deverry series by Katharine Kerr. Probably the best fantasy I've ever read.

The story of Paksennarion by Elizabeth Moon. A close tie with the Deverry books.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Need I say more?

[WICKED_ZOEYGIRL]

Gopher - I think you're right about the Redwall series. I loved them so so much when I was younger, but picked up on of the books recently and was saddened by what I read, they're definitely meant for a much younger audience.

[LOVWYRM]

Deverry is my husband`s No.1, tramsan- very good stuff too:-))

[Creme]

I see that Creme has The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher on her list of favourite books, so I guess I shouldn't call them garbage since someone likes them. She's the first person I've seen who's given them a good review if you can believe that 0_0. I guess everyone has their likes and dislikes.

I read a LOT of fantasy so I tend to like stories where the concept is different from your average hack and slash or a magical stone that can do anything/everything to be refreshing. The Codex series presented a rather unique form of "magical ability" which I like.

As for Jacqueline Lichtenberg, I read her (sp?) syme series, which I enjoyed very much.

[LOVWYRM]

Sime in German, Creme- thats what I ment

[CottenCandy]

top 10 of mine are...

1) Xanth - Peirs Anthony
2) Mode Series - Peirs Anthony
3) Adapt Series - Peirs Anthony
4) Incarnations of immortality - Peirs Anthony
5) Wheels of time - Robert Jordan
6) Acorna - Anne McCaffrey
7) Dragon riders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
8) The mage wars - Mercedes Lackey (There are a bunch of different series in this time line The Heralds of valdemar, the last herald- mage, the mage winds, the mage storms, Kerowyan's tale, Vows and honor, and the mage wars)
9) Harry potter
10) Dean Koontz (i know it's not a series but i just love all his books)

Ok that's my favorite top ten

[GalemThawn]

C.S. Friedman's In Conquest Born

Viton: We recognize that in man's nature there is a drive to oppress others, be they truly alien or his own women. Perhaps the true measure of his power is how openly he can indulge in this.

Viton: These gentle emotions, what good are they? Love, compassion, amity; what purpose do they serve? To my mind they are socially invalid, obstacles to emotional efficiency. There is no more constructive emotion than hatred.

I've read the book three times, with about 4 or 5 years in between each reading.

[Creme]

I enjoyed In Conquest Born immensely. Have you read Madness Season? CS Friedman is an excellent author with very unique ideas. She tends to have some long downtimes between series/books, unfortunately, but has started a new series recently.

And well chosen quotes from the book

[GalemThawn]

I haven't read Madness Season, but will look for it. I'm considering picking up This Alien Shore within the next couple weeks. Although from reviews I've read, neither of those books come to the level of In Conquest Born.

[Creme]

I'd say her early works were the best. Alien Shore was so-so, provocative, as are all her works, but I think written without as much depth as her previous novels/series. The new fantasy series is good so far, but again, not up to par with her first few "collections".

[Velea]

Having cleaned out nearly 2,500 books this past summer, coming up with this list was much easier. Was painful at the time to do, but made picking favorites now easier. Note some of these books come with an asterisk because I wouldn't recommend them to young readers. That said... in alphabetical order because that's why they are in my book case:

Piers Anthony: Incarnations of Immortality

Robert Asprin: MYTH Inc series (always good for a chuckle)

Anne Bishop: Black Jewels Trilogy* (This is because I have to pick one series of hers. I like them all, really.)

Jim Butcher: Harry Dresden Files* (White Night better come out in paperback soon or I'm going to crack!)

Laurell Hamilton: Guilty Pleasures*

Charlaine Harris: Sookie Stackhouse Series* (Just love the characters in this one)

Mercedes Lackey: Valdemar series (Thankfully she tied together dozens of books to make one series, or I'd be hard pressed to pick)

Anne McCaffery: Dragon Riders of Pern (a great first fantasy series that has been a pleasure to share with my kids)

Joel Rosenberg: Guardians of the Flame

Christopher Stasheff: Warlock series

[gopher65]

Jim Butcher: Harry Dresden Files* (White Night better come out in paperback soon or I'm going to crack!)

It came out today I believe. The next book (Small Favor, book 10) comes out in Hardcover sometime in April. It is usually about a year between the hardcover release and the softcover release.

[Velea]

Oh sure... torture me! I'm stuck at home with a sick kid, so can't get to a bookstore.