Shannara and other great reads

Fantastic books, fantastic author.  You ought to give Tad Williams a try, he has an awesome three book (the third is split into two parts) series called Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn out.  Not since the LOTR trilogy have I been so enthralled by a series.  As far as Brooks goes, you should try his newer couple books in the Genesis of Shannara series.  They live up to his fantastic writing in the other books.  And Walker Boh is the ****

George R R Martin.

I've read them. They were really good, but I kind of got a little confused and less interested after the original ones (wasn't the main character Shea or something?) and a few others where there was an evil government controlling the "whole" known world or something. Still great writing though. I mostly like the Halo books, but I found a really good Forgotten Realms novel in my Language Arts room. I only read the first in the series but it was pretty good.

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar_series

I am reading the Genesis series right now - about halfway through The Elves of Cintra.  Since it all takes place in the Pacific Northwest, it makes me want to take a drive up Interstate 5 and visit the locations in the book!

I read the Sword of Shannara when it first came out (many, many years ago now) and liked it well enough, although it was by no means a favorite. His other Shannara books don't do it for me though. Interestingly, I thought the Magic Kingdom books were a fun read.

I don't read as much fantasy now as I used to, but I like George R.R. Martin, some of Robin Hobb's stuff, Lois McMaster Bujold, and a few others.

I've read the first Shannara book, started on the second but I couldn't get into it... But as Fantasy and Science Fiction are my favourite genres, I'll give you some hints if you want to go beyond Terry Brooks.

There are so many good / great fantasy writers out there, don't have time to read them all  But I've collected a reasonable library over the years. Some of my favourites include J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings off course...), Elizabeth Moon (The Deeds of Paksenarrion, also writes great SF), Katharine Kerr (Deverry series), Tad Williams (As JJBuck2 said Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn and also his new Shadowmarch books). If you like some humor in your fantasy, be sure to try out Terry Pratchett's Discworld serie.

Oh well, guess I'll stop here or I'll start writing down all of them  Off course, if you want some more tips, feel free to ask...

If you're just starting to read Shannara, I would definitely NOT recommend starting with The Sword of Shannara as it is basically a LotR rip-off.

Here's my suggested reading order for Shannara (I'm leaving out some books that don't do much for the series):

1. Running With The Demon
2. Genesis of Shannara trilogy
3. First King of Shannara
4. Elfstones of Shannara
5. Wishsong of Shannara
6. The Heritage of Shannara series
7. ....the rest...

Scorpiana: I'll have to check out some of those suggestions for reading.  However, I have tried Terry Pratchett and despised it (European humor just doesn't do anything for me I guess).  There's an awesome MUD called, Discworld though, which is based on Pratchet's world.

Check out Glen Cook's Black Company books. Good stuff. Fritz Leiber is a must if you're a fantasy fan at all (the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series).

That's the mistake I made and I haven't been able to really like Terry Brooks ever since. After reading the LOTR for the 2nd or 3rd time I picked up Sword of Shannara and immediately recognized it's basically the same setup as LOTR. The world felt really small and the characters were taken from Tolkien. There was more action and magic was used to a greater extent but I just couldn't get past the fact that it was a ripoff of Tolkien.

I have a few suggestions:

Stephen Donaldson: Thomas Covenant series (CLASSIC CLASSIC CLASSIC with MANY moving and heart-wrenching sequences). For me this series is second ONLY to the LOTR.

Steven Erikson: Malazan series. Lots of good and original ideas here. Not a lot of hand-holding and aimed more towards adults.

Raymond E. Feist: original Riftwar Saga. Starting with Magician: Apprentice. This is aimed at the same age range as Brooks but is waaaaay more original in scope (for when it was written anyways). Great series.

Martin and Williams have been mentioned and they are also good.

Stay away from Jordan and Goodkind. They have made a mockery of the fantasy genre.

Actually I was going to suggest Jordan. At the very least the first few books. Even if you don't go all the way there is hardly a series out there with a better magic system. The one power is original beyong almost anything I've ever read and I've read many of them.

Of course as soon as you get in the later books it's very repetitive.

As for Goodkind I guess it all depends on how you think. I was not very happy with the ending of the Story but once again some of the books are quite memorable.

Both first books of each series is a very very good read. Even if you decide to stop there after wards you will have enjoyed yourself I am almost sure.

If you want an easy read and you want to smile try out the Belgariad and Mallorion from David Eddings. Silk make me pee in my pants more than one. Very short but fun series. It's start with Pawn of Prophesy.

Enjoy

Am pretty sure "Running With The Demon" is not part of Shannara books.Sword of Shannara was among few first fantasy books i have ever read and was really impressed back then.However recent re-reading was not impresive at all,everything is too childish now.

In addition to already mentioned George R.R. Martin and Tad Williams,my recommendation would be R.Scott Bakker with Prince of Nothing trilogy.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Jim Butcher's Fury series (Furies of Calderon, Academ's Fury, Cursor's Fury, Captain's Fury, Princep's Fury), or his Dresden files.  Both are great series!

Lots of good reads in this thread

I have to agree Stephen Donaldson and Raymond Feist are both at the top of my list. Orson Scott Card is a serious favorite of mine too. Try Ender's Game. Piers Anthony has some really good stuff too. I just loved his Incarnations of Immortality series.

I've been reading LOTR and The Hobbit over and over again for the last 30 years or so and nothing really compares to it. I like most of Terry Brooks stuff. It's really not bad at all even if it does copy some of Tolkiens ideas. You have to remember the LOTR was really the beginning work of the modern Fantasy genre. Unfortunately too many of todays writers tend to emulate Tolkiens ideas instead of creating their own.

I'll agree with that. Both first books in the series were decent reads. Jordan just seemed to lose his focus shortly after that, and Goodkind... the less about him, the better.

I agree pretty much 100% with everything in Charvel1's post. A couple great suggestions there (Donaldson is one of my favorites).

I'm just wondering what you did not like about goodkind. I read his series and I found afew things annoying but mostly it,s not so bad. The reason I am asking is that I have found that most people have the same opinions as you and I am wondering what you guys see that I do not. It,s just outof curiosity

How come nobody reads Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's novels?  The Dragonlance series authored by them (there are other authors in the series too) started off mediocre but got better with every new trilogy.  Memorable characters, death of major characters, devastating world-changing events, they are all included.  Especially in the later books, things that you never thought would happen will happen.  Also a bit of time travelling here and there, spices things up a little.

Other trilogies by Margaret Weis, science-fiction or fantasy, include innovative use of scientific concepts to explain fantasy concepts like magic for example, or combine both science-fiction & fantasy genres in the same fictional world.

Hey Coleocanth!

Sounds exactly like my list!

I just wish the new one from George R.R. Martin would be done, soon... The waiting is agony...

And Lois McMaster Bujold is just great.

I lost interest in the Shannara books a long time ago. I thought it is pretty boring. But perhaps I have missed the good ones. Need to look it up, then!

For me, I liked the first few books of Goodkind but then I started to realize that his hero and heroine were bumbling idiots. The decisions they made were not justified in many cases. They would have little love spats for no good reason. And the incessant whining just got on my nerves. His world felt VERY small and with the inclusion of the Old World in the 2nd or 3rd book it just seemed tacked on. Like he was making stuff up as he wrote and he just wasn't very good at it. I haven't read anything past the 5th book so can't really comment on the entire series. I only read that many because I kept hoping he would get better and actually give us a good plot. It never happened.

You really should read the rest of Goodkind. Remember, 

Thanks for the answer. Makes sense when you explain it like that.

Actually "Running with the Demon" is a prequel to the Shannara series.  The world of Shannara takes place in North America, after armageddon in the future.

A lot of good stuff here.  I'm going on a road trip this weekend and would like to get the audio version of some your suggestions.  Could you guys list the suggested reading order for some of these authors/series?  I'd like to try Goodkind or maybe Donaldson.

The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever:

1) Lord Foul's Bane (1977)

2) The Illearth War (1978)

3) The Power That Preserves (1979)

The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever:

4) The Wounded Land (1980)

5) The One Tree (1982)

6) White Gold Wielder (1983)

The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever:

7) The Runes of the Earth (2004)

8) Fatal Revenant (2007)

9) Against All Things Ending (planned for 2010)

10) The Last Dark (planned for 2013)

Donaldson:

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever:

Book 1: Lord Foul's Bane

Book 2: The Illearth War

Book 3: The Power that Preserves

The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant:

Book 1: The Wounded Land

Book 2: The One Tree

Book 3: White Gold Wielder

He's also working on the final chronicles, but there are only 2 of four planned books out so far. He has a two book series that I really enjoyed as well called Mordant's Need. The first book is The Mirror of her Dreams and the second is A Man Rides Through. He also did a science fiction series called The Gap Cycle (5 books), but I didn't like those all that much. I feel he's best off sticking to fantasy.

Robin Hobb:

The Farseer trilogy:

Book 1: Assassin's Apprentice

Book 2: Royal Assassin

Book 3: Assassin's Quest

The Liveship Traders trilogy:

Book 1: Ship of Magic

Book 2: Mad Ship

Book 3: Ship of Destiny

The Tawny Man trilogy:

Book 1: Fool's Errand

Book 2: Golden Fool

Book 3: Fool's Fate

The Soldier Son trilogy:

Book 1: Shaman's Crossing

Book 2: Forest Mage

Book 3: Renegade's Magic

Lois McMaster Bujold: While I highly recommend her Miles Vorkosigan books and her other science fiction, I'll just list the fantasy series here (I can list the others if you wish):

The Chalion series:

Book 1: The Curse of Chalion

Book 2: Paladin of Souls

Book 3: The Hallowed Hunt

The Sharing Knife series:

Book 1: Beguilement

Book 2: Legacy

Book 3: Passage

Book 4: Horizon

That should keep you going.

Alright, from recomendations above I read a couple books:

The Curse of Chalion:  Hated it.  Is this even fantasy?  Chivalry yes, but not swords and sorcery fantasy.  Seriously, how is a story about a war hero going into retirement by becoming a tutor for a whiny princess supposed to be interesting?  Through the entire book I don't remember a single combat scene or, for that matter, any action at all.  Pure endless dribble.  Your grandmother might like this book.

Lord Foul's Bane: This is a story about an incredibly depressed, pessimistic loser who has to carry a mysterious "magic gold ring" to the "council of Elrond Lords", led by a "ranger" girl because the "Dark Lord" is going to return to conquer the world.  This is another Lord of the Rings clone, except this time, the hero has leprosy, is a rapist, and a moron.

So, yeah, needless to say, I wouldn't recommend any of the above to anyone interested in fantasy reading.

Also, I just started to read The Belgariad.  I've gotten through a few chapters, but so far...meh.

On a positive note, I was walking through my local library yesterday and picked up the first six novels from the Dragonlance series for $1.50 and I'm loving them.  Great storytelling, great character/setting exposition and a good mix of combat and non-combat situations.  These are fantastic books - feels like they were pulled right out of a D&D campaign.

Also, I found this link of the top 20 fantasy writers of all time.  Kind of interesting.

Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern is decent, although it is much more science fiction than fantasy.  I especially like the way it deals with time travel.

Also, the Dinotopia books are amazing.  They have some incredible art work, all done by author himself.  While story is fairly good, it is the art that is the best part.

Thanks for the recomended order for the Shannara series, I have read a few but got a bit confused due to the order I read them in.

I will keep this thread in mind next time I go to a bookstore.