Fans of George R. R. Martin...need some help please!

[Laura Stamps]

Thanks, Werthead! I just wrote them all down on my TBR list. You're great! And I'm looking forward to those fantasy blogs too.

 

[Tabasco]

It would really depend on what kind of attention span your husband has. Possessing a good one, then Robert Jordan will show your husband GRRM is but the second best fantasy writer.

LOL? Was that a joke? Kay and Williams and those other guys I can see. Tad Williams is actually my standing favorite (I'll save final judgement until ASOIAF is done).

But Robert Jordan? I can't consider myself a GRRM fan, since I've only ever read his current ongoing series, and all of them within the last year and a half. But from what I've seen so far, GRRM writes circles around Jordan. GRRM probably reads Jordan novels to see what NOT to do! It's rumored that Jose Canseco, on the utter failure of his baseball steroid book, said, "Well... at least it's not as bad as Jordan." ... and people agreed! I've heard that crisis centers around the country cringe whenever Jordan releases a novel, because three days later the rape hotlines are bombarded by pleas for help from sci-fi readers who paid 8 bucks for the book! Even worse... I hear Jordan has coffee with Terry Goodkind! Oh noes!!!

Jordan may be the ticket for some folks, but belonging to a book club (as I'm sure many of you are), most of the talk about Jordan seems to be about 'When did you stop reading?' or 'Are we there yet?' And I just can't see him being better than GRRM. Not even different better. I highly suggest going to the Jordan section of this site before starting his series, and try and get an inkling of if it's for you.

Kay, Whyte, Feist, the rest... should be great.

 

[Werthead]

Robert Jordan is not a fan of Terry Goodkind, and had a very cool response when asked if he was a friend of his (as Jordan is Tor's biggest selling author
and Goodkind is perhaps third, maybe even second now, and people thought they'd know each other):

"I have never discussed anything with Terry Goodkind."

This would seem to imply they don't have coffee on a regular basis

He does - or did, before his illness curtailed his travelling - have the occasional meal or beer with GRRM though. And, erm, they once did a comedy double-act thing at an SF convention.

 

[Revelation]

But from what I've seen so far, GRRM writes circles around Jordan. GRRM probably reads Jordan novels to see what NOT to do! It's rumored that Jose Canseco, on the utter failure of his baseball steroid book, said, "Well... at least it's not as bad as Jordan." ... and people agreed! I've heard that crisis centers around the country cringe whenever Jordan releases a novel, because three days later the rape hotlines are bombarded by pleas for help from sci-fi readers who paid 8 bucks for the book! Even worse... I hear Jordan has coffee with Terry Goodkind! Oh noes!!!

OH NO HE DI' INT!!

Hah just kidding, but Rober Jordan as #1? No way.




I want to second the recommendations of Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy, and Erikson's Malazan series.

GRRM's main influence is The War of the Roses, and Bakker's is The First Crusade, so they are similar in the type of setting/world. Bakker, just like GRRM, does not write for kids, and as an added bonus his trilogy is complete.

And as for Erikson, well, the general consensus is that GRRM and Erikson are the two top dogs of fantasy at the moment, so enough said about that.

 

[Boaz]

Rober Jordan

Did you mean Robber Jordan?

Seriously, I felt the temper and scale of ASOIAF are comparable to Shogun by James Clavell.

 

[Meryt]

Scott Bakker is essentially the darkness and grittiness of Westeros on overdrive. His Prince of Nothing Trilogy is worth a look. The three books are The Darkness That Comes Before, The Warrior-Prophet and The Thousandfold Thought. There will be sequels as well.

For the longest time I thought that the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series couldn't be touched and that it was by far the best series out there. Then I came across Scott Bakker's "Prince of Nothing" trilogy. This trilogy was the first series after ASOIAF where I actually had to put the book down for a few minutes and let mind-blowing plotlines actually seep in. I would DEFINITELY recommend the Prince of Nothing trilogy.