I need a new series to read

[The Imp]

I really appreciate all the suggestions so far, unfortunately, one criterion, the one about being available in audio form, is lacking in most of them

 

[Charming Serpent]

I've just thought of a question to ask u, Imp; Why have u chosen audio and not to read the books instead? I think u mentioned living in a rural area, but u obviously have internet access so why not order them on line if distance was the problem??

 

[murphy]

Many of the Jim Butcher books are in audio format.

 

[The Imp]

I've just thought of a question to ask u, Imp; Why have u chosen audio and not to read the books instead? I think u mentioned living in a rural area, but u obviously have internet access so why not order them on line if distance was the problem??

I have a degenerative eye disease *Retinitis Pigmentosa)that make it impossible for me to read the small type of most books. I actually enjoy the experience of listening more than reading, assuming the voice actor is up to snuff.

 

[kauldron26]

actually farseer and tawny man by robin hobb are available on audio... i myself am an audiobook fiend as well. u wont find them in stores anymore tho... all 6 books are on torrent sites for download.

 

[Prefx]

If you want something more on the literary side, Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun "series" is definitely worth reading. I echo past sentiments about Dan Simmons, but would put Hyperion before his other works.

 

[kauldron26]

the hyperion/endymion by dan simmons omnibus is my favorite piece of fiction ever. as far as im concerned it puts everything else by anyone alive to shame.

why havent more fantasy folks read kate elliots crown of stars???!!! not only is it truly incredible and intimately epic, IT IS COMPLETE!!!

p.s. guy gavriel kay only writes standalone masterpieces....

loved book of the new sun, however make sure u have a gene wolfe encyclopdia while and when ur finished reading it. its the literal definition of a mind****

 

[Boaz]

I've always thought the Wire was to tv what Martin is to fantasy. It's very gritty and realistic. Death comes suddenly and without warning. The good guys rarely win and are up against enormous odds. People scheme and stab each other in the back for their own political gain. It is truly an amazing show.

And that helped no one.

LOL! Now that's my kind of post.

kauldron, regadrind you comments about Dan Simmons... I've not read the Hyperion nor the Endymion books. Have you read Ilium and Olympos? If so, would you compare these stories (in terms of depth of story, tension of plots, development of characters, and the believability of cosmology/theology) for me? I'd like to add Hyperion/Endymion to my short list, but I'm always afraid to jump into something that appears not to have fantasy or Greco-Roman/Norse mythological elements. Ilium had more than enough mythological elements to keep me going through the sci-fi. It's not that I don't like sci-fi... it's just that in and of itself, it does not fire my imagination.

 

[kauldron26]

I've always thought the Wire was to tv what Martin is to fantasy. It's very gritty and realistic. Death comes suddenly and without warning. The good guys rarely win and are up against enormous odds. People scheme and stab each other in the back for their own political gain. It is truly an amazing show.

And that helped no one.

As to book recommendations, Scott Lynch comes to mind. His books stand alone I think, which is not quite the same as a series. But they are long, descriptive, with convoluted plots and adult themes and language. Very fun, and a fascinating fantasy world. There are 2 books so far.

i never would have thought to find WIRE fans here... jesus that show is probably the greatest american tv production. it is a love story to america. If anything, id say the wire is a dense crime novel of 5 books that just happens to be on tv. however, i have to disagree in comparing martin to the wire, id say he's more along the lines of the shield. which is another great show. I'll have to say the wire is more akin to robin hobb's farseer and tawny man. Like David Simon, Robin Hobb paints her characters with such realism it is heartbreaking.

fans of martin looking for something to read please check out

Hyperion/Endymion by Dan Simmons
Farseer/Tawny Man by Robin Hobb
A Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott
Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
Monarchies of God by Paul Kearney
Book of the new sun by Gene Wolfe
Dune (book one only!)
Curse of the Chalion/Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold

 

[soulsinging]

i never would have thought to find WIRE fans here... jesus that show is probably the greatest american tv production. it is a love story to america. If anything, id say the wire is a dense crime novel of 5 books that just happens to be on tv. however, i have to disagree in comparing martin to the wire, id say he's more along the lines of the shield. which is another great show. I'll have to say the wire is more akin to robin hobb's farseer and tawny man. Like David Simon, Robin Hobb paints her characters with such realism it is heartbreaking.

I've never seen the Shield, but this makes me want to read Robin Hobb even more than I did before!

 

[Clansman]

Imp:

As far as audio books go, I have never purchased one. However, I am a reviewer on a fantasy literature site called FantasyLitereature.net, and one of the other reviewers there swears by audio books, as she is a mother, a university professor, and has a substantial commute each day. Try the link below, and look at the books reviewed by Kat Hooper. Here is the link to the reviewers page, where it lists the books each of the reviewers have reviewed:

Fantasy Fiction book and audiobook reviews | FantasyLiterature.net

You can PM Kat Hooper on site, and her screen name is FantasyKat (surprise, surprise). I am sure that she can give you some good audio book ideas.

 

[The Imp]

Imp:

As far as audio books go, I have never purchased one. However, I am a reviewer on a fantasy literature site called FantasyLitereature.net, and one of the other reviewers there swears by audio books, as she is a mother, a university professor, and has a substantial commute each day. Try the link below, and look at the books reviewed by Kat Hooper. Here is the link to the reviewers page, where it lists the books each of the reviewers have reviewed:

Fantasy Fiction book and audiobook reviews | FantasyLiterature.net

You can PM Kat Hooper on site, and her screen name is FantasyKat (surprise, surprise). I am sure that she can give you some good audio book ideas.

thanks so much

BTW, I HIGHLY recommend audiobooks for anyon, not just those who need them or commute. The guy who does the first 3 of ASOIAF (Roy Dotrice) brings the books to life- literally.

 

[GOLLUM]

Hi Imp,

If it was good quality books you were after I could literally recommend several hundred to you qiute easily but audiobooks are a bit tougher due to their more limited coverage.

When I was ill some while back I invested in some audiobooks and agree they're quite excellent. The ones I have are His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (read by the asurthor quite superbly) and Carlos Louis Zafon's excellent Shadow Of The Wind which features a cemetry of forgotten books. The chap who reads this one is a New York actor and probably one of the best voices I've ever come across to do audio books.

You realise there several audio mp3s you can download for free although the quality does vary and they're of older classics.

Cheers...

 

[Boaz]

kauldron, The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold was a very good book. It stands alone without the need for other books.. although I hear she wrote a sequel and a prequel. The religious/metaphysical themes of sacrifice, redemption, free will, and fate were very well done. The country of Chalion seemed very believable as did here employment of magic. I enjoyed it so much I bought her omnibus Cordelia's Honor (Shards of Honor and Barrayar)... but I did not like this nearly as much as Chalion.

 

[Iceman Waddy]

I would suggest you read Malazan Book of the Fallen series by steven erikson. Its a great series and fits your description of more an adult setting. The books contain a large cast of characters and the plots are well developed.

However, the first book drops you right into the middle of the story so its confusing at the very beginning...not what you want but once you start understanding things the books become fascinating.

 

[Shacklock]

^ Has good taste in shoes. ;P

 

[Rolynd]

Hi Imp,

I would recommend Peter Hamilton to everybody, even non-sci-fi fans. But what you described could have been written about his books. Similar to Martin in the sense of scale, and the amount of characters, and even in the use of PoV, though he doesn't specifically name the sections like GRRM does. Plus lots of intrigue.

Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga): Amazon.co.uk: Peter F. Hamilton, John Lee: 9781400157648: Books


Do some research on customer comments, I think you'll get a good impression.

I have read all his books and greatly enjoyed them. They are not as bloody morbid as GRRM though, so don't expect the same kind of gritty realism.

 

[Aegon the Unworthy]

kauldron, The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold was a very good book. It stands alone without the need for other books.. although I hear she wrote a sequel and a prequel. The religious/metaphysical themes of sacrifice, redemption, free will, and fate were very well done. The country of Chalion seemed very believable as did here employment of magic. I enjoyed it so much I bought her omnibus Cordelia's Honor (Shards of Honor and Barrayar)... but I did not like this nearly as much as Chalion.

What? No Shogun....?!?

Accch nevermind, went back and read the first page of this thread and not only did you already recommend Shogun, but you pointed to me as being the one who was going to remind you to recommend Shogun. So....Im not only too lazy to read a thread, but Im predictable in my stale jokes.

I shall now light myself on fire.

My problem with Shogun wasnt that it was a bad read. It was Tokugawa. The guy was Batman-esque in his quality of planning. I couldnt stand it...

A couple years back I caught one of those cartoons of the Justice League and some villain was tearing up individuals of the JL one at a time with exquisite planning. Every move they made, he countered easily and comfortably despite being not very super himself. It turned out Batman had a tactical plan in place in case each one of his allies went rogue and put them all down on his computer. Said plans were stolen by the enterprising villain and put into use. Thats the kind of long range planning Tokugawa was doing....

So anyhow, the Wire was a good show...

 

[Werthead]

I don't know if it's available as an audibobook, but R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy and its impending sequel series, The Aspect-Emperor, are the only works of modern epic fantasy operating at or above GRRM's level. Very gritty, 'realistic' but also fairly bleak, so far. They're not as easy to get into as ASoIaF and they're definitely somewhat 'colder' works. Intellectually, they are borderline genius, and GRRM himself has become a big fan of the books. They read very much like a collision between GRRM, Tolkien and Frank Herbert.

 

[Oxman]

I recommend the "First Law" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Grown up, gritty fantasy with plenty of black humour to boot. Nice too how it takes the the usual plethora of Fantasy characters and turns them on their heads, haviing them act in unpredictable ways. There's also a new book set in the same world due out this year, but not part of the same series: "Best Served Cold".

Oh, and another shout out for Scott Lynch.