Who should I try next?

[Kevin81]

Newbie (What author should I try next?)

I only recently (this year) started reading with any regularity. I started out with a couple of Stephen King books, but I had to take a break from the weird world of Stephen King. I then read a couple of Tom Clancy books, the first 2 books of “Net Force” series.

A co-worker recommended trying Raymond Feist starting with The Magician. I had never read books like this before and at first I had a hard time with all the magic, elves, goblins, dwarves, etc… But after getting 5-6 chapters into the book, I was hooked and I have read all of Feist’s first 24 books (excluding Faerie Tales, 24 out of 25 books) with my last being “Into a Dark Realm” book 2 of the Darkwar Saga. I will read “Wrath of a Mad God” as soon as it is released in paperback (or) my Library gets it, but it’s time to find a new author.

I realize that Feist is far from perfect, but in spite of his many mistakes throughout his books he developed a World(s) and a set of characters that kept me reading and wanting to hear more about them. So I am not looking for Literary perfection, but rather an interesting story and characters that will keep my interest.

 

[Dozmonic]

You'll see a lot of recommendations for anything by George R R Martin, and Steven Erickson. Of the two I prefer Erickson thus far, there's more happening in the books and his characters don't seem as similar as Martin's.

As you seem to have read a lot of fantasy this year and might want to sample something slightly different there are the historic fictions that are set in varying times and devoid of the orcs, elves, goblins and magic. Conn Iggulden's "Lords of the Bow" follows Ghengis Khan and is an enjoyable read. Any Simon Scarrow books follow a couple of people in the Roman army well, although I have a feel that that may be more for a British audience because of some of the language used in it.

If you've not read it, you could read Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy before the movies based on the second and third books are released. They're well written and, although aimed at a younger audience, they don't shy away from complex more subjects.

Even the Harry Potter books are a fun read if you want to watch how one author's writing developed and her ability to craft and weave the threads of story together grew.

Plenty out there, hope this small selection doesn't give you too much conflict ;-)

 

[Ross]

Go for Janny Wurts, the author Feist co wrote with on the Empire series involving Mara of the Acoma

Try her one off To Ride Hell's Chasm first to see if you like her.

Then if you like that go on to her The Wars of Light and Shadow series which starts with Curse of the Mistwraith.

I've nearly finished the second book of that series and i'm totally hooked

I'm sure Clansman or Grimward will be along to explain more thoroughly what she's about soon

 

[Pyan]

a World(s) and a set of characters that kept me reading and wanting to hear more about them.

Not quite in the same "heroic fantasy" mould, but fulfilling your requirements otherwise, try the "Discworld" novels of Terry Pratchett.

He's got his own sub-forum (Terry Pratchett) and a good place to start is the thread about which book to start with.

Highly, highly recommended - in fact, he holds the title of "The Most Shop-lifted Author in Britain"....

 

[Kevin81]

Thank you to everyone for their suggestions. They have all been noted and marked if they have an accompanying Forum of their own.

All of your input is greatly appreciated.

Kevin

 

[Kevin81]

Even the Harry Potter books are a fun read if you want to watch how one author's writing developed and her ability to craft and weave the threads of story together grew.

For right now, I have been avoiding books that I have already seen the movie version of the story. I am sure I will eventually get over that restriction and want to find out how much better the books might be.

 

[Clansman]

Kevin81, if you are a relatively new reader, be careful about what you choose. Stuff that you will like a few years from now would probably bore you to tears or drive you batty right now. Ross is a newbie fan to Ms. Wurts (and shows excellent taste, btw), my favourite author, and Martin and Erikson round out my top three. However, these are not fantasy lite any of them. They are a twenty-ounce porter house steak with baked potato, salad, and apple pie for desert, compared to the good spaghetti and meat sauce of Raymond Feist. You've got to be ready to tackle them.

I take it from your comment about movies that you have not read LOTR. Pity, as that is the beginnning of the modern fantasy genre, and fifty years of imitation followed. Feist borrowed heavily from LOTR, and admits it. Only now are the big epics separating themselves more from Tolkien.

I recommend The Hobbit, as it is a quick enjoyable read, and introduces Bilbo, Gollum, Gandalf, and of course, The Ring. Try LOTR sooner rather than later. It really is better than the movies by a long shot (though the movies were a good adaptation), but the language is archaic compared to Feist.

For right now, I recommend David Eddings first series, The Belgariad (fun and light, don't look for depth), Katherine Kurtz' Dyerni books (loved the first two trilogies especially) Terry Brooks' Shannara books (again, heavy LOTR influence), and Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance books (not by the other authors, though!). You may want to check out Robert Jordan's hugely popular World of Time series, but know in advance that it lags badly in books 7 through 10. Personally, I recommend you to stay away, at all costs, from the almost as hugely popular Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, which starts okay, but degnerates really, really quickly. There is much better stuff than his drivel, so don't waste your time.

After that, I suggest going deeper into people like Wurts, Martin and Erikson. However, if you love language, complexity, and having your head almost twisted off, start with them right now. You should also check out this link:

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/10103-fantasy-recommendations-for-the-unenlightened-2-a.html

There is an original Fantasy Recommendations for the Unenlightened, but I don't know where that is.

 

[nj1]

I agree with clansman, but would suggest you consider some of David Gemmell's work. They're easy to read not to political and have plenty of great characters and battles, have a look at his author page for a list of his books. Enjoy!!

 

[nixie]

Steven Erikson's brilliant Malazan series

I see you have also been reading Stephen King, his Dark Tower series is well worth a read.

Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars.

Also if you enjoyed Feist then I'd also recommend Terry Brooks( prepares for the backlash)

Tad William's is another good author,

Then there's Greg Keyes

Could go on all night

 

[Kevin81]

You guys (gals) having given me an enormous amount of information to chew on for a while.

[FONT=&quot]I have not read Lord of the Rings (or) seen the movie(s) [/FONT] and if I read The Hobbit, it was a LONG time ago and it was forced rather than enjoyed. So I decided that right now I would start with J R R Tolkien’s The Hobbit and LOTR. As a matter of fact, my daughter and I just got back from the Library and I picked up the Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring.

I am still collecting the rest of your valuable information in my notes for after I tackle LOTR.

Thanks, Kevin

 

[Pyan]

There is an original Fantasy Recommendations for the Unenlightened, but I don't know where that is.

It was amalgamated into FRftU2 - I don't think it exists by itself anymore, Clanny, Kevin....

 

[Clansman]

GOOD CHOICE, Kevin81! Start at the (most recent) beginning (of epic fantasy's modern era)! Can't go wrong with Tolkien. Let yourself go into this series, and DO NOT watch the movies before you read it. It is much better the other way around.

*Clansman looks around, awaiting to be stomped by J.D.Worthington's incredible wealth of knowledge about fantasy...*

 

[Ross]

GOOD CHOICE, Kevin81! Start at the (most recent) beginning (of epic fantasy's modern era)! Can't go wrong with Tolkien. Let yourself go into this series, and DO NOT watch the movies before you read it. It is much better the other way around.

*Clansman looks around, awaiting to be stomped by J.D.Worthington's incredible wealth of knowledge about fantasy...*

I've never actually read LOTR either

May have to get The Hobbit.

 

[Laerten]

If you want to try something other than fantasy you could try the Dune series of books. They are one of the only non fantasy series of books that I re-read regularly.

 

[Kevin81]

I read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring then I decided that even though I will definitely finish LOR series that I needed a break. I missed having characters that I could identify with and I did not find the story as gripping as I had found most of the Feist books.

For a change of pace I decided on Janny Wurtz and started with Light and Shadow series Curse of the Mistwraith. I liked the Empire series that she co-wrote and decided that she was a safe bet.

I don’t mean to insult any of you Janny Wurtz fans, but I barely made it through that first book of the series. I remember some people on here saying that Feist’s characters sometimes lacked depth, but if this is what more character depth is then I don’t want it. A Prince Hero who sits around meditating for hours on end while hundreds / thousands of people die before he finally decides that he can act without violating some promise to a father, mentor or friend, YIKES! I had to force myself to finish the book and then was sorry that I had.

My second (and present) attempt seems much more successful. I decided on George R. R. Martin and started with the Ice and Fire series Game of Thrones. I found that book to be very entertaining and have started the second book. I still have not found this story line quite as compelling as the Feist story line, but maybe I didn’t find Rift War series as compelling early on either.

Thank you to everyone who made suggestions and my apologies to any of you who are Janny Wurtz fans.