medieval fantasy recomendations

[Selaryn]

Hi,
For a very long time now I'm looking for a good fantasy book to read, but most of the books I've tried so far have been real disappointments. I have already read all the classics (Song of Ice and Fire, Wheel of Time, Dragonlance, Malazan Book of the fallen, Riftwar Saga etc. ) So I'm looking for a heroic medieval fantasy book or series that is really worth reading. Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

[Dozmonic]

It depends what you really enjoy. Does fantasy have to involve magic, or would you consider historical fiction? Do you want heroic as in there's at least one hero to follow who does great things, or do you want an epic scope to it?

 

[murphy]

You might enjoy Sherwood Smith's Inda quartet. The first book is Inda.

There's also Sharon Shinn's Twelve Houses series. Each book is a stand alone, featuring a different character, all of whom are introduced in the first book Mystic and Rider.

Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series is pretty good. Starts out a little slow, but really gets better the more you read them.

Not a series, but Guy Gavriel Kay's books, Tigana, Song of Arbonne, and The Lions of Al-Rassan are all medieval fantasies.

 

[chopper]

David Gemmell - Legend (et al)
Paul Kearney - The Ten Thousand & Corvus, or The Monarchies of God

your list is more epic than medieval, i have to say.

 

[j d worthington]

And something that is a series (more or less) by Kay:

The Fionavar Tapestry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

However, as others have said, it all depends on what you're looking for. "Mediaeval" is often used so loosely in connection with this (I've been guilty of this myself on more than one occasion) that it can cover an enormous range of things, from Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age tales (he also did write things set in mediaeval periods, as well as before and after, some of which are damn fine fantasy stories) to... well, it might be stretching it to say Fletcher Pratt's The Blue Star, but I've seen it included in such a description.

At any rate, you might want to take a look at the thread below for some suggestions, as a lot of the things included there tend to fall "under the radar" with most modern fantasy readers:

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/43819-fantasy-pre-tolkien.html

And, of course, there are some of Michael Moorcock's works which might also fall under that rubric, though they are seldom quite the typical fantasy novel....

 

[Selaryn]

Thank you all for your suggestions
It's true that I wasn't precise enough in my description. I want the book or series to contain magic.. and to have many interesting and charismatic characters (I mean that the characters must not be ''black and white'' because most of the characters in the books I tried to read were just really plain... ) I would really enjoy if one of the main characters is an antihero, for example.
And about Michael Moorcock, I was thinking about reading one of his books. Which one will you recommend me to start with?

 

[Mouse]

Have you read Robin Hobb's books?

 

[Anne Lyle]

How about these?

The Crown of the Blood / Gav Thorpe :: Angry Robot Books

Kell’s Legend / Andy Remic :: Angry Robot Books

I haven't read them myself, as I'm not really into epic fantasy, but if you scroll down to the bottom of each page there's a free sample chapter (PDF) so you can try before you buy

 

[Kyndylan]

It might not be 100% what you're looking for, as it falls short on the magic front, but as a fantastical recreation of the medieval period I'd heartily recommend Mary Gentle's Ash: A Secret History. It probably won't be like anything you've ever read, but is all the better for it!

 

[chrispenycate]

Bonjour et bienvenu entre nous.
J'allais suggérer le trilogie "The Hound and the Falcon" par Judith Tarr, pour une attitude plus médieval que ... Comment, les amerlocs? Bien, bien,

*Grinding sound as brain changes gear, without synchromesh*

I was going to suggest Judith Tarr, an author who does not get her writing mentioned here frequently, and "The Hound and the falcon" trilogy (available in one volume but not, as far as I can tell, in traduction français).

The trouble with most heroic fantasy I've read is that the technology might be mediæval, but the thought forms, the societies, are severely polluted with the democratic ideal, the Hollywood egalitarianism. There's too much space for a 'common man' to advance in the hierarchy, not enough of the stasis enforced by the church and the nobility which kept the unwashed, illiterate masses in their place, but also guaranteed them the stability to live their lives, except when wars or plagues smashed them all to flinders.

Middle Earth might have had mediaeval weapons and communications (except when magic was involved) but societies are early modern to modern; a "Samwise" could never have talked to Frodo like that in a true feudal household. This is unlikely as social change is always associated with technological, but this is fantasy, never intended to be analysed like that.

We're not adjusted to seeing things from a mediaeval viewpoint, a place for everyone and anyone out of place severely unhappy about it, where kings and cardinals were confirmed by God (since He is omnipotent, He must approve of the situation, or He'd do something about it, never mind the circular argument), where trial by combat was as legitimate a defence as evidence, witches were directly in the power of the Adversary, and I feel that any author who can get that across should get some extra points over the "they were just like us" brigade…

*looks around into the silence surrounding him. "I'm ranting again, aren't I?*

 

[Anne Lyle]

*looks around into the silence surrounding him. "I'm ranting again, aren't I?*

Yes

I agree that an awful lot of fantasy features the material trappings of medieval culture without any of the associated attitudes. That's why I like writing about the early modern period - not quite such a fearsome gap! That said, if the "medieval" fantasy is set in a totally invented world, there's no reason why every aspect of a culture must mirror our own history.

As for Middle Earth, apart from the absence of gunpowder weapons, the Shire is more like late 18th century England than medieval Europe. You only have to look at how the hobbits are depicted in the movies to see that!

 

[Selaryn]

Have you read Robin Hobb's books?

Not yet, but it was one of the authors I considered reading. I don't really know what to expect though. Can you tell me about it? I mean, like is it medieval, epic, heroic, are there many characters, is it similar to any other fantasy?


And Thanks to the others for the recommendations

Bonjour et bienvenu entre nous.
J'allais suggérer le trilogie "The Hound and the Falcon" par Judith Tarr

Merci beaucoup!

 

[Mouse]

Not yet, but it was one of the authors I considered reading. I don't really know what to expect though. Can you tell me about it? I mean, like is it medieval, epic, heroic, are there many characters, is it similar to any other fantasy?

It's a medieval setting, I'd say. Epic and heroic. There are a few characters, but only one VP character.

The characters are excellent, she does characterisation very well. The Fool in particular in her Assassin books in pretty complex.

There's magic and dragons and kings and all sorts of good stuff. I'm trying to think if it is similar to anything, but I can't really think of what it's like!

I highly recommend her books. Any of them really. If you like 1st person VP then go for her Assassin books, if you prefer third person then go for the Liveship Traders.

 

[Montero]

Stephen Lawhead does big heroic books. Read one set in Viking + byzantine period.
(Saw him at a convention, tried one of his books, perfectly good read, not quite my "thing". Strikes me as cousin to the ones you are mentioning.) Can't remember the level of magic in it.

 

[Kyndylan]

I'm a big fan of Stephen Lawhead - but I think his Celtic works are the best; specifically the Pendragon Cycle, a wonderful retelling of the Arthur legend, and the Song of Albiontrilogy. His Celtic Crusades are also not half bad.

 

[nj1]

Have you looked at Joe Abercrombie or Tom Lloyd? Both well worth a look

I'd also recommend that you try Bernard Cornwell, although not quite fantasy his Arthur and Saxon series are very good but no real 'magic' there i'm afraid.

 

[Selaryn]

Robin Hobb's books seem to be exactly what I'm looking for then. And I'll also look for the Pendragon Cycle, I have always loved the legends about Arthur!
Thank you all for the recommendations!

 

[j d worthington]

A good many of Moorcock's protagonists could be called "antiheroes"... especially Elric (who destroys his entire world -- though not quite in the way one might expect) and Erekosë who, in one of his incarnations, destroys the human race. Yet for all that yes, they are heroes....

You might pop over to the Moorcock subforum to take a look at some of the discussions there; that might give you an idea of which would best suit your taste. Moorcock is quite variable in manner and quality, and has tackled an enormous range of types of tales... something which confuses a lot of people when they discover his work. If you do decide to give him a try, I hope you enjoy what you find.

I'm not sure about "charismatic" fitting most of the characters, but it certainly fits the main character in Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series... and you can't get much more of an antihero than Kane, given that he is based (at least in part) on the Biblical Cain who first brought murder into the world. A complex character, often enigmatic, and by no means always likeable, but worth meeting....

 

[Moggle]

Not yet, but it was one of the authors I considered reading. I don't really know what to expect though. Can you tell me about it? I mean, like is it medieval, epic, heroic, are there many characters, is it similar to any other fantasy?


And Thanks to the others for the recommendations



Merci beaucoup!

It is in fact medieval, though not epic or heroic. Most of the book is about the character doing chores, staying in his room, studying, walking around, stuff like that, so there's real action to speak of except in isolated incidents here and there. The entire first book takes place inside the stables of a small castle pretty much. There are other characters in the story who occassionally say something when they show up here and there, but it's mostly just Fitz, who is this whiny teenager who gets pushed around alot and doesn't fight back or rise above like you see in alot of books. In other words he's a perpetual loser from the beginning of the story till the end, but it's because of this why so many ppl love the story.

 

[soulsinging]

not enough of the stasis enforced by the church and the nobility which kept the unwashed, illiterate masses in their place, but also guaranteed them the stability to live their lives, except when wars or plagues smashed them all to flinders.

Funny you say this, because it looks increasingly each day like this is where our current democracy is leading us.