Vote Best of Three

[AndrewT]

I was trying to decide which of three fantasy series to read next. All three of these were written in the last decade and all had high marks at goodreads.com. If you have read all three please order them best to worst - although I am sure none of them are "worst" as in not good reads.

Sanderson - Mistborn
Butcher - Codex Alera
Abercrombie - First Law

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Only read mistborn so can't vote; it was okay the first was the best, he has a tendency to make point and then make it again which makes me feel a bit preached but I just got his new one from the library today so obviously not put off entirely - although I doubt I'd spend money on them.

 

[Heather Myst]

I've read all three series and I would put Abercrombie's First Law series on top in my opinion but I like the darker fantasy. Like Springs1971 I thought the first Mistborn book was the best. I would recommend any of Sanderson's other works over Mistborn but the series was still worth reading. Codex Alera was very up and down for me. I purchased the books because I thought the cover art was outstanding and while I did enjoy the books I thought they were kind of a roller coaster ride in that some volumes were much better than others.

 

[Grunkins]

Sanderson - Mistborn
Butcher - Codex Alera
Abercrombie - First Law

That's the order I would say.

 

[Coragem]

It depends what you like, of course.

Sanderson is entertaining and light. A bit too "young adult" for my tastes.

Abercrombie is strong on characters, especially males, and excels in a genre subverting dark humour.

I've never read Butcher, but I hear his books are getting better and better.

Out of your list I'd go for Abercrombie myself. Other top picks might be A Song of Ice and Fire, Robin Hobb's liveship traders trilogy, or Paul Kearney's Monarchies of God. All are better than Sanderson in my view.

Coragem.

 

[thaddeus6th]

I've read the Codex Alera, First Law and the first book of the Mistborn.

It was a while ago, but the First Law Trilogy was very enjoyable indeed (I think I wrote that I preferred it to A Song of Ice and Fire). It's pretty gritty and grim, and well worth reading.

Codex Alera is less so, but I really enjoyed it as well. There are six books, so maybe that and the slightly less gritty nature of it will make it more or less appealing to you.

I really like the magic system in the first Mistborn book, but I think the characters (excepting the two main ones) could've been fleshed out a bit more.

Sooo, I'd say First Law, then Codex Alera, then Mistborn.

 

[Hypnos164]

I've read the Codex Alera, First Law and the first book of the Mistborn.

Same here.

First:

The First Law is brilliant in a grim, darkly humorous and genre subverting way. It contains some truly memorable but hardly sympathetic characters.

Second (close):

I'd say Codex Alera is the most out and out fun of the three; its fast paced has an interesting setting and a cast that you root for.

Third:

Mistborn's premise of "What happens if the Dark Lord won" sounds more interesting than the execution. It’s an enjoyable read and I do plan to get around to reading the next one but I found it much easier to put down than either of the others.

 

[AndrewT]

I picked these three to compare because they seemed similar - fantasy series written in the last decade that were a little smaller in scope than Erickson or Martin but epic nevertheless. Maybe I should also have included Robin Hobb Tawny Man or Tad Williams Shadowmarch series.

So vote for any that is your top fantasy series of the last decade excluding George Martin and Steven Erickson. Martin is unfinished so who is to say how good it will be since he seems to have picked up Robert Jordan's "endless sprawl" virus. And although Erickson is better in that regard he has a touch of it too, more than a touch depending on who you ask.

 

[Hypnos164]

Best excluding Erikson: R Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing

Unfinished but also amazing The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss (and the better choice for those who don't like their fantasy unremittingly grim)

 

[Grunkins]

I have to say, don't let the unfinishedness of Martin's ASoIaF turn you away from reading it. My life is much richer for having read what is out there (roughly 4500 pages).

 

[Valko]

Don't touch ASoIaF unless you're willing to wait years for it to finish. Martin is not known for publishing on a regular basis. I think there were at least 5 years between his last 2 books. He seems to get sidetracked with other projects.