Recommendations for big, completed fantasy series?

[elvet]

One of my co-workers was looking for a recommendation for a fantasy series to get stuck into. Preferably more than just a trilogy, and definitely complete.
I always recommend Malazan Book of the Fallen, but it is not for everyone (bounce-off 67% Our Gateways Into Fantasy - The Fantasy Inn ).
So, I steered her to Robin Hobb’s Farseer books to start. She‘s loving them.
Any other suggestions?

 

[nixie]

A few of top of my head; you've already mentioned my favourite Malazan Book of the Fallen.

Raymond E Feist, Rift War

Stephen King, Dark Tower.

Kate Elliott, Crown of Stars.

Greg Keyes, Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone.

Peter V Brett, Demon Cycle.

 

[soulsinging]

Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow & Thorn "trilogy" (the 3rd book is often published in 2 paperback because it's so big). If they like classic high fantasy, this is the best example I can think of. It's pretty huge, almost 3000 pages all together.

 

[BAYLOR]

Steven Erikson, The Malazan Saga
Glen Cook, The Back Company
Jack Vance, Tales From the Dying Earth
Karl Edward Wagner, The Kane the Mytic Swordsman saga Start the series with the novel Bloodstone
Simon Green, Hawk and Fisher
Jack Chalker, The Dancing Gods
Michael Moorcock, The Eternal Champion Saga
Fritz Leiber, Fafherd and the Grey Mouser

 

[tachyon]

Fred Saberhagen's Book of Swords series

 

[Vince W]

The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Leguin
Discworld by Terry Pratchett
The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.

 

[Wyrmlord]

The Wheel of Time

 

[williamjm]

Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Shadows of the Apt (10 books)
Daniel Abrahams' The Long Price Quartet (admittedly not that long) or The Dagger and the Coin (5 books, so a bit longer).

 

[Karn's Return]

Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow & Thorn "trilogy" (the 3rd book is often published in 2 paperback because it's so big). If they like classic high fantasy, this is the best example I can think of. It's pretty huge, almost 3000 pages all together.

No. Just no on this one.


Now don't get me wrong, it was a terrific story in and of itself-well, maybe not terrific, honestly, but I enjoyed the actual story.


The trouble comes with Williams going through some pretty hard POV shifts, as in, he leapfrogs between characters rather suddenly throughout, even halfway down pages. (Depending on if you get paperback or hardcover, I suppose, perhaps) But the point is, there are points where immersion is broken because of it, and due to that, I can not recommend Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.


What could I recommend...well, there's the different Shannara series that Terry Brooks put out, I suppose...there's also the Rhapsody books...I can't remember the author's name off the top of my head, sadly. I would recommend some of Teresa Edgerton's books, but the Rune of Unmaking series isn't complete yet, sadly.


Of course there's always the classics, like LotR, but we all know those.

 

[rscottb]

David Eddings

3 series (all related) comprised of 16 books

The Belgariad, Mallorean, and Elenium Series

 

[BAYLOR]

The Runelords series by David Farland

 

[paranoid marvin]

Stephen King's Dark Tower is a must provided you have read his other books (from memory I think Salem's Lot, The Stand, Eyes of the Dragon and Hearts In Atlantis are referenced quite a bit). You can read it without having read those other stories first, but you will miss many references.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld I would hesitate to recommend as a 'series'. You could pick one set of characters (eg the Witches or the Watch) and read through the stories that involve those characters, but there are too many stories in between that have absolutely no relevance - and probably more importantly no end - for me to regard it as a completed fantasy series.

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is an interesting one. I have never before found it a chore to read through a series of books; the main characters are just so annoying and frustrating. But then again I have never persevered as much with a series of books, because despite the fact that the characters are annoying and unlikeable, the world they inhabit is so amazing and complete, in a way that I haven't seen since reading Tolkien for the first time. It's a series that I would recommend to everyone with the caveat that it can be very difficult to stick with at times.

Does your friend like the tv series GoT? Then if she does, she will certainly love the book version. And hopefully by the time she has made her way through the first 3-4,000 pages we will surely have had the novel that finishes the series off (maybe).

 

[chongjasmine]

I recommend the wheel of time. It is completed, and I love it.