Favorite Epic Fantasy Series

SmilingSword

Hey everybody just wondering if there are any epic fantasy addicts out and about in this forum.
I would image there would be quite a few, just thought it would be kinda interesting to see which fantasy series won out over the rest.

This is a Epic Fantasy discussion, so things like Harry Potter and other children's and young fantasy novels just don't make the cut "i love the Potter as much as the next guy, but there is a time and place for everything and this is neither."
Also only putting up series ive read, sorry about that.
If you have other suggestions please post them, always keen find more stuff to read XD

JuliusBorisov

It started it all for millions of people all over the world.

And it basically started my love for fantasy too.

abacus

Of the list, I've personally only read Tolkein and Martin. I adore them both, but would chose JRR over GRR any day.

My personal choice, though, is the Discworld saga by the terrific Terry Pratchett.

DreamingViks

I think that Tolkien lingers far too long on trivial things... :x

Skie

There are probably too many out there to make a list
I can definitely say LotR sent me to sleep the fastest... :P

abacus

DreamingViks said:

I think that Tolkien lingers far too long on trivial things... :x

Strange how people experience things differently... to me, the best part of Tolkein's writing is the extra depth that comes through his meandering style. Personally, it really helped my immersion, but you certainly aren't the first person I've encountered who had the exact opposite reaction!

SmilingSword

Erikson's Malzan series has really...
I don't even have the proper words to describe my love for this series, the world is rich with lore and multitudes of complex races and gods. it's just so big and in-depth, that after ten, 900 plus page books I found myself wanting more and then got more in his Kharkanas Trilogy.
The thing that really got me about his series is I got really attracted to certain characters, they became old friends over the course of the series, to point I'm not ashamed to say I cried like a small child more than once, when one of my old friends died.
People say a song of Ice and Fire is gripping and emotional, but ive yet to shed a single tear for anybody in that series, Maybe it's because all my favorite characters are alive and well at the end of the last book, maybe its something else, I don't know.
Martin is a great writer don't get me wrong, I just don't see him as the greatest thing to happen to epic fantasy since Tolkien.

SmilingSword

Ah crap I didn't add Glen Cook's black company series.
My bad all you Croaker and Raven fans.

SmilingSword

abacus said:

Of the list, I've personally only read Tolkein and Martin. I adore them both, but would chose JRR over GRR any day.

My personal choice, though, is the Discworld saga by the terrific Terry Pratchett.

Yay, a fellow discworld fan,
I don't think the discworld saga fits into the "EPIC" fantasy genre, that's the only reason its not first on the list XD

abacus

SmilingSword said:

abacus said:

Of the list, I've personally only read Tolkein and Martin. I adore them both, but would chose JRR over GRR any day.

My personal choice, though, is the Discworld saga by the terrific Terry Pratchett.

Yay, a fellow discworld fan,
I don't think the discworld saga fits into the "EPIC" fantasy genre, that's the only reason its not first on the list XD

Its classic "High Fantasy" though... the usual definition being a completely created world (hence discounting the Potter books and Pullman's His Dark Materials - which take place in a variation of our world).

Not sure how Epic fantasy is defined? If its about scale, the entire multiverse seems to be risk in just about every other Discworld novel!

I suppose if you define it by requiring a single grand and continuous story arc, then the Disc's more episodic style might not be appropriate?

SmilingSword

DreamingViks said:

I think that Tolkien lingers far too long on trivial things... :x

Too true, but then again I think Jordan spends way too much time describing all of his female characters outfits in great detail in every scene in every chapter of those books

Skie

abacus said:

DreamingViks said:

I think that Tolkien lingers far too long on trivial things... :x

Strange how people experience things differently... to me, the best part of Tolkein's writing is the extra depth that comes through his meandering style. Personally, it really helped my immersion, but you certainly aren't the first person I've encountered who had the exact opposite reaction!

I dunno, I read plenty of other titles that got me completely immersed. Up to where I couldn't get off the world created for days to weeks after finishing reading.

SmilingSword

abacus said:

SmilingSword said:

abacus said:

Of the list, I've personally only read Tolkein and Martin. I adore them both, but would chose JRR over GRR any day.

My personal choice, though, is the Discworld saga by the terrific Terry Pratchett.

Yay, a fellow discworld fan,
I don't think the discworld saga fits into the "EPIC" fantasy genre, that's the only reason its not first on the list XD

Its classic "High Fantasy" though... the usual definition being a completely created world (hence discounting the Potter books and Pullman's His Dark Materials - which take place in a variation of our world).

Not sure how Epic fantasy is defined? If its about scale, the entire multiverse seems to be risk in just about every other Discworld novel!

I suppose if you define it by requiring a single grand and continuous story arc, then the Disc's more episodic style might not be appropriate?

I could have been confused between Epic and High fantasy

This is a random post I just found and have no idea if it is correct.

Epic Fantasy:
takes place in medieval times

often uses good-versus-evil as the central story

usually involves a large cast of characters

relies on sub-plots to advance the story

Average Length: 120,000-160,000 words


High Fantasy:
takes place in medieval or modern times

involves magic

focuses on fewer characters and often relies heavily on character growth

sometimes presents situations in shades of gray, and lets the characters decide what is right

Average Length: 70,000-100,000 words



But to my mind Epic fantasy has always been about a continuous story, written over multiple books, with a huge cast of main and supporting characters, all the while having one over arching goal, "a dark lord to stop, a magical muguffin to find, that sort of thing."
In any case there is a lot of over lap between the two genres.

kcwise

It's a tough choice as there are some excellent options in your poll, as well as quite a few others not listed, but I have to go with the Tolkien. I can't say The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were my first introduction to fantasy, but they were the first "grown up" fantasy books I read as a kid. When I first read them Frodo was my favorite, then as the years went by I became more of a Strider/Aragorn fan, but these days I'd have to say Sam is the standout for me. He's such a loyal friend, and that's a rare thing in any world I've found.

A side note: As much as I've enjoyed the Drizzt series over the years I'd say some of Salvatore's best writing is to be found in the Demon Wars series. Mortalis was a particular favorite.

abacus

@SmilingSword
Hey, Its your thread! You get to set the parameters... they're only soft definitions anyway I guess.
With those conditions, I'd go for Tolkein... almost 20 years of fascination is a hard habit to break!

@Skie
I wasn't knocking anyone's ability to be immersed. Typical internet misunderstanding, I guess. I was just highlighting how people are affected in different ways by different styles. Totally subjective. One person's "fascinating" is another person's "tedious"!

Frogman

I'm with @SmilingSword cannot recommend these highly enough! And the first one might even be my favorite. Wild uncontrollable magic, masterful storytelling, a host of interesting races both humanoid and alien. Ok screw it, going to
Go read them again now.

SionIV

The Bible would be my vote, it was a pretty damn good read albeit slow at times! It also comes in two parts, the new one and the older one. I am not religious, i read it just like any other story.

[Edited]: Oh! I'll have to throw in Terry Pratchett too with Discworld, didn't see that on the list.

meagloth

Lord of the rings is the best story ever written, forever and always, end of discussion. though apparently I'm sort of named after a character from the Wheel of Time, and I've heard good things about Ringworld.

abacus

I'd also pop in an honourable mention for the Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin. It's quite strange at times, but very beautiful at others... a grand but personal tale.

SmilingSword

Frogman said:

I'm with @SmilingSword cannot recommend these highly enough! And the first one might even be my favorite. Wild uncontrollable magic, masterful storytelling, a host of interesting races both humanoid and alien. Ok screw it, going to
Go read them again now.

Oh those "Gardens of the Moon", man I love that book. Have to say nothing tops the "Chain of Dogs" for me, because Coltaine, just wow Coltaine.

Lol just been thinking ive named my last 3 CHARNAME's after Malazan characters.
Silchus, Caladan and now Cotillion.
Gonna name my next CHARNAME Coltaine and he is gonna be the most badass barbarian that ever was.

element

i put other for the hobbit

joluv

Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. Other series are objectively better, but Amber's still my favorite.

O_Bruce

Hipster O_Bruce is hipster.

CrevsDaak

I believe that epic fantasy literature is what would fit into both epic and fantasy genres (and by epic literature I mean what is described here (in spanish) (defined here (in spanish too, there are no good definitions in english) more precisely for the fantasy genre), not here. I think the best epic literature series is Michael Moorcock's the Chronicles of Elric, closely followed by JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

Edit: also relevant and in spanish https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espada_y_brujería

SmilingSword said:

abacus said:

SmilingSword said:

abacus said:

Of the list, I've personally only read Tolkein and Martin. I adore them both, but would chose JRR over GRR any day.

My personal choice, though, is the Discworld saga by the terrific Terry Pratchett.

Yay, a fellow discworld fan,
I don't think the discworld saga fits into the "EPIC" fantasy genre, that's the only reason its not first on the list XD

Its classic "High Fantasy" though... the usual definition being a completely created world (hence discounting the Potter books and Pullman's His Dark Materials - which take place in a variation of our world).

Not sure how Epic fantasy is defined? If its about scale, the entire multiverse seems to be risk in just about every other Discworld novel!

I suppose if you define it by requiring a single grand and continuous story arc, then the Disc's more episodic style might not be appropriate?

I could have been confused between Epic and High fantasy

This is a random post I just found and have no idea if it is correct.

Epic Fantasy:
takes place in medieval times

often uses good-versus-evil as the central story

usually involves a large cast of characters

relies on sub-plots to advance the story

Average Length: 120,000-160,000 words


High Fantasy:
takes place in medieval or modern times

involves magic

focuses on fewer characters and often relies heavily on character growth

sometimes presents situations in shades of gray, and lets the characters decide what is right

Average Length: 70,000-100,000 words



But to my mind Epic fantasy has always been about a continuous story, written over multiple books, with a huge cast of main and supporting characters, all the while having one over arching goal, "a dark lord to stop, a magical muguffin to find, that sort of thing."
In any case there is a lot of over lap between the two genres.

Actually, that isn't quite right. Using sub-plots and the amount of characters only varies between authors and/or series, and it doesn't have a reason to affect the genre, same for the length (the way the story is placed does affect whether the story is epic literature or not, but that's another thing).
High/middle/low fantasy isn't a settled limit, and many have many different conceptions of how it goes, so I believe it's the best to leave this out of the conversation.

wubble

I'm going for Robin Hobb's fitz books (Farseer trilogy then Tawny man trilogy) with A song of Ice and Fire being a close second.


I love Lotr, mistborn trilogy and first law trilogy as well though.


I also really like the first of the Malazan books but it's been ages since I read it and I tried reading it again so I could progress onto the second but I was too tired (being a uni student) and couldn't wrap my brain around it

hispls

meagloth said:

I've heard good things about Ringworld.

Very much more SciFi but you won't regret reading that series.... in general Niven is a great writer and you can't go too far wrong with a book written or co-authored by him.

Frankly I think NOT mentioning Fafhred and the Gray Mouser (Fritz Leiber's "Lankhmar" series) is shameful as is the omission of the Thieves' World series edited by Robert Asprin.

Frankly I'd take Harry Potter book series over Tolkien. Hobbit and LOTR were groundbreaking genre, good stories, and are fun, but IMO he is too long winded and I feel they're unrealistic and over-rated.

I've read many of the Salvatore books and while they are entertaining and he has some fair characters, they're mostly forgettable and read once and throw them away kind of books.

I can also get behind discworld series as a lot of fun to read again and again.

My all time favorite re-read once a year sword and sorcery type fantasy is "Traveler in Black" by John Brunner, a very short book but such a great fantasy world and his take on the cost the spellcasters pay for their power is just really dark.

Nonnahswriter

I got to book four in the Wheel of Time saga and stopped for some silly reason I can't remember. I think that's when I was daunted by just how many books there were left to read...

But I gotta go with my girl N.K. Jemisin and her Inheritance trilogy. (Not to be confused with the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini... Teehee.)

the_spyder

What? No Terry Pratchett - Diskworld?

Seriously though, I have read and re-read The Lord of the Rings more times than any other series hands down. So much so that, although I really appreciate the movies, I can say almost line for line where they deviated. The books were much better in my opinion. And Tolkien pretty much started it all.

If I had to pick a second choice (from the list) it would be Martin's Song of Ice and Fire.

I will comment that, although everyone should read the books, I don't see why people can't/shouldn't vote for a series simply because they choose the lesser medium to enjoy it on. Just saying, fans are fans regardless of how they choose to appreciate their fandom.

Moradin

First, suggestions. Then personal opinions.

Suggestions.

For all of you that like Epic fantasy (a la "Game of Thrones"), I'd suggest the excellent Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell. It's basically King Arthur's life reckoned by one of his friends. I think it's Cornwell's best work to date.
Another excellent book on the subject, more fantasy this one, is Marion Zimmer's Bradley's The Mists of Avalon . I liked both series a lot, but I personally believe the spin Cornwell gave to the Arthurian myth is more captivating.

Personal opinions.

I love Tolkien to death.
I remember when I first read the book, I was something like 13-14. I was reading a review of Quake or Doom (!!) in a games magazine, and there was a box on the side of the article in which the reviewer described some special objects you could find in the game. There was a ring which would give you some special power, and the reviewer started describing it quoting... "One ring to rule them all...". Hold on a sec, 13-y-o me said, "I think I have already heard of this somewhere else. Mommy? do you know where this comes from?" ,"Of course, it's from The Lord of the Rings. I've read it when I was your age." Half an hour later she brought me to buy my copy that I still keep around. That was 20 years ago.
I am going to write something similar to what I wrote when I was describing what IWD is in regards to BG.
That is, without Tolkien, and specifically without LotR, I very much doubt we would have had Game of Thrones, Dune, Harry Potter and everything fantasy. Including Dungeons & Dragons. I am one of those people that believes, Tolkien might not have invented the genre, but it gave it structure, consistency and showed people that fantasy was not only kids' tales, but SO MUCH more. And that's why I love Tolkien to death.

Martin on the other hand had the guts of taking rules that were established by sacred monsters like Tolkien and Lewis, and turn them upside down. And then, he peed on those same rules.
His stories are captivating, intriguing and keep you hooked to the book like few other books have been able to do. His characters are flawed, in the sense that while in LotR, the line between evil and good is quite neat, in Martin's work there is no Sauron and there is no Gandalf. There are a bunch of Aragorns and Frodos to which the reader can relate. It's just a great series and I hope it will continue to be till the end.

I've read almost everything RA Salvatore wrote, and I think his best writing was done for the Sellswords trilogy. I particularly enjoyed Promise of the Witch King and Road of the Patriarch. Probably one of the reasons I really liked those books is that, as much as I like Drizzt's novels, I feel like they always have the same plot, the same characters doing the same things... after a while it gets if not boring, at least repetitive. And he's given proof that he can write on different characters, think about the Sellsword I mentioned before, or The Cleric Quintet. I wish he would write more non-Drizzt stories in the future. Other than that, with all due respect, Salvatore has no place between Martin and Tolkien.

Rothfuss... I really liked the first novel, much less his second: unnecessary long is so many parts. Plus I did not really feel attached to the main character. But hey, that's just me probably... Anyway, I feel like the KingKiller Chronicle is something you should read when you have finished everything else. I am more excited for Salvatore's next book than I am for Rothfuss'. Nonetheless, I will buy and read it, of course.

Kamigoroshi

Guin Saga, anyone?
True, it's a somewhat old Japanese novel series starting back in 1979. But by an actual count of 134 volumes and worldwide over 28 million sold copies, one might think at least *some* old timers here picked up a book or two of this franchise. Personally, I *love* it and can recommend Guin Saga wholeheartingly to anyone who likes the high fantasy genre. It's a real shame that Kaoru Kurimoto (real name Sumiyo Imaoka) died a couple of years ago due to illness...

BelgarathMTH

David Eddings, The Belgariad. That's where I get my screen name.



Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is a close second.