Intel

Hi,

Can anyone reccomend a really goood fantasy/adventure title please? I highly enjoyed the wheel of time, so can you recommend something similar but of the same quality? It doesn't have to be too much like it, I just want a good quality fantasy/adventure book. Thanks

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dwellerofthedeep

I've heard that the Lions of Al'Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay is really excellent though it has a bit of real-world historical influence in it and I've yet to read it myself. An excellent fantasy book that I have read though is Steven Brust's Jhereg. It's a little different but it exemplifies high quality fantasy.

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dwellerofthedeep

Oh yeah, if you like urban fantasy or detective stories I'd recommend the Dresden Files. It's a detective who is also a wizard so lots of fun to be had even if the writing isn't quite as good as the books I mentioned previously.

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Walkio

Magician by Fiest is fantastic. If you haven't already read Harry Potter or His Dark Materials then definitely do.

Then of course there's Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Clive Barker. And the Black Magician Trilogy by Canavan is good.

If you're looking for an epic like the wheel of time novels then perhaps look at The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, his only fantasy I believe.

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Intel

Please, no magician stories, I can't take it! I hate Pot Head Harry.
Anything without magicians. OK just a normal adventure story with no magic, I'd like to read that.

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Walkio

Fantasy without magic?!!! Does that exist?!

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Intel

I mean without magicians and wizards. Ok maybe magicians, but I can't stand to read anything like Harry Potter. I've never read it, never intend to.

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DavidGil

Depends on what you like. Greg Keyes series starting with The Briar King is pretty good but to me it didn't have the feel of big fat books. It doesn't mean the story isn't good though.

For the fat epics, I can recommend Steven Erikson's series Malazan Book of the Fallen (starting with Gardens of the moon), George R.R Martins A Song of Ice & Fire. Last but not least, Scott Bakker's work of which excerpts can be read on his site:

R. Scott Bakker

They are however different from The Wheel of Time.

Erikson's work is also to difficult to get into. There's a lack of info dumps meaning you won't know what's happening. People recommend reading the first book twice.

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Intel

Dweller I've ordered Jhereg off amazon due to good reviews. David I've looked at amazon reviews of the books you've recommended. All good except it sounds like I'll have to work hard to get into a story that spans quite a series. Maybe after reading Jhereg I'll buy it.

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playstation60

Wow, such an open mind you have. You're condemning a series without reading a page. You're going to go far in this life with that attitude.

*shakes head*

I HIGHLY recommend A Song of Ice and Fire by GRRM. They really don't get involved in magic till toward the end of the series and even then it pales in comparison to some of these other novels out there. The books are highly political. Every action is done for a specific character's gain.

A great thing about them is that NO character is safe. These are not the books you can know instantly that Joe Farmer is going to make it to the end and save the beautiful princess.


You could also give Sword of Truth a shot, by Terry Goodkind. A bit more of the sword and sorcery type of fantasy. Wizard's First Rule is one of the best in the series (Faith of the Fallen is my personal fave)

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DavidGil

No worry at all, I understand reading series can take a lot of commitment. I haven't read any of Jhereg or reviews on the book so I can't comment. But Dweller seems to know what is good to read in fantasy so I highly doubt you'll be disappointed.

But if you do decide to give any of the others a try afterwards, a recommendation:

Erikson still has to write three books I think. Martin still has several also to write. This in no way reflects on the quality of the books though, just depends on whether you want a series which is completed or not.

Regardless, Bakker's work is finished. At least, his first series. So I guess that may be the best route depending again on whether you don't like waiting too long for the next book or not.

Edit: Agreed with Playstation on the quality of Martin's work also.

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Vee

I think he is trying to say the Harry Potter fiction is to juvenile for him. He is after something with more of a social commentary read through complex metaphor than the more simplistic Harry Potter.

I've read a page or two of the books and see the movies and they're fine if you're quite young. However they seem to lack considerable depth provided by other fantasy authors.

Personally I didn't mind Raymond E Feist's SerpentWar Saga

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ClancyBoy

Watership Down?

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